Editor’s postbag

 

 
 

 Readers are reminded that views and comment expressed within the Postbag pages are those of the contributors and may not necessarily reflect the opinions or standpoint of Lanzarote Gazette staff. It should also be noted that the Lanzarote Gazette is an independent publication free from political persuasion or governmental censorship.

Send your letters to our office (address on page 3) or email editorial@gazettelive.com

 

Corkscrewed?

Dear Editor
I’m back on the island for the winter and delighted to see the controversial harbour/container port plan for Playa Blanca has been changed, once again. Although the threat of development and the resulting noise, mess etc has put a blight on property prices on the complex.

Anyway, I wonder if you could let me know if there is a Spanish equivalent of the UK Sale of Goods Act?

I ask because on 10 November I bought a corkscrew from my local Spar shop, paying nearly €6. On the 4th December, having used the corkscrew no more than half a dozen times, it broke while I was trying to open a bottle of wine – and the twisted part remained firmly stuck in the cork.

I took the broken corkscrew and bottle of wine back to the store, together with the packaging and receipt I had kept (I’ve had problems with these bottle openers in the past).

Very reluctantly, they offered to replace the corkscrew and the wine. But they refused to give me a refund – I said I had no faith in the product and wanted a refund.

Imagine my surprise when they said they were only obliged to replace faulty goods AND only within 28 days of purchase!

Of course, in the UK, under the Sale of Goods Act items have to be of a merchandisable quality and the retailer (not the manufacturer) is responsible for refunds/replacement.

Does a similar act exist in Spain – or have I just been corkscrewed?

Jenny Campbell, Puerto Chico, Playa Blanca

Ed: A bit of research reveals the Spanish law is fairly similar to the UK one, Jenny, with consumers able to demand a replacement or refund for faulty goods within 6 months of sale. The notices that many shops place as time limits do not change their liabilities under the Ley de Garantias en las Ventas de Bienes de Consumo.

Anyone who feels local businesses or shops are trying to rip them off should demand a Complaints Form (Hoja de Reclamaciones), which all businesses are legally obliged to issue. In many cases, the simple threat of doing this will cause a rapid change of mind in the seller.

 

 

Fighting for Finn

Dear Gazette,

Please can you help? There is a Charity called Fighting for Finn (www.fightingforfinn.com) who are desperately trying to raise money for this little boy. His Auntie and Uncle live and work here on the Island and are promoting the sales of wristbands to help the cause. Donations can be made by several means and it is all registered and 100% kosher. All the info you may need in order to run a spot is on the website. Thanking you, in the hope you may be able to run something to help. There, but for the grace of God goes all our children/grandchildren.

Lyn White

 

Money changing scams?

Dear Gazette,
Is it not about time the money-changers scams be exposed ? We have used an exchange in Costa Teguise about ten times over the last two months. Every time there has been an attempt to short change us by a few Euros. It’s hard to believe this is an innocent mistake. A similar thing happened to my wife in Playa Blanca where she received verbal abuse. Incidentally, everywhere else the rate for travellers cheques is LESS than that for cash. Here the reverse is true. Cash gets a lower rate than Travellers cheques. In the current climate of money laundering one has to ask why?

Regards, John Smith

Ed: It makes sense to ask the rate  before buying currency and work outexactly what you’ll expect to come out of the shop with in these cases. And count it again and again, of course.

 

 

Strictly Lanzarote

Dear Ed
Just back from our latest holiday in PDC – good to see some signs of economic recovery compared to eighteen months ago. However; two areas which are huge world-wide are unexploited on the island. The first of these, and which has most potential is sequence and ballroom dancing. Many companies, in addition to individual Clubs, organise dance holidays in mainland Spain as well as the Balearics and other parts of the world. The cruise lines have long realised the popularity of dancing. Many German and Scandinavian visitors share the view that Lanzarote lags behind in this regard, notwithstanding the good efforts of some hotels. The second holiday activity, perhaps not with the same potential, but nonetheless immense worldwide is the flying of radio controlled model aircraft. A small hotel in Corfu exists solely for model aircraft flyers and provides everything needed. These two recreational activities reflect our own amateur hobby interests and if any commercial undertaking is interested in discussing this further we would be happy to help on a purely voluntary basis (both
being retired). In any case we wish all on the island a Happy Christmas and every Success in the New Year.

Best Regards — Sam and Margaret Barbour.

Ed: The dancing is a great idea, Sam and Margaret – let’s hope someone steps up onto the floor. As for radio-controlled aircraft,. There are many keen local modellers who can often be seen flying their aircraft or sailing their yachts. Again, it’s something that Lanzarote might consider broadening for more tourist appeal.

 

Well done Car 24!

Dear Gazette,
With all the bad things going on in the world, I thought this would be a good read for a change. My husband lost his mobile phone and as he doesn’t use it very often he only noticed it missing a few days later, I tried ringing it thinking it was in the apartment and to our amazement it was answered by a taxi driver who obviously had found it at the back of his cab and waited for someone to ring. He even delivered it personally to us the very
same day.

There are some good people around and we would like to thank Costa Teguise Cab 24 for restoring our faith in human nature.

Olly & Ian, Costa Teguise residents

 

 

Emu mystery solved?

Dear Gazette,
In response to your appeal for theories as to how prehistoric emus got here (Gazette, November); may I offer the following?:

About 30 million years the Sahara was a verdant land. The Saraismus Emusus Xoticas Intactus Totalis, to give it its full name, had moved north from South Africa. They had evolved a secondary food source – cropmilk – to enable breeding to take place all year round.

Around 25 million years ago a huge earthquake near Madeira breached the Pillars of Hercules and flooded the Mediterranean basin. It caused vast tsunamis, smashing up the northern ice floes and flooding huge areas but leaving others dry for many years.

While thousands of emus perished, others moved west, some on ice floes and others on the Waddle Ridge, between Tarfaya and Lanzarote.

The ridge was discovered in 1807 by explorer William Walter Waddle of the Royal Society. The birds were not totally flightless, and were able to reach the island by walking and flap-gliding, where they found an abundance of tropic vegetation. However, climate change wiped them out through lack of
their succulent foods.

Emunonimous, Via email

Ed: Hmmm… it’s a good story, but that Waddle Ridge sounds a bit suspect, so I wouldn’t contact New Scientist just yet.