Help! Suitcase lock is jammed! (and my things are inside)

Hello everyone,

I just got back from vacation and two days ago my suitcase decided not to open anymore. I tried to open the case and set the right combination of numbers, but it didn't work. I opened and closed the two latches on the left and right several times, turned the combination lock all the way through, put pressure on the suitcase or reduced the pressure on the combination lock, tried to move the items in the suitcase by shaking it, tried everything really, and it still wouldn't open. I thought to myself, well, I'd rather spend the remaining 2 days of my vacation with a suitcase that can't be opened (all my things were/are in there!) than with a suitcase that has been broken open but can no longer be locked. Now that I'm home and would like to get to my things, I'm also more willing to use a bit of force. Especially as this suitcase is (obviously) of a fairly cheap design. (It just says Caravan (R) on it, I couldn't find anything about it on the net, I assume it's Aldi brand)

Does anyone have any advice or similar experiences? Is it possible that the setting for the combination lock has changed for some reason (due to pressure from objects on the inside)? How do you change this and can it be done without force? Unfortunately I couldn't find anything about the manufacturer online, otherwise I would have called them first.

ps I'm going to buy a new case and spend more money on it so that I don't have to deal with this kind of trouble in the future!