European Commission gives a TV advertising ultimatum to Spain

Hello everyone,

 

I agree with everyones sentiments in what has been said - our lawyer also indicated that she would go for 3/4 weeks snagging - but as previously said, when I spoke to Paul Cox earlier this year, he did say because of the delay they had re-visited every apartment and done any items that may have been picked up on snagging, so from his point of view there will be little to be found wrong that needs attention.  When we were there, the site manager took us around and I picked up that the electrical boxes outside the apartments looked shabby and he said they had just started going round the site again repainting them, so who knows maybe there is some truth somewhere.

 

We are flying out  this afternoon - flights booked since Jan!! so have to go - or lose yet more money - so will report back in a weeks time.  However when I spoke to our agent, he said nothing was being done at the moment regards the road, but "Arenal" would be fixing it. So dont know if he is confused or we are as we thought Arenal were off the scent.  However, he also said Paul Cox was still working there, so I am hoping to speak to him.

Perhaps you will have good news soon.

 

Regards M

 

 

It doesn't matter how little there is to do, every apartment will potentially need a snagging visit.  You aren't seriously going to take the word of the developer.  I think as a minimum you need to take an hour.  For example the back of every cupboard needs checking for damp and every floor tile needs checking for an even lay.  Things like electrical boxes aren't an immediate issue.  It's what the inside of your  apartment is like.

 

 

Hi, of course I am fully aware of that, I was merely passing on what had been said.  No after the problems incurred to date, I dont trust anyone on the Arenal site, and am even doubting why we got involved in the first place.

Regards M

Have a good trip Mimmie and I hope you are pleasantly suprised by what you find.

We are all waiting with fingers crossed for your report from the "front line."

Jon

Will post when I get back and hope my news on Friday 13th will be good news to you all!!

 

Am leaving now - brolly too as the heavens  just opened and we are in for the next deluge!!!   Bring on the currant bun!.............

 

Regards M

 

No doubt you have all received your letters from Arenal Sur 21, who have now had a name change...Priene Sur.

Same gravy different meat!!!  They have set up a TELEPHONE CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTRE, which will provide us all with a main point of contact, to keep us fully informed and enable us to let them know our requirements and requests, surely they know what we 'really really want'.  So there you go, just ring the Tel no. and all will be revealed.

902 23 22 44.  Who's first???????

Sorry if I sound sarcastic, but it is all becoming a bitter pill to swallow.  What on earth is going on?  If they have the time, resources and finances to contact us about a name change why can we not have an indication of what the present situation is at Arenal Duquesa.  A letter apologising for the delay and what the current situation is would have been so much better. And yet another month goes by.....yawn, yawn, yawn.

Haven't received a letter yet, so thank you very much for posting that telephone number. Really appreciate it. Will try ringing now...........don't hold your breath unless you want to go very very blue.........

Well I have just telephoned the number and asked about the progress!!!

They did not know anything about the roads and thinks the licence will be another 2 months (they must like the number 2 its either 2 weeks or 2 months)

I shall be going to the site next week when I am there without a doubt.

 

 

 

I got a letter yesterday  from Arenal Sur 21 telling me that CajaSur with the collaboration of Gerens are now looking after the project.. As you may have guessed the letter is dated 2 months ago 7/May/07... There it is again vall the number 2..Just glad we never bought 2 apartments at the start when everything looked rosey...

.Does anybody know what the outcome of the meeting with the developers in mid june was??  Now that 30th June has passed can we get our money back without further costs..or does the €2000 - €3000 cost to lodge request to cancell with the courts still stand.

Sandra.

I spoke to a woman called Rocio who said much the same thing. There will be no licence granted for at least 2 months. As far as I could tell (she had limited English-speaking skills) the problem stemmed from some inappropriately filed paperwork that has had to be re-admitted to the council. She confirmed that phase 1 and 2 builds are complete and that building is not the problem. I guess it's nothing new really, except that we now know it ain't gonna happen this month or next! I feel like getting on a plane and going to the council myself!

If only it was that eay to go to the Town Hall, but evidently so I have been told they will only discuss anything with a legal representative, the fact they are getting interest on our money does not seem to make any difference.

I have sent an e-mail to my solicitor in Spain asking if I can meet someone or get into my apartment but like everything I have not got a reply.

This is frustrating and very unsettling, as much as we all want to get in and be happy we are in their hands.

          Basically it is an absolute shambles.  Another two months will take us into September and even then there are no guarantees that the licence will be granted.  It may be fair to say that we could still be waiting this time next year, do not assume that we will even have possession of the apartments then, as it seems to be a case of 'How long is a piece of string?'  We may have more chance of winning the lottery than being in the apartments this year.  Sorry to sound so pessimistic but it is time to wise up to the situation.

Sandra, as I understand it, it will cost between €2500-€3000 depending on your solicitor for him/her to retrieve your deposit. In addition you will be entitled to 4% legal interest per annum. As we have now passed the June deadline you are also entitled to 10% compensation but they won't pay this unless you take them to court and this will cost around an additional €500. Also it will probably take a while dragging through the legal system so they are obviously counting on people not to bother.

Alan

Hi All yes I agree with Laurdan,we reserved in Sep 2003 and the price we reserved at was definetly a good price.We would not be able to buy anything near the quality or location at this price,even taking into account the downturn in the market at the moment.We will definetly stick it out to the end,Maybe the girl answering the phone Rocio doesnt really know herself when saying 2 months.

