WATER

Hi Everyone

We have just come back from San Cayetano. We discovered when we opened our postbox that we are now on mains water as there were 3 bills in the box. (No notification from Taray, our solicitor ar anyone else to let us know this !!)

The first bill was advising us that we owed them 12 euros. The second one that they had been unable to obtain it from our bank (The reason being we had changed banks, but had however advised both our solicitor & Taray at the time this happened). The third bill was a final demand saying that if it was not paid by the 5th April the water would be cut off.

We picked the letters up on the 9th April - 4 days after the deadline !

Luckily we had not been cut off, but as it was Good Friday & then the weekend we spent an anxious few days before we could talk to the water company who I must say were extremely helpful & thankfully we did not get cut off, but I would urge anyone who is not out on a regular basis to get someone to check if you are in Manzanas 1, 2, 3, 4 & not assume that just because you have notified your solicitor & Taray that it will happen. I would hate for anyone else to be in a similar postion & if it had been a week later when we arrived we may have been cut off.

Sue

Hi, Sue

Apart from the worry of the water issue I hope you both enjoyed yourselves at SC.

I don't know whether you speak spanish (we don't yet, unfortunately) but do you know how we can call them and speak to someone english speaking.  I have rung the number but it is a recorded message in spanish and then cuts off.  The reason for my concern is that our lawyer was supposed to have set up a direct debit with Aquagest in preparation for us and when Keith was over he was given the contract by Taray and led to believe they would be starting to charge but I've just rung Halifax Hispania and they have no direct debit for Aquagest against our account.

In view of your experience I am concerned we might fnd ourselves in a similar situation.

Best regards

Sheila  

Hi Sheila

The customer service number is 0034 902 250270. When we got through we asked to speak to someone in English. It looks like they are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am until 1pm. Outside these times you do get a recorded message & if the lines are busy, but we got through straight away on Monday morning at 8.30am. There is an website address on the bill www.aquagest-regiondemurcia.es/torrepacheco but haven't tried to get on this.

Did you get the key to your post box when Keith was there?

We had a great time at San cayetano - hope Keith did too!

Sue

Sue, hi and thank you so much for the Aquagest customer services number what would we do without you?.  I'll give it a go during the times you advised.  Glad you had a good time in SC - I'll bet you're already looking forward to the next time!

Yes, Keith managed to get the post box keys from Bob, our vice president and had Jose from the village hardware shop fit some light bulbs for us until we can get proper lights sorted out. We have been advised to go for ceiling fans to accompany the air-con. for both cost and efficiency purposes and we'll probably go with Chillout to supply and fit the air con.

Keith also had the chance to go over the snagging report with the Taray 'repair' guys and there are still quite a few things to do but with the Easter hols. they were quite upfront and said they wouldn't really get going for a couple of weeks - still as long as it's all done we don't mind.

Can I ask you another couple of things please?.  Our snagging inspector advised having an extractor fan fitted in the downstairs bathroom which Chillout can do but they have said that they may need to run the 'cabling' on the ceiling surface, which I'm not too happy about.  They did say there was a chance they wouldn't have to but they won't know until they start the work.  Do you have one fitted? and if so, do you have the cable on the ceiling surface? 

Also, when Keith asked Bob about the shower cubicle he said that they really struggled to get the size and that Jose in the village had fitted theirs as he can get the small size needed.  Did you do the same?

Finally, do you know of any reasonable removal companies from your own or other SC neighbour's experience.  We have asked for tentative quotes from 3 firms and they have ranged from £800 to £3,500 for the load that we believe we will be bringing over (I mentioned before that we'll probably buy here as we believe we will get more for our pound at this end.

As always, Sue we're grateful for your help and advice.

Best regards

Sheila

Sorry, Sue - I meant shower cubicle for downstairs bathroom!
 

Hi Sheila,

I've fitted an extractor fan to the downstairs bathroom in our quad (and to one of my neighbours) and the wiring does not have to run on the ceiling surface. The electrical feed is picked up off the lighting curcuit so that the fan comes on as the light is switched on. The downstairs bathroom does not have a solid ceiling (unlike some of the rooms), therefore, the wiring can be run inside the cavity. 

Also picked up a nice shower screen ex stock from Leyroy Merlin in Cartagena, which fits perfectly.

Best Regards

David

Hi Sheila

We have not had  an extractor fan fitted in our downstairs shower room as yet as it only gets used a few days a year. We also got our shower screen from Leroy Merlin at Cartagena,but as we completed in March 2007 there were not many people around then to get any information from. If you do go to Leroy Merlin you will need the measurements though as there are several different sizes & from memory I think there were only 2 designs that came in the right size. Jose from the shop in the village is really good & if the cost is okay it may be easier to get him to do it. I know several people have used him for various jobs such as changing locks etc & everyone has spoken very highly of him.

We haven't used a removal company from the UK, but I have a friend who did so will ask her if she can give you any info.

Kind Regards Sue

Thanks, Sue and David (Hallam). 

P.S. Sue, managed to get through to Aquagest on the number you gave and they confirmed they have our bank details.  They say they received the connection fee via our lawyers (and Taray?) in Feb. and that our contract is set up to debit every 3 months so we should expect our bank account to be debited in June.  I don't know if this is of any help to other new owners but in view of Sue's recent experience, for peace of mind, particularly as bills will not be sent to the UK I would recommend checking with Aquagest to make sure they have your bank details.   

All the best

Sheila

I've just noticed that Aquagest have removed 49.82 euros from my account as I now have a water meter. I have in my hand a letter from Taray stating that the 300 euros we all paid when signing up was the total amount required to initiate measured water supply. Anybody else out there wondering where their 300 euros went? My solicitor or Taray must have mine but my solicitor can't seem to grasp the fact and rambles on about paying for your water and sewage, despite the fact that the meter has only recently been installed and the place has been empty since mid February. How do these people access our accounts so easily without prior warning and without issueing receipts?

