I tried to get a refund of VAT on a camera we bought there once. I waited in line, only to be told that you must have the proper paperwork filled out by the retailer. Showing them the receipt wasn't good enough. Of course, I had no paper work from the retailer. That was several years ago and we hadn't bothered since. But this time, Mark bought some hiking boots and the retailer suggested that we might like to get the VAT back. We watched as the clerk filled out the forms, put them in an envelope for us and told us we could either take it to the airport or complete the form and mail it in. Then he bought a wax coat and once again, the clerk suggested that we might like to claim the VAT. She handed us a sealed envelope and told us all we needed to do was drop it in the mail.
We knew from the first clerk that we needed to fill out our name, address and how we wanted to be paid - either a direct credit into a UK bank account or to a credit card, so we were a bit surprised when the next clerk handed us a sealed envelope, because she wouldn't be privy to that information.
So in the confines of the Clarence Hotel, we read up on what we needed to do to get our money back. It amounted to about 75 USD. (That will just about buy you a meal at the airport!) We were glad we opened the sealed envelope. The lazy clerk had not put any paperwork in it, just our receipt. If we'd mailed it, it would have been thrown out and there would have been no way to trace it. Ever.
After standing in line where the sign said "Reclaim Your VAT Here!" for 30 minutes, we were informed that we had to go across the hall and have the paperwork stamped by customs first. What?? Why didn't somebody mention this before I'd stood in line for 30 minutes? A question that was met with a bit of rudeness by the woman behind the counter. Anyway, Mark went to stand in line across the hall and in the interests of saving time, I went to the back of the same line I'd just been in.
I was half way back to the front of the line when I noticed Mark waving and mouthing words to me. I had absolutely no idea what message he was trying to convey other than one of utter disgust. I gave up my space in the line and went to see what he wanted.
It seems that since all the paperwork had my name on it, I would have to be the one to get the customs stamp. Fine. Mark stood around the terminal commiserating with an old geezer who'd lost his pajama cords he'd brought from India and I stood in the line to get the customs stamp on the forms.
It didn't take too long. I was asked a stupid question or two, then advised to make sure I had any items purchased ready for inspection next time (next time????) instead of packing them in my checked baggage. I took my paperwork and moved away from the window. It was then I noticed that the EWM receipt with all the VAT information on it had not been stamped. Back into the line - fortunately only one person ahead of me. Unfortunately, he was preparing to unpack his bag to show the customs agent everything he bought. Fortunately, she didn't really want to see it. I handed the receipt back to the customs agent noting that it hadn't been stamped. This is when I found out that the EWM clerk was just lazy. The receipt isn't good enough - you have to have the form filled out by the retailer. Now I'm genuinely upset with EWM. That clerk had to know that she'd given me nothing but a receipt and then put it in a sealed envelope and told me to mail it. So that's now a different issue, one which I shall take up with EWM.
But back to the mission of getting the VAT back for the hiking boots. I went over to stand in the 30-minute line again. It was looking a bit longer than it had earlier. About the time I was three people away from the front, a baby about halfway back decided she'd had enough of it and started to wail. Nothing her mother did amused her. She just wasn't a happy girl anymore. I knew how she felt. I'd now spent over an hour trying to get what was by that time about $30.
I was finally next in line when one of the workers had a break or maybe it was a shift change. The woman who'd been rude to me before was going to keep the person she had at her station until the other person called me. That was fine with me. I didn't want to have to deal with her either. But the other clerk had to wait for the computer to reboot. Then she had to check her email, and Facebook, and Twitter. God only knows what she was doing. It seemed like an eternity before she called me to her station.
This is the point where you find out that they take a sizable chunk of your refund as a processing fee. (Never mind that the sign says that you pay no commissions if you take the money in your home currency. Apparently processing fees and commissions are two different things.) We're probably down to somewhere around $25 now. Then you find out that if you want cash in hand, they will take an additional fee. If you choose to have the money put back on your credit card, there will be no additional fee, but you'll be waiting four to six weeks for it to process. Yes, that will be fine. I had now wasted nearly two hours of my life to get this money back and it kept dwindling. I was given an envelope and instructed to drop it into the box.
It's only been a couple of weeks, so I still haven't seen the money yet. I'm not confident that I ever will. And I suspect that if I do see any money, that it will not have been worth the nearly two hour wait (especially since a screaming baby was involved).
I suspect that Her Majesty uses the money that people are not successful in reclaiming to buy hats. I'm just happy my money is going to a good cause.
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