Bad news in the U.K.

morerosado

so so true!!!.  Maria is very aware of the good and bad in Spain, and is trying to change some of the things that have hurt so many people through no fault of their own, as are some other lawyers in Spain. These changes would no doubt benifit Spain as a whole in the long run as they are based on common sense and justice. Surely that's what we all want?  Those who refuse to accept that many have been cheated through no fault of their own, do everyone a favour if they decide not to post. It's just denial that helps nobody.

Justin

  No shame on you whatsoever, you do a damned good job of  letting reasonable people have their say, and only editing where required.  

 Well, there you go Ads, Pete's contrition did not last long.

I remember as a child money was tight, we learnt to swim in the reservoir and played in the street and park.

But it wasn't just the money, "things" were in short supply, there was no such thing as kids footballs, they did not exist.

Rarely a battered old worn proper football would appear in the hands of some lucky kid and we would have to repair it with our bicycle puncture repair outfit to keep it going.

we played with our coats as goalposts and had fun but care had to always be taken to allow the owner to win mostly or he would take up his ball and sulk off to end the game, but not always unscathed sometimes his backside would take a kick.

Much like Pete and Bob on here who can post sensibly but cannot keep it up all the time and if you don't agree with their rubbish posts threaten to stop posting in their sulkiness.

Bob actually did it for a while and now Pete is to go.

Well we will see.

Regards

Norman

Oh, dear, you just can't help yourself, can you Norman?  You start off quite well, throw hissy fits against anyone who disagrees with you, can be quite nasty in your replies and then blame everyone else for your problems and complain when they respond in the same tone.  Sorry, you are becoming an annoyance again. 

(Liked the first part of that last post, mind.  Number of times I got clouted by my Mum for using the school blazer as a goalpost, dearie me).  Just stick on topic and remember that you will get like for like replies when you spoil a good site with your (sometimes) inane and unreadable comments.  If you do it to wind people up, then you are doing a great job.  If you are serious then I am afraid you have a bit of a nasty streak which brings out the worst in people. 

 Bad news in the UK is the Royal Mail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

I have just sent my daughter a i-pad as she is off to Uni soon and Royal Mail have lost it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The excuse they gave for the £28!!! RECORDED DELIVERY from Spain was that the occupant had gone away.

Now considering i speak to my dauhter once a day, she has not gone away!!

Do you know they do not even put a letter through the door anymore APPARENTLY!

They can't even track the return to Spain, THAT COULD TAKE FOUR WEEKS!! considering i paid recorded delivery this is disgustiing.

Could this been down to a postie pocketting it? or simply unable to read the correct address???

Not Happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At Parcelforce Worldwide we deliver more than just packages, we deliver promises!       B************X

Didn't know whether to put this in the Bad news or the Flights section.

East Midlands are stopping free parking as from this Thursday (8th July).  The current 10 minute free waiting for dropping off and picking up is being replaced by a £1 fee.  You can still use Car Park 6 (about a mile away) but you have to get a shuttle bus from there.  So, no picking up or dropping off anyone with mobility problems unless you want to pay the quid.  Of course, customer relations say it is to "improve" the service. 

Just to iterate, the short stay parking is now a £1 minimum to drop off and pick up passengers.

Edited to say:  Apparently this is going to apply to taxis as well which will put those costs up.  Not yet confirmed on that one but they did say taxi drivers weren't happy about it.

Annoying, yes Bob, but when we cough up as much as we do for flights it's hardly going to inconvenience us too much surely! 

At Bristol they've been charging £1 for a trolley, with no refund for taking it back to the many designated areas so they are left everywhere for others to use if the guy .. who Bristol airport has likely paid a good wage to, to retrieve the trolleys before we all take the loose ones ..doesn't grab them FAST!

That's awful Georgia....what a pain! Didn't they leave a calling note with details of where to collect it  if she was out?

Talking of which Bobaol- your curser thingy that flies about is driving me nuts, thought my machine had gone wonky!

Catch me if you can!!!!! Yes, annoying, true! Different though!

The cursor has been removed.  Sad, really, as I thought it was something different but it makes the site go wobbly.  Have to come up with something else, see if I can find an exploding hour glass, or something like that.

** EDITED - Irrelevant **

Norman,

So your picking on someone else for a change then!

The reason there is a 'them and us' attitude is simple:

You cannot stand the fact that other people have purchased in Spain, with little or no problems, and are happy!

And you are the main culprit that started such an attitude change.

I trust that is simple enough for you.

** EDITED 

- Irrelevant **

Zoweeee.  The weather in UK!  After baking of 31C plus last week, it has changed with a vengeance.  Here in the good old East Mids, satellite TV suddenly went off despite the sun streaming in.  Within a minute, the sky went black, gale force winds and massive hailstones suddenly whanged down.  Now bucketing down and the outside roads are awash, looks like a river running down it.  Now, have got used to these sudden downpours in Spain but now we have it here and looks like it is in for a while.  Hope the garden fence stands up to it.  Spectacular lightning with an almost instantaneous bang of thunder.  

i doubt the hail stones were as big as the ones last year they dented the roof on my bmw and i had to go out in it and unblock the gulley at the side of my garage to stop it flooding and one split my eyebrow

You must be getting worse weather than we are then!  The sky did go black had to put lights on this afternoon and ithe rain did come down. But then stopped and the sun is now out.  No hailstones though. Mind you our grass is so brown we did need a drop of rain.

