Harrods

Never goto Harrods around Christmas! We went two days before Christmas and the day after and I can tell you it was extremely crowded. So crowded that you could not even look at items. It was a mad house of people just trying to get from one room to the other. Skip it around Christmas!

Harrods deal in real fur and I didn't know this until I went there. I have written to them asking them why. I do not condone the fur trade and so I will NEVER patronise Harrods again. Real fur is barbaric and animals suffer the most agonising and horrific death so their fur can be sold at places like Harrods. Do not shop there if you hate cruelty to animals

I love department stores. There aren't that many left in the US anymore of your good old-fashioned upscale department stores. Harrods is not only upscale, it has everything and displays it with the most advanced technology and trendy flair around! We had a blast walking thru the store and seeing all the beautiful wares on display. The food section is incredible and very packed with customers. We were there right before Easter and got to see all the wonderful Easter goodies being sold in the chocolate section and other food sections. We wanted to sit at the coffee bar there but it was full. There are cafes on every floor. We stopped at a cafe on the fifth floor and my husband had a banana/orange juiced drink that cost approx $10USD!!! That was our first clue that this wasn't an inexpensive place to loll away the afternoon. Don't eat or drink at Harrods unless you have money to spare. Also, educate yourself on the VAT tax before you shop at Harrods. My husband bought a backpack on 3/14/08 for 64.99BP which was approximately $135.23USD. VAT tax is 17.5 percent. The staff at Harrods sent us to the VAT tax department where a very well dressed woman took care of our paperwork which we thought meant they were filling out as much of the form as they could as a courtesy to save us the trouble since we had spent our money in their store. Not so! As we were walking away we looked at the form. They had charged us approximately. 6.0BP to fill out the form and we were getting back 3.0BP. The VAT tax is 17.5% but when they figure it on the forms it is around 14%(a fee they state), THEN they take out an additional amount to fill out the form. To make a long story short, we spent 64.99BP and our VAT tax refund was 3.0BP when the VAT tax is 17.5%! Does this make sense to you? Me either. A kind Harrods employee explained very eloquently how Harrods figures up the VAT tax but Einstein's theory of relatively is less complicated. Overall experience at Harrods? It's fun! Lots to look at, including the incredibly tacky Diana/Dodi display, just don't spend unless you've won the Lotto or want to take an equity loan out on your house. Three words: Expensive but fun! Forgot to add: If you are looking for a toast rack or the little tiny used tea bag holders, go elsewhere. Not a very good selection. Only tea bag holders the staff could find had Harrods written on it.