Mark D's activity

Thanks. I found that during the last power cut and entered the "POD" number. It has no record of any power interruptions and says that there is no planned work.

I'm just guessing there's a failing component at the sub-station that supplies these buildings, it cuts out, and someone is sent to switch it back on again. However the fault isn't being repaired, so it happens again and again. A component needs replacing.

We pay our bills to a2aenergia so I'm guessing we approach them for a reduction in our bills/and or compensation and this would be a good thing to do because without a financial incentive to fix it, this may just keep happening.. does anyone know if there is a formal compensation scheme to which energy suppliers must conform and adhere?

Thanks for that. I completely agree that the customer must "keep to their side of the bargain" and pay for the minimum length stated.

But, there is no minimum length stated anywhere, so it can only be one month, since the contract is "month to month" and paid monthly. I think I should probably print the web pages in case they are needed later :)

We do expect to live in this apartment for at least a year, probably two, so if the service is OK then there should be no problem.

I found we can also get Tiscali here, too, so it's a choice of three: TIM, Fastweb, Tiscali. Then I thought to look at reviews of all three companies and they are all appalling.

Fastweb does allow you to cancel if you're not happy with it at the start - if, for example, it is really slow.

I've found the cable in the apartment, so it has had FTTP before, and should be easy to activate. Who to choose..

I think I'm beginning to see what you mean here. There's no minimum contract period mentioned anywhere with Fastweb FTTH. Not that I can find..

In the Terms and Conditions to which you have to agree, there's a line that states that the term will be "as agreed with the customer", but will not exceed 24 months.

Under UK law the period of the contract is called a "core term" and must show together clearly, with the price. And unless I've missed something in the Terms, under UK law the minimum contract period would be one month because nothing else is mentioned anywhere. Fastweb could not enforce a longer contract period.

TIM do show the contract term with pop-ups that explain the various elements. Albeit they want 5 EUR per month for a modem. For four years :)

Four years is illegal under UK law, too. 2 years is the maximum permitted.

It has to be one of those two because they're the only ones that provide FTTH.

Thanks. That story sounds familiar. Almost all the telcoms companies in the UK are like that :)

This apartment can have fibre to the home. As I look around I can only find a telephone socket so I'm assuming they'll have to install a new connection to terminate the fibre in the apartment. We're on the 5th floor. I wonder if they have to run the fibreoptic cable up the stairs or if someone already has the service in the building so it's is already in place.

But that won't be happening any time soon because of the lockdown. I might go ahead and order it now as there will probably be a backlog of work when the restrictions are lifted.

Update: we've met the "man at the desk" who is lovely, and paid 3 EUR to have a key for the cupboard. He's very helpful.

I explained that we don't have access to the locked cupboard, and they said that we need to speak to the concierge, or to a neighbour.

I have no idea where the real accountability lies here.

However given the low wattage to the apartments with the supply going off regularly, I think we'll need our own key to the cupboard at some point - it seems odd that the energy company would have to come out to the building every time we run too many appliances at the same time.

Thanks, that's really helpful to know. It's not just me who can't get through to estate agents :)But having looked at this more, and with the answers above, I'm not seeing what the point of trying to use an estate agent is: I'd read that many tenancies are arranged privately and I can see why. Yes, they do list on the major sites, but they don't seem very interested in gaining any business from people with enough money to move in immediately. They may well be concerned about Brexit, which is understandable. The fees are just ludicrous.We've booked an AirBnB initially - a bit last minute - and we're planning on looking for another one within the first week of our stay so we've got somewhere to move to next, once we've explored the towns and cities a little and have a firm idea of where we're headed.It was all set to be Ferrara until I saw Bergamo, it looks stunning. So that's where we're headed initially.There always exists the option to simply treat this as a holiday and return - I know i have a lot of things to look into. At the moment the tax rates and system seem to be designed to keep out wealth creators and self-employed people and disincentivise people from starting and growing businesses, I don't think I am reading it correctly but if I am then Italy will be impossible. But the information I have read seems to conflict so I'll need to get some expert advice.I have contracts with multiple UK clients (+1 Italian) and was planning on continuing those from Italy with the occasional brief trip back to the UK for meetings, which aren't very often - it's all "done over the internet". While improving my Italian language skills and then potentially gaining Italian clients.This means I'll be liable for Italian, not UK tax, apart from those brief stays in the UK where the tax is due to the UK. I fear this is going to be more complicated than it may need to be.Good to hear your story had a happy ending and thanks for your tips, all taken on board. I can see us "going the same way" if we stay beyond the initial period.

If the landlord organises repairs I can't see any reason to use an estate agent - this is another difference to the UK. Here, the agency has responsibility to the tenant and has legal obligations.These comparisons are not meant to suggest that the UK is "better" than Italy. Not so. Perhaps better in some ways. Italy is better in others. Italy is a truly beautiful country of cultured, creative, fantastic people. That is what attracts me. The vistas. The towns and cities. The history. The people. The language.As I read the information, provided that I can show that I have applied for residency before the Brexit deadline of 31 January it doesn't matter how long it takes to process it. It doesn't need to have been confirmed by that date, I just have to have applied in time.I can still apply otherwise and I qualify because I can prove my income and I am not a "burden" on the State. I can make an immediate contribution. However Italy does not like self-employed people and does not grant many residency permits.However I need to have an address - as you say, for a period of time, so that I can be there when visited to prove that I live there. And I suppose I need to be able to prove residency for other things.We have been looking at towns and cities because we were not going to bring the car to Italy, this is the reason why we have been looking at central locations.Another big reason is the quality of internet connections. I need a fast connection to do my work. This has to be at least fibre to the street post/node.Britain is terrible for internet connections in rural areas - we only have fibre to the cabinet (street) and it only works quickly if you are very near to the cabinet in the street (less than about 400m). Most rural houses are not near enough.Yet, here, in the UK, we live in a rural area. We are lucky that we have good internet speeds. I like quiet places. And the idea of moving, as you suggest, to somewhere in a small village really appeals. I'm happy to drive and to buy a car in Italy but I would ideally need to have residency first before doing that.Italy has some truly beautiful villages, but also many beautiful towns: I think Italy's towns are much nicer than our towns in the UK: for example Ferrara is like our Cambridge which is one of the nicest.If I knew that I could get fast internet speeds (around 50 Meg down and 10 Meg up would sufffice) in the countryside - the houses are cheaper - and we could have a house not an apartment - I would love this.Thanks for all your posts - I'm learning a lot and I can see that I have a lot of reading and research to do!

Yes, just seen that - thanks for the "heads-up". I thought the tax rates in England were very high.. ;)

After contacting 5 I received a reply from only one. None of the others answer their phone. It may be that they are declining the calls from a UK number perhaps, or that they are simply very busy. (I can speak enough Italian to be able to speak on the phone).The only one who replied mentioned the fee/commission of one month's rent which I thought was hilarious (the one above), I did not realise it is normal.We're looking at central apartments in the northern cities of Ferrara, Brescia, Verona and Bergamo (we will not bring the car to Italy) which rent for between 750 EUR and 1350 EUR or a little more per month. Most have 2+ rooms (very central and small), normally 3+ and over 80m sq.The one that did return my email was for an apartment with 5 rooms.Am I right in thinking that the estate agent is totally responsible for the apartment for the whole contract, so if anything goes wrong such as the cooker, heating or the boiler failing, it is the agent's responsibility to get it fixed quickly and that is part of what the customer is paying for?