Fexco Horizon Taxfree Card Ripoff

so why didn't you post your comments in the Tourist Scams Forum instead of the Trip Report Forum? Do you want to tell us any more about a trip you took?

Filing deadline? Which filing deadline? US Taxes? If so, that would have been less than 3 weeks ago. 60 days is a long way off. What does a filing deadline have to do with using a card?

Or am I misunderstanding something here?

It appears that it's a card you can get in Ireland that makes it easier to shop and get your VAT tax refund without filling out a bunch of individual forms. It looks like you just present the card at their booths in the airports when flying out and get your tax refund on the spot. I've never heard of it before but I guess it makes sense. I am inclined to believe all of the information about filing deadlines and administrative fees etc. are spelled out in the agreement before you get the card - probably in small print, but still there. The whole card idea may be a scam but it doesn't look like it. I think the poster just didn't understand what they were signing up for.

If you think it's great, then sign up for it. We're sorry we did. The additional "small print" came 10 days later after leaving Ireland, by email after, we started using the card. No accident I'm sure. The rules are arcane, complex, and time consuming and cost more to comply with (notary fees, postage etc.) than you save. It possible to theoretically comply with the "Terms", but it's not likely that most will.

We were not aware that there was a "Tourist Scams Forum ". We are new here.

And the 60 days starts after the last use of the card. With the 10 day email receipt, you probably have already passed through the Irish customs last facility. We had. We're already toasted.

I guess my question would be what made you sign up for it in the first place? Remember PT Barnum?

Totally unfortunate that this ruined what I hope was a visit to a lovely country.

I have to agree with Claudia, why would anybody sign up for any card (or any service for that matter) without knowing all the terms beforehand?

I don't think anyone said anything about it being 'great' - I doubt if anyone here has even heard about it.

We were encouraged to enroll at the Guinness Brewery gift shop in Dublin. They even created our account as a courtesy. NOT!!! The true information about the "service" didn't surface till the email came and we started doing a Web search on it. Ugh. Difficult to recover from. I suspect they are concerned that we will try to block their 4% commission and the recovery of original vat tax refunds we received.
There was a big push there to get people to enroll. It seemed a good ideal till the email came. We're sure more will be said about it. The card is cross referenced with the credit card you use. I'll bet the card doesnt work if you pay cash. We never tried.

If this is indeed a scam and a fraudulent purchase that you made, and it appears that you paid for this with and linked it to your credit card, then shouldn't you be reporting this to your credit card company as a problem with a purchase that you made with their card, and that you need them to intercede and get you a refund?

We have pondered what to do. Technically it's legal. It's just so impractical and difficult to comply with. We have about 53 days to comply. We're on our way to Iceland but should be home with about 30 days to go. We can afford the charges (it works out to about 12% apr on the amount refunded, which they also take back), its just knowing this happened. Shame on Guinness for promoting it. Had my last one.

I wrote my Irish comments in this tablets email and would like to share them, but i cant get them to copy/paste properly. So this will have to wait till we get home.
Bill