Thank you again Pas55 for taking so much time to try to help me. I'm going to take the weekend off from thinking about Enel and then try again all of next week. I think you are correct that there are various companies within the overal company of Enel and it is easy to be re-directed to the "wrong" one. I will have a look at Currency Fair as well next week. One thing I discovered on Friday is that it is possible to switch to Edison energy and their website seems much more easy friendly. It only took 5 minutes to sign up and figure out how to switch. Of course I still hit a brick wall because I did not have an Italian IBAN number to set up a direct debit.If I can successfully set up a Post Office bank account in October (not possible online) because despite having a Codice Fiscal an Italian address and my passport information they still require an Italian document card or an Italian driving license in order to open an account with the post office. Simply put Italy likes being closed off from the rest of the world. This is part of what makes it such an enjoyable place to visit and enables them to maintain their traditions. However, it also prevents people from investing in the country from outside. And I would certainly never make that mistake again.
I think the reason for my heightened frustration is that I have used www.xe.com to make international payments in many currencies for many years. I move money back and forth between accounts in the U.S. and U.K. frequently and have paid individuals directly in Italy using xe.com and Paypal. But there is no way to pay Enel since there is no way to put a notation on of your account number without doing a complicated Wire Transfer which costs £20 per transaction. And although the Enel website says they now accept Paypal in a secure way there is no link to do so and no information about how to do it. When I did a live chat with an Enel representative they told me that using Paypal was not possible and I was on the wrong website (again) having been redirected to some other versoin of Enel unknowingly yet again. I have a long list of IBAN numbers for banks that handle payments for Enel. But there is no way to identify which account you are paying for, so you then have to make several phone calls and send FAXES to confirm your payments. We did this a few months ago to pay all of our outstanding bills which were going to the wrong address. It took 4 phone calls and 3 faxes for them to confirm we had paid. After 3 months we still have not received confirmation that our electricity has been switched back on.So I am flying out next month to flick the switch since this is the only way to find out - DIY. And will pay the bills in the post office yet again. Enel should have a marketing agreement with RyanAir.
This is what I see after I successfully log in and enter my Client Number. And since no one speaks English at their helpline and my Italian is not good enough to discuss such complicated matters, I am back full circle again...AvvisoGentile cliente, per la fornitura selezionata non è possibile effettuare l'operazione richiesta.Per ulteriori informazioni, ti preghiamo di contattare i nostri operatorial Numero Verde 800 900 800 oppure di rivolgerti ai nostri sportelli sul territorio.Per sapere qual'è il Punto Enel più comodo per te, clicca qui.Grazie.
The biggest problem I have had is that even though I successfully registered on the enel.it site it is not linked in any way to my account and when I go to what is supposedly the correct place it just says that "this service is unavailable." I am truly giving up and will just bring some candles next month. I can use my Calor gas canister to heat water and have a bath in the sink. Like Italian banks I can live like it is still 1850.
HI thank you very much Steve. I've spent several more hours today. It appears that every European country has a different length of IBAN code so it is impossible to pay a bill with a UK bank account or set up a direct debit. The Enel website says it is possible to pay with Paypal but there are no instructions how to do so.I have tried to sign up for an online bank account with ING, Poste Italia and several others but they all require an Italian identity card or an existing Italian bank account in order to allow me to sign up.Unfortuantely Italy is a closed off country and it is only possible to do something if like you say, you pay someone else to do it for you or pay the banks 12 euros / month for the "service" of keeping our money. I can definitively say that there is absolutely no way around this. I only wish my estate agent worked as hard trying to sell my apartment as I have trying to pay my 16 euro per month bills. Which are for using ZERO electricity and my electricity has been cut off by Enel. Yes I have had enough. Thanks for your answer. I have now booked a flight on RyanAir in the hope that someone somewhere in Italy can help me.
Well, after 5 hours I give up. I've got absolutely nowhere. I've been on four different versions of the Enel website, have been misdirected no end of times to pages that do not exist.Eventually it seems like it is indeed possible to have online access and pay your bills by direct debit, but this option requires an IBAN number so it is right back full circle to needing an Italian bank account. I only go to the property once a year and to be honest it is just not worth it any more. I am going to just stop paying, let them shut off the electrics again and just buy some candles at Auchan when I arrive. Buying a property in Italy was one of the worst mistakes of my life.
I have been trying to figure this out for 2 years. Even my Italian friend at work cannot figure it out. I always get the following page when I think I have finally found a way to sign up...PAGE NOT FOUNDOf all the beauracratic nonsense in Italy this is by far the worst thing I have ever experienced since the invention of the internet. Their website just goes in circles. And then the "help" consultation says it is the wrong website....Please if anyone has specific instructions of how to sign up for e-bills and how to pay via bank transfer it would be most appreciated.