63 Euros extracted from our account today, and we were only over for 10 days at Easter!

Thats the last time we wash down our patio and balcony!

What a rip off!

Les & Frances

Hi Les & Frances

We were only over for 5 days & we have just been debited just over 55 euros so either we must be much cleaner than you !!! (only joking) or there must be a large standing charge which sounds possible if Colin hasn't been over since February as that was when our previous bill was dated.

Has anyone managed to get online with aguagest to look at the breakdown of the bill!

Do we get these bills quarterly?

Sue & David

Exactly the same amount as Strewth (€49.82) has been debited from our account yesterday.  We've not even used any water other than flushing the loo a couple of times when Keith was over for last snagging progress check!

I wrote to my Solicitor yesterday and today received a laughable response which the law does not allow me to post on this website. Basically no explanation was given as to the whereabouts of the 300 euros except to say that this was an administration charge for utilities. We had all this nonsense about a year ago with regard to electricity meter installation when we were all charged a further 175 euros for the privilege. At least with Iberdrola we were given the opportunity to access our accounts on line and keep abreast of things. With regard to the 49.82 euros I had removed from my account, would anybody have any idea what such a strange amount relates to? There has been no water usage since the installation of the meter and my neighbour has confirmed this to me. I have managed to get onto the Aquagest website but without a contract number, user code or pin my access is restricted. Plus, it is all in Spanish.

Sue, David, Les and Frances. The bills you paid, were they purely for usage? Did you pay anything prior to your respective amounts? If so, was there a standing charge or an installation charge involved?

Thanks.

Colin.

Hi Colin

We picked up a bill last time we were out in Spain dated 12 Feb for 12.50 euros. it is all in Spanish so difficult to decipher, but is broken down in several different elements. It looks like the reading was taken on 9 Feb & Consumo is saying nil. It looks like the meter was installed on the 19 Jan (Lectura Anterior). This persumably is a standing charge as we hadn't been over at all during that period.

It sounds really coincedental that both yourselves & Pumpkin have been charged the same amount so that must be some kind of standing charge which would make sense if our bill was 55 euros & we were there for 5 days & Les & Frances' was 63 euros for 10 days making our usage for 2 people just over 1 euro a day & Les & Frances usage 1.3 euros a day for 3 people (if that makes sense).

I will try & go on a translation site over the weekend to see if I can understand what all the standing charges are for (& why there are different rates of IVA - some at 7% & some at 16%)

It looks like the bills are issued evry 13 weeks so that means 3.83 euros a week for standing charges (nearly 200 euros a year). Noone told us about that when we purchased!!!!

Perhaps somebody over there permanently can shed more light on it

Sue

Hello everybody,

Thanks to all for their input with regard to the water meters. I spent all day yesterday moaning about people relieving me of my hard earned cash and consequently most of the day on the computer writing letters to my Solicitor, my  bank,  Aquagest, Father Christmas, the Pope, Little Red Riding Hood and Uncle Tom Cobbly. Finally got to the bottom of the problem and it would appear the 49.82 euros is an up front standing charge. Anybody with a bill larger than 49.82 should realise that the difference is for water usage. I am led to believe that bills will be arriving every two or three months, not sure which. Hats off to Harry Mellor, my next door neighbour in Spain, who gave up a lot of his time on my behalf. Cheers H.

As an afterthought, for those who do not know it, Aquagest is also responsible for "basura" (garbage removal) and the charge for this is included in the 49.82.

I am, today, going to attempt to access the Aquagest website with a view to gleaning more information. Anything I get I will post.

Laters

Hi Colin

Thanks for the info.

Is this 49.82 a regular standing charge or a one off payment? As we said the bill prior to that was 12.50 euros & we hadn't been over during that period so what that was for I don't know.

Sue

Hi Sue

Aquaguest bills break down into 5 separate parts.  Firstly a standing charge of 10.70 plus any water consumption. Second is for the Meter Conservation? at 2.90 euros, then a charge for Sewerage - one for Sanitation - and the final one for Garbage.

IVA is charged at 7% on the Standing Charge, Water, and Sewage,  16% on the Meter, but 0% on Sanitation and Garbage

How regular these bills are going to be is anyones guess at this stage - and is not indicated anywhere, 2 or 3 monthly billing is envisaged, but hopefully Colin may find out more if he once gets into their web-site

Cheers   Harry

Hi Sue

One thing i thought of was the gardens and the automatic watering. My system is set for twice a day to water the orange tree and the plants. Do you have the same?

Harry thanks for not telling Colin I shower at his each morning and regulary fill my kettle from his kitchen!  ...ooops!  

Colin, look out for the sneaky chinchetta!

Hi Harry & Tina

Thanks for all the info.

Our watering system doesn't work consistently enough, but we do have a local senorita who does some watering for us so we will have some usage there - more in the Summer I guess than the Winter.

Harry - well done for working all that out - it sounds as complicated as bills in the UK.

Are the standing charges you are quoting monthly?

I am sure the last bill will be in our post box when we get out to San Cay later in the week. We can't wait, although surprisingly enough the weather her was great yesterday & feels even hotter & sunnier today. Makes a change for a UK bank holiday weekend !!!!!

Sue

Hola peeps,

I've written to Aquagest, in my best joined up, received a comp. generated reply, that Tina translated for me (thanks) telling me they will write again with more info. Hopefully this will enable me to access on line billing. If anybody has got beyond this point please let me know.

I'm having a B.B.Q. 

Strewth.