My Bulgaria: Forums

rgawith · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:11 am Post subject: DreamHome.bg

Yes, yet another tale of shoddy building work, unscrupulous agents and por legal system for redress....

This is a long thread but explains the full story.

In April 2006 after struggling to find a decent architect to design and plan
my house, I contacted Mr Plamen Bonev (Pachou on Expatfocus) in order to
discuss thoughts about my house and see photos of houses, the firm he worked
for (DreamHome.bg) had built in the past.

After a few more emails I asked his adice with regard to a rough quote I had
had to build my house and he supplied me with an idea of what it would cost
using DreamHome.bg to build my house. I decided I liked the style of houses
DreamHome.bg had built in the past and so asked them to provide a definite
quote to build my house. This was at the beginning of May 2006 and I made it
clear that I would require the house liveable in by end of October 2006.

In June 2006 I made a trip over to Bulgaria with my partner at the time and
we visited the offices of DreamHome in Varna and met with the designer who
showed us plans of the house on the computer and we were given print offs
and the same pictures on a CD (we were made to pay an additional 100 Euros
for this!).

We then drove over to a small village near Veliko Turnovo to view in person
a small holiday complex that DreamHome had built. Both my partner and I
liked the style and the quality looked good. We then drove (with Mr Bonev)
over the Balkans to Stara Zagora, where despite it being fairly late we
were asked to meet with the builder. It turned out that we were actually
taken to the office of the lawyer for DreamHome and were
briefly introduced to the building manager and to the lawyer. We were supposed
to meeting Mr Borislav Tochevski, owner of DreamHome as well but his car had
broken down so he was late. The next day we met Mr Bonev and Mr Tochevski in
a restaurant for a quick chat. We also visited the plot where my house was to
be built with the lawyer for DreamHome and the building manager (who I never
ever saw again).

At the start of July 2006 I received a quote by email for the house of 63,500
Euros. Over the next few days I asked a number of questions to confirm exactly
what was included in the quote. I specifically asked that I would be provided
with all receipts for any expenses and was told I would be.

Quote all agreed, I was just waiting for answers to queries about the architects
fees and septic tank costs and type. I eventually got a response mid July. On
24th July 2006 I received the preliminary contract and annex to this. There then
followed a series of emails between myself, Mr Bonev and my lawyer as to specific
points in the contract and various amendments were made. The contract was finally
agreed in August 2006 and I planned a trip over with a friend at the end of the
same month.

I signed the contract and annex and sent to Bulgaria and transferred the first
installment. This first payment I was asked to split in two and send to the
bank accounts of Borislav Tochevski's parents. I did question this at the time
but was told that as DreamHome was based in Varna and the Tochevskis lived in
Stara Zagora where my house was to be built, it was much easier this way.

Myself and my friend arrived in Varna and met Mr Bonev at our hotel where I gave
him further signed copies of the contract and annex, as the ones I had posted
from the UK and never arrived. He took these back to the office and later gave
me a copy of the original stamped and signed by DreamHome.

We travelled to Stara Zagora and met Mr Borislav Tochevski at the holiday complex
in Yagoda where we were staying. He was driving through to Sofia so had little
time to discuss much but promised to provide me with designs and costs of a
terrace that now needed to be built, because DreamHome and the architect had
failed to take into account the plot was lower than the road level.

A week or so later after travelling down to Bansko and seeing a bit more of the
country we returned to Stara Zagora. I met the architect in my lawyers office
and was surprised to find that the foundations for the terrace had already been
built, despite not being agreed. I asked for it to be amde slightly larger and
was told this would only cost a small amount more.

On returning to the UK I kept badgering for costs of the terrace and design pictures
but none were forth coming. All i was told was it would not be expensive. I was
asked to send the second installment of the money. Again this went to Borislav's
mother's account as requested.

I already had my move to Bulgaria planned (without partner, or now ex-partner) and
would arrive in Stara Zagora early November. I had expected and been promised that
my house would be ready to move into by then. However, new house was only at foundation
stage with a couple of walls built. Not long after I arrived I met with Mr Borislav
Tochevski at my lawyers office. He proceeded to explain that house build had cost
more than expected due to the higher foundations and terrace and he wanted a further
12,000 Euros, but would accept around 8,000 Euros. There was also a massive rush to
choose tiles, bathroom fittings etc when I had been asking for ages when they wanted
to know my choices so I would have plenty of time to look around. He also requested
the third installment or part of it despite the fact it was not yet due under the
contract. I also learned that the building team had been changed. Originally Mr Borislav
Tochevski's father had been involved as building supervisor, but following some family
argument over costs and time scales, he had been efectively sacked and replaced.

