carolll

Bad Decision to Rent from Tuscany Now & More. Don’t Repeat our Mistake.



We rented a two bedroom house from Tuscany Now & More for the first two weeks in July. The company website’s photos and narrative cleverly misrepresented the house, deceiving us. Our complaints while there and since were ignored or met with double talk. Buyer beware. We own our responsibility. Tuscany Now & More does not. The company never should have accepted this particular house for its portfolio in the condition we found it nor at the price charged.



The problems included: terrible driving directions that omitted the town’s name when giving the name of the street leading to the house; one of the two bedrooms had a mat, not a mattress, providing insufficient support, and the other bedroom (upstairs) had a mattress that was barely acceptable. That room has a sloping ceiling too low to walk under; an ancient washing machine that never should have passed a company’s inspection; a house filled with ants inside and out, requiring several treatments to get rid of them; a pool too small to swim in (we were aware of this deficiency before our departure but believed there was adequate compensation in the other features being extolled); chaise lounges near the pool with no good back support for reading and very thin cushions, and with no umbrellas beside them for shade; a kitchen with minimal equipment; a back door that once unlocked had a faulty lock that could only be relocked by their representative, making the door unusable; when the wind was blowing in our direction, an aroma of pig feces outdoors that required us to retreat indoors.

Reporting the problems with the house proved useless. After we arrived at the house and discovered its deficiencies we complained to the local representative (who is the one asset to the house). She informed us that the house’s owner denied these issues were a problem but two days before departure, we learned that the mattresses and washing machine would be replaced. While at the house we sent Tuscany Now and More our complaints. We received no response.



We have been renting houses in Italy for more than thirty years. We know how a house should be priced. The rental price for this house was completely out of line. After our return home we pointed this out to the rental company owner, Simon Ball, and asked for a partial refund. He refused. He claimed that another renter’s review was ours, which it is was not. The website now has an inserted box stipulating that complaints need to be addressed to the London office, not the company’s local representative nor the house owner. Yet Mr. Ball excused the office’s non-response to the complaints we sent to that office as being due to the office staff being too occupied helping people with covid related problems. This is a company that prefers double talk to straight talk, to having things both ways to their benefit. Again, buyer beware.

Elisabeth54

So sorry to hear of your bad experience, Caroll. That's not what holidays are meant to be like!

Sassafrass

Why don’t you post some photos of the place and the link so others do not accidentally book it.

nonconformist2

Definitely a red flag on their website is that although UK based, they aren't ABTA or ATOL registered.

nonconformist2

OP has posted this in multiple places, and in one she id's the offending property as this one: La Nula | 2 Bed Luxury Villa with Pool | Near Pisa and Lucca | Tuscany Now & More (tuscanynowandmore.com)

Perhaps you have some of your own photos as well to contrast?

MoBro

Wow-- what gorgeous photos! I would have been livid to arrive there and find out all the problems the OP mentions.

Wekiva

Well the size of the pool and the sloping ceiling are so clearly shown in the photos I can't believe you listed those as faults. Were these pics not available on the listing originally?

whitehall

Most of the things the OP complained about can be seen in the photos. The ceiling heights are obvious. The pool too small to swim in (“we were aware of this deficiency” Huh?). When I think of an “ancient washing machine”, I think washboard? (We recently were gifted a new washer but hesitated to give up our 27 year-old machine that always worked like a charm). Both beds appear to have mattresses. What is a mat? I don’t think we ever find perfection in a vacation rental, and we have done many dozens, in all price ranges. Sounds like something else may have dampened the OP’s enthusiasm from the get go. Renter’s remorse or perhaps they picked the wrong town for them? To the credit of the homeowner and the agency, the OP says they plan to replace the mattresses and buy a new washer. It sounds like they listen and accept feedback. Perhaps there were some legitimate beefs. However, sometimes I wonder how two different people can rate a property either one or five stars. I do feel sorry for the agent who might be caught in the middle.

janisj

Could it be that nothing would have pleased you for some reason (the ants would be an issue but easily solved with spraying which it sounds like they did).

