GMT Root beer CHNR in airport duty free

[APPRF]

I was at Heathrow terminal 3 nine hours ago, and was willing to buy a £10,000 watch I wanted for a while, and asked them if they could bundle a sports watch with it. The sales lady said they have nothing.

[Watchflair]

Wow incredible story - thanks for sharing. I lack will power so I would have pulled the trigger lol. I picked up a CHNR for my wife two weeks ago and she's in love with it.

[VacherObsessive]

Originally Posted by APPRF

I was at Heathrow terminal 3 nine hours ago, and was willing to buy a £10,000 watch I wanted for a while, and asked them if they could bundle a sports watch with it. The sales lady said they have nothing.

Perhaps next time you go back, you’ll be an existing customer! And you may get lucky

Also just saying Rolex sports randomly or like the other guy.. ‘got any GMTs?’, it sounds very sus and not genuine. The way you added on you wanted a Rolex sports indicates you may flip it to offset some of the £10k you just spent. Just running it from their perspective..

[VacherObsessive]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

sort of... non rolex is tax free equalivent within the EU. so its like a discount. I bought an AP that way once at Harrods at heathrow. I flew to brussels and back the same day. I never left the customs union AND i got the same price as if i was leaving


Flying out the the EU you are correct you have to declare when returning

HMRC is one of the most vigilant customs authorities i have encountered, I tried to get a refund on my Pt daytona when i was repatriating to the US. No dice as i didn't have my resident permit canceled yet with a letter from the home office stating it was cancelled. Luckily i had to go back anyway, so the second time i tried to get the refund they finally approved it with literally two days to spare on the time limit.

I would advise anyone to be extra careful with the UK tax authorities. Wouldn't surprise me if they monitored UK resident high value purchases made at the airport. Maybe not all the time but i have heard stories of people getting flagged on return for no reason and guess what, they had a brand new watch. How could they know?

One thing they do certainly look out for from people coming back from some USA destinations is guitars. Far easier to spot than watches ! They are sometimes half the price of the UK so you can save thousands if buying high end.

And vintage, well the USA has all the top vintage guitar selections and again, much much cheaper than the UK. People get busted all the time.

I think they put extra staff out on those flights.

Just like they put out heaps of staff out on incoming Chinese and Indian / Pakistani flights, to confiscate fruits and veg from the Indians (seen dozens of people getting raided time and time again in big groups) and to confiscate meds with endangered species as ingredients from the Chinese! Was reading the board in the airport this morning coming in. I think they are more concerned about those things than wrist watches. They they all low hanging fruit for their stats.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by VacherObsessive

One thing they do certainly look out for from people coming back from some USA destinations is guitars. Far easier to spot than watches ! They are sometimes half the price of the UK so you can save thousands if buying high end.

And vintage, well the USA has all the top vintage guitar selections and again, much much cheaper than the UK. People get busted all the time.

I think they put extra staff out on those flights.

Just like they put out heaps of staff out on incoming Chinese and Indian / Pakistani flights, to confiscate fruits and veg from the Indians (seen dozens of people getting raided time and time again in big groups) and to confiscate meds with endangered species as ingredients from the Chinese! Was reading the board in the airport this morning coming in. I think they are more concerned about those things than wrist watches. They they all low hanging fruit for their stats.

i have no idea if they do, but remember you scan your boarding pass at the airport shops. So how hard would it be for the government to get access to that? not very

they know who bought it and if they are coming back and when.

i cant imagine if they dont do it now, that they won't start in the future. Seems like an easy way to catch people

[ibz_s_b]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

i have no idea if they do, but remember you scan your boarding pass at the airport shops. So how hard would it be for the government to get access to that? not very

they know who bought it and if they are coming back and when.

i cant imagine if they dont do it now, that they won't start in the future. Seems like an easy way to catch people

It's true they purposely stop people on their return who may have bought from UK Duty Free.

