The appearance of these gasman scams are almost seasonal and more cases have cropped up in Motril. Consequently, the Town Hall has sent out a warning.

The Councillor for ‘Consumo,’ Margarita Yanguas put out the alert that gas installers are targeting elderly citizens, threatening them with withdrawing their gas service if they do not allow them to carry out domestic checks… which comes with a price tag of up to 200 euros sometimes, or even more.

If they are operating in Motril, it will very soon be the turn of the rest of the Costa Tropical towns, so this concerns anybody living here on the coast.

So, we at the Gazette remind our readers that you will only get a gasman coming around to check out your butane installations if you request it. This means that there are no obligatory house calls to carry out ‘periodic checks.’

These people are sometimes from legal companies and if they come in and change something or merely inspect and give you a bill, they are acting legally and you are liable. However – and this is important – legally, you are entitled to a presuesto (estimate) before any work is done, should one get past your door, .

So if they phone, hang up. If they call, close the door on them. Do not let them into your house. The only gasman that you should open your door to is the one that you have asked to make a call.

If you think somebody needs to look at the installations, then you can contact Motril 958 600 141 or Almuñécar 958 630 575 which are the official Repsol/Butano numbers.

Another important thing is that if you are at the door and they offer to phone Butano to confirm that they are official gasmen, they are more likely to phone their own offices instead of the official Butano one.

Does this mean that only Repsol/Butano are valid. No it doesn’t because there are bona-fide private companies, but we’re talking about somebody who comes knocking on your door to say that they are from Repsol or Butano, when in reality, they are not.

In one sentence: If somebody calls at your door saying that they are carrying out obligatory periodic inspections then they are lying – don’t let them in.

Oh, and before I forget, if you do think you have a gas leak, there is a phone number on most gas bottles (901 100 100), which is a national number and they will get the nearest official gasman around to your home.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)