CAN I warn other English residents of a gas scam that I was caught by today. A gas man with uniform and ID called at my door and said he had come to check the gas installation. My Spanish is not fluent and his English was poor, but he explained that a tap needed to be changed for safety reasons and he would get an English speaking colleague to explain. There was no mention of any cost and he started work while his colleague came and took me into the living room to explain.
He said the work had to be done to make my installation safe but he then presented me with a bill for 299Euros. I asked if the changes were absolutely necessary to meet safety regulations and if his company was the only one authorised to do the work and he produced some official looking documentation and said yes, so stupidly I agreed. It was only after my husband returned and we saw how little work they were doing, that we got suspicious and phoned a Spanish speaking friend, who advised us not to pay and to call the Guardia. It was all very upsetting and the Guardia were great. We were advised that we can denounce the company for pressuring me to agree to work I didn't want and taking advantage of the fact that I am old and do not have good Spanish.
However it was a very clever convincing scam and I only agreed to the work because they deliberately misled me and managed to get in and start the work before mentioning any cost.
Please advise others to beware.
Many thanks
J Howard (Portals Nous)
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