11768 Urgent Help

Hi - I would appreciate some advice. My son and his wife have bought a property in Abruzzo - in a reasonably populated village in the mountains. An Agency sold them the property - renovations and basic furniture were part of the package. The agency contracts to hand over the keys six months from utilities being connected. My son bought the property in September and the utilities have still not been connected. The agency keeps telling them "soon, soon, there are problems with the utilities". They were initially told that it was a Grid problem but no water has been connected (although there is already water connected in the building from the previous owners, the agency says this has to be a new supply). The agency says no renovation work can start until the utility connections have been made. The full purchase price and renovation costs have been handed over plus a substantial amount for utility connections which the agency also takes responsibility for. My son and his wife are living with family in Florence at the moment - expecting to move in to their new home in April. Are there such problems with utilities in Abruzzo that they are taking nearly six months?

Category
Abruzzo

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 07:13

Can't help unfortunately - but I suggest you also try a similar posting on the Abruzzo group forum, in the 'Groups' section.

Wishing you good luck.

.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 08:39

I think the problem your son has is that he has paid up front, therefore the agency will feel no urgency to get things done, they already have the money.

Your son’s house will be lower on their list of priorities than other jobs, which have to be dome in order to get paid.

On the other hand it can be difficult dealing with the utility companies out here. I know of one chap who had no water for a long time until a fluent Italian speaker took on the water company and he was connected that afternoon.

Best of luck.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 08:49

Hi Nielo
Thanks - you're right re the upfront money. I think my son would have been better holding some back but he bought last year before the market slow down had picked up speed and I guess just got caught up in the excitement of it all. The agency in question would not let him buy without full payment up front. Once the deposit was down, he stood to lose money if he withdrew, which at one point he considered.
Alan

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 12:31

I've PMed you - will try to help if the property is in this part of Abruzzo (Sulmona etc.)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 07:18

Hi Alan
Sorry about your problems. We also had the water already connected to our house when we bought it, and then the utility company came and removed the meter. We went to the offices and paid direct to have everything restarted - no problems, took about a day. Same also for the electric. I hate to say it, but having paid up front your son has kind of shot himself in the foot. We found that unless we were actually there to push things along, nothing much happened, but once we were there, it all happened very quickly.
If you know somebody in the commune perhaps they can help with the utilities.
Barbara

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 17:37

Hi
I have been there, and can probably guess the myriad excuses from the company involved. Please pm me and I will fill you in and impart my experiences for what it may be worth.:eeeek:

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/09/2009 - 15:30

Why not mention where this agency is based? Even if they cannot be named for all sorts of reasons this intolerable behavoir should carry some consequences for someone.

I have a website about abruzzo and I'd be happy to print the story there with no names of course.It makes me furious to read these sorts of stories.