Not really, accepted by the kiosk and received but the refund was not automatically processed. They said they would return it to Hermes for processing and that would take 3 weeks. Now it's been quite a while, I waited 5 weeks to follow up and I have an email chain going with one rep from Global Blue. I haven't called, I like having the email thread. They have the record of the form and the amount, it just seems to be a problem.
Best way to 'detax' after H in Europe
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Not really, accepted by the kiosk and received but the refund was not automatically processed. They said they would return it to Hermes for processing and that would take 3 weeks. Now it's been quite a while, I waited 5 weeks to follow up and I have an email chain going with one rep from Global Blue. I haven't called, I like having the email thread. They have the record of the form and the amount, it just seems to be a problem.
Well here is my unhappy experience in Poland. The customs agent at WAW refused to stamp my global blue and premiere forms! He insisted that I needed to do it at the connecting flight airport. I told him I would be in the transit terminal and unable to go back out to the pre-security departure area between flights, but he refused to budge. So, no VAT refund for me. 
Not certain where you live but there may be hope...try the embassy or local consulate when you get home and explain the situation (if there is one near you). I Didnt get mine stamped in Switzerland (long story) and contacted the local consulate and they made it happen for me. Good luck!Well here is my unhappy experience in Poland. The customs agent at WAW refused to stamp my global blue and premiere forms! He insisted that I needed to do it at the connecting flight airport. I told him I would be in the transit terminal and unable to go back out to the pre-security departure area between flights, but he refused to budge. So, no VAT refund for me.
Thank you for the suggestion. I will research to see if we have a consulate near us.
I highly recommend doing that. You get slightly less at Chanel if you take cash but I decided it was worth it to avoid the headaches and potentially getting nothing which has happened to me before. I took cash from everyone other than Hermes this last trip, and I was happy with that process. I only wish Hermes would give cash too.
I've always done that. But now global blue started to charge cash refund (from fixed amount to percentage charge) and depending on how it works out for them, they "might" slowly change the policy on all their offices. Right now it's not consistent yet. In France it's lower percentage when you choose cash refund but not all European countries have the same policy. Some countries give you the same % cash or cc.
I'm currently still in process dealing with global blue. I'm almost certain now that they're the one that makes things complicated. I'll update once it's done.
My cash refund receipt showed a 3 euro per receipt charge for taking cash. I didn't check the exchange rate carefully. I just wanted to avoid the stress and I didn't really want to know the details. One way or another they are raking us over the coals. But at least I didn't have the aggravation.
This is the explanation I got from global blue on the exchange rate.
Original VAT refund amount: 229.20 EUR
Currency conversion fee applied: 5%
Amount to convert (excluding the currency conversion fee): 229.20EUR-11.46=217.74EUR
Daily conversion rate: 1.08827 (EUR to USD)
Payment amount: 217.74EUR* 1.08827 = 236.96 USD
Original VAT refund amount: 229.20 EUR
Currency conversion fee applied: 5%
Amount to convert (excluding the currency conversion fee): 229.20EUR-11.46=217.74EUR
Daily conversion rate: 1.08827 (EUR to USD)
Payment amount: 217.74EUR* 1.08827 = 236.96 USD
It used to be the same rate where I usually shop and they changed it to percentage fairly recently. Who knows if they'll change it in France too. And now their system just refuse to pay out when it exceeds a specific amount. And that's not the amount they stated on their website. (Mine is lower). Following the rules but not getting the result, that's stress. I'm really annoyed when they claim that "there's no fee when you get cc refund" whenever I ask for cash refund. It's totally not true. The fee is just hidden and much higher.
The whole thing makes my head hurt.
Is there a limit to how much they will give you as a cash refund? For one receipt or total receipts? If you go over what do they do?
Both. And each office has different limits too. Well if you think that's complicated enough, think about when they told you the system doesn't allow them to process it even though you're under the limit they claim on the website for that office.
They force you to go cc route if your over the limit.