The Biggest cause of hassle when you arrive in Spain ?

[BENIDORM]

Well for me it has always been anything to do with telecommunications, that is mobile phones, landlines and internet connections and TV reception.
I can honestly say that most other items that I've had to deal with have been ok for me, yes sure there has been many frustrating delays, but always come 'good' in the end.

But as I say , phones etc,. have always caused me nightmares here in Spain, I've been ripped off, overcharged, mislead and generally lead down the garden path, and I hate to say it but many times by fellow expats.
Anyway after 20 + years I seem to be doing reasonably well now, although I'm always looking for better prices and service.
I dread to think how much money I've spent over the years on these items, sometimes I wish I could go back 50 years to the time when life was so simple....boring but simple...

Anyone arriving in Spain now has only got to spend an hour or so scrolling through the A.Com pages to find the solutions, haven't they ?
Regards,
Gordon.

[pete_l]

For me the biggest hassle is officialdom
Officialdom and the language.
The two biggest hassles are officialdom and the language ... and trades
The THREE biggest gassles are officaldom, language, tradespeople ... and getting stuff delivered.
The four biggest hassles are officialdom, language, tradespeople, deliveries ... and shops not having what I want
The five ... well, you get the picture.

[Free at Last]

Officialdom can be a hassle, especially the fact that various regulations and requirements are applied with so little consistency from place to place or even between individuals working in the same office. Our Ayuntamiento is also very much like the curate's egg - good in parts. I really like some of the things they do and spend money on, and others have me tearing my hair out and wondering how any sane person could think that was a good idea.

The language difficulty can be overcome, but not without a lot of hard work and not inconsiderable expense. I do think it's worth it in the end, though. When I first arrived I used to feel so helpless and stupid when trying to sort out even the simplest thing, or even when people were trying to be friendly and communicate with me, and I couldn't reciprocate.

Tradespeople - have only had a problem with one who ripped us off (like Benidorm, sorry to say it but it was a fellow expat). Deliveries or shops not having what I want - not had any problems, if we can't get what we want locally we just buy online. We looked for a smart TV last week, none of the local suppliers had the one we wanted so an order was placed online last Friday and delivery is expected tomorrow.

Telecommunications - have never had any dealings with Telefonica so probably a lucky escape! Did have difficulty cancelling a PAYG dongle with Vodafone but got it done eventually. Never had a problem with a utility company.

One of the recurring annoyances we get is other expats trying to "latch on" to us. We're happy to help people with information, etc when they first arrive but how do you explain to people that you don't want to meet up with them every other day, take them with you everywhere you go, keep going round to their house for dinner, etc. etc., without being really rude?

[Beachcomber]

Didn't really have any. There was no internet, mobile telephones or satellite TV to get in a strop over and everything was generally easier prior to 1986 before Spain joined the EU and was still in control of its own destiny. Now look at it!

[Mowser]

Biggest hassle was getting the health forms sorted out. The original E106 took forever.
Once we were allowed into the system (Mrs Mowser and pensionable age), it took over 6 months (maybe even a year) to get it all sorted out. We spent many a fruitless day dotting between Velez and Nerja.

When we were told about form FD9, we gave the forms to our gestor and she sorted it out. It even took her about a year! Good news was that the tax rebate was backdated to the day the first state pension was paid.

btw - HMRC mucked up all the forms. They were the ones who made the error re FD9. They mistakenly added my pension twice and decided not to pay me as I owed back tax! It was all sorted out in 48 hours after a few phone calls.

[costakid]

I will never understand why internet and phones are so expensive and why so many bars do not have wifi.
Spain are years behind the UK on techno.

[Unicorn]

I still can never understand the language thing. Surely it is a given that the Spanish speak Spanish and should not come as a surprise to anyone.

From having been here a few years I see people come here, do a couple hours a week Spanish and then give up.
The reasonable solution is to go alone to an intensive two week course and live with a Spanish family. Once you can hold a conversation you get better and better. They are not expensive and do the trick.

I get fed up with people asking me to go to the notary or whatever with them when they have lived here for years as well. Even more astounding is some people ignoring documentation when it is in Spanish!
Most of the other expats - the Dutch, Germans etc - seem to be able to learn, so what is wrong with the Brits?

[Lavanda]

Visitors! Family and friends who want to visit just days after you first get here!

[Unicorn]

And be picked up from the airport. They are in party/holiday mode and want to go out non stop......

[Free at Last]

Deliveries or shops not having what I want - not had any problems, if we can't get what we want locally we just buy online. We looked for a smart TV last week, none of the local suppliers had the one we wanted so an order was placed online last Friday and delivery is expected tomorrow.

The new TV didn't get delivered yesterday as promised - it was coming via UPS and OH saw a note on the tracking system to say "delivery address incomplete" (which it wasn't, the fact that we live in an area that can't be accessed by motor vehicles seems to defeat them, although they'd made no attempt to contact him by phone). A rather terse chat with Amazon followed, and this morning he got an email to say the delivery had been rescheduled to Wednesday. An even more terse (for which read apoplectic) chat and an hour or so later the phone rang and it was the UPS driver to say he was 5 minutes away with the TV! Plus an email has now arrived from Amazon apologising for the poor service and refunding the delivery charge of £11. It was almost worth waiting the extra half a day for it to arrive.

[pete_l]

Refunded your shipping? Good grief, this is SPAIN. Considering "can't be accessed by motor vehicles", you're lucky they didn't zap you with an Extended Area Surcharge instead.
Having said that, UPS's surcharge is a bargain compared with the US $ 33 extra that DHL wanted for the privilege of dropping my order at one of the local garages (I wonder if they'd have charged more to tell me which one?). In the end Correos hanfled the shipping - arrived at the local office in 2 days and I could collect the package at my leisure.