All I can say is that we have been very badly treated and i would urge you all to contact your solicitors and seek compensation not only for lateness of the development but the stress and anxiety which as no doubt had an affect on everybody involved.I feel a large scotch  coming on ,keep your spirits up everybody ,or is that down the spirits

Ken Lynn

well, we are all at it again... making allsorts of comments but really nothing has changed.  i wasn't worried when i got back just recently. i am annoyed, frustrated, disappointed, sometimes a little upset but mainly exited still.   it'll happen and nothing really has changed in last couple of weeks.  nothing has been agreed to contradict what i was told in june (apart from the fact that its now beginning of july and still no progress we know of).  i'm still trying to keep optimistic as a lot of opinions are just what people think is happening or what they presume people are doing.  

stay positive.  we've bought em now.  we'll have posession eventually.  if people want to pay to cancel then they can.  i would rather they just did cos it depresses me when i read negativeness.  its just a case of deciding whether to cancel or wait and i think most of people, if they are honest, have no intention of cancelling unless a major development happens to threaten investment.

sorry, but i really really did feel good just two weeks ago stood inside apt and lawyer in office explained everything very satisfactorilary to me.  its all spanish red tape and the laid back lifestyle that is still in the area we have purchased.  i hope it keeps that exact lifestyle too.

suzanne 

p.s sorry, sounded like i was shouting then, i'm not, i just can't wait anymore than the next person but it won't happen until it does. and unless we get definate information then making each other feel worse doesn't help

It is true to say that this long silent wait is extremely frustrating and yes a lot of what we discuss is definitely hearsay. But we are all in this together and can discuss freely about the highs and lows, because quite frankly I can't talk to friends and family as they think I have lost the plot and live with the fairies, apartment what apartment. They now believe that after years of hard work I have finally flipped and instead of an imaginary friend I now have an imaginary property in Spain.

I have been told by my solicitor that if you decide to cancel it is a simple procedure, I believe that you will probably receive what you have paid in, so after three years you will get your initial investment. For some who had bought the property as an investment and wanted to receive an income from it ASAP, maybe it could be time for you to cash in. I personally have looked into my options. If I were to cash in now I do not think that I would be able to buy a new build property for the price I have paid in a similar location. Speaking with friends that have had properties out there for many years, it would seem that I would have to go further back away from the seafront and urbanisation of Duquesa and Sabi. For me part of the attraction is that we are within easy reach of Sabi. We can walk down to the beach, stroll down into the port, a 2 minute car ride from the golf course. Plus we are ideally situated for travelling further a field, for example Seville, Morocco, Grenada, Rhonda, etc etc etc.

I am afraid that we must all resign ourselves to the fact that it is NOT going to happen this summer, maybe not even this year. If you want to cash in you can if not, we have to sit tight and put up and shut up, (said with a smile on my face). I feel that this web site is fantastic for us all to be able to have a good moan when we need to (usually on a weekly basis) and at times (usually when you have just got back from your visit out there) feel very excited about the project. So my recommendation is book yourself a holiday, enjoy Wimbledon and look forward to eventually owning a property abroad. As when it does actually happen I feel it will have been worth the wait. That said it would help if the sun came out over here and it stopped raining.

 

Hi all first letter on this site, but I first asked the question on Manilva life about Arenal Duquesa on Sunday the 27th of February 2005 and like many of you I get frustrated with the lack of communication.

We have just arrived home after spending 10 days in a hotel in Estepona, while over there we spoke to our solicitor Elena, and visited the site which is being maintained by a couple of guys gardening and pottering about, I don't think we have to worry over vandals the security guards seem to be very vigilant.

Also while we were visiting Estepona we called into the Arenal site office there as they have a block of apartments on the sea front which they had a couple left and are selling for around the 290000 mark obviously they don't face the sea, and they are smaller the the ones in Duquesa and have no pool, we had a good look around and we spoke to the guy showing us around, he explained both himself and Paul Cox worked on the site till the last and Paul is working with him now in Estepona we explained our situation and he advised that because we bought early on at Duquesa our apartment was already worth a considerable amount more so to cancel and buy again would be madness last one sold on Duquesa by him was sold for 238000 euros.

We did not buy to make money but I'm not going to throw it away either so please don't lose the faith  we will get there in the end.

This message was last edited by wardy on 7/7/2007.

Look on the bright side.    All of the Spanish buyers on this development are in the same position as us !!                        We are all in this together !!

It would be interesting to know if they are as frustrated as us or whether they consider this normal.

The longer it takes, the more chance I have of completing my "Spanish for beginners" CDs on the  way to work.

Just received the following from MRI - would be interested to know if anyone knows anything about the "certain contractual rights" that are available due to the delays.

Arenal Update

 

We would like to inform you that the developers are now expecting to receive the permit for the access road by the end of July. Once this is received, work can commence on the road, with completion possible within 10 days. Once the road is complete, habitation licenses for the apartments can then be issued.

 

However, due to the delay in completion of your property at Arenal Duquesa, you may have certain contractual rights available to you and we recommend that you contact your legal representative as to understand your position.

 

In the meantime we will keep you updated on any progress, and hope to have positive news very soon. 

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.