No it has not been resolved, and I feel this will be like the Israelis and Palestine, no solution.
The suggestion of the 50-50 split on the losses suggested on this forum, sounds good to me, but when my wife tried to put that forward, she was shot down.
I thought she was a brave woman to even try, I was hiding in the bathroom at the time, and she was only on the phone

She took such a verbal bashing, then we tried with the "we are such a big family, if we all chipped in 20euros each, then all will be OK, and 20 euros is a small price to pay for peace" approach, still no deal

In desperation, I even put my own suggestion in, which is that the 2 cousins (females) mud wrestle in the nearest availabe field, and the loser stands the loss.

So now I also in the dog house with the wife, who told me to shut the f**k up.


I know lots of you on here think that the Spanish are family orientated, they are, but when the S**t hits the fan, it is magnified ten fold.

So ladies, mainly Lynnxa and Veleta, I know it makes sense to you (and me) but I am keeping my mouth firmly shut, after all they are inlaws.

I am totally peed off with all the phonecalls, all the agro, and the whole tribe of them.

I am thinking of taking a job as a lighthouse keeper, somewhere in the outer Hebridies or Fraggle Rock. Who would I need to contact about that job?

Cheers and goodnight

Ultimately that may be the way out.

(but my very £$€ savvy OH said if it was borrowed in € it should be repaid in €, £ then £. Never mind how the sum was asked for, nor the complexities of exchange rates, what they wanted it for, etc., if they borrowed 2800€ they should repay 2800€. If they received £2000 in the bank account, then repay £2000. I thought the post said they received €2800. No ifs or buts. A bank would expect you to repay what you'd received.)

But Lynn's still probably nearest the mark in terms of what'll keep the family peace.

I`d suggest getting out of any involvement and let them get on with it.

After all they should have considered the possibilities when the media was informing us of the recession.

Its not as if the exchange rate dropped over night.

As they didn`t consider the mess there in before it happened, I doubt there goin to advance away from conflict.

The lender should have handed over £`s, that way they`d have to recieve back £`s.

Again the lender should be aware the borrower asked for £3,000 and recieved £3,000 so the borrower pays back £3,000, the exchange rate then isn`t an issue, unless the lender requires the exchange and since they do, its there responsibility as there the ones dealing in Euros, not the borrower.

The lender was an idiot, sorry but they should have realised exchange rates change.

If this was a company, there would have been (Should) an agreement before the transaction, if no agreement then someone will lose money, simple as that.

I think you have got it wrong there, the lender must have been desperate to ask a woman that had never left Spain and has no reason to follow the exchange rate to lend her the money.
Dont forget the both women involved are Spanish, on lives in the UK and has family there.
Obviouse her family in England could not or would not help, so she asked this other lady for help.
Do you mean to say that a woman who lives in rural Galicia, who has never even been on a computer to have thought of the exchange rate.
The media in Galicia dont give a stuff about the pound, they report the things relevant to their region of Spain, not what is of interest to expats
Do pensioners in any country who have no intention of travelling, follow the money markets, NO NO.

She handed over 2800 euros to be made into pounds, because that was the amount she was told to be made into 2k pounds.
She did not lend 2k she gave 2800 and it was changed int pounds so that it could be sent to the UK.
As far is she (and Me) is concerned that is what she should receive back.
I am not getting involved but it is very difficult for my wife, as she is close to all concerned.

If you play poker and loose you cannot claim afterwards not to no the rules.

I`m guessing this is 2 daughters and a mother involved.

If it is, that puts a moral angle on it.

So yes a compromise should be made, but somebody has too take a loss.

If it is a daughter, the mother could threaten to remove the outstanding amount from any inheritance she was due and pass it onto a third party.

If it is family further removed the only solution would be a legal one.

But I fear the lender would still loose, as law tends not to sympathise with ignorance/neglect.

It is not a mother and daughter, they are cousins to be exact, and as the lender has pointed out to my wife, and I think that she is totally right.

If you borrow a clean coat, it should be returned in the same condition,2800e was borrowed.
If the lender dirties the coat and has to have it cleaned before handing it back, then the borrower should pay the cost of the cleaning
The lender then gets back the coat in exactly the same condition as they lent it.
The lender should get the money back in exactly the same conditions as they gave, ie euros and 2800 of them, any expense incurred in returning the money in its original state should be borne by the borrower.

I have since found out the orignal 2800 euros was put in the borrowers account here in Spain, by the borrowers own daughter, the sent by them to the UK.

So I think they are behaving very badly over this matter.

There will be no legal action about this, it has gone far beyond the money, whatever the outcome of who is the winner or loser, the damage done within the family cannot be repaired, or lessened.

That's straight, then. They didn't borrow £2000 they borrowed €2800 & should repay €2800 .. but you know that. They probably know that too, but don't like the consequences of their actions. What a sad story for your wife (the others too, but one step removed she/you are in an invidious position - if you venture an opinion you put yourselves in the firing line too, and that's not a brilliant idea. Best of luck.

Can we come and stay with you till it all blows over?????

Might need to be a while...... can I charge you a token rent in €? £? Yen?

Name your price, we have no nut allergies, we are not vegans, or follow a micro biotic diet.
I wont hog the shower, and I dont have any disgusting habits, I cant say the same for the wife though.........................

And lets stick to euros, we dont want to fall out over the exchange rate do we?

If the borrower asked for a coat, the lender then used two old coats to make one and gave the borrower one coat.

Then the borrower only returns one coat, what the lender did before the borrower recieved the coat is upto the lender.

Then they recieved 2800 Euros and are required to repay 2800.

I`d sue them.

If not both parties should just stop arguing and walk away.

So I think they are behaving very badly over this matter.

Families and money never mix well, my fathers mother evicted us from the family house when he died, because the father told him it was his, without a will as in the 70`s a mans handshake was law.

So insteead of my father, my family and grandmother living in a house together, his mother decided to evict him, my mother and us young children onto the streets.

Sold the house and moved into her daughters with the cash.

Revenge is sometimes ignored, it shouldn`t, you should always get either your money back or make them loose some.

No, they actually received £2000, however that was made up. Just playing both sides against the middle....

Good game, good game.... however the borrowers actually received 2800€, into their bank account. They didn't receive £2000, even though that's what they'd asked for If they'd asked for £2000 and received £2000 that's what they should repay. Not what happened.

If it was a UK bank account, which it was, surely it would have been registered as £2000......not 2800€ (Coincidentally, I don't know who's right and who's wrong!)

The borrower knows exactly what the right thing to do is but is obviously trying to find a way out. The borrower should have warned the lender that they might use the currency exchange rate to their own advantage when it came to paying back. It would have been up to the lender to take the risk or not.