Warning: Used Luggage Sold as New at Popular Hudson Valley Store

What would you do if you found out that new piece of luggage you purchased was actually used?

Well, that's exactly what happened to me this week, and I'm still pretty grossed out about it.

While planning an upcoming trip to Florida we realized that we needed some new luggage. My wife was out shopping at TJ Maxx in Poughkeepsie and found a Perry Ellis rolling suitcase that was reasonably priced at $69.99. It appeared to be brand new and all of the zippers and wheels worked fine so she purchased it.

After bringing the suitcase home my wife made a terrible discovery. Inside was a boarding pass and other paperwork from a previous owner. That's right, the suitcase she purchased turned out to be used.

Immediately we envisioned someone else's dirty underwear and socks filling the suitcase that we were preparing to put our own clean clothes in. Did the person have bedbugs or something worse? We were completely grossed out.

Upon further investigation it turns out the boarding pass was from a trip to Cuba from Montreal. Could this bag have been used to run drugs? Or maybe it was a part of some other illegal smuggling ring? Of course it could have just been used by someone who was really cheap and decided to pull a fast one by returning it, but our imagination was running wild.

Regardless, we will most certainly be returning the suitcase and finding another store to purchase our luggage from. But we've certainly learned an important lesson. Even if the suitcase you're buying looks brand new, be sure to check it out before leaving the store; It may very well be used. Yuck.