PENTHOUSE BLOCK 14. TROUBLE WITH POLARIS

 Hello everyone, I have a penthouse in block 14. Completed May last year. Have not been there since. We have had lots problems with Polaris. I feel lost and I don't how to deal with any of the matters. I have discover this forum recently and liked the fact that there is a big community out there and people are helping each other and giving advice. I would like for anyone from the Penthouse to get in touch or from Condado. I would appreciate if you could tell me your personal experience regarding furnishing the place, dealing with Polaris and their horrendous costumer services. Basically any comments or advice will be helpful. I really don't know where to start. Thinking of going there sometime in March so it would be good to have some knowledge in the progress of Condado. Sometimes I think that purchasing this property is the worst decision that I ever have made. thanks everyone. 

Sonia

Hi Sonia,

I am sure we can help you.......Please contact me......I sent you a PM for your e-mail address

Thanks

Nick

Sonia

Chin up girl !!!!

it is very stressful HOWEVER there is plenty of help here to be found and trust me it IS worth it when you are sitting with a cold one looking out and watching the sun go down over the mountains  - all the usual guff about "its always darkest before the dawn?"  in this case its true !!

We are in block 16 so its good to welcome you as my neighbour onto the forum ! 

I am sure you will be overwhelmed with advice, a good keyholder is a must and they can sort out a lot of your problems for you and help you furnish etc.  We are going out this weekend for a few days so if you give me your appartment number I could take some pictures for you  - be good for you to see what it looks like NOW !!

I have sent you a PM with my e/mail if you want help and contact with anything distinct  - please let  me know ?? , thats what the community is for !!

Rgds

Mark

Hi Sonia

Trust me, without this forum most of us would have found a bridge to jump off before now due to the frustration of dealing with Polaris. But be sure, that now you have found this forum you will find help and advice on most if not all of your issues with Polaris, from all your new friends at Condado. The other thing to know is that probably all on this forum that own properties at Condado despite our frustrations at Polaris and some others wouldn’t swop our place in the sun for anything.  

Now, I suggest you make a list of your issues and post them one at a time within this post and I am sure you will find a number of people all rearing to help. As this is an open Forum, be careful not to disclose personal data.

Good luck and as Mark said Chin up.

Regards

Phil

Hi Sonia,

You sound really cheesed off. I wonder what has happened since May last year to make you feel that way. The completion, furnishing and any fault remedies can be a real challenge but the advice from fellow penthouse owners is fantastically true - the feeling of being out on the balcony in an evening or morning when the sun is rising or setting is amazing and well worth any hassle you are getting now.

I have found Polaris really good to deal with for both fault solving and white goods buying. We had a fault with our freezer and they arranged to get it sorted in less than two days. They also fixed a problem with the air con pre installation very quickly too. However, given their current situation regarding insolvancy they may not be as good now!

Thankfully we have not had any major structural issues to deal with but some people have, hopefully you will be OK in block 14 as I have not heard of any faults with that block.

Furniture wise, there are lots of rogue traders out there so watch out who you buy with. We nearly lost everything when our company went bust and I had to resort to removing our paid for furniture from the warehouse by paying someone else to do that before the administrators came in - phew! Many people speak well of DFS Spain but we did not use them. There is a nice and helpful company in Mazzaron called 'Puerto Mobil' who we used for lighting and you can haggle with them.

Air con wise, there are lots of tales of woe on this forum and you could do well to search it for threads on the air con subject before you contact companies. I have a very good company I would recommend, but they are not the cheapest.

All your answers are on this forum somewhere and we will all help were we can. Believe us, the property from hell will very quickly turn into the property of your dreams and don't get hung up on some of the negativity you get on forums like this. Some people are only happy when they can whinge or complain about something. As Jax would say - 'Glass is always half full'

Jon and Alison Faulkner (block 11)

Welcome Sonia,

Must say I've had a few of those moments myself, just before completion was a nightmare, when the economic crises was very evident. A few more wobbles later round furnishing and a couple of community issues. BUT what has just been said by my neighbours is true. Its like anything else in this life, its what YOU MAKE OF IT thats important.

I got a lot of encouragement just by reading some of the threads on EOS and myself took advice from those such as Skell, Barney, Snorkeychopper and Cherrie and others too nunerous to mention: By the may I take the opportunity to give all you guys a  BIG THANKS .

Hope these posts offer some reassurance and if you have a question that needs answered,no matter how trivial it may seem, just asked. (think we have all posted a few of those, know I have)

Good Luck

Hi Bluevelvet,

We have an apartment in Block16 completed in March last year. We purchased 90% of our furnishings in the UK and arranged for them to be shipped over ready for us arriving for a 2 week holiday. After the 1st week we had decorated, set everyhting up and spent the remaining week shopping for odds and ends. We've been over 4 times since for holidays and feel like the luckiest family in the world. I must admit that if wasnt for advise given from members of the forum regards Mortgages etc, purchasing our apartment could easily have turned into the worst thing we'd ever done, (cheers snorkychopper).

If you'd like to get in touch, I can forward some photos of our apartment now that it's set up so you can visualise what yours could look like soon. I'll send you a pm with my e-mail address.

