Best way to 'detax' after H in Europe

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#721
An update on my refunds. Premier tax shows payment pending for the forms I dropped in CDG on May 17th. Global blue has been giving an error while trying to track. So, I called them and the CS told me that 2 of my forms were not received but, show that they were succeasfully scanned in Pablo. I don't understand how that's possible when I dropped all the forms together. Anyways, she sent me a reissue form and asked me to fill that out and send it back with a copy of my Passport(which I did the same day). Now waiting for my refunds.

On the refund exchange rate, I've always seen global blue giving back much less than premier tax. If the euro was at 1.05, global blue would give back at a .99 sometimes. Never bothered to ask why though and I've always used Visa credit cards for refunds(no forex fees either)
 
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#722
cavalla said:
Processing time is shorter with Visa, that's consistent with my little survey, that's why I only brought up the exchange rate. I didn't see conversion rate comparison on this thread other than a relatively general expression of feeling satisfied, but I might have missed it. I was doing the survey hoping that I could get a confirmation that I can go ahead with the refund going to my Chase for a bigger bill, so I was quite disappointed to hear the results to be honest. Another reason why I don't trust global blue much is that from my experiences, especially in the past 2 years, not all their information on the website is up to date / accurate. On the website it says you can get X € per form or Y € per passport per day for cash refund but in reality the computer wouldn't process it even at a <X amount, and the Y is not so consistent. Some days it goes through and some days it only takes a <Y amount.

I think it is still on topic to discuss if it's better to have the cc refund going to visa or Amex or master, or if it's worth it at all to do cc refund in Europe (for those who shop in countries other than France). So I'm bringing up my discovery / thoughts / doubts. I want to know too.
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I really do appreciate your thoughts. I don't know either so I'm in the same boat. I chose to take a bit less and get cash from Chanel just to not have to deal with the hassle. I never worried about the exchange rate nonsense with Amex until the processing time became an issue. That bothers me more than anything. I don't have the time to keep following up on the refunds.
 
#723
One other thought: my RTW SA at FSH offered to ship to me. It would be tax free and I wouldn't have to go through the refund process. I have done this from Chanel. You get more off than the standard vat refund but US customs charges you the full rate not the courtesy airport rate. So you probably break even, you don't have to go through the vat process or carry everything home. I do not know if FSH will do this with anything like bags or how much they take off if you ship things home but maybe it's worth looking into.
 
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#724
bagreedy said:
An update on my refunds. Premier tax shows payment pending for the forms I dropped in CDG on May 17th. Global blue has been giving an error while trying to track. So, I called them and the CS told me that 2 of my forms were not received but, show that they were succeasfully scanned in Pablo. I don't understand how that's possible when I dropped all the forms together. Anyways, she sent me a reissue form and asked me to fill that out and send it back with a copy of my Passport(which I did the same day). Now waiting for my refunds.

On the refund exchange rate, I've always seen global blue giving back much less than premier tax. If the euro was at 1.05, global blue would give back at a .99 sometimes. Never bothered to ask why though and I've always used Visa credit cards for refunds(no forex fees either)
Click to expand...

Interesting. Last time I compared the two, I noticed that Chanel (premier tax free) is giving me a higher refund % than H (global blue). But I believe here you're saying that the euro to usd conversion rate is also better with premier tax free too.
 
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#725
Has anyone been able to check on Global Blue any tax refund status? Anytime I use an tracking number to track the refund status, I am left with this error message: There is a problem with the remote service; the support team was informed

This message has been going on for at least 10 days for me.

Thanks!
 
#726
Hi!

It happened to me before . Do you happen to have a photocopy of your tax refund slip or the tax refund slip's number? ? If yes, you can contact global Blue to find out more details from them. Personally i prefer contact them via facebook message as its always within 1 business day or you can email them as well . Hope this helps


lovetheduns said:
Has anyone been able to check on Global Blue any tax refund status? Anytime I use an tracking number to track the refund status, I am left with this error message: There is a problem with the remote service; the support team was informed

This message has been going on for at least 10 days for me.
Click to expand...
 
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#727
ladyshi said:
Hi!

