Guide : Buying Rolex in Europe

[hwaa]

On the contrary, refund in cash is usually the biggest hassle. Why?

1) U are getting less refund

2) In airports like Paris at T1, the cash refund counter is a nightmare. Its usually a long queue and quite chaotic. The customer service officers are a PIA to deal with.

3) Unless u need Euros or u intend to travel to Europe again, i cant see the need to refund in cash as u'll still have to change the Euros back to Sing dollars, suffering another round of exchange loss. In addition, for larger sums, u'll be carrying lots of cash back. Why expose yourself to such risks?

im thinking like if buy on behalf of friends leh? cash is the easiest way out right?

[pegasi]

I think refund by cash or credit card each has its pros & cons.

I read somewhere that the lead time for credit card refund is quite long, and in the case of any discrepancy on the amount (or worse not receiving the refund at all) the hassle to get it rectified could be bigger than queueing. I am not sure how often such mistakes occur but for me I prefer to queue to get the cash refund and settle it there and then, if time permits.

[pegasi]

I might have already mentioned in this thread (too many pages so lazy to check), for credit card refund you still need to get the form stamped by the customs officers at the airport. Quite often the queue for this process is longer than that for the cash refund, as there is only one customs counter but there could be more than one cash refund counter/company (plus some may opt to send the stamped form for cc refund).

There is a genuine risk that if you don't go to the airport early enough you may not even have time to get the goods inspected/form stamped resulting in not being able to claim the refund by cash or cc - please be aware of such risk when you are buying for friend or asking friend to buy for you.

[sys12345]

I have done quite a number of VAT refunds via credit card and so far, i have never experienced any issue. There are some things to take note for VAT refunds back into credit card:


1) You may be holding on to a no. of VAT refund forms and when u present them to the VAT refund officer, dont expect him/her to chop and organise them properly into their respective self addressed envelopes. Mark the forms and envelopes so that u dont get them mixed up before sending.

2) For high value items, after the officer has chopped on the form, take a picture of the form to show proof that the VAT form has been endorsed.


Whenever i visit Europe, i usually exit out from Paris. The VAT refund counters for credit cards are the ones with the least hassle. For cash refund, there are counters for refunding back into different currencies and there's always chaos and confusion over there.

I think refund by cash or credit card each has its pros & cons.

I read somewhere that the lead time for credit card refund is quite long, and in the case of any discrepancy on the amount (or worse not receiving the refund at all) the hassle to get it rectified could be bigger than queueing. I am not sure how often such mistakes occur but for me I prefer to queue to get the cash refund and settle it there and then, if time permits.

[sys12345]

Not true. Based on my experience, u will encounter more hassle dealing with cash refunds, not to mention as much as 5% difference between cash and credit card.


I know where u are coming from with regards to refunds back into credit card account. U cant take the refunded $$$ out as cash, giving u only credit dollars in your account. The way to go around this is to refund back into a different card, like a Master/Visa DEBIT card. That way, u can easily withdraw the $$$ from your savings account without incurring the penalty of a smaller refund. In addition, u dont need to carry so much $$$ with u and u are spared from the hassle of exchanging euro -> S$ and incurring an exchange loss in the process.

im thinking like if buy on behalf of friends leh? cash is the easiest way out right?

[pegasi]

I have done quite a number of VAT refunds via credit card and so far, i have never experienced any issue. There are some things to take note for VAT refunds back into credit card:


1) You may be holding on to a no. of VAT refund forms and when u present them to the VAT refund officer, dont expect him/her to chop and organise them properly into the respective self addressed envelopes. Mark the forms and envelopes so that u dont get them mixed up before sending.

2) For high value items, after the officer has chopped on the form, take a picture of the form to show proof that the VAT form has been endorsed.


Whenever i visit Europe, i usually exit out from Paris. The VAT refund counters for credit cards are the ones with the least hassle. For cash refund, there are counters for refunding back into different currencies and there's always chaos and confusion over there.

Yup those two are very good advices. I did claim via cc once before although I perfer cash, and I remember taking pic of the credit card slips/receipts too other than the stamped form.

It's always good to equip yourselve with knowledge of both modes in case you for some reason has to go with the mode you aren't originally intended to

[pegasi]

Not true. Based on my experience, u will encounter more hassle dealing with cash refunds, not to mention as much as 5% difference between cash and credit card.

Not sure if you would always get a much better deal from cc refund than from cash refund. What if you had paid for the goods in cash in the first place, say, in Euros? Wouldn't the refund back to your local cc account be eventually converted to SGD which mean you might still lose out owning to bank currency exchange, and more so if the difference is bigger than the service charge you would have paid for cash refund?

[snoop]

All valid points raised by the bros here.
At the end of the day, choose the option which is most preferred and comfortable to you.
The basis of my choice is that I never got back my credit card refund from a past experience. That's y I chose cash this time round, true more risky to carry cash but I'm already on flight home to SG.
Lastly, the key is to ensure all ur customs stamps are
Chopped correctly and ur name in passport correspond to all ur forms, I am quite clear I got this right as I went through the Paris customs. Then again, as mentioned by bro pegasi, they are really PIAs esp when they see a stack of receipts to do, not even sure if they are doin the correct thing with ur forms.
As for cc vs cash rebate rates, it varies from country to country on the EU I believe

[snoop]

Yea both cc and cash refunds are exposed to FX risk, it choice on which option gives u a better FX rate. CITI wAs eating me at least 5bps per trx

[sys12345]

I wouldnt be too concerned with losing out on the exchange rates for items purchased in cash because i will NEVER pay for any big ticket items with cash. Why?

