Is 4 years a long enough period for court case to be dealt with? or is it not?

Phil,

You just posted the same time as me.  I know how you feel, we selected our apartment for the same reasosn and it's done the same to us.

We have been fortunate to stay in ours and, on the positive side, it is a good development and we enjoyed being there.

Regards

Tim

Hi Phil - As you know from our post on Los Naranjos, we had also contacted PW and had it confirmed that our pergola is at the front of the property overlooking the gardens as per the contract plans - Like you we will be really peed off if this is not the case. I don't understand how they can justify their actions all the time. Surely the fact that you have it in writing ie the email gives you something to fight with, although what could be done about it? I think maybe until proved otherwise, think positive as JH says, and hope that it's not your apartment. Tims idea about asking someone to go and have a look is a good idea, what about Carol? You know she would help in any way she can - Maybe, she could take a drive up there and have a look, if only to confirm it for you - I hope it all turns out right for you, we're out there on Friday, so we'll go and have a look as best we can - Chin up and good luck

 

Hi June

Thanks for your comments, Yes I am sure Carol would go look but I am also sure she has better thing to do with her time and having it confirmed sooner wouldn’t change anything, I have asked PW again about the situation but I don’t suppose they will contact me back in a hurry. I have also asked my solicitor about it and surprise surprise she thinks it not sufficient to pull out of the contract, but over the months it has become clear that she is more worried about future work from PW than representing her client’s interests, I should have found a solicitor out of the area and if I want to do anything about it that’s what I will have to do. Still I may be wrong and the pictures are not of out property but I think it unlikely. Probably just have to complete and wait till the market improves and then sell, so much for the dream.
Sorry to be negative.

Phil

Hi Phil,

Exactly same has happened to us , and in a nutshell PW were adamant that they were not obliged to deliver as per plans as this was an 'orientation' and nothing contractual- yeah right! 

I see you have PM Tim, as I have. let me know how you get on.

Regards,

Hi Phil

Sorry to hear another case of the moving pergolas - we know exactly how you feel.  We noticed the position of our pergola had moved the day before we were due to snag and we were very upset about the whole thing.  Our solicitor pressed Polaris for a reason for moving it and was told they moved it for privacy reasons!!  If it has been moved, you have time on your hands to decide what to do.  One word of advice - if you are unhappy don't complete.

I've sent you a pm   

Hi phil,

the last post ( LJH) was me. just had to use a diff name to get into photos as my login does not seem to work.

Really feel for you Phil- please dont feel the dream has died.

 I was very despondent about that play area in front of our apartment  which turns out to be teeny (not because its a play area just because we were told we'd be overlooking a grassy garden area  having been directed away from our 1st choice of a pool view) But you still have your apartment and all that it brings- visually ,when on seating you cant see over the side walls and a rear pegola might be more shaded- having been in Spain this August shade is more important than a view.

I hope someone can send you some photo's soon.

 

Hi all

Thanks for all your comments and kind word both hear and the PM’s we have received they are appreciated, I was feeling quite low about it yesterday and that was probably overuse from my posts, if I seemed unappreciative of any comments or suggestions made by any of you, I am very sorry I would not want to upset or offend you in any way.

Unfortunately when I realised from the pictures in the valuation report that the pergola probably isn’t as we had agreed to buy and like most people we intend the solarium to be were we spend most of the time when in the apartment and having received a non helpful response from Polaris Worlds sorry our Solicitor, I was feeling pretty pssssssssst off yesterday, so last night had more than a my share of wine and today looking at it in a slightly more positive way, albeit with a hangover. Anyway I don’t think we are going to be able to pull out of the contract even if we wanted to without a good knowledge of Spanish law and an impartial solicitor.

We still think it’s a lovely place and I am sure we will get over it.

The only action I can think of at the moment is to lodge a dispute about it and see if its possible to go for compensation, probably best done as a group action as TimA has suggested, so waiting to hear what the solicitor he has contacted has to say.

Thanks again for your kind words, we look forward to meeting you all.

