Heard from some friends that live in the campo up Costa Tropical way about gas inspectors that are making some serious money from foreigners.

They are going round all the cortijos and casas that are outside the village boundaries and claiming that the owners have to have a gas safety certificate and that they are there to carry out an inspection of all gas appliances.

One person apparently insisted that these "inspectors" follow them into the village to confirm with the Guardia that they were genuine, and sure enough, the Guardia said all seems ok to them.

The problem is that reports from various campo residents say that they have been relieved of hundreds of euros for replacement of gas hoses and regulators. They seem to charge 50€ just for a replacement regulator and up to 150€ to replace an out of date hose. Even for things like a gas BBQ. Lots of people are very worried and not sure what to do.

Is this the same scam we have all heard about further down the coast or is it in fact a genuine inspection?

Is it compulsory or can you just tell the "inspectors" to take a hike?

Sounds like the same scam.

Tell them to take a hike - NO ONE can insist on entry to your property (well, if it's like in the UK, maybe a couple can). If you are at all unsure about the safety, then call in your own gas expert.

probably a scam... if they show up ask them to make an appointment when you can have a policeman there

I've heard of this too, but not only in the campo also in the towns and cities. I remember reading about this somewhere . Advice is DO NOT let them cross your door step, or else you are in trouble, and cannot get them out. Just refuse entry, be adamant, and under no circumstances allow them to touch anything in your house otherwise you could be stung twice. Once paying over the odds and twice having the non accredited part replaced!
pete

I think if it were me, I would ask them to wait outside while I called the gas supplier to check.

If they're genuine, they'll understand your caution.

Happened to me a couple of years ago.
The man turned up and decided that the rubber hose was too close to the boiler and he would have to extend the metal pipe to ensure the rubber was at a safe distance, bear in mind this had been in place for at least the last two five yearly inspections.
Cost €135, he was genuine from my gas supplier.
I did not have enough cash to pay so I went to their office the next day and settled the bill, complaining all the way.

Three days later the new pipe fell off the wall.

Now I'm all electric

If you live in the campo Im pretty sure you dont need an inspection anyway , I know its different in apartments and urbanisations , Ive never had one in 9 years and wont either ( I ve worked with gas in the UK) ,tell them to go forth ......

All the replies above are pretty much my opinion as well.
What I do find strange though is that some of the people concerned have actually paid out over 700€ to these inspectors to get their appliances approved. These are people that (from the little that I know of them) are pretty sensible people and don't have pots of money to waste on this sort of thing.

I can only assume that the inspectors are very persuasive.

Can anyone confirm that a gas safety certificate is not compulsory in the campo? I know that Repsol don't deliver bottles to the campo and that many foreigners just get their bottles at carboot sales rather than having an official gas contract.
If the local petrol stations started asking to see safety certificates before they sold replacement gas bottles then I could understand the need for inspections.

Sales wouldbe down 50% over night

This topic has been discussed many,many times but that's the first time I've seen a legitimate reply.
I know the orange pipe has a date on them and they are supposed to be changed every 5 years.
AFIK inspections are not compulsory and at the discretion of the home owner, the problem is all the bogus inspectors which the GC seem totally unwilling to challenge even when they are doing it right under their noses

It happened to a neighbour a month or so back. Woman living on her own. I'd heard of it before so when she told me I asked how she knew he was genuine. She allowed two men not in uniform into her house whilst on hher own. They were very professional, gave her receipts and a certificate, but the phone number is not obtainable

About €75 I believe

I suppose it depends on whether there is an actual crime involved.
It could be that they are aware of their tactics, but as it is simply overcharging for services and goods then maybe it's just a problem for consumer protection groups. Back in the UK would you really go to the police if someone carried out a bit of work on your property and then charged you a fortune?

I know this topic has been discussed before, but I hadn't heard of this kind of scam this far to the east, and also targetting campo dwellers. Having heard about it before I would have thought that this could never happen to me (and so far it hasn't), but other sensible and non-affluent people have been relieved of large sums of money. I can only think that the scammers must have very good persuasive tactics.

Anyway, just for the record, these scammers are targeting foreigners in the campo in the Costa Tropical area so the more people that are aware of it the better.

It's clever, because it is a requirement that gas appliances are checked regularly, and a sensible one to boot.

Personally I think it is a complete scam, because there is nothing to my knowledge in law that states you have to let such people in.

I would advise anyone who has this happen, to say to these people, 'Thank you for making me aware of this. I will call my gas service engineer and get it done.'

Absolutely agree. The Police can't really do much about it. Some operating on the CDS are a bona fide SL company based in málaga (albiet disreputable). If someone gets stung the best way to deal with it is file a complaint as they will have to have a complaints book.

A Dutch pensioner living nearby was told she needed a contract for each gas bottle she had. She was charged 200 for each (3)! They do tend to prey on areas where there are a lot of ex-pats especially elderly. Best to not even let them in the gate/door. They have been known to deliberately rip out the gas pipe saying it is no good.

It seems that what the law and regulations on this are typically Spanish, no one really knows for sure.
Setting yourself up as an SL maybe a way of trying to give yourself more creditability but does that make them fully trained and qualified gas engineers.
As we know in the UK engineers have to be Corgi registered, is there such a requirement with these guys?
At the end of the day ALL the gangs of guys who regularly turn up in our village are scammers and it is bizarre that every one knows they are only here to rip off unsuspecting people and there is no control over them.