Spain - British Expat Forum

Hi Everyone,

I'd like to firstly introduce myself - I (along with my wife) have just bought a really old townhouse in the mountains in Axarquia. We're still living in the U.K but are planning 'the big move' to Spain for about 10 weeks time (mid October). We've been looking for about 2 years after falling in with love with the villages and people in them and having had at least 8 or 9 visits to the region we've now finally bought in but we have a few questions which I'm sure these forums will be able to help with in the next few weeks (so apologies in advance for any silly questions!)

My first question is regarding telefonicainenglish.com. I subscribed for a telephone line and ADSL whilst back in the U.K about a week or so ago (I'm a web designer/marketeer and need web connectivity as a matter or urgency - the house has previously had a phone line connected). Despite being told beforehand that I'd need to give a local phone number of a neighbour etc. I instead was only asked for details of a contact with keys (who actually lives on the coast about 15 miles away). Also, I never received a confirmation email from telefonicainenglish and when I call them to check to ensure they've received my order the phone is always either engaged or just rings and rings before automatically being disconnected.

I sent an email and I received an automated reply but when I again tried calling the number on the bottom of the email it was eventually answered by a particulary non English speaking Spanaird who told me I'd called the wrong number (but it was definately the one from the email).

I also sent a enquiry via the telefonicainenglish.com online forum but this too was rejected as their 'inbox' (which I noted was hosted by a 'free' company) was full.

Has anyone else had these problems? Does Telefonicainenglish actually exist? Should I arrange for my Gestor to sort out by contacting telefonica (proper)?

Many thanks in advance!


Russ

Other people have had problems with Telefonicainenglish too. You're better off dealing with Telefonica - they have an English service which you can access (in Spain) by dialling 1004 and saying "English operator" after the messages. You will need to do this from a friend's phone obviously. Our phone line was connected within 24 hours this way. Internet up and running 24 hours later.

Thanks HillBilly, I wasn't aware of this. I'm just unsure now where I stand with TelefonicainEnglish as I've requested a service (well 2, with ADSL) from them now...

That said, I'm in Spain next week again and will see what I can do then and you never know - I may even have heard back from T-I-E by then...but not holding my breath

Thanks again,


Russ

Hi Russ,

I registered with TelefonicainEnglish.com last year for adsl. They messed me around for months... charged my bank account and I never received adsl and no refund of the monthly charges they took out of my bank account.
Do not trust these guys, they are full with promises but DO NOT deliver!

After a lot of research I found a company called gonutsfree they offer ADSL via British Telecom here in Spain. Support is good and in English.

I would suggest if you want adsl in Spain either go to these people or use directly Telefonica

Hope this is useful

Bye

Francis

[Links removed by Site Admin. Read our posting guidelines.]

I've set up three interent connections over the last few months with Telefonica (although if I lived in town I'd use on of the others, such as Jazztel or Wanadoo with their very cheap offers) and in each case there is no local installation required (by Telefonica) - that is to say, they send you the documentation (in Spanish) and you plug it (the router etc) in when you're ready and off you go. What's more, only one of the installations was wireless but it appears that telefonica are only shipping wireless routers these days (you can still us it with a wire though!).
If you have a local PC shop in the area where you live, then they will definately help you with any problems - even sign language can get across the fact that you're not sure where exactly this wire goes. Expect to pay 15-25€/hour if you needed someone to help.

Hopefully we all get the message now - Telefonicainenglish is a website to get people's business by thinking they are dealing with Telefonica - great idea why didn't I think of it! - but seriously the idea is ok if they delivered and got you sorted out but I do hear bad stories.

In Spain there is little competition. You have to have a landline with Telefonica so go direct to them and then sign up (for free) with one of the low cost call operators so that all your calls bypass Telefonica and are MUCH cheaper.

I personally use Europa - email me privately for more info - but there are plenty of others.

Broadband is €40 a month - very expensive.

Mark

Quote:

I personally use Europa - email me privately for more info - but there are plenty of others.

Why the need for secrecy? Can't you just share the info here so everyone who is interested can benefit? That's the purpose of the forum after all.

More detail on Europa Network - I have a Telefonica line (as everyone has to have) but I joined a company called Europa to reduce my phone bill.

It costs nothing to join - they contact Telefonica and set it up so that they bill me for all phone calls made - no dialing prefixes or boxes connected to your phone line.

3.9 cents a minute to Western Europe, USA and Canada. Spanish calls are much cheaper than Telefonica too.

There are many companies that offer cheap rates and they come and go but Europa are very professional, support is in English and they pledge to always be the cheapest - calls are free between all Europa customers.

They also say that coming soon will be ADSL with English support - that will be a winner judging by the posts on this forum.

Mark

Wish I'd read this earlier.

Only a small problem but annoying. I ordered and paid for a copy of the DOM manual over a month ago. To date 'nada'. The phones aren't answered, emails are ignored.

As I've already paid for it can anyone here email me a copy?

Quote:

As I've already paid for it can anyone here email me a copy?

I could, but I don't think you can send or receive PM's yet.

Alan

Aparato can post his email address if he wants to be emailed on this issue. (See FAQ board on our main forum if more explanation is needed about the how and why of disguising email addresses on public fora.) Then you can email him the info.

Unfortunately it's another case where the many suffer because of the few. If we allowed PM privileges to newbies we'd all be getting loads of spam from those who join up to try to sell us porn, phones, and goodness knows what else.

HTH

Thanks Kay - as a computer pro I quite understand the necessary restrictions

Alan many thanks in advance .. actually I was going to be in La Cala this weekend but plans have changed!

Always loathe to put email address up on any public forum but here goes:

graham AT aparato DOT co DOT uk

remove the spaces and replace the capitals with the usual symbols

GCM wrote:More detail on Europa Network - I have a Telefonica line (as everyone has to have) - Mark

Not anymore! - I am told that jazztel.com (mentioned elswhere in this post), will now take over your Telefonica line and charge you a couple of euros less on the rental! - Also they offer fibre optic connection in larger towns and cities with average speeds of upto 20mbits/sec download.

Plus they offer a 1 month notice period - handy if you are only in Spain for a few months at a time.

All in Spanish I'm afraid - so unless you are good with the lingo you will need help.

Incidentally, if you ring the jazztel contact number (found on their site), and say (as a question):"Hablar Ingles por favor?" - they will transfer you to someone with a modicum of the language - Finally, they have a deal at the moment for 29 euros a month plus IVA for broadband upto 20mb PLUS all Spanish calls excluding line rental. So good luck! (I am shortly heading back to UK, then on to the USA for 6 months, but will definitely be looking them up on my return).

Amazing post and love to see each one with there great post.

[Spammy link removed - it's just another spam from an idiot posting from India. ]