The Guardia Civil arrested a man in his mid 40s, suspected of attempting to deceive an elderly woman into believing that he was an authorised gas fitter, come to check the installations.
There are dozens of cases of elderly people being taken in by this kind of crook but very rarely do you hear of one getting caught.
This incident took place in Huétor Vega (Vega de Granada) when the bogus gas man came knocking at the door of this woman who lives by herself, claiming that he belonged to a well known company (probably Repsol).
After looking and poking around, he attempted to charge her 120 euros for replacing the short, rubber pipe and the alcochofa (bottle regulator/adaptor) despite at no point her having requested it of him.
Well, she reported it to the Guardia Civil in La Zubia, and they investigated to see whether the man was a qualified fitter, consulting with the Delegación Territorial de Industria. He wasn’t, so the arrested him.
Editorial Note: the police press release does not make it clear how he was identified.
(News: Huétor Vega, Vega, Granada, Andalucia)
Keywords: Bogus Gas Fitter, Arrested, Elderly Woman, Rubber Hose, Gas Regulator, Alcochofa
news, andalucia, granada, vega, huetor vega, bogus gas fitter, arrested, elderly woman, rubber hose, gas regulator, alcochofa
Although you are obligated to have your gas installations in a good state (check the expiry date on the tubing for example) there are no obligatory inspections. Unless you request an inspection, from Repsol, or gas fitter whom you trust, nobody should come knocking on your door to check you butane installations.
The first rule and most important one is, don’t let anybody through your front door, no matter if they are wearing some sort of uniform or flash some kind of ID. Once you let them in, you have tacitly given the go-ahead. It is also very important to know that there are bona-fide companies that offer their services and if you let them in to check something, they are legally entitled to charge you.
Don’t let anybody in unless you have arranged for them to come round.
Thanks for you valuable input on this problem, Dids;-)
They tried this with us. Had a Repsol coloured shirt with “Reysol” instead of Repsol. We said no thanks. They said we had to have it by law. They gave us a number to call to prove they were legitimate. We said we don’t have gas….
Reported to Guardia Civil, we were told tradesmen can offer their services, no crime committed…..
Apparently they get the house occupants name from the letterboxes, FYI