If like me, one of the few things you miss in Italy is a decent department store, in particular John Lewis, you may be interested to know that they now offer international delivery for £7-50.
Does anyone have a phone number for Telecom Italia that can be used from UK? We started trying to cancel our landline/ADSL contract with them last October - following their instructions to the letter.
After 10 years in Italy, the last 7 of which have been in Le Marche (Macerata province) for family reasons we now have to return to UK for at least a year.
I suspect it means the kiosk/office in your local hospital where you would have to go to pay for any treatment/prescriptions. Have a look at your ASL site and it will probably give a list, with opening hours etc
We too pay our bills via DD from our Italian bank account and have always done this.However, if you register on the enel.it site it is possible to have your bill sent via email rather than to receive a paper copy - it is exactly the same format as the paper version and on one of the pages it lists the various payment methods - it states it is also posible to pay via bank transfer, all the account/IBAN numbers etc are provided and it does say you can pay via credit card if you are registered via the enel site. So I would ask to receive your bill via email, that way you will get it wherever you are and also speak to them and see if either of these alternative methods of payment are open to you as non- resident, I would have thought at least one of them is!
You do need to have received the reminder letter as without it and all the various account numbers etc it contains, we were told, at the post office, you cannot pay! As you have not received it I would sit tight, it will arrive soon enough. Apparently it is linked to the list of residents provided as per each comune so if you have residency you will be on the system. PS : not sure how you managed to pay it in the first place! Our post office lady refused to take payment and told us to wait until the letter arrived, which it did in due course.
Have to say the description is not one of the Italy we know! Maybe in certain areas it could be true but having lived in Rome, Lombardia and Le Marche it is certainly not our experience in any of those areas to pay backhanders, to have to use certain professionals/workmen etc. in order to get things done. Yes, there is bureaucracy and red tape but as long as you do your research, plan ahead and go armed with the correct paperwork it is not an issue! Where I think many go wrong and come unstuck re the bureaucracy is that they assume it will be the same procedure as in their home country and then become frustrated and critical that it dares to be different. Like Angie and Robert, I have no problem with the need for tax transparency, if you have nothing to hide, why worry?
Although this link seems to be more for nuisance commercial type calls, there may well be something TI can do - http://www.telecomitalia.it/assistenza/info-consumatori/segnalazioni-chiamate-indesiderate so it would be worth speaking to them. Alternatively, she could always report the calls to the carabinieri who would have to act but she may not want to make it quite so official. Horrid situation to be in for her and difficult to know how best to advise without aggravating the situation. Hope it all works out well and the calls stop.
We use a TIM sim with a dongle which we top up for a month's internet supply when we are back in Italy - can't remember all the t&c's/number of GB etc but I do know we were told if we went over our GB allowance it would still work but on a very much reduced speed. Did not actually happen so can't confirm, but you may well find it just slows right down.
They are also available via Banco Posta, or if you want to keep it UK based, we have used one issued by Caxton Fx which can be in euro, sterling or dollars.
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I suspect it means the kiosk/office in your local hospital where you would have to go to pay for any treatment/prescriptions. Have a look at your ASL site and it will probably give a list, with opening hours etc
We too pay our bills via DD from our Italian bank account and have always done this.However, if you register on the enel.it site it is possible to have your bill sent via email rather than to receive a paper copy - it is exactly the same format as the paper version and on one of the pages it lists the various payment methods - it states it is also posible to pay via bank transfer, all the account/IBAN numbers etc are provided and it does say you can pay via credit card if you are registered via the enel site. So I would ask to receive your bill via email, that way you will get it wherever you are and also speak to them and see if either of these alternative methods of payment are open to you as non- resident, I would have thought at least one of them is!
More details here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/9911410/Briton-hu... The IRA is also involved.
You do need to have received the reminder letter as without it and all the various account numbers etc it contains, we were told, at the post office, you cannot pay! As you have not received it I would sit tight, it will arrive soon enough. Apparently it is linked to the list of residents provided as per each comune so if you have residency you will be on the system. PS : not sure how you managed to pay it in the first place! Our post office lady refused to take payment and told us to wait until the letter arrived, which it did in due course.
Have to say the description is not one of the Italy we know! Maybe in certain areas it could be true but having lived in Rome, Lombardia and Le Marche it is certainly not our experience in any of those areas to pay backhanders, to have to use certain professionals/workmen etc. in order to get things done. Yes, there is bureaucracy and red tape but as long as you do your research, plan ahead and go armed with the correct paperwork it is not an issue! Where I think many go wrong and come unstuck re the bureaucracy is that they assume it will be the same procedure as in their home country and then become frustrated and critical that it dares to be different. Like Angie and Robert, I have no problem with the need for tax transparency, if you have nothing to hide, why worry?
This link, from the ACI site, gives all the details you need to know - http://www.aci.it/i-servizi/guide-utili/guida-pratiche-auto/esportazione.html
It would seem so: http://www.barclays.it/International_Buying_Italy_Mortgage_Costs.aspx It all seems to be pretty straightforward. Good luck!
Although this link seems to be more for nuisance commercial type calls, there may well be something TI can do - http://www.telecomitalia.it/assistenza/info-consumatori/segnalazioni-chiamate-indesiderate so it would be worth speaking to them. Alternatively, she could always report the calls to the carabinieri who would have to act but she may not want to make it quite so official. Horrid situation to be in for her and difficult to know how best to advise without aggravating the situation. Hope it all works out well and the calls stop.
We use a TIM sim with a dongle which we top up for a month's internet supply when we are back in Italy - can't remember all the t&c's/number of GB etc but I do know we were told if we went over our GB allowance it would still work but on a very much reduced speed. Did not actually happen so can't confirm, but you may well find it just slows right down.
They are also available via Banco Posta, or if you want to keep it UK based, we have used one issued by Caxton Fx which can be in euro, sterling or dollars.