gas certificate

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littleeak
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gas certificate

Postby littleeak » Thu Jul 11, 2013 4:39 pm

Not sure if this topic should be here or in General.......

received an interesting phone call this morning................... said they were from 'the gas company' wanting to check the gas certificate. When could they come? The address they had for us was the 1st place we lived at 8 years ago!! My son answered the phone (I was out) &, not knowing about dodgy gasmen, told them our new address. They said they'd call later but luckily our house is difficult to find so they rang again. We rent so told them they'd have to contact our landlord first. Strangely enough they didn't ask for his phone number (not that we have it................. they'd have to go through the Agent!).
Is this the case of foreign name in the phone book ie easy to scam I wonder?

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gerryh
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Re: gas certificate

Postby gerryh » Thu Jul 11, 2013 6:20 pm

Gas companies only come to check your system, which should be done every 5 years, after you have contacted them and made an appointment.
They do not contact you first.
Anybody contacting you might be able to issue a valid certificate but you will pay over, or well over, the true cost of the official inspection.
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Gerry
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pete_l
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Re: gas certificate

Postby pete_l » Thu Jul 11, 2013 7:00 pm

Yup, scam.
Round these parts there is a beat up old van with a couple of geezers in it turning up outside English-speakers houses demanding to be let in to perform "inspections". They have no right of entry and while they could very well be fully-qualified gas engineers they have no official standing.

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quebin
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Re: gas certificate

Postby quebin » Thu Jul 11, 2013 7:18 pm

Not strictly true.We had a card posted into our buzon by the guy who first checked our house reminding us that our last check was over 5 years ago,maybe it is now that records are now being more stringently checked.
I rang him after changing all the tubing myself and added a gas room heater to be checked.Everything passed ok,but I do realise that there are scammers out there.I would like to think that he was thinking of our safety as it was only a cost of between 50 to 60 euros to provide peace of mind for 5 years of protection,in case of explosions etc,with the updated contract, especially as about 4 years ago an old lady,who lived in the street behind our house,died after a explosion caused by faulty equipment.

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gerryh
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Re: gas certificate

Postby gerryh » Thu Jul 11, 2013 7:45 pm

quebin wrote:..I would like to think that he was thinking of our safety as it was only a cost of between 50 to 60 euros to provide peace of mind for 5 years of protection,...
I believe the true cost of an official inspection is less than €40, but, as you say, between €50 and 60 is not too outrageous.
It's those who try to charge €hundreds who are the real scammers.
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Gerry
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ebbnflow
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Re: gas certificate

Postby ebbnflow » Thu Jul 11, 2013 10:47 pm

As said already your gas installation should be checked every 5 years and re-certified.

There is a basic cost, €40-50 seems normal plus anything that may need changing. That would typically be the rubber hoses that connect the gas cylinders to the pipework and thence the pipework to any gas burning items.
The smaller €16ish bottles will have the orange hoses and the taller €70ish bottles will have black ones. These are date coded so easily identified as to whether they'll be good for another five years or not.
You may also have the metal braided/armored hoses at the appliance end which are equally subject to renewal.
In the past our reminder has come from the plumbing company that made the original installation. This time the reminder has come directly from Repsol, for others that may be Cepsa.

The uninvited callers at the door are the real sharks and should be turned away no matter how convincing they may look and sound.

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Re: gas certificate

Postby Unicorn » Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:54 am

I had an incident some years ago when a guy with a clipboard dressed in orange came to the door for all the world from Repsol. He just came through the door and asked to look at the gas bottle. Big mistake as we have piped gas so told him to get out and he did. Obviously a scammer and more fool me letting him through he door but he did look quite authentic. Had not, however, done his homework for the block as we all have the piped gas. And, by the way, wanted cash for the 'check'.

Just as anywhere just should not let anyone in.

anyroads
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Re: gas certificate

Postby anyroads » Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:15 pm

Had it done in September by Repsol as I found a reminder in the postbox.

The charge is now 65 euros.

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fyfin
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Re: gas certificate

Postby fyfin » Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:28 pm

Funny enough just today two guys with navy boiler suits with logos on were let into the apartment block by someone who then thought better of it and told me. They said they had been phoned by the guy at no 27 which would have been a bit of a surprise as he speaks no Spanish and they didn't speak English. They were ringing his doorbell but he was out and then they asked his neighbour if he could come in for a glass of water. They were told politely to push off and I made sure they left the building.
There were 4 of them in a battered old car with a stick on logo, company name INFOGAS from Cordoba.

They wanted to check his gas installation which was a bit odd since he has no gas appliances at all. They may be a legitimate company but they operate in a very dubious way.

They were obviously up to no good so we contacted the police to advise them that they were operating in this area.
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