The Entire AMAY Team
It seemed clear from the email transcript that Ms. Garcia was angered by my decision to go over her head and speak directly to the Director. It was also worrying to read that “Ms. Garcia and the entire AMAY team, even the quantity surveyor, chief construction architect, and others have been on top of this home to be able to solve them and do it as well as possible.” Yet, someone forgot to include the balcony in the villa’s framework, the extended floor, and they built not one, but two walls that were not on any plans. This doesn’t even address all the other smaller issues we’ve had, which are documented in our story. The stress and anxiety this caused me was far greater than managing 12 restaurants and a hotel back in Ireland.
I informed the Sales Executive of the situation, feeling it was only fair to keep her in the loop. She replied, telling me that Carmello Murcia, Director of AMAY Properties, had read my email and wanted to meet with me. We agreed to meet at my home at 12 noon the following day.
Deciding on the Future
I pondered on whether to exit the contract or continue. It was a difficult decision, but we found a great villa on a lovely site in the area we wanted to live. A list of topics to discuss was compiled, prepared the table with traditional Irish tea and scones, and waited for his arrival. I then received a text from the Sales Executive advising me that Carmello wanted Janine to be in attendance at the meeting. I was unhappy with this, but I agreed, hoping it would finally resolve everything.
At 11:44 am, I received a text from the Sales Executive informing me that Carmello was in a meeting. She would let me know if there would be a meeting after all. At 12:15 pm, I had a video call from Lea Garcia, joined by Janine. They wanted to discuss my complaint and find a solution. I was a bit stunned, as I had expected to meet with Carmello and was unsure whether to take the meeting.
The Meeting
I decided to take the meeting. From the demeanour of the callers, it was clear they had been instructed to ensure the sale did not fall through. They did not argue. Instead, they sat and listened, promising me that no disrespect was intended and assuring me that everything would be done according to the contract if we moved forward. They agreed to have the wall on the basement stairs removed and to open the doorway in the other wall (at a cost of €260). I agreed since otherwise, we would have a room without a door. They assured me that everything in the contract would be executed and fulfilled.
They agreed to send me an email of apology, which they did, although it was prefaced by “if,” so it wasn’t really an apology at all. I asked if they wanted me to be quiet and not visit the property anymore, as each time their mistakes were raised, they got angry and accused me of making changes. It was clarified that I was not making changes. I was merely highlighting their errors. They decided it would be best for me not to be quiet and to advise them of my observations as I encountered them.
Lea did say she would cancel the contract if I so wanted, but went on to say she would rather we had a resolution. Also she told me that it was up to me whom I shared my story with, should I wish to write about my experience.
We left the meeting and I felt somewhat relieved, I had assurances yet again that everything would be contractually executed. I decided to proceed as I felt confident after their assurances.
Professionalism after Meeting
On the April 20th we had discussions about the body jets in the showers, and it was finally agreed that these would be moveable. This never happened.
Nothing of any consequence happened between April and October 2023. We visited the house every week and reported whatever minor issues had occurred, everything was done as promised at the meeting. Everything seemed like it was all now going to plan after our little meeting.
The Property was supposed to be complete in September, but it was no-where near finished, we had not sold our home, so we allowed the time flow over, as I was sure that AMAY Properties would appreciate not being pressured. That was another mistake.
Sale of old Property
I should mention also at this point, in March of 2023, we placed our home one the market with AMAY Properties on advice from an Estate Agent, it seemed like solid advice at the time, AMAY Properties had no key-ready properties left and ours was available. Their fee was very high, but we felt they would sell and we were clients of theirs. Another mistake.
Our Villa remained for sale for a staggering fifteen months, with minimal interest. We removed it from AMAY Properties in July of 2024 and placed it with Casa Verano, who sold it for us within three months. But that is a whole other story.
Construction Drama
Back to the drama of the building. On one of our visits, we noticed that the tiles in the showers where the wrong tiles, but rather than cause another row, we accepted the tiles as there were. We ordered white long strips, we received brown small squares.
The following week we did our usual visit to find the Solarium floor had been tiled. The tilers left a rise between the kitchen and the main floor, creating a 10mm step which was going to be a danger. I raised this with Janine and to my surprise, it was sorted immediately.
On our visit the next week, we noticed they had fitted the ceiling in the part of the basement and plastered and painted it. But there was no air conditioning fitted within the ceiling recess. We raised this with Janine, who told us they would cut a hole in the ceiling to fit the air conditioning later. We also observed there was no USB sockets in the bedroom as agreed, she said she would attend to that.
The Walls
From our frequent visits, we had noticed that the boundary wall was different heights around the house and the pillars at the front were also different heights. We had stipulated in the contract that the walls must be 2 meters tall from the internal terrace. The wall to the rear which borders the neighbour’s house was 1.6mtrs, the wall to the left was 1.8mtrs and the front wall was 2mtrs. The pillars to the right were 1.5mtr and there was only one pillar at the car gate and that was 2mtrs tall. I brought this to Janine’s attention on several occasions and she advised that all the walls and pillars would be raised to 2mtrs. I will discuss this in greater detail, the boundary walls remain below 2 meters today.
A discussion began in early November that went all the through the month regarding confusion over the installation of electric blinds, what was included in our Property and what was not. Eventually we got this sorted at the end of the month. We were directed to go to Ashwin Homes for the blinds, which we did, it transpires, Ashwin Homes is owned by AMAY Properties. But we got everything sorted in the end.
Another Inwanted Wall
We headed off on vacation in early November and on our return, to our utter horror, yes, we discovered another wall had been built on the corner of the Jacuzzi. This wall sat atop of the corner of the Jacuzzi and rose .5 meters tall, .3 meters deep and 8 meters long. I emailed Janine on the December 7th to enquire why we now had yet another unwanted wall, her response was astounding. The Architect said “The wall was to cover the Jacuzzi siphons”. I searched the web to find what a Jacuzzi siphon was and could not come up with an answer. The usual row began, I argued and was told “We didn’t tell you because its technical”, again, Janine assuming I’m stupid.
I requested all the technical information, drawings, pipe layouts, etc., of the jacuzzi, to be given another excuse, “The Architect decided we would have more privacy in the Jacuzzi with the wall”, seriously, the lies never end, instead of just admitting this was a mistake.
Eventually it was decided to put the siphons in the flower bed beside the Jacuzzi. Here is the really interesting thing. THERE ARE NO SIPHONS IN THE FLOWER BED, NOT NOW, NOT THEN. The wall was removed and from what I can gather, this 8m x .5m x .3m wall was to hide two 2inch pipes. If I did not experience this myself, I would surely say it was a joke.
I was now informed that the agreed and contracted wall height around the Property could not be built to the agreed height and the pillars could not be raised due to planning restrictions. Again, another row began to brew.
Dont Doubt the Architect
We raised our concerns about the glass baluster rail on the stairs and landing, because in the show house and in our own home, the glass was 20mm thick, but in our new Property, it was 10mm. I was concerned about the integrity of the glass should someone fall. The response was swift “The Architect confirmed it and there is no reason to doubt it”, to be honest, given our experience togate, I doubt everything that the Architect says, but if I’m truthful, my feeling is, the Head of Aftersales makes it up as she goes along.
There was also concern over the hand painted bed head wall in the bedrooms, this was costing us €350 per wall. The showhouse was different to our own home, so we raised this with Janine. She confirmed that it would be the same. It was now Christmas, so nothing was happening.
We will continue our story in January 2025 of the final Part 3
www.youtu.be/jQKi5us5JKg