Best way to 'detax' after H in Europe

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#766
Oh! And one more thing. The limit for the total amount is not consistent either. This happened to me. One day it would process X and another day it would only process Y. Who knows why.
 
#767
Oh goodness. It makes shopping abroad less appealing. The euro is starting to rise and I have collected most of the things I wanted so I'm really going to think carefully about my purchases now. The whole thing is a mess.
 
#768
We were just having this same conversation at my house! With the rising Euro and VAT drama it definitely makes shopping abroad less appealing. I also have a lot of on my H wishlist as far as big items go.
 
#769
Pocketbook Pup said:
That's very odd. I hope you receive it eventually. I gave up on a small refund from Chanel last year but I'm relieved that this larger one was processed. Praying they decide to give cash at the airport someday.
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Just wanted to report that I did finally receive my missing $181 today, I had kept all my emails and sent a somewhat scathing reply to the latest email from a month ago that assured I was the highest priority. I said that it sure didn't feel that way and poof-there's the refund!
 
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#770
MrsOwen3 said:
Just wanted to report that I did finally receive my missing $181 today, I had kept all my emails and sent a somewhat scathing reply to the latest email from a month ago that assured I was the highest priority. I said that it sure didn't feel that way and poof-there's the refund!
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Good to hear. It's frustrating to say the least.
 
#771
I am happy to report that I received my refunds today from my trip at the end of May. The Global Blue Refund Tracker interface looks different, suggesting Global Blue upgraded their IT systems.

While I am glad i got the refund without incident, the exchange rate was horrific. They are definitely charging extra fees.
 
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#772
At Porto airport, the customs guy directed me to the exchange desk where I could either pay 3 euros each receipt and get cash or 'no fee' to get it back on my CC in 3-6 weeks.

In the past I've noticed the unfavourable multiple exchange rates and missing $$ discrepancy when the refund eventually showed up, so I took cash this time. Even for my H purchases, but they were smaller items.

I figured I can keep the Euros for my next trip.
 
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#775
Genie27 said:
At Porto airport, the customs guy directed me to the exchange desk where I could either pay 3 euros each receipt and get cash or 'no fee' to get it back on my CC in 3-6 weeks.

In the past I've noticed the unfavourable multiple exchange rates and missing $$ discrepancy when the refund eventually showed up, so I took cash this time. Even for my H purchases, but they were smaller items.

I figured I can keep the Euros for my next trip.
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Whenever they say "no fee" when I choose cc refund, I roll my eyes (in my mind). But they're really trying to push people to take the cc refund these days.


bagreedy said:
I still haven't received my Hermes refund from May17th drop off. Ugh!
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Call them. Usually if I have to mail the form, I mail it registered with tracking number with my own choice of carrier.
 
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#777
I want to report that I finally got my higher (but not crazy high) tax refund in cash back. A lot of chasing required. Called and emailed. During the process global blue claimed that it was held by the merchant, i.e., H. So SM called the refund office to have them release the fund as global blue suggested. Of course the issue didn't come from the merchant. So it didn't get solved. Then they said the problem was from the refund office and they couldn't get ahold of the manager of the office - who ironically H SM easily got connected to within minutes. So more chasing involved then voila all of a sudden there's no more issue in the system. Cash, no fee.

Keep chasing but be polite that's my conclusion.
 
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#778
I would like to share my experience with tax refund as well. My last trip to Paris in May, I sent out total of 6 tax refund forms from different stores, 3 of them got scanned by the officer.
Fast forward, I got 5 refund amounts back to my account last week but missing one, the highest amount one, about 800e and the tracker system couldn't find my info anywhere. I did freak out a bit thinking maybe he mis-scanned it.
Guess what, I found their Facebook page and messaged the Global Blue via Facebook messenger and within an hour they responded back to me, informed that form did get scanned but somehow didn't automatically transfer to their system so they manually entered my info in the system right away when they got my message, confirming they are gonna process my refund back to my credit card and I should receive it soon.
The whole process is extremely fast, I'm quite surprised that I got responses via Facebook messager right away, and don't have to call them at all :)
 
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#779
boboxu said:
I would like to share my experience with tax refund as well. My last trip to Paris in May, I sent out total of 6 tax refund forms from different stores, 3 of them got scanned by the officer.
Fast forward, I got 5 refund amounts back to my account last week but missing one, the highest amount one, about 800e and the tracker system couldn't find my info anywhere. I did freak out a bit thinking maybe he mis-scanned it.
Guess what, I found their Facebook page and messaged the Global Blue via Facebook messenger and within an hour they responded back to me, informed that form did get scanned but somehow didn't automatically transfer to their system so they manually entered my info in the system right away when they got my message, confirming they are gonna process my refund back to my credit card and I should receive it soon.
The whole process is extremely fast, I'm quite surprised that I got responses via Facebook messager right away, and don't have to call them at all :)
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Good to know about Facebook although I'm not on Facebook. This is supposedly what happened to my form that caused a three week delay that turned out to be a four week delay. So it's good to stay on top of the agent scanned forms.
 
#780
I left France on 06/02/17. My last trip was in early 2014 when there was no Pablo (electronic customs machines) yet. So, I really like the new process - even though I still had to line up and get my B inspected and paper manually stamped - as mentioned here. My small Chanel purchases were e-approved by Pablo right away (ie $2k).

My flight was at 10:30am but I arrived at CDG around 6:30am just in case the customs area was busy. Air France's check in area was not even open yet. There was hardly anyone there at the customs office - no line.

Back in the day, after the customs stamp, you had to search for a yellow mailbox in the airport. I was searching around for awhile before I asked someone. Duh - it's now a clear box right in front of the customs area (there are several). It's so simple now vs the old days.

Fast forward, I received the Chanel refund on 06/14 (less than 2 weeks).

The Hermes refund just arrived today - roughly 6 weeks.

Thanks for the tip - I took photos of the paperwork before turning it in just in case something went hay wire.

Cannot wait until next trip now that I am a pro.
 
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