Originally Posted by
rasheed
I really don't believe the refund was processed in EUR, but in USD. In summary, Global Blue gets to decide what bogus exchange rate to use for the card refund. I think the card refund is still better than the instant cash and commission there, but not by much. It is stated in the fine print, but they don't disclose the rate.
Essentially, from 21% vat original, you will get only 10 to 12% back.
The whole situation feels like a sham, but I know most people feel something is better than nothing.
My refunds are still procesing, but here are some examples.
Premier Tax Free (likely same as Planet Tax Free)
IVA 116.28 EUR
Expected 85.50 EUR
Posted card credit 86.19 USD
Planet Tax Free
IVA 24.16 EUR
Expected 16.50 EUR
Posted card credit 16.63 USD
Global Blue
IVA 23.70 EUR
Expected 16.84 EUR
Posted card credit 17.43 USD
Global Blue
IVA 10.16 EUR
Expected 6.14 EUR
Posted card credit 6.25 USD
I just had the exact same thing happen. Very dishonest! I wondered why so many people were asking for cash refunds at the airport. They run you through the ringer to get it. They customs officers make you show every single item that you purchased, so you would have to haul all of that stuff to the window to make it happen. Then you get screwed by the bank on depositing the cash when returning home anyway. I am just going to take a breath and enjoy what we bought. We still got some money back, but I just paid some bonuses for the Global Blue folks! Enjoy a few hundred pints on me, fellas!