12-08-2015, 08:56 AM
1
Duty Free Rebels
It made my day this morning when I read in the Daily Mail about Airline passengers refusing to show their boarding passes at duty-free shops after it emerged that retailers are making millions from tax discounts without lowering the prices for the customer !The growing revolt began at the weekend after passengers learned it was pointless to show boarding cards at checkouts because the only purpose is to allow the firms to avoid paying 20 per cent VAT on sales.
Millions of holidaymakers and business travellers apparently believed that they were legally obliged to comply with requests to scan their passes for security reasons or because they were getting money off goods.
It has meant frustrated passengers have for years endured the inconvenience of fumbling in bags or cases or even handing over their expensive phones containing their boarding pass to the shop assistant, all whilst stood in long queues and for no benefit for the customer at all.
But passengers were furious when it emerged that multi-million pound retailers only ask to see the travel documents to boost their profits. Items, including soft drinks, books, perfume and clothing, that are taken outside of the EU are exempt from VAT.
Firms avoid paying VAT if they produce evidence such as a scan of a boarding pass - but few of the retailers ever pass the saving on to customers.
Even more galling is as the poor customer, instead of getting the reduced price that they should be receiving, instead are assisting the greedy shops in obtaining a windfall gain.
It does state in my paper that although many retailers do pass this saving onto customers it is disappointing that some are choosing not to, Boots being one of the main culprits
Apparently, many passengers who have learned of this mean-spirited action by the airport shops in not passing on the savings to the customer, are now refusing to show their boarding cards in protest. Of course the shop assistants are using the security speech to insist on seeing the card but once the passengers inform the shop assistants that they know that they are only being asked solely for the shop to reclaim the VAT that is not being passed onto them for their purchase, the assistants have apparently been backing down and indeed confessing to the customer that it is indeed for that purpose only and then serving them without the boarding pass !!!
Well I never ! after all these years ! Still, if more and more people rebel and refuse to show their boarding cards in these major airport retailers, maybe shops such as Boots will do the right thing and pass on the savings to the customer. They are not doing anything illegal of course but morally????????
Would love to know your views on this, Would you be a rebel and protest by refusing to show your boarding card in future or would you meekly do as asked and show it, knowing that it is not for security reasons but simply as an opportunity for more profit for the shop at your expense if you were travelling outside the EU?
12-08-2015, 11:29 AM
6
Re: Duty Free Rebels
I won't either ! but I don't normally like going in duty free shops anyway. I have been in a permanent sulk ever since the EU (Grrrrrr !) did away with duty free for European travel. I noticed years ago that after that spiteful act, prices at airports became more expensive compared to high street prices. I particularly noted scandalously that items of 35ml prices were the same if not more than the high street price of a 200ml item in many cases !!!After that discovery I thought.... to hell with you lot, I'm never going to pay those prices again - and I never have - I made sure I bought every single thing I needed on the high street before I left on my travels, anything I forgot to buy, I waited until I reached my destination, which although was still more expensive than the UK, was predictably still cheaper than the duty free shops and stores at the UK airports. Yes Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool, I mean you !!
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