Phil

Hi Phil

Sorry to hear about your disappointment and that of everyone else who is affected by this issue.

As you know, we have bought two apartments - one has the pergola at the front and one has it at the back.  Having spent two weeks at Condado, I can honestly say that it did not make any difference at all to us where the pergola was situated.  In the apartment where the pergola is at the front, we have the large patio table and chairs underneath the pergola with the parasol.  We have a couple of armchairs and a coffee table next to that and two sunloungers at the back.  In the other apartment, where the pergola is at the back, we still have the large patio table and chairs at the front overlooking the pool, with a parasol.  The only difference is that there is no pergola above the table/chairs.  We then have a round wicker sofa with canopy next to that and again two sunloungers at the back.

It honestly has not made any difference to the use or enjoyment of the roof terrace - there are stunning views of the mountains etc from every direction and you get the sun all day on the roof terrace anyway.  At night we could sit at the table and look out at the gardens and pool which were beautifully lit up.  

The only problem would be if you wanted to put a canopy or awning on your pergola so that your table was in the shade but we had parasols for that anyway.

I am sure when you get there and see how beautiful everything is and how stunning the views are from the roof terrace, you will not be disappointed.  As I said above, you can still have your table and chairs at the front of the roof terrace overlooking the pool.

Keep smiling - and drinking the wine!!!

 

Hi All

Well just had it confirmed by PW CS our pergola is at the back and not at the front as in our contract plan. They tell me how sorry they are but it had to be done for privacy, as all pergolas were originally at the front so they had to change this. I questioned this by saying that in the original models in the sales department for which I have photographs, they were one at the front and one at the back and this was also the case in the publicity materials they used, so if it is the case that all the pergolas were at the front then why doesn’t the models and publicity material show it that way when we agreed to buy and now. What you have done it seems to me is you have not built the property in line with the plans and are now making excuses to try to make it sound as if you have made the changes for good reason. Well the plans and your own promotional materials do not back up what you are suggesting. He than suggested that the publicity materials and models are only as a rough guide and not to be relied on. To this I responded, so you had models made and publicity material produced intentionally different to the plans of the day? He had no answer but by the next time I talk to them they probably will think of a different excuse.

Phil

Hi Phil,

Well at least they are being consistent!  They tried the same pathetic excuse on us and, like you we had exactly the same response - we also have photos of the models, copies of the brochures, even the DVD, none of which show a different roof orientation.

I too reckon they have slipped up but no way are they going to admit it unless forced to - I'm working on that!

Have you tried asking about swapping to an alternative apartment or are they refusing that on the grounds of breach of contract?

Tim

For anyone who has followed this thread previously I thought I would post a brief update.

I had been waiting to obtain a copy of our property deed before deciding on what action, if any, to take.  Well, I have it now and it has been forwarded to my Spanish lawyer for him to give his opinion on what action may be possible.

As soon as I hear anything I will post another update.

Also, I would be interested to know if anyone else has had the same problem since my last posting?  Here's hoping you haven't though!

Regards

Tim

 

Hi Tim

Still interested, not completed yet, keep us updated

Thanks

Phil

Hi Phil / Ted

I can fully understand your disappointment.  I know our predicament is not the same as yours but we too are so upset.  We are buying a ground floor penthouse with a 20 sq mt garden.  We queried the size of the garden before we signed anything and our solictor emailed us to say that Polaris take the brochure as part of the written contract and that no sizes would be mentioned at this stage but would be on our completion document.  When we went to see our appartment in September we couldn't believe the size of the garden, we were absolutely gutted as we have a little girl and the garden would have been lovely for her and we paid more for this.  Basically Polaris say they are not in breach of contract as they say the garden size was 17 sq mt (at this point it has already shrunk 3 sq mt) as per our contract (we never had a copy of this)  and that now it measures 10 sq mt (half the original size).  They are adamant they are not in breach of contract and said basically tough.  Unfortunately our solicitor is about as helpful as a chocolate teapot (even though she is a very nice lady) and I cannot tell you how many times I have emailed her and you can only imagine the emails I get back, NONE of my questions ever get answered.    So I can fully appreciate exactly how you feel.  We all work extremely hard for our money and I just cannot understand how Polaris can get away with such major changes to their original plans.