1) Its not safe to carry large amount of cash while traveling in Europe, especially when u are going F&E to places like Italy and France. In addition, if u are traveling to countries with different currencies, why bother with too much euros, swiss francs, pounds, etc?!

2) Paying for big ticket items with your card helps u to earn points, cash rebates, etc. etc. I will typically use the card to pay for purchases that qualifies for a VAT rebate, keeping my cash only for transport, food, etc.

3) Should u discover any issue with the item(s) purchased with your card, there's still a recourse. If u've paid in full with cash, thats just too bad.

4) U get less when u opt for cash refund instead of card. As mentioned, the difference can be as much as 5%. For big ticket items, this 5% can be quite significant. It is certainly more than enough to offset the bank's exchange rate and service fee. Do not forget that the cash refunded in Euros, unless u intend to keep it in Euros, will also suffer an exchange loss upon converting it back to local currency.

Not sure if you would always get a much better deal from cc refund than from cash refund. What if you had paid for the goods in cash in the first place, say, in Euros? Wouldn't the refund back to your local cc account be eventually converted to SGD which mean you might still lose out owning to bank currency exchange, and more so if the difference is bigger than the service charge you would have paid for cash refund?

[sys12345]

Not true, even for VAT refunds in 5-digit figure... all typically within 1 month.


Care must be taken when completing and mailing out the VAT refund forms.

1) Ensure all relevant fields in the forms are duly completed.

2) Ensure that all forms are properly endorsed by the VAT refund officer

3) Ensure that the correct endorsed form goes back into its relevant mailer.

4) Ensure that the mailers are properly sealed!!! This is the part where u should bring along some glue (glue stick). It can be a PIA to look for glue at the airport, especially when u dont have the time. The QC on some mailers are not good, resulting in partial sealing of the mailer. The gap may result in the form slipping out from the mailer, which is as good as flushing your $$$ down the drain.

I think refund by cash or credit card each has its pros & cons.

I read somewhere that the lead time for credit card refund is quite long, and in the case of any discrepancy on the amount (or worse not receiving the refund at all) the hassle to get it rectified could be bigger than queueing. I am not sure how often such mistakes occur but for me I prefer to queue to get the cash refund and settle it there and then, if time permits.

[sys12345]

This is the part where u MUST remain focused and calm. U need to ensure u have sufficient time to do the VAT refund without missing your flight! Some officers are a PIA, insisting on checking every freaking item. It helps to ensure that the items are organised and easily available to show to the officer. When the officer throws the whole stack of forms back at u, dont stress yourself trying to sort them out with the respective mailer. Just make sure u have the correct number of forms returned and each form MUST be chopped. If not, politely request that the officer chops on any of the missed out forms. The whole process will be less of a hassle if there are 2 persons doing the task. One to remove, show and store the item(s) and another to handle all the forms.

All valid points raised by the bros here. Then again, as mentioned by bro pegasi, they are really PIAs esp when they see a stack of receipts to do, not even sure if they are doin the correct thing with ur forms.
As for cc vs cash rebate rates, it varies from country to country on the EU I believe

[profzhu]

i've lived in london and shopped there quite a bit. some shopping malls like selfidges do tax refunds on the spot for you for credit card. saves a tonne of trouble. some places like harrods combine everything into one single form for you, again saving you loads of trouble at the airport. from personal experience there is no difference between credit card and cash claim. the only difference is that for cash there is a processing fee and credit card takes 5 weeks.

[greenfunk]

Hi Guys, I've been researching the forums about buying a watch in Europe (specifically Paris)
and based on my calculations if i do manage to get a discount for it and if i also get my vat refund.
I could save about 2k as compared to Singapore AD.
But the thing is I may not be able to get the vat refund because I cannot reach the airport 3 hours ahead of my flight back to Singapore.
I've have been told that I can claim GST refund at Galleries La Fayette, but it wont be as high as the airport.

Do you think I should chance it and buy it overseas with the assumption that I could get my money back or just pay for the peace of mind in Singapore?

[evets]

Hi Guys, I've been researching the forums about buying a watch in Europe (specifically Paris)
and based on my calculations if i do manage to get a discount for it and if i also get my vat refund.
I could save about 2k as compared to Singapore AD.
But the thing is I may not be able to get the vat refund because I cannot reach the airport 3 hours ahead of my flight back to Singapore.
I've have been told that I can claim GST refund at Galleries La Fayette, but it wont be as high as the airport.

Do you think I should chance it and buy it overseas with the assumption that I could get my money back or just pay for the peace of mind in Singapore?

This post is quite a while back and still no response.

A colleague just came back from Europe and got a gmt, and was mentioned that it was 30% cheaper than singapore!

Didn't know the savings can be this much.