Comments posted
Thank you again Pas55 for taking so much time to try to help me. I'm going to take the weekend off from thinking about Enel and then try again all of next week. I think you are correct that there are various companies within the overal company of Enel and it is easy to be re-directed to the "wrong" one. I will have a look at Currency Fair as well next week. One thing I discovered on Friday is that it is possible to switch to Edison energy and their website seems much more easy friendly. It only took 5 minutes to sign up and figure out how to switch. Of course I still hit a brick wall because I did not have an Italian IBAN number to set up a direct debit.If I can successfully set up a Post Office bank account in October (not possible online) because despite having a Codice Fiscal an Italian address and my passport information they still require an Italian document card or an Italian driving license in order to open an account with the post office. Simply put Italy likes being closed off from the rest of the world. This is part of what makes it such an enjoyable place to visit and enables them to maintain their traditions. However, it also prevents people from investing in the country from outside. And I would certainly never make that mistake again.
I think the reason for my heightened frustration is that I have used www.xe.com to make international payments in many currencies for many years. I move money back and forth between accounts in the U.S. and U.K. frequently and have paid individuals directly in Italy using xe.com and Paypal. But there is no way to pay Enel since there is no way to put a notation on of your account number without doing a complicated Wire Transfer which costs £20 per transaction. And although the Enel website says they now accept Paypal in a secure way there is no link to do so and no information about how to do it. When I did a live chat with an Enel representative they told me that using Paypal was not possible and I was on the wrong website (again) having been redirected to some other versoin of Enel unknowingly yet again. I have a long list of IBAN numbers for banks that handle payments for Enel. But there is no way to identify which account you are paying for, so you then have to make several phone calls and send FAXES to confirm your payments. We did this a few months ago to pay all of our outstanding bills which were going to the wrong address. It took 4 phone calls and 3 faxes for them to confirm we had paid. After 3 months we still have not received confirmation that our electricity has been switched back on.So I am flying out next month to flick the switch since this is the only way to find out - DIY. And will pay the bills in the post office yet again. Enel should have a marketing agreement with RyanAir.
Ofena in Abruzzo. Spectacular area. 40 minutes from Pescara airport and beaches and it is within the Gran Sasso national park.
This is what I see after I successfully log in and enter my Client Number. And since no one speaks English at their helpline and my Italian is not good enough to discuss such complicated matters, I am back full circle again...AvvisoGentile cliente, per la fornitura selezionata non è possibile effettuare l'operazione richiesta.Per ulteriori informazioni, ti preghiamo di contattare i nostri operatorial Numero Verde 800 900 800 oppure di rivolgerti ai nostri sportelli sul territorio.Per sapere qual'è il Punto Enel più comodo per te, clicca qui.Grazie.
The biggest problem I have had is that even though I successfully registered on the enel.it site it is not linked in any way to my account and when I go to what is supposedly the correct place it just says that "this service is unavailable." I am truly giving up and will just bring some candles next month. I can use my Calor gas canister to heat water and have a bath in the sink. Like Italian banks I can live like it is still 1850.
HI thank you very much Steve. I've spent several more hours today. It appears that every European country has a different length of IBAN code so it is impossible to pay a bill with a UK bank account or set up a direct debit. The Enel website says it is possible to pay with Paypal but there are no instructions how to do so.I have tried to sign up for an online bank account with ING, Poste Italia and several others but they all require an Italian identity card or an existing Italian bank account in order to allow me to sign up.Unfortuantely Italy is a closed off country and it is only possible to do something if like you say, you pay someone else to do it for you or pay the banks 12 euros / month for the "service" of keeping our money. I can definitively say that there is absolutely no way around this. I only wish my estate agent worked as hard trying to sell my apartment as I have trying to pay my 16 euro per month bills. Which are for using ZERO electricity and my electricity has been cut off by Enel. Yes I have had enough. Thanks for your answer. I have now booked a flight on RyanAir in the hope that someone somewhere in Italy can help me.
Well, after 5 hours I give up. I've got absolutely nowhere. I've been on four different versions of the Enel website, have been misdirected no end of times to pages that do not exist.Eventually it seems like it is indeed possible to have online access and pay your bills by direct debit, but this option requires an IBAN number so it is right back full circle to needing an Italian bank account. I only go to the property once a year and to be honest it is just not worth it any more. I am going to just stop paying, let them shut off the electrics again and just buy some candles at Auchan when I arrive. Buying a property in Italy was one of the worst mistakes of my life.
I have been trying to figure this out for 2 years. Even my Italian friend at work cannot figure it out. I always get the following page when I think I have finally found a way to sign up...PAGE NOT FOUNDOf all the beauracratic nonsense in Italy this is by far the worst thing I have ever experienced since the invention of the internet. Their website just goes in circles. And then the "help" consultation says it is the wrong website....Please if anyone has specific instructions of how to sign up for e-bills and how to pay via bank transfer it would be most appreciated.