I am sure your pergolas will be absolutely fine wherever they are positioned and you will make the best of them but can appreciate your stresses.

Kind regards

Liz

HI ALL
SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT THIS SITUATION,THEY KNOW WE WILL NOT WALK AS WE ALL HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY LYING IN DEPOSITS,I KNOW THIS DOES NOT HELP YOU FEEL ANY BETTER, BUT COULD YOU NOT BUILD YOUR OWN PERGODA AT THE FRONT?IT WAS SUGGESTED TO ME I AM IN A GROUND FLOOR THAT THE SPACE UNDER THE STAIRCASE TO THE ABOVE APARTMENT COULD BE BOXED IN FOR STORAGE IF PW CHANGE THIER PLANS WHAT STOPPING US DOING OUR OWN THING
JILL

 

Hi Lis & Jill

Thanks for your comments, I was very disappointed to find our pergola was not as in our contract and like you Polaris say they are not in breach of contract and our solicitor is useless. Polaris World also say they are not in breach of contract for stating in our contract that air conditioning will be pre installed and have now changed this to pre installation and also with the removal of the Agora town centre and the numerous other thing they have change for us and others your experience being one of them. I would be very unhappy in your situation finding the reality not as promised or at least reasonably expected. I believe that your contract is binding on both and yes they can make changes due to necessity but I don’t believe they can make changes just to save themselves money or for there own convening at our expense. However they get away with this by keeping each persons problems isolated as they know we are unlikely to take individual legal action. And by us using local solicitors who depend heavily on the local building industry for work in particular Polaris World it is not in there interest to do anything to upset PW. The only way we can realistically do anything is by a group action, which will keep costs down and increase the chance of success I believe. As far as moving the pergola is concerned this isn’t a realistic option as they are part of the structure and by doing this would put our pergola next to the one next door.

Now don’t misunderstand me I still won’t to own our apartment and I still think this is going to be a fantastic place. We are looking forward to spending lots of happy times at Condado and think in the future all these problems will become insignificant, as far as I am concerned I am not upset about any of the issues that have affected me now. However I don’t like being bullied by big company’s and don’t give up without a fight. I believe we should be compensated for the changes made and group action is the best way of achieving this. All our issues don’t have to be the exactly the same. I look forward to hearing the feedback Tim gets from the lawyer he is corresponding with.

Phil

Good mornin all,   Am sorry for all your worries about the pergola and I was too when this thread was first started but as it has been said once you have put umbrellas and tables in the front I think it will make no difference.   Have got hab cert and the photo on mine was also showing it at the back but  I can choose to go in the shade under there or I can block it in and use it for storage for patio furniture when I am not there.

We had to sign some plans ( drawings- design layouts) when we first signed the contract and in looking at them again I see that it says that the promotor reserves the right to introduce modifications. On another document, that we also had to sign, it says 'Services, surface areas and materials may be modified as a result of building requirements, technical demands or municipal regulations'.  I hadnt seen/read these few lines before but see now thats where PW will claim they are not in breach of contract. I imagine its relatively easy for them to come up with 'requirements, technical demands or municipal regulations' to cover any changes they want to make especially as they have been in these situations so many times before and they have their own legal team geared to sort these things. As we had poured over all the documents we were sent at the time  I was surprised that I hadnt read- or dont remember reading this bit of information  but it shows that they dont have to make any information available when they alter plans etc, like when they moved and joined the Foro with Agora

There must be people on the general forum who have had similar issues with building companies has anyone made enquiries on there?

JH.......You seem to get earlier & earlier on this thread.........You must be up for early tee-off times when we get started!!

Regards

Nick

Insomnia or something similar.

Mind you its means I've been able to surf, what appears to be, every shop website in Murcia!