Thank you very much! I'm hoping I can do it in Nice and not Frankfurt, since they have those same kiosks that are in Paris. Makes it super convenient!
Best way to 'detax' after H in Europe
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Thank you very much! I'm hoping I can do it in Nice and not Frankfurt, since they have those same kiosks that are in Paris. Makes it super convenient!
You can detaxe in Nice, since if I understand correctly you are only connecting through Frankfurt.
This post is some months old, but when I was pondering a large purchase at VCA milan and at Bulgari in rome, I was told that I would get the maximum VAT back. Also, that someone would meet me at the airport customs to expedite paperwork. I didn’t go through with either purchase, but yes, it did seem like the larger the amount, the bigger the refund.
Wanted to share our experience with the VAT refund process leaving Paris. We had all of our forms from Hermes and LV and used the Pablo Kiosk per the instructions on the VAT envelopes that the merchants give you with the paperwork and receipts. We
departed from Gare du Nord as we were headed to London on the Eurostar. The kiosks are after security but before you enter the main part of the departure area. We scanned receipts, got the green “ok” check mark on each and got ready to move on. An officer came out of the office and said he needed to see the Hermes bag. We had all the goods with us and he had us open the box. He looked at the Kelly, the paperwork and passport and said we were
good. He didn’t look at the other items. They did not require us to mail the forms. We requested a refund to our credit card and 20 days later, the credits showed up on our statement.
We did get stopped after arriving in London by an officer who noticed the large shopping bag. He made us show him our passports to prove we were not British citizens and reminded us to declare our purchases once we arrived in the US. We would never not declare.
Hope this helps.
departed from Gare du Nord as we were headed to London on the Eurostar. The kiosks are after security but before you enter the main part of the departure area. We scanned receipts, got the green “ok” check mark on each and got ready to move on. An officer came out of the office and said he needed to see the Hermes bag. We had all the goods with us and he had us open the box. He looked at the Kelly, the paperwork and passport and said we were
good. He didn’t look at the other items. They did not require us to mail the forms. We requested a refund to our credit card and 20 days later, the credits showed up on our statement.
We did get stopped after arriving in London by an officer who noticed the large shopping bag. He made us show him our passports to prove we were not British citizens and reminded us to declare our purchases once we arrived in the US. We would never not declare.
Hope this helps.
How many weeks have people generally waited for their refunds? I have some items that still say “waiting for electronic validation” (or something like that) but they were physically stamped by a customs officer and put in a global blue box weeks ago.
I bought some items from Hermes Sevres last June and had to get a physical stamp at CDG airport b/c of the high purchase amount. From the time my refund form was stamped by the customs officer, it took a little over a week or so to receive the refund which was credited back to my cc. I also bought some items at Bon Marche and it took about a full month from the time the refund form was electronically scanned for validation until the refund hit my cc. If it's been over a month, I would follow up with the tax refund company to get a status update.
Oof. I am worried my tax refunds have been messed up. 😢😢 The customs officer did not understand what was going on because we flew out of a different eu country.
Oh I see...I'm not a legal expert on this issue, but my understanding is that you're supposed to get your forms stamped by the customs officer in the last EU country you leave so I don't know what happens if you get your form stamped in france but subsequently fly out of a different EU country.
I typically receive Global Blue refunds within a week or so. Planet and SolPay take longer in my experience (3-4 weeks or so historically).
Correct - exactly what I have understood. We did not get stamped in France because we went to another eu country after France. Then the customs officer in the second country seemed confused - this my fear!!
Just want to leave a quick update about my non existant refund. It has now been 7 weeks. No refund. Contacted global blue customer service and they said “it takes 5-7 weeks.”
So this is a reminder to take pictures of every single form before you drop them in the box so you have access to all the info. Not sure it will help in the end if they have messed up but 🤞
So this is a reminder to take pictures of every single form before you drop them in the box so you have access to all the info. Not sure it will help in the end if they have messed up but 🤞
@Letter , when we flew out of Rome (I avoid Rome bc I hate the airport there) , we had to go to a different line altogether to get stamped for items we bought in Portugal. . . .and, it was not at all clear; or, at least that’s my vague recollection. . So sorry this is happening to you. Perhaps Amex might have some info as to the process? Idk.
Global Blue - has anyone had the experience of their tax refunds not working? I have one that I witnessed the customs officer stamp and sign that still says “waiting customs stamp” seven weeks past departure. Several others also still say waiting customs stamp as well (they were less than 2000€ and I was instructed to place them in the mailbox and the customs officers stamps them and forward later. Global blue customer service says to wait but it has been seven weeks!!