This place is a mess. I got to the line 2 hours ago and my paperwork finally being done. At two of the 30-ish stores, I purchased less than €175 worth items. So I had to combine those purchases to get the refund here. Little did I know it would take 2 hours! It’s not worth my precious time.. only the listed brands alow this combination of receipts for refund. There should be sign that shows how long the wait is from which point of line so that people who doesn’t want to wait don’t waste the time nor hold up the line. Better system please! efficiency please!! Loved the employees (3 Chinese women) working here though.

Crowded, very crowded many tourist (mostly Asian) purchasing luxury items. Most of the brands carried in the store are high end luxury brands with high prices. BEWARE of fake sales and %discounts. I was shocked to find that the sale prices 20%-60% off sale items did not apply to non EU tourists. Sadly we had shopped and purchased some items before we became aware of this rip off of non eu tourists, once we found out we left the store. SO if you are from any country outside the European Union you cannot get the posted sale price, you would pay full price even if it was marked as a % off. The clerk said this would end after the holiday season (when all the tourist go home). Also, keep in mind the "tax refund" is not the full amount that you pay in tax. The vat tax is about 20% and you get about 12% back. You must jump though many hoops to get it back. First, you need to "claim" the tax refund and get the form from the store. Second, you must take the items you purchased and the form to the customs officer in the airport to get validated (remember you must have the items with tags out at the airport), and show the form, AND the items with the sales tags attached (if you packed the items in the luggage you do not get the form validated) and after all this, Third, you must mail the form back to the store, if the store does not receive it NO REFUND. By the way many items do not qualify for the tax refund, brands such as Rolex and LV and others.

We visited La Vallee in mid November on Sunday and spent 4-5 hours of shopping there. When we reached there at noon, it was not crowded at all but towards the late afternoon, it got crowded. Each shop is air-conditioned but to move from one shop to another, you have to walk under the sun or rain (for us, it was raining that day). The shops are not linked. Neither are they in a shopping mall. We found many brands there and the most popular ones are LongChamp, Polo Ralph (the most crowded shop in La Vallee I believe), Timberland, Armani, Burberry, UGG, and many more, I found LongChamp cheaper here at the outlet than in Paris city. For eg. the cheapest Longchamp bag costs 30 Euro (short handle without zip). Long handle, small, cost 43 Euro. If you spend more than certain amount in a single shop, you can even claim back tax refund if you are a non-EU citizen. Remember to bring along your passport. A tip : Register online with the outlet as a member (at least 3-4 weeks before you visit the outlet). When you reach the outlet, head first to the Customer Service Centre. Tell them your member number (better to print out your member details to show to them) and they will give you a Discount Card / Invitation card to Privilege of La Vallee Village. With this card, you are entitled to extra member discounts for certain brands. Different discounts at different time of the year. For eg. when we went in mid November, we were entitled to extra 20% off Polo Ralph and extra 30% off Armani brand, etc. Need to show the card that the La Vallee Service Centre issue you that day to get the extra discount. We couldn't find much information on how to get to La Vallee outlet on the internet so here's some help for you on how to go to La Vallee based on our own experience: We took the RER train Line A from Charles de Gaulle Etoile station (where the Arc de Triomph is located) in the direction of Marne La Vallee. Or you can take from any RER Line A station. The RER line A train also passes by these stations : Auber, Chatelet Les Halles, Gare de Lyon, Nation. Alight at the station : Val d' Europe. The RER train ride takes about 45 minutes and costs 6.40 Euro per person one-way. To & fro costs 12.80 Euro per person. Once you reach Val d'Europe station, exit on the right and walk towards the huge shopping mall facing the station. You can walk through the shopping mall to reach La Vallee Outlet which is behind the mall. However, as we went there on a Sunday, the shopping mall was closed. We had to walk around the mall building, towards the right of the shopping mall to reach La Vallee. It took us about 15 minutes walk to reach La Vallee from the RER train station. Eventhough we read from the internet that there was free shuttle bus to the outlet every Sunday, we didn't see any bus at all. So we decided to follow the crowd and walk there. Don't worry if you can't find your way. There's usually some people who are walking to the outlet from the train station so you can just follow their direction they are walking. Hope this is helpful enough. Happy shopping!