Basically don't worry, there's loads of people happy to help and some that can sort out all your hassles as part of their business.

Speak soon

Iain & Gill

Hi Sonia,

We completed on our penthouse in block 11 last Feb and are up and running ! We had four trips out last year and plan another four this year. It is now we are starting to forget all the stress and hassle you seem to be feeling. If you want to pm me your e-mail address I'll give you all the detail on how we got things done. Also, we are out end March/early April so if you are over then then we could meet up for a coffee and talk through anything you're concerned with.

Push on - it's well worth it !

Hi Sonia

We have a ground floor apartment in Block 14.  We also have another property and split our time between the two (we live here).   If there is anything I can help with please do not hesitate to ask.  Whilst times are a little unsettling with not knowing what is happening with PW the development is starting to take shape and hopefully you will think it all worth while when you manage to come over and start to enjoy your surroundings.  The golf course looks really good now and it's lovely to sit out on the terrace and watch the golfers playing in front of you and the golf buggies buzzing around give it more atmosphere. 

The weather here at the moment is beautiful, we've had a lovely week with blue skies and few clouds.  Perhaps you need some sunshine, it always makes you feel better and there is nothing better to lift spirits.

Send me a PM with your email address and I will send you some photos.

Anne Marie

Hi Sonia,

I completed on La Isla in November and had good dealings with PW - well, once I realised that they never answer the first email! Snagging was easy and Olga at PW was very helpfull. I understand that they have minimised/reduced their presence currently at Condado so it may be harder to get them to respond?

I did a lot of furniture investigation on the net, found most quite helpfull but soon realised that many were just part time agents and then there was a risk that they might "disappear" so I followed someone's recommendation and went to DFS furniture and they were really helpfull - and I thought good value. They deliver and instal and, with the help of my trusty key holders, all went very smoothly! All thats left is the the trimmings - out in 2 weeks for the joys of my wife dragging me round a Spanish Ikea!

Air con - I used Apollo and again, very efficient and went like clockwork.

Its not easy from UK but have a read at some of the older topics on this website (ignore the "glass half empty "people!), most things are covered well.

I suggest you sort out a keyholder as soon as possible as they are there all the time and have experienced it all before.

I agree with what is being said already here - everyone has been through it before as well and we are all happy to help!

Be positive and think of that first glass of wine on your balcony!

Good luck,

Denis

Hello Sonia,

We also have an appartment in block 14(groundfloor 1402) and like it very much.  We also signed March last year, and at this moment our place if nearly finished.  I think we also will be in Condado in March and we will be glad to give you some help and information. Hope to see you asap.

Linda

 Thank you very much to everyone for your kind words and helpful advice. You sure have made a difference. I will get in touch with you all with PM's.

Once again thank you. You have put a nice smile in my face.

Most grateful.

Sonia

Hi Sonia,

We completed a year ago (Block 2) and must admit there are times that we thought that maybe we have made a mistake what with the credit crunch and exchange rate etc etc....

However it's absolutely brilliant to be able to hop on a plane with just hand luggage and visit OUR apartment furnished with OUR furniture and meet OUR new friends and visit the many many beautiful places that surround the resort.

You may want to visit condadodealhamasevices.com run by Jill and Terry and helped by Phil and Dan. It's a brilliant website where you'll get loads of info as well as meeting some great people.

There's a great sense of community, where everyone helps out where they can.

Best of luck

Cherrie

Sonia - you can see from the replys that you are never on your own and there is always someone to help out and give good advice, bounce ideas off. People I've meet so far while at CDA.......lovely, friendly do anything for you......... what more can one say.

I bought last March in block 11, few hickups........... yes, PW customer service not fantastic.......yes,  regret buying a HUGE NO!!!!

I bought furniture in UK and moved over  (as did my brother in block 10)

CONDADO DE ALHAMA............ FANTASTIC!!!!!!

A huge welcome and good luck!!  Tim & Lynn P1112

Hi Guys

Yes my Glass is half full......  I already have an apartment on Condado and was also buying on Terrazas but I am one of those that have jumped ship as fast as I can whilst Polaris are still in their protected 3 month period and I am flying over to complete on a penthouse apartment in block 10 on Friday (fingers crossed) the whole process has taken 3 weeks from start to finish.  I must admit after falling in love with Condado it didn't take me long to move from Terrazas.  Hopefully Polaris will come out of this stronger as the market is improving slightly but I'm with you lot in the Penthouses and can't wait to get it sorted

I can also thoroughly recommend DFS who are based in San Javier.  I have furnished 2 apartments over the last 5 years through them and Paul and his team were fantastic on both occasions.  I also used 4 Plumas in Mazarron.  They have a huge showroom and have furniture covering all price ranges.  I dealt with Janice there and she was really friendly and helpful.  Both these companies have furnished a lot of properties at Condado and they have the plans and sizes for the apartments so they know what will fit and what won't.  Overall I have had good dealings with Polaris but obviously am aware that things have not been that good for everyone.  I've just moved house in the UK too and found the hassles here just as much as doing things in Spain.  Buying a new property comes with its stresses I guess but its definitely worth it in the end.  Also I've found this forum very useful for finding information, there is always somebody who has the answer to your question.  Hope it all goes well from here on. Olive.