758 ENEL or should the e's be a's

After living in italy for almost a year now I had been paying Enel what I thought was an expencive amount (about 150 euros every 2 months) until today I recieved a bill for 1000 euros which apperently is because enel had under estimated my bill.

I can't beleave they can suddenly charge me so much and that there estimate could have been so wrong and thats not for 12 months eather thats just for 10 months.

Can anyone advise me as to what best to do, can I complain to some sort of consumer protection agency or something. Any advice would be greatfull.

thanks

Category
General chat about Italy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/08/2005 - 12:11

... we have just received our bill which has been read not estimated ... which turned out to be a lot higher ... but when we get first got bills in i used to compare what we were charged by what the meter said...if it was getting out of hand we used to phone them up and give them a reading and pay the adjusted bill... not that the estimates have picked up on the increased use .. to adjust anything here takes forever that is if possible for them to actually do... also attempting any changes involves the risk of everything going completely wrong

which does not help you much.... cost of living here is high compared to the uk ... petrol...and all service providers incredibly higher... its something to get used to and adapt to.... gas being recorded as the highest priced in the whole of europe

there is absolutely no incentive for any of the providers to offer any better service and your complaints if heard at all will not be of much use... unless they are billing you on the wrong rate... ie you say you live here ...are you sure you are paying at first house/resident rates and not second house/ non-resident rate ...that should and could be changed and i would think you would get back the difference sometime... and it will be quite large

all these things can be checked on the back of the bill... although something like an accountants degree might help in trying to work out their various codes and charges ... good luck with any attempts but dont expect any sympathy from them

... the other day my brother in law laughed when i suggested that privitisation might help in a couple of years time to make them more efficient and priced more competitiively.... he laughed... it will not be like other european countries he said... they fix the price between them ...much like all so called competitive private services here and you will most probably end up paying more for a less efficient service....

there is a big campaign here not to let them privatise the water system because that is the one thing they could screw up that would not only damage your pockets but also your health.... and there are serious concerns that if it is privatised no one will be safe to drink the water anywhere in italy again .... luckily in abruzzo we have good safe water... most italians from outside this area never drink from the taps...

again it would seem i paint a black picture... but i did know before we bought here what to expect... so i am not crying about it ... i had taken it into account ... just make sure when you buy a big place here that you think about the heating /cooking /bathing costs... you will most probably get an unpleasant surprise if you base it on your uk costs

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/08/2005 - 17:02

Once again, Adriatica is right on. When I lived full time in Italy it took a while to get used to keeping lights off, things unplugged, etc etc. You might also want to check your ENEL bill, it should be "D2" (and not "D3")if it is considered your prima residenza.
Casale-Turn off those Lights!
[url]http://www.angelfire.com/film/casale[/url]

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/08/2005 - 17:26

Only code type thing I can find on it that comes close is

per abitazione do residenza
con opzione teriffaria ulteriore UD4
con potenza contrattualmente
impegnata do 4.5 kW
e porenza disponibile
do 5 kW

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 07/09/2005 - 07:16

If you have not already done so, go to the ENEL site, [url]www.enel.it[/url], and register. Have your bill handy. My address was listed in a strange way and you will need your customer number. You might also consider whether it would be possible to bump down to 3 kW from the 4.5 it looks like you have now...

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 07/09/2005 - 07:25

LOL, I've been trying to get them to adjust my bill for almost a year now, hasn't worked yet, BUT, I just found out that there is a mediatore in the town, and, he uses my bar, apparently, he will know who to talk to *taps side of nose, and, winks...* ask around, you mind find someone locally too.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 07/09/2005 - 10:33

agree with stefano....get it down from that wapping kw rate to 3 or 3.5....
we have big house several telolies washing machine and microwave all running off 3.5 kw... sometimes the lights might dip but nothing has ever stopped.... this will reduce your bill without you having to do anything to change your usage...

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 07/09/2005 - 12:45

It used to be 3.5 but just putting the dish washer and having a shower used to blow the main fuse and having to run down a couple of flights of stairs every time the breaker went was getting to be a big pain in the bum.

Also I wouldn't call 4.5 kW particualy large.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 07/10/2005 - 11:26

WHAT'S A DISHWASHER ???... :eek:
ENEL loves you...