February 2011 London
BLOG 57 looking ahead
Yes, there are attachments. Finally, some images! But, by the look of them, very little progress. Then I spy something in the corner of one of the images which makes my blood boil. It’s the next-door villa, belonging to one of the Russian familiies who purchased some time after us. And that villa appears to be far more advanced than ours. It is complete with glass windows and – do I see correctly – are those newly planted trees at the front? I can hardly believe it: not only don’t we have glassed windows in our own villa, our garden looks like a heap of rubble compared to our next-door neighbour’s smooth landscape. Ours is obviously very far from the possibility of any landscaping. It’s pretty clear to me that Infinity has taken advantage of our situation, knowing that my mind was on other things. Instead, they have forged ahead on our adjacent villas, leaving ours barely touched.
For the first time, I am beginning to wonder about our impetuous decision to buy.
Enough with polite emails. I send a stinging one to L and the directors, and the recently appointed ‘general manager’, E, expressing my feelings about the uneven progress of the group of villas and that ours has progressed the least. (I could kick myself for not taking a few minutes to send emails over the last few months.)
In my angry email I restate the new completion date as stated in the new, revised contract (end of June this year) and ask her to be sure to talk to the directors (although I have blind copied them on the email) and also remind them of the penalties agreed in this updated contract (but inwardly thinking that contracts seem to have little meaning for these people). I tell her that it is essential that we be able to stay in our villa in July as promised so that OH can continue his recuperation.
I also remind the directors that I must review the snagging list while there and that they must complete the necessary items before final payment. Then, dreadful thought: I think ‘they have had the bulk of the money – maybe they don’t care if they don’t receive the final payment – maybe there are other projects, more lucrative than ours, that they want to move to' – oh dear, these negative thoughts are getting me nowhere – I must remain optimistic. While writing this, I can’t help feeling a bit sorry for L – it’s not her fault, but I’m hoping that she will reiterate our anger and angst to her bosses. I think she's the only one reading my emails. If I could, I’d be on the next plane to Dalaman, and then on to Fethiye, thumping the desk of K – better still, thumping K himself and his saccharine sister, S. As for their new 'general manager, E' - I think he's just there to shield them from angry clients.
But I can’t, so I swallow my anger and resentment, put on a smiling face for OH who is now responding much more to smiles and kisses, and go make another cup of tea.
The prospect of staying in our dream villa is receding. Will it ever happen?
. . . to be continued . . .usually posted on Thursday
