Costa Levante News reserves the right to edit contributors’ letters as it sees fit.
LETTER OF THE WEEK
Email
August 13, 2007
Gilly, in her article last week, pointed out some disturbing facts about life in the UK today, with almost weekly murders and general lawlessness on the streets.
I would be interested to know how other countries, including Spain, deal with this ongoing problem. I know Spain suffers quite a lot of scams and burglaries but how do they deal with hooligans and vandalism?
TL (Yorkshire)
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Email
August 18, 2007
Hello,
I have just seen the letter regarding the lawyer who kept the client’s deposit when purchasing a property.
Just to let you know what happened to us when we sold our property; the agent who brought the purchaser told us he would only charge 5 per cent but kept our 10 per cent deposit when it came through.
We went off to find a lawyer who told us we could not do anything about it so we took it on the chin and got on with the sale.
The lawyer said we would have to leave 3,500 euros with him and 1,500 euros with the other side’s lawyer for Suma, telephone, etc. But the bills in March were still coming out of our account. We sold in January so we cancelled all.
Also the bank gave us a settlement charge for the mortgage but when the cheque went into the account somehow it was 2,000 euros less. Also the CAM bank has taken three payments after it was paid in full.
I have phoned the lawyer and emailed and sent letters but I still have not had a reply or been given a breakdown of how it has been spent.
All I can say is thankfully we have now left Spain but the rip-offs have left a nasty taste in our mouths.
Carol
Email
August 20, 2007
In response to R Wickman's letter
It is true that Guardia Civil (Tráfico) are hiding behind the tree at the junction where the Ondara/Denia tollroads meet the N332.
I on a number of occasions have been past them; each time I stop (and always do stop at a Stop sign) and have never had problems as of yet.
Stop signs as speed signs (and any other sign for that matter) are there for a reason, and although I agree the points on your licence was a bit too harsh, the fine is justified.
I have been on that stretch of road many a time when you cannot see what’s coming on the slip road and, as after joining the slip road you have to merge into the N332, caution of the upmost is essential. Is stopping a few seconds to get a better view really that bad? (Also if you stop and look you can see the Guardia preparing to jump in the car’s way!)
If you read the small print on the fine you do get a percentage discount if paying the fine promptly.
You can always write a letter of complaint to the DGT of Alicante asking them to review the points situation for this fine.
I am not writing this to show that I am a good driver, far from it, I probably make as many mistakes as the next driver, but having passed my test just over a year ago, I had it drummed into me that Stop signs were a place that you do exactly that - Stop. Even if they appear to be in the most ridiculous place, it pays to stop, there’s normally a reason why it’s there.
Safe driving,
Emma-Peta Jones
Email
Nottinghamshire
August 14, 2007
Dear Sir,
Student debts
The United Kingdom? Apparently not in everything.
It is reported that UK students leaving university do so with an estimated £25,000 student debt, however that is not giving the public a true picture of the situation right across the UK.
Students in Scotland I understand do not incur top-up fees, etc. Their higher education is totally free and paid for by the government.Therefore Scots students do not incur prohibitive debts following completion of their university education.
Now then where does the money come from? Oh yes! Gordon Brown is a Scot, isn’t he?Well, well well!
Anthony Gibson
Email
August 13, 2007
Sir,
Shame on you bookshops!
When moving to Spain just over a year ago I promised to indulge myself in a passion I had little time for in London. Yes, I was coming to Spain to read, read read.
The classics, the great writers, I would devour them all sitting on a shaded terrace overlooking the sea.
And how fortunate I was having chosen to live in an area with two good English bookshops in town, not to mention a glut of second-hand outlets and supermarket/convenience stores. I was in heaven… initially!
Then I began to check the prices of the new and latest titles I was purchasing. It would appear that the bookshops were being a little naughty and exploiting the euro rate by inflating the exchange rate to the extent that a South American dictatorship would have trouble keeping up with.
I bit my stiff upper British lip and questioned the bookshop who charged me 18 euros for a Jill Lanchbery novel retailing at £8.99. The man bit his stiff upper British lip and mentioned a 15 per cent levy charged by the small independent publisher.
Being an accountant by profession I quickly worked out that even a 15 per cent levy would work out at around 15 euros, not the 18 I was being charged.
The stiff upper lip took himself out of the shop, book in hand and vowed to track down this small independent publisher.
I did so; spoke to the man at the top who explained that this levy was nonsense. Actually, he didn’t use the word nonsense he used a word that rhymes with the instrument that houses the oars in an Oxford-Cambridge boat race!
I fared no better at the other bookshop where I was charged 12 euros for a Hemingway book, RRP £6.99.
Again I questioned the price – ‘postage’ the assistant countered. Please… two euros for each book when buying in multiple bulk orders? Pull the other one. I’ve checked it out. I can get 50 paperback books couriered by DHL and UPS for £12.50, yes 40p a book. And that’s me as a private individual.I’m sure the book stores have an even better deal in place.
And I researched even more; such was that annoying buzzing bee in my bonnet.
I contacted the Writer’s Guild in London who explained that the bookstores are by far and away the biggest profit maker from the sale of a book, 40-50 per cent apparently, as opposed to the poor old author who is fortunate to receive six or seven per cent.
The Writer’s Guild have a ‘fair price for all policy’ which suggests a fair distribution for all on the sale of a book. To me it seems weighted in favour of the bookstore. But what makes me really angry is that the bookstores are hiking up the price even higher at the expense of the loyal customers.
It’s Amazon for me from now on. Unless of course the bookstore owners want to defend this action.
D Harwood
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