# SOS - Real Estate Agent



## yorkshire lass

does anyone know where the SOS Real Estate Agents based in Foz Do Arelho, Caldas Da Rainha, may have moved to, the building is empty and I would like to contact them.


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## John999

You will have to fly back to the UK, maybe Scotland to see them again, as they have returned home. Their website still on so why not use the link contact us??


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## yorkshire lass

cannot find the website do you have the website address


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## John999

Try this one


Link removed


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## yorkshire lass

I am getting no response, from website, does anyone have a phone number in UK for them


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## John999

Your best bet will be finding trough the "ladies" club. They left a few bills to pay, so probably some one in the "clubs" might be able to find you that phone number. They was known for charging 20/30 grand more then the real price and also for not paying the people who brought them customers, their commission. So .... they had to go back for family reasons


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## yorkshire lass

I will pm you John your friends are bigger crooks that that


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## John999

Which friends are you talking about :confused2:
The SOS people are known from praia del rei to Cadaval. Are you the one who was left behind to carrying with the "Business"


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## yorkshire lass

I didn't know someone was meant to be continuing the business, but if you are likely to know who that is will be very interested in knowing, because they will know where they are


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## John999

Are you for real? They left, but the website still on, so unless they fly back every time someone wants a "tour", someone else has to do it for them. Liz and Allen didn't left a good name behind when they left. Just ask the "ladies"


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## siobhanwf

John999 said:


> Your best bet will be finding trough the "ladies" club. They left a few bills to pay, so probably some one in the "clubs" might be able to find you that phone number. They was known for charging 20/30 grand more then the real price and also for not paying the people who brought them customers, their commission. So .... they had to go back for family reasons



I could mention many more estate agents both here and other parts of the world that put a high price on a house. So what is the difference here?. The buyer will only pay what they want to pay anyway!!!

And if you were the "seller" you would probably only to happy to have the extra dosh


My portuguese neighbour it turns out paid 15000 more for his house than we paid for ours... and they are amost identical.


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## Stellen

I saw the offices of SOS in Foz last week. They are closed and are for sale. My agent told me a horror story involving a Mercedes and a Range Rover. Aparently the lady at SOS swapped her Merc for the Range Rover but somehow later ended up with both cars, having 'stolen' the Merc back from the other party. I've no idea if it's a true story.


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## yorkshire lass

it is all true they have both cars and money which was also part of the deal 
the mercedes car has also been advertised for sale in the Portugal News, but it is currently sitting in Scotland.


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## Mr.Blueskies

All sounds very shifty to me ???


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## Mr.Blueskies

How long were they in business ?


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## siobhanwf

Please, please, please be very careful about what you say on an open forum. Not only you but the people who own and r un the site can be liable for any remarks made.

Remember if you yourself don't have proof you are just passing on hearsay.

"Slander refers to a malicious, false and defamatory spoken statement or report, while libel refers to any other form of communication such as written words or images".


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## Bubbles67

I don't know the story of SOS but the idea of Real Estate Companies not paying agents sales commissions is not new here (I am being general, of course it is only a selective few but people know who they are, no names needed). I suggest anyone working on a commission basis gets a clear agreement and if things go wrong then take legal advise. 

People seem good at complaning but then not following through with any actions. In the UK someone who was not paid for work they had done or unfairly dismissed from a job would not think twice about taking legal action, so why not do it here too.

If you have worked within an agreement, with any company and not been paid for that work, then please, for the sake of everyone else who might get into the same position, don't take it lying down, take action. 

If individuals take action against unscrupulous employers then maybe those employers will stop doing it, and other people will stop getting into the same problems, if nobody stops them they will continue......

I will say the same about any company in any type of business. If you have a problems with a business in Portugal, like not getting something you have paid for ..then COMPLAIN, every company has an official complaints book, and you can ask to use it!


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## omostra06

If anyone has problems with an employer you can go to the government run agency that deals with looking after employees, a bit like citizens advice but mostly to do with workers right.

They offer free advice from lawyers on your rights as an employee and help in any disputes


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## JohnBoy

I can confirm what Bubbles67 says about the complaints book. I haven't had the opportunity to actually make an entry into one yet as simply asking for it produced the result I was looking for. I had been trying for 3 weeks to get a very large electrical chain store to send a repair man to fix my 2 week old washing machine. The same day that I asked for the complaints book they delivered a brand new machine to me.

The second occasion concerned an item bought on the net that was delivered damaged and was clearly second hand. They initially tried blaming me, when that didn't work the blame shifted to the courier company but finally asking for the complaints book got me a full refund.

The complaints book is a very powerful tool. With the state of customer service in the UK, I dread to think how many books some companies would go through.

For any members in Spain there is a similar system in operation there too. In both countries companies will do anything rather than have an entry in the book which is subject to scrutiny by various official bodies.


