Review Time
In japan you get all of your tax refund on the spot. 10%.
But with pie vat, they charge ridiculous 3% on the tax exempt total,
Then they have balls to charge you even again another 200-300 to refund the amount.
On the sheet they say fee of 1.5%.
But it is 3%.
I feel cheated, handling fees should be 3% of the tax refund not on the pre tax amount.
Oh yeh you need download the app and submit your info to them as well.
Tax refunds was a painless before they came to solve the problem for business 'problem'.
If you see pie vat in a shop refuse it and go elsewhere.
In japan you get all of your tax refund on the spot. 10%.But with pie vat, they charge ridiculous 3% on the tax exempt total, Then they have balls to charge you even again another 200-300 to refund the amount.On the sheet they say fee of 1.5%.But it is 3%.I feel cheated, handling fees should be 3% of the tax refund not on the pre tax amount.Oh yeh you need download the app and submit your info to them as well.Tax refunds was a painless before they came to solve the problem for business 'problem'.If you see pie vat in a shop refuse it and go elsewhere.
The App is awful and no one from their support team ever responds to messages raised in app or via email (raised the issue to their support email address they advise issues to be escalated to)VAT claim raised on the 23rd Feb 2026. It is now 20th March 2026 and VAT refund still not yet processed after 25 days since raising the claim. Customer support is shocking and absolutely nonexistent despite advertising refund claims are usually processed within 1 day. Shocking and awful experience
The experience with the app is so-so, my experience with the customer service is excellent! The app did not work on my mobile (iOS Version) so I used it on my macbook. I could not upload product pictures due to geolocation error so I contacted the customer service. Terry was very helpful and the issue was resolved immediately. This was a positive surprise! However for a one-time service I find it easier the oldfashioned way (to hand in the receipt with your bank details at the airport) but that's a question of taste...
I made three tax-free purchases during a recent trip to Japan, and two of them went exactly as expected.At BicCamera, I showed my passport and the sale was automatically processed without tax.At Muji, I went to the tax-free counter, presented my passport, and again the tax was simply removed at checkout.Then came Montbell, where things took an ugly—and frankly deceptive—turn.Montbell had clear signage advertising tax-free shopping. My purchase totaled 30,500¥, well above the tax-free threshold. Yet I was told that my passport “wasn’t valid” for the standard procedure. Instead, I would have to pay the full tax-included price and use an outside service called PieVAT to claim the refund.So, right there in front of the clerk—while holding up an increasingly annoyed line—I downloaded PieVAT. The app required me to scan my passport (a major red flag given current global data-breach trends) and upload a receipt. And then came the catch: I would not receive the full tax refund. PieVAT keeps 30% of the refund as their fee.The clerk tried to assure me that I was “only losing 3%.”Nonsense. I was losing 30% of my refund.There’s no way to spin that as anything other than a significant and unnecessary loss.If Montbell advertises tax-free shopping, there should not be a third-party intermediary taking a 30% cut of my legally entitled refund. Whether or not it meets the letter of the law, it certainly violates the spirit of what “tax-free” means to customers.Now, regarding PieVAT itself: I have no reason to trust that they can adequately safeguard my passport data. I hope they can—but given the constant stream of corporate breaches in the news, that hope is thin. The only positive thing I can say is that they did issue the refund—70% of it—five days later, and the amount was correct.(Helpful tip: if you do end up stuck using PieVAT, request the refund in the original transaction currency and let your credit-card company handle the conversion.)If my wife hadn’t really wanted the coat, I would have walked out of Montbell. As it stands, I feel I was robbed of 30% of my rightful refund by PieVAT.Will I ever use PieVAT again? Absolutely not.And I strongly recommend shopping only at stores that process truly tax-free purchases at the register—no third-party detours, no commissions, no unpleasant surprises.
You need to GIVE AWAY ALL YOUR PERSONAL DATA in ONE PLACE !! They request : Credit card number, +expiry +verification code, Passport full scan including your own photo, passport number, address, date of birth etc... Full address, email, tel number etc... A complete DATA & IDENTITY THEFT would then be possible for any hacker getting into their system. If you want to erase your data after installing the app: Impossible, in their rules they tell you they will keep your data for 7 years no matter what... and they seem to be incorporated in the State of Delaware (USA) which protects companies very well. My opinion: Do not use unless the amount of claim is substantial.
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A fully digitized end-to-end product where merchants can facilitate, and consumers can claim, VAT refunds hassle-free at the touch of a button on their mobile devices.