Strong recommendation: Open the consignment and inspect the TV for any signs of damage before signing for it.

[Free at Last]

Refunded your shipping? Good grief, this is SPAIN. Considering "can't be accessed by motor vehicles", you're lucky they didn't zap you with an Extended Area Surcharge instead.
Having said that, UPS's surcharge is a bargain compared with the US $ 33 extra that DHL wanted for the privilege of dropping my order at one of the local garages (I wonder if they'd have charged more to tell me which one?). In the end Correos hanfled the shipping - arrived at the local office in 2 days and I could collect the package at my leisure.

Strong recommendation: Open the consignment and inspect the TV for any signs of damage before signing for it.

The TV is working perfectly, thank goodness, and we're very impressed with it. If it hadn't been, I was on the verge of packing my bags and leaving home after living with the OH in "bear with sore head" mode since yesterday!

We're not unreasonable people, we understand that it's very difficult for couriers to bring stuff to the door as it's often impossible to find space to park their van in the plaza nearest the house, and so we're happy to go the few hundred metres to collect it from them there, if only they would ring us when they find out they can't get to the door by road. MRW do that, we even met them outside Mercadona one day when they phoned whilst we were out shopping and they handed over the package there, but only DHL has actually managed to bring something direct to the door with no problems at all, so far. We never have a problem with deliveries from any of the local shops, they are used to it - I still remember being amazed to see a guy walking up the hill balancing a sofa on his head en route to the house and thinking 'elf and safety would never allow that in the UK!

[katy]

Didn't really have any. There was no internet, mobile telephones or satellite TV to get in a strop over and everything was generally easier prior to 1986 before Spain joined the EU and was still in control of its own destiny. Now look at it!

Very true we lived very happily without hassle from day one. Was about 2004 when the regulations bombed. Even worse now, like reinventing the wheel for residents who have lived there for years.

I think the biggest hassle now on arriving would be wondering if the property you have sunk your money into is legal. Another 2 British have had their homes demolished and 2 more have been given 30 days notice to move out their stuff. (Almeria) The Developer was ordered to compensate them...of course he has gone bankrupt, what a suprise These people have been living under this threat since 2004. What a way to end ones retirement!

[pete_l]

I still remember being amazed to see a guy walking up the hill balancing a sofa on his head en route to the house and thinking 'elf and safety would never allow that in the UK!

Oh, good. I'm glad that Desperate Dan managed to find work after the Dandy closed last year as it's obviousl from the excerpt below that his first choice, as a stand-up comic wasn't going to work out.

The story goes that Dan was once asked what his favourite joke was. So he stroked that great chin of his, pondered a moment, and said: 'What's the difference between a coyote and a flea? One howls on the prairie and the other prowls on the hairy!'

[olive]

Other expats.

[oliveview01]

Other expats.

Have to agree with you Olive..... our ´nice´ neighbours turned into the neighbours from hell They were control freaks and were not happy when we started to have minds of our own

Other than that, it was my OH..... he ´lost´ lots of my ´stuff´ in the move

[gus-lopez]

[ The Developer was ordered to compensate them...of course he has gone bankrupt, what a suprise These people have been living under this threat since 2004. What a way to end ones retirement!

No ,the developer should be in prison & bankrupted, along with the estate agents, abogados & notaries. Failing that execution.
The developer was ordered by the Junta to demolish the houses whilst under construction & long before they were ever sold. The demolition order was in force when the house were sold to the unsuspecting buyers.

[BENIDORM]

Some very interesting replies and theories, Thank You.

I have observed, over the years, how people moving from different countries cope,and some seem to do it effortlessly and some seem to really struggle.
And I suppose that we should all accept that any upheaval will cause a certain amount of stress, and take into consideration that it is a known fact that moving house is reckoned to be almost as traumatic as dealing with a family bereavement.
But when you think that you are not only moving house but going to a foreign country with a totally different culture and leaving behind family and friends and a way of life that you have got used to over many years, then maybe you can understand how traumatic it is.
I personally haven't found any great difference in the standards of service and dealing with local authorities etc., here in Spain than I have in UK and other countries.
I had many 'run ins' with local councils, suppliers, tax offices etc. in UK, but the incidents were over a period of many years, unfortunately when you move to any foreign country it all happens at the same time, so actually appears worse, when really it isn't.
You also have to remember that many expats, especially pensioners , suddenly have a lot of time on their hands, so understandably many little problems can appear to be bigger than they actually are, and little problems really can turn into upsetting events.
The answer I think is to try to stay calm , be patient and deal with all matters systematically, no one really wins by becoming angry and aggressive, in fact it actually makes matters worse !

As for people getting 'ripped off', well that is an entirely different matter, and the really serious problems like illegal housing do only happen to quite a small percentage of people, and not just expats, I know of plenty of Spanish people affected the same way.
And yes I do agree that the law is flawed and the whole system of property purchase needs a real shake up, as it did for instance in Florida many years ago.
Anyway enjoy your life as best as you can, you never know what is just around the corner.

Regards,
Gordon.

[anyroads]

pete_l said..

"The story goes that Dan was once asked what his favourite joke was. So he stroked that great chin of his, pondered a moment, and said: 'What's the difference between a coyote and a flea? One howls on the prairie and the other prowls on the hairy!'"

Reminds me of the other awful "joke", not sure where it came from..

What is the difference between f*anny Cradock and a cross country runner ?

One is a pant in the country.........

anyroads