It happened to me before . Do you happen to have a photocopy of your tax refund slip or the tax refund slip's number? ? If yes, you can contact global Blue to find out more details from them. Personally i prefer contact them via facebook message as its always within 1 business day or you can email them as well . Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Good idea!

I left France on May 16th and my 2 Galeries Lafayette items paid out super fast. All of my Global Blue and Premier Tax still have not processed. I figured maybe by the end of this month I should see something (all coming back to Visa and MasterCard).
 
#728
cavalla said:
Interesting. Last time I compared the two, I noticed that Chanel (premier tax free) is giving me a higher refund % than H (global blue). But I believe here you're saying that the euro to usd conversion rate is also better with premier tax free too.
Click to expand...

Just got one refund for Premier tax of 306.60€, in $ 321.60. the exchange rate is 1.04.
 
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#730
Pocketbook Pup said:
One other thought: my RTW SA at FSH offered to ship to me. It would be tax free and I wouldn't have to go through the refund process. I have done this from Chanel. You get more off than the standard vat refund but US customs charges you the full rate not the courtesy airport rate. So you probably break even, you don't have to go through the vat process or carry everything home. I do not know if FSH will do this with anything like bags or how much they take off if you ship things home but maybe it's worth looking into.
Click to expand...

Oh and that tax sometimes ends up so high. I say sometimes as it is very inconsistent, as I once had a London Chanel send me a bag and nothing was charged. The custom did open to check it, evidenced by the way they repacked it very sloppily. But they never billed me for that bag.

If shipping is done with a company like UPS, they tack on quite a shocking "handling fee." With that fee added, the last time I had Gucci send me a couple sweaters, it felt like having paid at around 20% rate. They still ended up being much cheaper due to European price differences but yikes. I know H doesn't use UPS so at least that's great.

Still, I love having things shipped. I usually end up paying less that way, even with duty. And having less to pack and carry is always great, especially when I usually travel with just a carry on luggage.
 
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#731
NanamiRyu said:
Oh and that tax sometimes ends up so high. I say sometimes as it is very inconsistent, as I once had a London Chanel send me a bag and nothing was charged. The custom did open to check it, evidenced by the way they repacked it very sloppily. But they never billed me for that bag.

If shipping is done with a company like UPS, they tack on quite a shocking "handling fee." With that fee added, the last time I had Gucci send me a couple sweaters, it felt like having paid at around 20% rate. They still ended up being much cheaper due to European price differences but yikes. I know H doesn't use UPS so at least that's great.

Still, I love having things shipped. I usually end up paying less that way, even with duty. And having less to pack and carry is always great, especially when I usually travel with just a carry on luggage.
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I'll give my example: I had a chanel dress shipped from France. They took if 17.6% for tax. They shipped via FedEx. I paid 13% US duty. When I carry things in they give 11% cash at the airport or 14% on your credit card. I paid 3% US duty. On my last trip I decided that carrying it and taking cash at the airport was a good compromise. I wish Hermes would just give cash at the airport even if it was a few dollars less.
 
#732
Another refund from Premier tax came through today. When I called BoA(my visa is thru them), they told me that the rate set by Boa was 1.0546. I asked them why when I made purchases I got a rate which was close to what xe.com shows vs the rate I'm getting for credits, they didn't have an answer and were unable to understand the tax refund process
 
#733
NanamiRyu said:
PdP, all my refunds from April came back with amount somewhat less than I expected. I don't know why, as value of euro actually went up tiny bit since the trip, but that's how they showed up in my accounts. Some were charged on Amex. Some were charged on visa. You reminded me to call the companies and inquire what is happening with those.

I wasn't aware there was the option to choose store credit. I think I'll definitely want to go ahead that route as I've had bits of problems with H refunds in the past. I would report back how it goes, provided I score some H goodies for my upcoming trip.

My sister still did not receive the refund for her K purchase in April btw. After contacting global blue, they wrote back something along the line it had a problem with export regulation and directed to contact them. I'm thinking they are saying this as that was the single item Pablo didn't scan and needed to see the agent, like your experiences in the past.
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Yesterday, I asked my SA in Germany about getting store credit instead of the VAT refund. His brow furrowed, and he said he's never heard of that. [emoji848]
 
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