Just over three years ago I purchased a Targus TEV001EU Business Roller Notebook Case. The case had good reviews on Amazon and the price was good as well. After two years of frequent use, one wheel on the case broke and the other has worn down to the extent it is unusable (see pictures).
So, having Googled to find out if replacement wheels can be purchased (and concluding this was not possible), I contacted Targus customer service and provided the details of the purchase they requested. This is the response:
Dear Mr. Worth,
Case ID: XXXXXX
Thank you for contacting Targus providing the requested information.
We would like to advise you that the warranty offered with your case has expired, as the wheels are only covered for two years.
In regards of your query about the procedure for you to buy the replacement wheels, we do regret to advise that we do not sell spare parts as wheels. We do apologise for the inconveniences caused.
Should you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours sincerely,
XXXXXXXX
Targus Customer Support
I contacted them again, expressing my discontent at this, and that I have a perfectly good suitcase and that all it needs is replacement wheels, and got this response:
Dear Mr Worth,
Case ID: XXXXXX
Thank you for your email.
We do understand your disappointment, and apologise for any inconvenience.
There is no supplier of wheels we could name. We would recommend to contact a shoe repair service for the repair.
In case of any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Regards,
XXXXXXXXX
Targus Customer Support
So basically Targus does have replacement parts if your case is less than 2 years old, but if it is more than 2 years old they will not sell you replacement wheels. This strikes me as absurd, and should be a warning to anyone buying such a case – if it’s over 2 years old and the wheels break you’re basically stuck.
The aim of this blog entry is to inform possible purchasers of Targus cases of the danger, and I have also left a review of my purchase at Amazon UK explaining the situation.
The problem is also one of design – there is no way to remove the axel from its plastic housing. You have to replace the whole lot. I’ll keep searching to see if some generic wheel design can be found that will fit, and will post my responses here if I find one.
After 20 years on the road I came to the conclusion that you either go expensive and get Tumi with lifetime warranty or go cheap and accept that you will replace often(Samsonite/Targus etc).
I had one issue with Tumi carry on and they shipped part(small handle screw) to me 2 days after I emailed them. After 2 years they are both undamaged. Certainly little bit grubbier but all working.
However they were eyewateringly expensive and it took me 3 visits to the shop before I bought them.
Same issue with my Rimowa suitcase (just that the airline killed the wheels instead of they being worn down). Repair was done quickly and nicely, no comment, apart from them repairing for free the locks on my 2nd suitcase as well. I had to pay though.
However, Rimowa is also not exaclty cheap.
You are wrong in this matter, as far as I know Targus never sells spare parts, actually they don’t even sell directly to customer.
if you would fall within the 2 years of warranty, they wouldn’t replace your wheels, or give you spare parts, but they would replace the entire bag.
@Jorn – they told me in an e-mail from the service department they would send new wheels *only*. I’m only repeating here what they told me by e-mail.
They didn’t say that in these mails and else it would still be nonsense.. Targus wheels in cases are made from the inside, the construction is a bit shitty in a way that you can’t replace or the entire construction will break, especially as a normal customer. And I all my experience they do replace the entire bag in those situations if you are in the 2 years warranty. Targus always did so with me and people I know
Have you tried Cox the Saddler, with very minor modification to the hole on the Bottom, I now have a fully functioning suitcase using their CW6 wheel replacements. http://www.saddler.co.uk
@John – thanks for the comment, but now sadly a year too late, as I binned the case in the end 🙁
BUT for anyone else reading this – check http://www.saddler.co.uk
Hi
I got the same issue with worn rubber on the wheels. Still a fine suitcase but very noisy. I looked for replacements but no luck.
Basically this is the dilemma of today. New products are getting cheaper and this makes spareparts unreasonably expensive. Should they deliver a set of wheels then the manual handling would bring up the price and then you would normally buy a new one.
Having said all this I am also annoyed of throwing something out which is still well going so I took the whell sections off. I went to a skater store to get new wheels but no luck. They were too large so I ended on a flee market and bought a set of children skaters for £2,5 (10 wheels).
From the inside I took wheel section off.
The wheel itself is hold by a bolt that cannet be opened but a angle grinder did the job.
The bushing in the new wheel had to be grinded on the ends and then it fitted.
The bolt were replaced by the kind of screws you normally uses to assemble two kitchen cabinets (looks like the one on Saddler) and then voila!. I have the most silent roller in the airport.
It boosted by selfconfidence but if I calculate the time spent etc it might not be worth it.
I have changed on two other suitcases and it is getting easier and easier.
But if you go for Saddler or the flee market remember to get wheels of pure rubber. Otherwise you will end up with the problem in a short while.
I recently replaced the noisy worn wheels on my out-of-warranty Targus computer roller bag with a pair of luggage wheels purchased on Ebay for only five dollars. They look like inline skate wheels and worked beautifully (nice and quiet when rolling). Now I can continue using my Targus computer roller bag probably for another ten years.
Any chance you can post a link to the type of wheels you bought?
Landing here looking info about replacement of wheels in a Targus laptop case. Jon. Could you solve the problem?
I bought my case from Office Depot 8 months ago and the wheels are demolished. I would like to have them repaired.
Replaced mine with wheels bought off of Amazon. They are primarily inline skate wheels and a much higher quality than the original Targus wheels. I wrote about it here: https://diyhomeengineer.com/2024/01/30/laptop-roller-case-repair/