My lawyer requested a breakdown of costs to date for the project and costs to finish the
house. The next day I was introduced to the new head building supervisor (a friend of
Mr Borislav Tochevski) who gave me a breakdown of costs which seemed to say they had so far
spent about 39,000 Euros on the house and a further 12,000 Euros were required to finish
house, above what was in contract.

I refused to pay any additional costs and insisted the house was finished under the
original contract. At this point DreamHome stopped all work on the house. A first
notary appeal was then sent requesting all receipts for the build and breakdown of
costs and that an experts report be prepared on state of house and quality of build.
The first meeting with the experts took place on 4th December 2006. Mr Borislav Tochevski
and his lawyer, as well as his parents all turned up. It was agreed that the rough
construction was done to a good enough quality but measurements were taken of the terrace
to calculate proper cost and other disputed issues. I agreed at this stage that Dreamhome
could continue the build for the cost under the original contract but we were to agree
a cost for the terrace.

Work continued and by January 2007 the finishing work was commencing. I had requested and
paid for a very expensive oak floor. This was ordered in December and would arrive and
be fitted, following dehumidification of house, at the end of January. I was told the house
would be completed by then. However, the weeks dragged on and each time I visited the
house, there were further problems - tiles were laid upside down in the bathroom, the windows
were put in at a very low level so kitchen appliances would not fit under them etc. I was
constantly asked for further monies - for fireplaces (despite these being included in the
contract), decent internal doors as ones they had quoted for were cheap nasty ones etc.
I eventually agreed a further 7000 BGN for the terrace and railings, although was given little
choice on style of railings and very expensive ones were fitted.

The final straw came when they started to lay the wooden floor. Not only was this not the
one I had chosen, it was also only 39 BGN/sqm when I had paid for one at 59 BGN/sqm and worse,
they had not laid it level so there was a few milimetres height difference between tiles
and wooden floor and doors to terrace could not open as wooden floor blocked their path.
There were numerous other problems such as terrace railings had not been primed and so had
already started to go rusty, the vaulted ceiling in the main bedroom was a mess, the plastering
inside was of poor finish as was the paint work and the roof gabling a complete mess.

In March 2007, when the build was way behind schedule and 3 months past the finishing date in
the contract, I asked DreamHome to leave the site. On 20th March I sent a second notary appeal
terminating the contract and requesting money for late completion under contract, money for lost
benefits, money back that I had paid for more expensive tiles, doors, wooden floor etc that
had never been fitted and to return all documentation, receipts, guarantees etc for the build.
We received absolutely no response.

I therefore had a further experts report done on state of house and quality of build and
finishing works and issued court proceedings against DreamHome. DreamHome requested the
case be moved to Varna and so it was. I have just had the first court hearing and their
lawyer had the audacity to claim the contract was invalid as the
signatures on it were fake and that there was never any agreement between myself and DreamHome.
No money was ever paid directly to DreamHome as I was told to send to personal bank accounts
of the owner and his family. We did manage to get the majority of our evidence accepted into
court so i can call my expert witnesses etc. The next court hearing is in January. No
representative of DreamHome could be bothered to turn up at court, only their lawyer. The judge
refused to order that a representative attend to be questioned.

In the meantime I have had the house completed by another team of builders at considerable
expense to myself. Further problems have been discovered such as the french Windows do not
fit well and there are large gaps between the doors leading to cold air coming into the house,
the showers were not sealed and had to be taken out and refitted and the drainage to the septic
tank is not deep enough and so there is often an awful smell from kitchen sink and bathroom
drains. Tiles around the fireplace have cracked on lighting a fire and along the edge of the
terrace.

Running parallel to this Mr Borislav Tochevski's parents, aided by their lawyer, have launched a court case against me saying they built my house and were never paid
for it. Their court application makes for a good fictional read all about how when they first
met me I was so pretty and nice that they built my house with their own money. I then apparently
refused to pay for it and refused to sign a contract with them. At the same time they say they
could not communicate with me and I was never in the country, yet also go on to say that each
time we met I would make excuses as to why I was not paying them. In the first round of this
court case they had all their evidence, if that is what you can call it as was just figures
plucked from the sky, accepted and now goes to next court level.

Their game is obviously to have any contract with DreamHome declared invalid so that it is open
to them to say another company (his parents) built my house and I never paid them.

I shall update this thread as and when there are new developments and only hope others can learn
from my experiences.

Rachel

grayboguestmeister · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:03 pm Post subject:

Thank you for having the courage to share this story and I hope things get considerably better for you.

