Serge's activity

CiaoWe had to cancel our March/April cruise with Costa and got all our money back: tell a lie, we did not get  the money back, the other half added some more money to the original deposit and re-booked the same holiday for 2010 but this time extended it by another 10 days (I am not complaining: I love the life on the Costa ships).  The problem is not our own agent, we know her and trust her.  There are other agents in the area and one of them is offering a package, which I like (my choice this time and it is a river cruise on the Volga).  The problem is I do not know the agent.  In the UK once the travel agent is registered with the Assosiation of British Travel Agents (ABTA) the agent is bonded and the client's money is safe.  If we are going on holidays that involves air travel the Civil Aviation Authority requires ATOL bonding.  If we have paid for the holidays by credit card and the agent or travel company fails the credit card company may refund the money.  If we have paid by debit card (Bancomat in Italy)  then there is no refund (unless English law has changed recently).  I understand that this guarantee by the banks do not cover payments abroad!  The travel insurance company may refund some money if the policy covers loss through bankruptcy!  I read somewhere that in Italy travel agents have be to licensed.  I do not know by whom: is it the commune, the region, the government that does the licensing and what does licensing involves?  Are Italian travel agents bonded and if so by whom: is it an insurance company, the bank and how do I find out?  Is there a scheme similar to ATOL in Italy?  Does Italian travel insurance, which is compulsory when I buy a package holiday in Italy, provides for loss due to bankruptcy? My Italian is not good enough at present to understand all those small prints and I run out of patience before I get to the end of the small prints in the brochure. Lots of question but at the end of the day none of it matters.  It all boils down to one thing, how do I make sure I can trust the owner of the agency, when I am doing business with him or her for the first time?  I hope you can help me on this one and many thanks! 

Hi sognoWhy bother with adaptors if you can wire an English plug then you will find it easier to wire an Italian plug.  Italian 3 pin plugs do not carry a fuse.  Any electrical shop sells them: you can get a cheap one or an expensive one like Btcino, which is a little bit easier to wire.  I suspect your TV and Hifi systems are not portable, then I would not bother with adaptors!  I only use adaptors with electronic equipment that uses low voltage adaptors.  Even then when you buy the equipment you can always ask for an international version!  If you are going to use adaptors on an extension lead with multi sockets I would advise that you get one with a switch.  I switch mine off at night to save electricty: I do not use stanbys. Most modern TV should work in Italy: if you have any doubt look up the specifications for your model on the manufacturer's site.  Italy is also going digital for TVs: if you want a Mediaset terrestrial box you can always ask your local supplier to let you try it on your TV first.  I use to carry my Sky box between the UK and Italy.  I do not do that anymore: not having BBC or ITV does not bother me ( I buy the DVDs of the English TV series on Amazon when they are cheap and then I can watch as many repeats as I want): I subcribe to SKY Italy and unlike SKY UK you can choose the language: I watch all the films and series (CSI and all the usual suspects) in their original language.  SKY Italia also have BBC Prime, BBC World and SKY news channels.  I also subscribe to SKY calcio and watches all the Chelsea FC matches live (some of the matches are also broadcast with English commetary or Italian on another channel.  If you do not like the commentaries you can alwys switch the sound off!  I think they show most of the Premier League matches live on Saturday, Sunday and Mondays.  Subscribing to SKY Italia has also hepled improve my Italian, although I still enjoy English spoken TV in Italy.  Some of the England matches are also shown on Sports Italia! It is worth checking out when England is playing!  I am swithing off SKY cinema: I find it is not worth it I plan to watch the new films on their Prima Fila channels: cheaper than going to the movies or buying the DVD! Good luck!

Hi Michelangelo Try this site: Umbria on Line they list the events in ech of the 92 communi in Umbria.  Choose the commune and slect events.  The site has an English and Italian version.  You may lso try to look up the official site of the commune that interests you most.  Other sites to explore are the official sites of Region of Umbria, Perugia and Terni.http://www.umbriaonline.com/english/amelia_events.phtml Good Luck! Serge

We also did the same 4 years ago!  Great service with the fitted oven when broke down and he replaced two resistors.  When the dish washer broke down and he required a part from the manufacturer then the trouble started.  The manufacturer took six weeks to send the new part and he fitted it promptly when it arrived.  During that episode I did some research on the availabilty of extended warranties and home repairs in Italy: all the major brands offer a five year extended warranty, but I was not told that when I fitted the kitchen.  I also bought a cordless phone from him and when it broke down it took 6 months to sort out with the manufacturer.  In the end he gave me a refund on another phone. In the UK I normally purchase all my electrical goods from John Lewis as they offer a free two year guarantee and guarantees never to be undersold (shop prices only).  Their exports department in Oxford Street has advised me that the 2 year warranty is not available outside the UK and only the international warranty applies.  They have shipped very large items to me (not electrical equipment) in Italy and these purchases were cheaper (including transport cost) than buying them in Italy (even for Italian products now that the Euro is stronger against Sterling!).  They are also very reliable: the goods arrive when they say they would and transport charges are made only after the goods have arrived in Italy and have been delivered to me!  The items always arrive when they say they would. Great service! When it comes to getting something repaired under international warranty: forget it!  The local authorised agent does not want to know: not that they are intransigient but they deal with so little of it that they do not know what to do.  So when my daughter's Toshiba portable DVD player broke down, after some frustrating local calls, we arranged with Toshiba UK to return the machine to a friend in the UK and they would swap it for a new one by courier.  I got my machine back from the UK after 10 days of sending it.  We now purchase our small electrical and electonic items in Italy directly from the manufacturer's website when such a facilty exists.  Very reliable and any if there is any problem I send it back directly to them, whether I am in Italy or the UK.

Indeed!!