ok who thinks I have a problem

[terryturf]

I have a finca in Alora and in october last year I employed a local with a JCB to do some work on overgrown land ripping out some dead lemon trees ready for replanting . The charge quoted was 27 euros an hour . I watched him do about 3 days work whilst i was there and by the progress id seen envisaged it would take no more than 2 weeks I paid him 1000 euros and asked for 1 other job to be done the drive to the house covered in 2-3 truck loads of the small white gravel . My neighbour who is spanish and employs around 80 people in Malaga said his worker would keep an eye on the place and make a note of how many days work the driver had done just in case he tried to pull a fast one . Due to illness i didnt return till last week expecting a bill of around 2-3000 euros and hes gone and built loads of retaining walls all around the land with huge boulders I neither asked for or desired and has presented a bill for 3000 euros for the original work and a further wait for it 31000 thirty one thousand !!!!that's right for the extra work . Needless to say i have refused to pay and appointed a lawyer to deal with this fool . My neighbour says its his problem not mine and as a trusted friend of over 9 years with a business in Spain I'm far more relaxed about it all than i was at first . Waiting for the sarcastic comments here goes guys

[silver]

31000 thirty one thousand !!!!that's right for the extra work... the price is probably right for the work carried out..its very expensive job to build loads of retaining walls all around the land with huge boulders..but tread carefully..as machine work should have permission... and you have to prove you did not order this work..have you spoken to the machine guy..whats his story
Good luck anyway.

[terryturf]

The driver said he did what He thought was correct !! I told my lawyer i want them all removed they are not in keeping with the area and will atttract rats in the holes between them . My neighbour says that he is trying it on cos im a foreigner and he thinks im rich !! I am happy to go to court over this and believe its going to be very difficult for him to explain doing such a job without a contract or giving a proper quote .

[hillybilly]

I am happy to go to court over this and believe its going to be very difficult for him to explain doing such a job without a contract or giving a proper quote .

Exactly - no written or verbal order to carry out work = no contract = not a leg to stand on (him, not you!). Ask him to remove the works at no cost to you.

[terryturf]

thanks for the reasurrance hillbilly thats exactly what i thought . I said to my neighbour I dont want a reputation amongst the locals for being a shyster and not paying my bills as I always try to act properly regarding such things . He said yes the locals will talk but when they hear the full story he will be thought of as a fool not myself . Wonder what he will consider doing regarding the amount of money oweing dont really know how this works in Spain ie like Englands County court system ? maybe Beachcomber could explain !!

[Pigeon Tim]

Tell him to take a hike. I'm sick of Spaniards trying to rip foreigners off because they think we are all a) minted b) stupid or c) both.

€31.000..!! cheeky b*****

[pete_l]

I can safely say that never in my life have I heard of a builder anywhere
doing more work than they were asked to.

However, back to the situation in hand. You also have the problem of
getting the additional work removed. If you don't do this you may have
a hard time persuading a court, or the authorities, that you hadn't asked
for it.

[country boy]

The way to handle this is to refuse to pay and then make him sue you, that way he pays if he is confident enough, or aquieseses...

[terryturf]

Pete are you suggesting that I pay another digger driver and hauliers to come and remove these stones from my land out of my own pocket when i neither asked for them or agreed to have them put on my land ?? I can honestly say in all my life ive never been in a situation like this . I run my own business in England and would NEVER carry out works especially of such cost without having some deposit or staged payments from a customer . I have always been pretty careful with my money and would have wanted to have been there to see how the work was being done etc .

[hillybilly]

If it makes you feel any better, last week I heard of a "situation" where a builder (who had only been asked to quote for some works) went in, off his own back, and partially demolished part of someone's house...

[Dealer]

The way to handle this is to refuse to pay and then make him sue you, that way he pays if he is confident enough, or aquieseses...

I agree, do not go down the foreigners route act like a local and laugh at him when he asks for payment and say thank you for the extra work. Why should you pay rip off lawyers and court bills he won't!

You can sell the huge boulders don't forget the important bit 'buyer collects'

[gavilan]

terryturf wrote 'My neighbour who is spanish and employs around 80 people in Malaga said his worker would keep an eye on the place and make a note of how many days work the driver had done just in case he tried to pull a fast one'
so what were your neighbour and his worker doing all the time when the walls were being built? 'turning a blind eye' ??!! I would want to know what they thought was going on, what was their explanation for this extra work?

[terryturf]

My neighbour went to the digger driver and asked him what he was doing and why and the machine driver told him that he was doing what id asked . My neighbour therefore assumed i was in full knowledge of what was going on at the finca .

[julian]

i would send him a burofax telling him to put right the damage he has done without your instructions or permission, it´s always good to start collecting official bits of paper as proof for later on, words blow away in the wind.

[Robbbo57]

No problem...just get as much as possible in writing.........