Brits robing Brits - Page 3

We are due to arrive in about eight weeks. My Father and myself are hoping to find work. My Dad is a Carpenter, Kitchen, Bathroom fitter. He has recently completed his fourth  loft conversion this year. In thirty five years he has had nothing but praise for his work. 

I am very sad to hear all these stories and hope it won't spoil our chance of finding work. 

We thought that a good honest English tradesman would be a popular choice. 

Kab, what Mart59 has said is very true.My family came to Spain before that country joined the EU. & operated a legal business until we retired several years ago.Although we had had a similar business in UK Spain allowed us to grow & prosper &,provided you tow the line legally,you can do the same .It WAS much harder at that time & may well be again once Britain does Brexit,the boot being on the other foot as it will be.But stick with it & you can succeed .Of course at that time there were few English owned companies to call on,in fact you had to offer a job vacancy to a Spaniard first if you did.So we had all sorts of nationalities working out our problems & by the time Spain was in the EU ,we had a known band of tradesman to call on.The only time I think I was ripped off was by an Irish person who sold me what I now think was a reconditioned Sky TV box,yet he was a proper registered business here & since then I use another British TV business who is perfect.Swings & roundabouts.

Hi Nicola, thanks for your reply, could you let me know your contact number, I will be arriving in La Marina on 19 December, and would appreciate it if we could arrange a visit within the next couple of days.

Too many examples of this I am afraid. After my issues with an English speaking agent I was told "Just because they speak English, doesnt mean you can trust them"!

Thats difficult for me to acknowledge as I thought we all stuck together? It is also hard for me to hear stories of how tradespeople rip people off for small jobs, handyman duties etc, which is why I set up doing what I do. Yes, there are always Bodgit & Scarper SL who will charge 5€ and Batman & Robin English Ltd who will charge you 100€ per hour... there is a real opportunity for genuine folk to make a decent and honest living

What I would say is please do not name and shame on this forum. It is not the place to do it. We all have our grievances etc but naming and shaming will just attract a ban for you.

Word of mouth goes a long way. I depend on it these days.

As for official complaints about builders / agents. Check their accreditations and if they belong to AIPP then you can pursue them formally through the property ombudsman, who are based in London. A web search will help you in relation to the TPO.

Get EVERYTHING in writing, trust no verbal agreements. Keep copious amounts of notes and make sure everything agreed is CLEARLY documented.

Like most things in life, please dont let the acts of the few put you off humanity!

Don't get me on this you wait to you try dealing with a brit estate agent 

They all leave the UK as odd nod men and turn up in spain as master builders

I think they put a invisible spot our for head only seen by rip off merchants when we first arrive .I have just sold a flat to a English woman who paid me in full in sterling two weeks before completion ,I hope she survives 

Having used many builders over 15 years living in Spain I have found the Eastern European builders are best We have had a few jobs done by Bulgarian buliders Quality super and they work like donkeys Also learn Spanish and use Spanish byikders

But please dont openly name and shame here as it may attract a ban!

can we also bear in mind that we are dealing with peoples livelihoods here - there may be a one off reason why you had a bad experience with someone.