Best way to 'detax' after H in Europe
- Thread starter heavenly
- Start date
TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others
Unless you get a really bad break, at worst, your customs duties will equal your tax refund. Usually they will be less. So I just assume I am paying the retail price in Euro and anything else is icing on the cake. Not declaring purchases is illegal.
There is, however, a separate thread on customs/duty taxes, so can we get back to the tax refund discussion?
There is, however, a separate thread on customs/duty taxes, so can we get back to the tax refund discussion?
Im pretty sure the address on the Hermes envelope is the same to the std global blue one which you get from other retailers such as LV etc.
I think there is a dedicated team at Global Blue just for Hermes?
Speaking of detaxe, comparing a few receipts we got in 2015 from European Hermes shops from Munich, Milan and Paris, the Munich one does not have a printout of items you purchase on the receipt. Milan and Paris one however have them on the Global Blue / Hermes Tax refund receipts.
Munich one has a separate invoice stapled together for the refund. Both Paris & Munich invoice got refunded exactly 3-weeks after we flew out, and the Milan took 5-weeks. All to CC and was refunded by Global Blue.
Just thought I mention it if anyone else finds it interesting.
Munich one has a separate invoice stapled together for the refund. Both Paris & Munich invoice got refunded exactly 3-weeks after we flew out, and the Milan took 5-weeks. All to CC and was refunded by Global Blue.
Just thought I mention it if anyone else finds it interesting.
Last edited:
Just returned from France. The Hermes Global Blue has a different address than the ones for non-H stores. Also, the cashier at H told me to be sure to only put one receipt in each envelope as they will throw out other receipts.
Interesting. I have always done one receipt per envelope thinking if it gets lost only one would get lost but now I'll be extra careful. Thanks.
Actually, you CAN track it online! After several months, I contacted GB and was able to figure out why one of my forms was never processed. Once you submit an inquiry, it usually takes GB 24-48 hours to respond. They were pretty responsive and helped explain everything I needed to do get my VAT refund.
https://secure.globalblue.com/secure/traveller-services/refundtracker/
Good luck!!!
All, after departing from Paris on 9/10, scanning my receipts at the PABLO machines, and mailing them in, I received all of my refunds back on my CC today. Fast process at about three weeks!
Awesome!!!
I finally received the refund for the form that the agent forgot to stamp so if anyone needs help with a situation like that please let me know and I'll walk you through it.
Hi! I would just like to chime in with my experience with the detaxe at CDG. It was pretty easy to understand, the PABLO machine lit green even with an exotic item and for the bags (have the exotic certificate ready on hand, though they never asked for mine). The only ones that had to be hand-stamped were my purchases from Italy. There was a global blue dropbox and a separate one for premier and the other yellow one.
Initially I was afraid that it will take very long to receive the refund. Global blue has an app which can track your refund. But I didn't need to track them as they appeared in my cc after 3-4 weeks.
Initially I was afraid that it will take very long to receive the refund. Global blue has an app which can track your refund. But I didn't need to track them as they appeared in my cc after 3-4 weeks.
Hello there! I'm not a regular reader of this thread, but I think I should share my Dear Mum's recent VAT refund experience after purchasing a B at FSH.
Some of you might remember that I shared my shopping experience at FSH during my May/Jun trip to Paris - I scored a K on my own on the first day and another B for my DM the following day(I queued up with her).
The VAT refund process of my K was smooth and swift as Global Blue credited the VAT refund to my credit card in one months' time. However, for my DM's VAT refund of the B, she's been waiting for 4 months (from 31st May to be exact) and there's still no refund to her credit card as of to date. I used the Refund Tracker on Global Blue's website to check the progress of my DM's VAT refund case, and strangely the comment from the Tracker was "no record". So, DM and I called the Global Blue customer services hotline just now and the CS said Hermes FSH had input my DM's credit card number wrongly in the system, hence Global Blue could not refund the VAT to my DM!!!
The CS then instructed us to provide a copy of my DM's identity proof to Global Blue, and once they verify my DM's identity, they will credit the VAT refund back into the correct credit card number provided by my DM.
Both my DM and I find it totally unacceptable that H FSH input the wrong credit card number in the system. Honestly, shouldn't these critical details be automatically scanned into the system given the current technology? And even if such details are manually typed into the system, shouldn't they at least double-check it to confirm they have indeed entered the details accurately? I wonder if any other TPFers had similar experience as my DM?
Some of you might remember that I shared my shopping experience at FSH during my May/Jun trip to Paris - I scored a K on my own on the first day and another B for my DM the following day(I queued up with her).
The VAT refund process of my K was smooth and swift as Global Blue credited the VAT refund to my credit card in one months' time. However, for my DM's VAT refund of the B, she's been waiting for 4 months (from 31st May to be exact) and there's still no refund to her credit card as of to date. I used the Refund Tracker on Global Blue's website to check the progress of my DM's VAT refund case, and strangely the comment from the Tracker was "no record". So, DM and I called the Global Blue customer services hotline just now and the CS said Hermes FSH had input my DM's credit card number wrongly in the system, hence Global Blue could not refund the VAT to my DM!!!
The CS then instructed us to provide a copy of my DM's identity proof to Global Blue, and once they verify my DM's identity, they will credit the VAT refund back into the correct credit card number provided by my DM.Both my DM and I find it totally unacceptable that H FSH input the wrong credit card number in the system. Honestly, shouldn't these critical details be automatically scanned into the system given the current technology? And even if such details are manually typed into the system, shouldn't they at least double-check it to confirm they have indeed entered the details accurately? I wonder if any other TPFers had similar experience as my DM?
Here's my VAT experience in Italy (Venice) yesterday. I submitted 3 forms; only 1 was from Hermès, and it was on a tape/receipt format and not like the 2 other forms with which I was familiar, but still came with the same Global Blue envelope addressed to Bratislava. I did put all 3 forms in one envelope, got tape from the Turkish Airlines ticket counter to ensure nothing would fall out since the envelope's stickiness was lacking, and dropped it in the post box at Venice Marco Polo airport - after obtaining customs stamps on all 3 of course. I expect the cc refund soon, but if there's a problem - TIA for all the valuable resources on this thread!
Something I found curious btw, is that the Venice H calculates 12% on everything, regardless of whether gold is included, and regardless of total spent. (By contrast, Céline offered 12.5% for purchases below 3K, then 14% 3-5K, and at 5K I believe it went up to I believe 16%.)
Something I found curious btw, is that the Venice H calculates 12% on everything, regardless of whether gold is included, and regardless of total spent. (By contrast, Céline offered 12.5% for purchases below 3K, then 14% 3-5K, and at 5K I believe it went up to I believe 16%.)
Just got back from Paris. I am attaching the picture of the Envelop used to mail Hermes tax forms and the Global Blue mailbox.