In April 2017 flying out from Heathrow Terminal 3 I bought some Versace jewellery for my mum from Harrods and as you said they scan your boarding pass. On my return from the UAE, for the FIRST TIME in my life I got 'randomly stopped' and bags searched...lady pulls out the jewellery with box receipt etc and said this is more than £450 and I'm like yeah so? thinking the limit was like £1,000 plus etc.

WELL not many people know this but she gave me a leaflet and said the limit on which you then have to pay VAT on is something like £450. So that means if the shopping you do at the UK airport, whilst abroad during hols/business and at the airport in the other country exceeds £450 (FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS ONLY) then you have to pay VAT!!!

Like...that defeats the WHOLE purpose of Duty Free...anyway she said to me as you did not genuinely know the limit I will let you off this time but you've been warned...

[zewill]

Originally Posted by frequentflyer

I was in that AD twice this week, I asked if they had any GMT’s. They must have flat out lied to me. Shame on them! It’s turned into a pretty sad game recently.

If that is true, it is indeed VERY sad.

Maybe they just received them... (i'm trying to find excuses here... )

I can understand customer loyalty in a regular City AD, but in an airport? LOL.

[johnjm]

No FOMO here. High five.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[delboylee]

I passed T2 yesterday and I was about 10 minutes too late for an explorer 2. A guy had walked in and was finalising his explorer 2, white dial purchase. Lovely watch. Nice guys in WOS T2

Ps cool story

[VacherObsessive]

Originally Posted by zewill

If that is true, it is indeed VERY sad.

Maybe they just received them... (i'm trying to find excuses here... )

I can understand customer loyalty in a regular City AD, but in an airport? LOL.

If you use that airport every month, for years.. and always drop by (because nothing else to do ...). That’s a lot more time than most people spend in their local ADs.

Therefore The airport is indeed my local AD!

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by ibz_s_b

Like...that defeats the WHOLE purpose of Duty Free...anyway she said to me as you did not genuinely know the limit I will let you off this time but you've been warned...

not really. over the limit and it avoids double taxation. IE duty where you bought it + duty where you are importing it to.

Its a use tax. Payable to the jurisdiction where you are using it not necessarily where you bought it. Some countries have low import fees, some high. so it depends

Its only tax free if you break the law and import it wherever you are going and dont declare it. Unless the country doesnt charge for imports which would be rare.

[makrxx]

Originally Posted by VacherObsessive

I was in my regular london Rolex boutique (watches of Switzerland) in Heathrow airport that I always pop into to have a chat when I'm travelling for work, as I have bought 2 pieces from them in the past.

Any idea if one must be a regular at the Heathrow Boutique or any WoS? Have purchased 2 pieces from WoS in the city itself but not at Heathrow.

[JodyHighroller]

Originally Posted by makrxx

Any idea if one must be a regular at the Heathrow Boutique or any WoS? Have purchased 2 pieces from WoS in the city itself but not at Heathrow.

Their stores are connected to a CRM database. They can pull up your previous purchase history with no problem.

You’d be amazed of what notes they take down during your purchase. My first client advisor noted down my profession and everything. I didn’t know until two months ago when I visited, and they shared it with me when I left an “expression of interest”.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by makrxx

Any idea if one must be a regular at the Heathrow Boutique or any WoS? Have purchased 2 pieces from WoS in the city itself but not at Heathrow.

they all have access to your purchase history.

2 unfortunately isn't getting any special treatment

[brandrea]

Kudos for taking the pass

[johnnyjazz]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

i have no idea if they do, but remember you scan your boarding pass at the airport shops. So how hard would it be for the government to get access to that? not very

they know who bought it and if they are coming back and when.

i cant imagine if they dont do it now, that they won't start in the future. Seems like an easy way to catch people

I think some guitars have wood and inlays that are not allowed, endangered species and so.

[VacherObsessive]

Originally Posted by johnnyjazz

I think some guitars have wood and inlays that are not allowed, endangered species and so.

True, that is the new and even more rigorous reason. Specifically rosewood which now falls under CITES. Prior to this however it was purely a tax snatch