I'm currently in London, on the last day of my UK trip. Starting to get organized for the return flight tomorrow, departing Heathrow mid-day. I have a question or two about getting a VAT refund for some of the items we've purchased (not a lot, but enough to probably make the extra steps worthwhile). When we have bought VAT-refund-eligible items (as we've been told, over £30 at a single merchant), we've been told we can process the refund at Heathrow before departure (assuming we have all the receipts including the special VAT refund receipts). In Ricks book, I see him say you have to do stuff at the airport and then go back to the merchant and get the refund from them (?!). That sounds crazy. Is this just old/incorrect info? I'm not going back to Orkney to get the VAT refunded for my Highland Park single malt....
Can't I do all the paperwork and get the refund at the airport? I'm planning an hour to find them and process it, will have all the receipts and the goods themselves available for inspection (before we check our bags).
Thanks for any tips.