Please sign in to post.

How to Report Fraud & Theft After the Purchase

How does a US citizen report a crime of theft and fraud that took place in Italy?

My husband and I visted Ravello and purchased 6 bottles of wine to be shipped back to our home in the US. The owner of Entoca Mansi seemed nice and accomodating, prices were reasonable and said shipping was no problem and that he has many repeat customers in the US and Canada. We paid in cash, have a receipt and the shipping form we filled out. The purchase was made on January 19,2009 and he told us to call or email him if our wine did not arrive by the second week of February. When the shipment did not arrive, we emailed the address on his business card & website multiple times with no answer. We called the phone number on his business card and website - it rings only to a fax machine. He finally replied to a rather terse email with a different phone number to call. We called and left him two voice messages and he has not replied to explained why he has not shipped our order. I have contacted the shipping company in Salerno (based on the paperwork we filled out in the wine shop) and they indicate that they have not received our order for shipment from the wine shop owner, but have tried to contact him on our behalf. Due to the fact that he took our money and has failed to keep his promise to fulfill the order, we are forced to take some sort of action against Enoteca Mansi in Ravello, Italy.

Unfortunately, after researching this company, I see that other travellers have posted "buyer beware" warnings on Frommer's and Trip Advisor. Now, I am about to follow suit. Any advise is appreciated.

Posted by
16408 posts

Sadly, it's a civil matter, not a criminal one. If you want to sue him, you'll have to hire an attorney in Italy and file suit.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's probably not worth it unless the wine was very expensive--and I mean thousands of dollars.

The best thing you can do is post warnings about this business on as many travel websites as possible.

Posted by
23642 posts

The first error was payment in cash. Had you used a credit card, you could contest the charges. I would always use a credit charge for large purchases to be shipped. My guess is that you have little recourse other than to make sure that every travel site, wine site, etc. is well aware of your problem.

Posted by
4 posts

Also, my apologies on the misspelling, the name of the wine shop in Ravello is Enoteca Mansi, and based on my personal experience, I would suggest "buyer beware" if you happen to be in Ravello and stumble upon Enoteca Mansi.

Thank you for your feedback, it is much appreciated.