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## Mr.Blueskies

It definately seems to me that with the present culture there is far more money to be made from suing people than from running a legitimate business ?
You cannot open your mouth about ANYTHING these days even when you ARE
telling the truth. 


It's not what you know it's what you can prove, seems to be the status
quo now. Even when you can PROVE it nothing still ever seems to happen. 
Everything is weighed in favour of the criminals. Talk about the tail wagging
the dog ! The thinking seems to be, rob them blind and next sue them for their last penny should they DARE to say anything ! Not suprising at all that most just
say nothing.


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## Silverwizard

JohnBoy said:


> I can confirm what Bubbles67 says about the complaints book. I haven't had the opportunity to actually make an entry into one yet as simply asking for it produced the result I was looking for. I had been trying for 3 weeks to get a very large electrical chain store to send a repair man to fix my 2 week old washing machine. The same day that I asked for the complaints book they delivered a brand new machine to me.
> 
> The second occasion concerned an item bought on the net that was delivered damaged and was clearly second hand. They initially tried blaming me, when that didn't work the blame shifted to the courier company but finally asking for the complaints book got me a full refund.
> 
> The complaints book is a very powerful tool. With the state of customer service in the UK, I dread to think how many books some companies would go through.
> 
> For any members in Spain there is a similar system in operation there too. In both countries companies will do anything rather than have an entry in the book which is subject to scrutiny by various official bodies.


Hi JohnBoy,
I totally agree with what you say about the Complaints book,it is indeed a very useful tool.
We bought a very expensive blu-ray player from a well known major retailer,took it home,used it for two days,& it packed up!
When we returned it to the store,we were told we would have to wait 2-3 weeks for the machine to be repaired,this was 4 days after the original purchase!!
When we spoke to the manager,we were told this was normal company procedure,however after asking for his full name & full contact details for the company & the
"complaints book",the mood suddenly changed,& we were given (quite rightly) a replacement machine immediately.
We have found over the last few months we have lived in Portugal,that if there is one thing the retailers here need to learn,it's the concept of customer service,
at best it's very poor here,at worst it's non existent.


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## PETERFC

*Reply*



Silverwizard said:


> Hi JohnBoy,
> I totally agree with what you say about the Complaints book,it is indeed a very useful tool.
> We bought a very expensive blu-ray player from a well known major retailer,took it home,used it for two days,& it packed up!
> When we returned it to the store,we were told we would have to wait 2-3 weeks for the machine to be repaired,this was 4 days after the original purchase!!
> When we spoke to the manager,we were told this was normal company procedure,however after asking for his full name & full contact details for the company & the
> "complaints book",the mood suddenly changed,& we were given (quite rightly) a replacement machine immediately.
> We have found over the last few months we have lived in Portugal,that if there is one thing the retailers here need to learn,it's the concept of customer service,
> at best it's very poor here,at worst it's non existent.


Hi All

This is one post that is turning out to be so helpful to me and many others, Keep it going.

Peter


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## siobhanwf

complaining online is a possibility too.

Portal do Consumidor 

follow this instruction

Página inicial > Reclamações > Efectuar uma reclamação 

This is the same as filling out the Livro de Reclamacoes of any company I believe.

Every establishment has to maintain an official "Complaints Book" which is regularly controlled by the Authorities.


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## Bubbles67

siobhanwf said:


> complaining online is a possibility too.
> 
> Portal do Consumidor
> 
> follow this instruction
> 
> Página inicial > Reclamações > Efectuar uma reclamação
> 
> This is the same as filling out the Livro de Reclamacoes of any company I believe.
> 
> Every establishment has to maintain an official "Complaints Book" which is regularly controlled by the Authorities.


This is very useful siobhanwf, I will add this to my website and in the next magazine.:clap2:


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## yorkshire lass

If it is so easy to get things done through a complaints book then PT must be the exception 
We have had an ongoing complaint with them for 18 months over Meo. Every month money is taken out of our account for a service we are not even getting. In fact we did not even sign the contact for Meo because we already new we were not going to keep it, but PT insist that it was not necessary for them to have a signed contract from us and they already have access to our bank details through the landline. Written complaints to Porto, as requested by PT for us to do ourselves, are ignored, not even acknowledged. Unfortunately we also have their telephone service and internet service from Sapo so threatening to cancel at the bank loses us everything. So now we are leaving them altogether and going to Worldcom and we will have to fight out the all monies owed back to us after we have left them. As far as we are concerned they are losing a good customer. Clix will lose os too as a customer, because we are giving up the PT land line. PT even have the cheek to charge us every month for the Meo box and we own it as well as the satellite dish. So complaining does not always work, more likely ignored in the hopes you will just go away. On paper, these things are in place to protect us as customers but in our experience it is all a waste of time


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