Background

 For years we had wanted to buy an apartment in a ski resort, had deliberated long and hard about this, and weighed up the pros and cons until we finally decided to take the plunge.

As there seemed to be no apartments ready built and for sale within our budget, we eventually decided to buy one ‘off plan’ – one of seven within a mountain chalet. We ‘signed up’ to buy our apartment in September 2005, being told it would be ready by Christmas 2006. The promoters were CDII—a supposedly reputable company.

Had we known that it still wouldn’t be finished by July 2008 we would never have made this decision and would have chosen somewhere else. Due to this delay, we lost two skiing seasons and two summer seasons.

We received virtually no communication from the promoters and never any explanation as to why the delay.

In March 2008 we were finally told that the apartment was finished and were invited over for the key handover. Nothing was ever explained to us, but we gathered from other people that the idea was that at the handover we would look over the apartment, make sure everything worked and if we were satisfied pay the final 5%.

A few days prior to the handover we received a phone call from the promoters. They told us that everything was finished bar the communal areas which still needed painting and carpeting and the outside which would be planted with shrubs etc in May when the weather was better.

The day before the handover (8th April 2008) we went to see the apartment from the outside. The unfinished exterior was rather different to the picture which had been painted. The place was like a building site, with rubble, mud, a skip and workmen’s vans all over the place. The entrance to our flat was at the back and it was virtually impossible to get to as the access was via a path round the side and then round the back – which was a sea of mud. Our hopes of getting any furniture in and the belongings we had brought over from the UK seemed rather ridiculously ambitious.

Realising there was no way we were going to get into the flat easily or live in it, we thought long and hard that evening as to whether or not we should pay the final 5%. As we understood it, the final 5% should only be paid when we were entirely satisfied that the flat was finished and to a satisfactory standard. It obviously wasn’t what we would term as finished but we feared that if we didn’t pay we wouldn’t get the keys. If we didn’t get the keys we believed that we wouldn’t get access to the flat at all and therefore this trip would have been a complete waste of time, even down to the bringing of bedding and crockery etc. (With hindsight, this would not have been the case as builders continued to be there for the rest of our sejour and the flat was open most of the time).

The day finally came for the handover. After nearly a 3 year wait and one a half years late, it was quite exciting.  

But what a disappointment we were in for !.

We were met by Mr. Dominique Rey Grange, the promoter. The idea was for us to go round and check for any snags and Mr. Rey Grange would make a list.

We were told that the electric wasn’t switched on which seemed a bit strange (especially as I had called into the estate agency the previous day to see if we needed to make any phone calls to get it connected and they had said it would already be on). M. Rey Grange said that we had to call him when we wanted it on and that there was no point it being on until we were living there or staying there. We wondered how were we supposed to test the sockets and electric appliances, e.g. cooker, dishwasher, fridge with no electric? On top of that, although it was daylight, it wasn’t easy to see clearly into the bathroom or shower room.

It was therefore quite a surprise when the Estate Agent informed us a few days later that the electric was suddenly and mysteriously on!

In fact we had already found out that the reason the electric wasn’t on was that it had not yet been connected - it became apparent when we saw the electricians connecting up the cables that only temporary electricity had been on for use by the builders.

It is obvious now that we were deliberately misled when by being told that we had to ask for the electricity to be put on when we needed it as this was not absolutely not the case. 

Our suspicions about the integrity of the promoters were already beginning.

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