Pat

Well, it lasted about 40 minutes lashing it down.  And now the sun is back out again.  The winds were incredibly strong for about 10 minutes just before it started and now a nice, peaceful evening.  Maybe there is something in this climate change, after all.  The weekend was lovely and sun shining, blue skies although very muggy.  Changed on Monday and this evening was a right clatterer. 

It would appear to be house prices.  Unless you live in some parts of the South East or London, the prices are going down.  If you are looking to move across to Spain and sell your house in UK first, it might not be the best time to do so.  Or, then again, the forecasts are for more pain.  House prices in the SE and London have actually risen by just over 1%.  Other parts of the country are dropping by up to a whopping 4%.  I know, from experience, in the E Midlands we are going back to prices not seen for some time.

2 years ago, the house (fairly identical to mine) next door went for £186,000.  We started at £172,000 and dropped it to (on advice from agents) to £157,950.  No bites for over 6 months so it was dropped to £155,000.  Now we have been advised to drop it to £147,000.  That's a big comedown from original values.  Especially as reports show that people will offer 10 to 15 k less than the asking price. 

It is, however, no good sitting back and waiting.  Forecasts are that prices will drop a horrendous 7% next year in most parts of the country.  Of course, it is all my fault again.  When I was buying they were going up and up.  Now that I'm selling they are going down and down.  All due to me getting on the market at totally the wrong time.  Mind you, same in Spain.  I bought at the top of the range (my €234,000 house a couple of years ago.......similar one going across the road now for €140,000).

Only advice I can give is find out when I am buying and wait as prices will plummet once I have bought.  When I am selling, hold on until I have sold as prices will then go sky rocketing!

How about renting your UK house and moving to Spain?

 Dear Bobaol,

I expect you have considered that and I suppose you would have to believe that the market will return here to make it worth the aggravation, though not all letting is troublesome.

If there are no mortgages in place you are clearly financially healthy so why wait to get the lifestyle you crave?

As far as Spain is concerned have you chosen the right area?

Techno claims to be much better placed in his area, or is a just a market genius?

Regards

Norman

1.  I have tried renting in the past in UK.  We were posted to Cyprus then Germany and rented out for 5 years.  The house was an absloute mess when we returned despite having a UK agent.  Window frames had to be replaced, the bathroom was a mess with the side panel ripped off, the walls had been painted battleship grey (gloss) around the wardrobes, the oven door fell off, the carpets were a disgrace and the garden was an embarrassment.  Never again.

2.  I could just leave the house and the keys to the agents.  However, my insurance company would hit me with penalties if I left the house unattended for more than 3 months.  With all the horror stories of squatters I would not like to leave it like that.  Plus I would need to employ a gardener as it would be rather overgrown in quite a short time.

3.  Yes, thank you, I have chosen the right area.  We bought a flat over 8 years ago (as a holiday getaway) and liked it so much we decided to settle there.  We spent a few years looking around (checking out builders, developers, talking to other people in the area etc) before plumping for a house about 10km away from the flat.  So, yes, we have picked the right area and picked the right way to do it and checked the legality etc etc but, more importantly, we checked out the feelings of people who already lived there and asked if there were any problems.  We bought the house about 2 years ago and love it.  Since retirement, we spend half our time there and half in UK looking after the house.  Back out again next week for a month then back to UK for a month etc.  Only annoyance is the cost of car hire so will be looking to buy on our next visit.  Flights cost less than a train to London for the day so no problems there.

4.  Techno works.  I have no need to do so (lucky old me) and no intention of doing so.  Have already started getting together all the George Macdonald Fraser books together to start re-reading, SWMBO has (at long last) decided on the plants and bushes to whang in the garden (plus she has her painting set all ready to get going again) and we will, of course, be bracing ourselves for the influx of visitors when we eventually get there.  I am looking forward to contemplating the great mysteries of life (like, why does lint form in your belly button when you haven't been wearing a shirt?  Why do they call it a funny bone?  When you hit it, it's not funny (actually, I've worked out it must be something to do with the humerus), Why, when the hair on my head is getting less, does the hair in my ears and nose get longer?  How can you tell when sour cream has gone off?  Why do people in supermarkets stand right in front of the thing I want to buy when chatting on their mobile phones?  Why do Americans pile their plates up with bacon, sausages, hash browns, eggs and french toast and then order a diet coke?  Why are the signs in Barcelona asking people not to urinate in public in English?  How come, if I go away for two weeks, one pair of undies is sufficient (if you turn them inside out after the first week,) but my wife needs to take the entire lingerie department of Marks & Spencers? )

As you can see, there are plenty of things to keep me occupied.  Just getting there first.