We 'bought' in June 2006 one of the first Phase 3 Flats to the top of the hill looking down 18 with the Clubhouse a stroll away, taken in by the glossy and DeVeere standards and European Tour winter plans ! Not so naive, as a banker, we checked out the Company, insisted on Bank Guarantees and got an independent solicitor. Plenty communication when they wanted the deposit and subsequent payments, then nada! Were we kept informed? Did we receive notice when work started ? ( The foundations and initial structure work is there,we photoed it as proof they had already breached the contract !) Were we informed when they decided to STOP ? Nope ! Was the original Solicitor in cahoots ? (most probably)
I didn't expect the lies, blank looks and shrugs or downright ignorance over the past 3 years ! In 33 years of banking I'd never heard of a Bank, anywhere, refusing to honour its own Guarantees !! I'd heard of plenty developers rip off their clients but unlike these smooth operators who 'negotiated' refunding the deposit which legally wasn't theirs. After the golf buggies and pro shop fiasco recently we'd had enough !! We cut our losses and had 15k of our Euros extorted so that we could get our own money back. The clearest breach of contract you could ever see. Courts that wont progress and a legal system that makes it up as it goes along ? Thank God for the exchange rate ! we got out with our sterling intact virtually broke even, sore at the lack of compensation for all the time effort and stress caused.
We still feel the place the plan and the propects long term exist ! We couldn't stomach the thought of relying on the developer delivering anything in the end. It still took one month! from getting the legals signed for the money to clear the Spanish way before we actually recived our refund. No reasonable explanation given why it took that long either !
We weren't speculators, bought a single unit, wanted to live a comfortable retirement in a beautiful setting with sport we love on our doorstep. Best of luck to those that have settled! I for one sadly think you will need incredible resolve in the short term and a very long term outlook. I for one have resolved never to buy overseas again, once bitten...........
This message was last edited by patmcginley on 01/08/2011.