But honestly -- " . . . and with no umbrellas beside them for shade; " I looked at every photo and saw not a single umbrella - did you expect them to materialize somehow?

" . . . a kitchen with minimal equipment". I see a full sized cooker/oven, microwave, and small fridge, and they list an electric kettle, food processor, toaster, coffee machine, and iron and ironing board, so doesn't sound like minimal anything.

" . . . chaise lounges near the pool with no good back support for reading and very thin cushions" - Yep, the photos do show thin cushions on the chaise lounges so your complaint is what exactly?

Re the thin bed mattress - the ground floor bedroom's photo does seem to show some sort of mattress pad/topper which could be what you are describing, but we can't see under the bed spreads so not sure. You could post some of your own photos here and that would maybe support your complaints.

kleeblatt

According to the photos, the kitchen is definitely not luxurious but basic in its offerings. There's no photo of the living room which makes me wonder. The place itself looks adequate, though, but the price might be a bit high for what you're getting.

millie2112

maybe we can see some pics from the OP.
this place looks really lovely.

MmePerdu

I believe the "living room" is the room with the kitchen, just like a place I rented in Italy, and the sitting room the outside "loggia."

bon_voyage

Over the years, our family rented homes in Umbria, the Dordogne, and on the Big Island. Based on the photos in the link that nonconformist2 provided, I thought the decor was spare. I’d have asked for better reading lamps, pictures of baths/showers, and, yes, also of any interior living room/lounge area.

katarenas3347

Hi Carroll,
Sorry about your bad experience - I've had them too dealing with Italian vacation package with International Kitchen.
You stated you've rented homes in Italy at other companies - can you please provide the company's details so that I can look at and compare to Tuscany Now and More.
Thanks,
Kat

carolll

Hello Kat:

Years ago, houses were promoted online by owners, direct to the public. These days that is not the case.

Of late, I have had reasonably good luck with VRBO. Houses are well described with many photos and previous renter recommendations.

Our experience with Tuscany Now and More was dreadful. They took zero responsibility for the house we rented being unfit for rental. They tried to remediate the many problems while we were there but that did nothing for our having to deal with those problems for days and days, nor with our being inconvenienced by their efforts.

Good luck with your search.

Carol

Peter_S_Aus

August 2021 was a long time ago.

HappyTrvlr

We had an exceptional experience renting from a local firm, Chianti and More based in Panzano.

joan

Thank you for the heads up. We had a similar experience in Puglia in September with Summer In Italy. The house was not "50 meters from the beach entrance" because there was NO beach entrance. Just private walled homes and a 2 mile drive to a beach. Doors wouldn't lock, our outside furniture had NO cushions (the low slung faux wicker furniture that usually has 3 inch cushions), the ensuite shower was disconnected, the electric gate didn't work, on and on. And get this, Summer In Italy changed the name of the villa - it was available at a far lower price on multiple booking platforms under a different name. I was told by Summer in Italy that "it's easy to compare, just use google image search and you could have easily seen and claimed our low price 24 hour guarantee". (We found out the name switch when the housekeeper texted us 2 weeks before arrival and kept using the "real" villa name - we thought she had the wrong villa.).. After our detailed complaint upon returning home, they removed the villa from their website. By the way, the villa name is Villa Gregory on all the legitimate listings. In Marina Di San Gregorio.

josephusewicz0637

I wish had saw this experience and link before. We have booked a place through Tuscany Now and More. It has been a disaster. They are truly an air b&b. We sign contracts, give deposits, and get terrible response from the Villa. The Villa Albizi takes it upon themselves to alter the signed contract to suit their needs of payment. Tuscany Now & More just puts their hands up and say it's not their fault. They only book. I will post again again after the experience of being fleeced by this group is finished.

Jean

Strike two!