jetsam1

Well.

I knew they where a bit dodgy but the other week someone apparently from them came in a taxi and essentially tricked my father in law to sign a paper saying there is a company based here.

We had it confirmed today that they have been overcharging my parents inlaw for 17 years and they have the gall to send a HUF 282000 bill for extra energy we have apparently used. Now, being British and used to expensive energy there is no way this amount has been used. This is starting to get silly now.

I am supremely frustrated and my wife is beside herself....... All we seem to have done since coming here is sort out the mess my father in law has made of everything.

It's almost enough now to make me want to wash my hands of it all. Either back to the UK or move elsewhere in Hungary.

fidobsa

I don't really understand your issue with the utility firm but can sympathise with the resulting frustration. I am in the process of moving from Hungary but that process at the moment seems to involve constant ripoffs. I am still trying to get my UK registered 3.5 tonne van re-registered onto Hungarian plates. One of the things I have had to change to achieve this is tyres. The van has twin rear wheels so there are 6 tyres. In UK it is OK to have 6 different makes of tyre as long as they are all radials. In Hungary all the tyres on a given axle have to be of the same brand and tread pattern. I found 2 the same for the front but had to buy 4 new ones for the back. The first tyre place I tried wanted 22,500 Ft per tyre which seemed a bit steep so I went to another where they quoted 18,400 Ft per tyre for the same make as the first place (Falken). They fitted the tyres then were doing the invoice. For some reason this involved unplugging the USB cable to the printer and plugging in a different one. Anyway, the resulting invoice seemed to agree with the quoted price and I started counting out the cash. They then wrote the amount 6,600 Ft on a small notepad and were saying that was for "munka" (labour). I paid it but I'm sure it was some kind of ripoff.

Peter_in_Hungary

I have always found that tyres are quoted as price plus fitting and balancing. The ripoff in your case was to the tax man as the labour charge should have been on the bill. putting it on a small notepad probably means that it entered the black/grey economy.

jetsam1

I do find dealing with a lot of Hungarian companies quite frustrating, yes if it's on a little notebook it's grey/black economy. Makes it difficult to budget or have any idea how much work will actually cost. And this is one of the reasons the Hungarian economy is so unproductive. It also leads to my relations trying to be "clever" with obvious results.

The problem with ELMU is that they are so unhelpful and don't seem to care if there is a problem. Yesterday was the first time that an actual answer has been forthcoming and this is after a year. I thought British Gas were bad. They say that there is a company based in this house and that is why we are on a business rate which is much higher than the residential rate. Months of saying this is residential has changed nothing. My wife was/is considering taking legal action as it is getting really stupid. My Father in Law is not helping by signing anything put in front of him without reading it first (this is the ELMU employee in the taxi, this is right on the edge for me towards entrapment and at least highly dodgy practice). We didn't even know this had happened until he happened to mention it in the arguement with my wife......... We had a demand for 282000 HUF on top of their already ample bill. With the best will in the world we surely can't be using that much? Always possible there is a problem with the meter. Wouldn't be surprised if they are "estimating" ie adding a good whack on top.

I have had enough of this house!!!!! Once this is sorted out I think I will be reviewing the options. Stress just about did for me a few years ago in the UK (hence I ended up here!) and I can feel it starting to bubble up again........... With all it's faults at least a lot of things are straight forward in the UK, Hungarians seem to take some delight in pointlessly overcomplicating things.

fidobsa

The one that quoted 22,500 per tyre did say that the price included fitting and balancing so I thought that was the norm. I suspect the tyres actually came from the first garage because they had to send someone in a van to fetch them. They did not have to remove or fit the wheels themselves as I took them loose in the back of the car.