True Life Stories
avoid being ripped off in Bulgaria!
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Stage Payments .
.A lot of people that come to Bulgaria seem to want to renovate property.
.
.Finding a good builder at a decent rate can be hard, especially if your
not .present to oversee the work yourself. .
.Quite often people get three or more quotes for a job.
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.Always make sure that you are getting quotes on a like for like basis, .make sure that the quoteis written down with every items and job itemized.
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.I know of many cases where people have agreed a price, paid the cash .in
full, and then are surprised when the work is either not done at all .or is
substantially less than what was agree.
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.Worst case I have come across to date was an English man who agreed .with a local builder to renovate his house.
. .There was a lot of work that needed
doing and he was quoted 35,000 Euros. .
.The builder had been recommended to him
and he said he just knew he could trust him. .
.He paid the builder in cash.
. .He was lucky though, just under half of
the work eventually got done. .
.I remember sitting down and discussing with him what stage payments are,
.put simply, you only release a certain amount of money when the builder .has
actually done something. .
.Okay, you might pay a little up front for materials but not to the builder, .always arrange for the materials to be delivered to your site.
. .This way the only way the builder
gets paid is if he does something. .
.Let the builder dig out the foundation (as an example) before agreeing .to pay
him part of the agreed price. .
.When working out stage payments always hold 20 per cent of the value .of the work
back from the builder, this sum makes sure the builder finishes the work.
.
.Anyway, back to the guy who lost best part of his 35,000 Euros.
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.It transpired that the original builders were not roofers and the roof needed
.extra supports,this was put right but only as an extra expense.
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.What happened next really shocked me though.....
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.The guy was waiting for his pension to come through; it was the sort of pension
.where you get a nice lump sum and a weekly amount.
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.As soon as the lump sum came through he employed a different team of builders,
yep,.you have guessed - again he paid them the whole sum up front. .
.This time he was not so lucky and no work was done. .
.I speak to quite a lot of English people and a lot have similar stories to tell
.(although not normally for so much money).
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.Always get a full written agreement of the price, the work, and the materials
.included and get both parties to sign it.
. .In that initial contract agree how
the stage payments are going to be made .and then stick to it. .
.Even if you are in the UK its easy for a builder to send you photos of the
work done.and for you to transfer funds into his account. .