Even more red faces

When you find an article advertised at way below its real price, it is tempting to think that you have hit upon the bargain of the century. My daughter bought some jewellery from what she thought was the Hong Kong branch of Tiffanys only to find that it was fake. Still only she (and you now) know that.

I read in the papers today that eighty people bought what they thought were brand new campervans from an Alicante businessman for between 12,000 and 15,000 Euros. The official price of these vehicles is 40,000 Euros. They must have thought all their Christmases had come at once.

Initially, a Barcelona company had sold the vehicles to France, but they were damaged in a flood in 2008 so sold to a junkyard.

The vehicles apparently ended up in the Czech Republic and Germany. Their plate numbers where changed and then put up for sale. Many of these campers had undergone ITV inspections in various Spanish provinces, leading Guardia Civil investigators to believe these were ‘fixed’. The vehicles were then sold as new, as though they were fresh from the factory.

The campervans parent company became aware of the alleged fraud when they received requests for vehicle parts for vehicles which had been taken off the road.

Now, following an investigation by the Guardia Civil and the Police, the 80 people who bought the campers are not able to drive them. In addition to the possible fraud and forgery, the Guardia Civil have deemed them un-roadworthy.

The moral: anything that seems too cheap to be true often IS.