LUCI · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:38 pm Post subject:

thanks for sharing your experiences - yet another company to be avoided at all costs - hope that things improve for you

dezzie · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:11 pm Post subject:

does BORISLAV live in vlas .do thay have a office in sunny beach and one in varna Sad

rgawith · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:31 pm Post subject: no idea

Not sure to be honest. I was told he lived in Stara Zagora but this is not true. His parents live here. He spends a lot of time in Sofia I think where they own and have offices but he is also abroad alot in Russia, Spain etc promoting company and properties.

They have an office in Sunny Beach yes. Office manage is girl called Bistra. She was my translator and contact here in Stara Zagora as she is from Stara Zagora. She was very helpful and lovely to be honest and I considered her a friend but as soon as things turned sour with Borislav and DreamHome I never heard from her.

On www.dreamhome.bg there is a list of offices and employees.

Not surprisingly on investigations DreamHome has no properties in its own name.

Plamen also ran http://www.allbulgarianproperties.com and Bistra appeared to be employed by something like pdservices or something - the property development side and management side.

I know from a contact in Balchik they have a number of mini buses they run poor unsuspecting clients around trying to get them to buy.

vatnonsense · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:05 pm Post subject:

Rachel,

Quite an interesting post you've written and certainly very enlightning provided that you've been fully unbiased.I dont have the privilege to know personally neither you nor Plamen Bonev,Dream Home,Dimo Jordanov and probably the many others unscrupolous persons you've encountered in BG.I am basing my thoughts only on what I can read between the lines on your website,your posts on MYBG and EXPATFOCUS forums,as well as pachou and dimo jordanov's posts.
I've not been following regularly the expatfocus but I remember that at some point both you and pachou were quite active on this forum.It's clear to everybody that on those Internet forums there are many people who are lurking and trying to find clients for their goods and services sometimes very cleverly and ambiguously disguised under the form of "friendly and honest advice".
The reason why I am taking position here is because I belive that since you've already given your side of the story regarding Dream Home,Plamen Bonev,Dimo Jordanov and maybe others,if you are a person with a dignity you need to go one step further and ask yourself the simple question "Am I honest to myself".
You claim to your potential clients that you can offer honest reliable personal service with regard to purchasing properties,renovations,building etc.However,from your long list of different purchases and the associated development works,it seems that you are having big problems managing your personal projects let alone to help and manage other people's ones.
While in your personal investments it's your own money lost,failing to refer your clients ro reliable and trustworthy tradesmen can lead to losing their hardearned savings,which eventually will cost your reputation and business.
My sincire advice is the following-you need to take a break and review first your personal experiences,and resume business activities only after you've analyzed the past mistakes and made sure that they will not happen again.Anything else would not be fair to your potential clients,as I said before you need to go one step further not only expose the unscrupolous people you are blaming but also go deeper and remit your personal mistakes,even more so because you've made not just one but many such mistakes so far.
I hope that you will take this piece of constructive advice with understanding,otherwise it can be a vicious circles for you and your potential clients.If you need to stay in business you must have very solid and tested networks-good&independent solicitor,experienced and well connected architect,reliable agents,all these are a must if you want to offer professional and reliable advice to your fellow British compatriots.
As for Dream Home itself,I looked at their website they seem to be a bunch of nice looking lads and lasses,focusing not only on British but also on Russian and others market.Theyr attitude described by you seems unprofessional but I dont hink we have reason to think that they treat all their clients in this manner,moreover they do not seems like a runaway virtual company with one one or no office,which can disappear in a second. We have a saying in BG "You cannot blame the person who eats the pie but you should rather blame the person who gives him to eat the pie".I think with a bit more tough position on your and lawyers part while drafting the contract you could have prevented the unpleasant consequences atm.Very simple things you could have done-sending money to your company account which your solicitor sends to builder only after he has confirmed that each stage has been completed to a good standard,making sure that they send you up to date pics every 2 weeks,setting up a webcam on site.There are so many small and practical steps which could have prevented the current scenario at an earlier stage of the construction works and not at the last stage payment.
Last but not least,the fact that your paperwork was not very professionaly drafted would mean a very long judicial process,costly and with few chances to win the case let alone to recover anything.Bear in mind,that there are many people who have won cases in Bg courts but have not managed to recover their lost cash.Thus,they resort to more undemocratic means to recover money from crooks with the help of a few strong lads who at the cost of 10-30% of the claimed value recover it from the unscrupolus bandit.

Best,
VAT

Cabbage · **Lawyer** Joined: Oct 18, 2007 Posts: 1440