Abruzzo project: Villa Eventhyr
The story of how easy it is, during a renovation, to confuse trust with professionalism.In other words: save yourself from an "&"
Part II
The Estimate...
However, the construction company's estimate did not arrive.
February passed. March passed. April passed. And the estimate still wasn't there. The answer was always the same: "I'll send it to you tomorrow."
At that time, we didn't consider it a problem yet. In Italy, many things move at a different pace than in Poland. We were simply learning patience.
In the meantime, we had already ordered the windows, on the contractor's advice. Everything went smoothly: order confirmed, deposit paid. For a moment, it seemed like one of the few truly simple steps in the entire project. The real problems would come later...
At the beginning of May, we received two invoices totaling 9,000 euros, related to the "demolition of the foundations." Work we had never requested... But the real obstacle emerged when we tried to make the transfer from the Italian account.
To access the tax deduction "Bonus Casa," correct tax data was required; unfortunately, our transfers were not going through. Hours on the phone with customer support yielded no results. In the end, the operations were even blocked, and the only solution would have been to go in person to the branch in Lugo, over 300 km from Manoppello.
In the end, we paid from our Polish account in euros. Simply. But losing the possibility of deducting those expenses through the Bonus Casa.
The day before returning the rented apartment in Lugo, two more invoices arrived — this time totaling 30,000 euros, with the note: "as per the offer of May 10."
However, there was one detail: we had never seen that offer.
In the meantime, I discovered that the problem with the transfers was caused by a special character in the company's name — the symbol "&."
After hours of phone calls and attempts, it turned out that the block was caused by a simple punctuation mark. We must admit that, at that point, the first "symptoms" were already evident: nothing dramatic, but some doubts had begun to arise.
The technical problem was solved, but in the meantime, a much more serious one had emerged.
What was that offer from May 10? Did it really exist? And above all: had we ever signed a contract?
The warning signs began to change color: from green to orange.
It was around ten in the evening when we finally requested a copy of the contract and received it shortly after. We read it and were surprised: a generic template, vague formulations, parts in Polish, and above all, no spending limit...
It was late, and the next day we would have to close all the paperwork: bank, utilities, and moving.
In the end, I did something simple: I uploaded the contract to an artificial intelligence system and asked it to highlight the problematic clauses.
A few minutes later, I sent the document to the company with a brief comment:
"Look at what gems artificial intelligence found in your contract."
And, almost as if by magic, the long-awaited estimate finally arrived... truly surprising...
Important changes in life always have a physiological component: increased stress, adrenaline, sleep disturbances. These are factors that are often underestimated in cardiology practice. That night, we didn't sleep well.
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