18 Dec 2008 1:11 PM:
hi everyone and merry xmas
i have submitted the cancellation of my contract at el patio through maria de castro in algeciras and am just about to send throught the second set of legal fees to her!! this has just gone on far to long and we are now one year in delays. the credit crunch in property valuation and lower rental fees has not helped us either.
i went down to marbella and met the lawyers of spain team recently. i thought that they were a well respected company however on seeing their office at elviria i left thinking that they are badly run and in complete disaray!! i walked in to see hundreds of peoples files out all over the desks and floor (not even filed away or kept locked up - all this information is private but people could walk in off the street and start viewing your files). it did not look professional at all!!!
i asked a man on reception if i could speak to javier and he asked me if i had an appointment to which i said "no" and he told me to take a seat while he called him to see if he was free. next thing the same guy walks over to me and introduces himself as "javier". is this dodgy or what!! how strange!!! and supect!! we argued about me not having an appointment - he was very aggressive but not surprising as they are losing lots of business from people cancelling contracts.
i asked to see my personal file regarding property purchase and he told me that he didnt have it at the elviria branch however i had rang the marbella branch in the morning and they had told me that all files are kept at elviria !!! he then got defensive and told me he would have a look for it if i went away for a 20minute coffee!! when i came back amongst hundreds of files he took me to a filing cabinet and amongst the el patio clients in there it was open at "southward" my surname ,and my file wasnt there therefore i couldnt have it and he didnt know where it was!!!???? so i ask you all does this look suspect again - had he gone and hid it while i was on my coffee break?? in addition we are paying the lawyers of spain about £4000 each so you would expect a professional service and he tells me he doesnt know where my file is!!! an arguement then ensued and i left without my file and told him he had better find it by the end of the day.
on driving down to meet maria in algeciras javier then rung me and told me that it had been found at the marbella office as another lawyer had been looking at it with regard to litigation??? javier was supposedly my lawyer so why was another lawyer looking at it and if so why had i not been told??He then said it was being internationally couriered back to the elviria office and would be there in 30 minutes!!! likely story - more like it had been hid in the back room.
Having met maria and signed power of attorney to her i then drove all the way back to meet javier who let me see my file but would not let me take it away however i did get all necessary original paperwork including my bank guarantee and purchase contract.
you can all make your own minds up regarding lawyers of spain??? and i would suggest anyone thinking of cancelling to contact maria de castro immediately as you are commited to purchase once the LFO is issued whenever that may be !!
feel free to contact me anytime
best regards richard
Community thread:
Dona Julia El Patio Completion Date
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