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Renting from Emma Villas

While the selection of properties is expansive for Emma Villas, and we found them very responsive and helpful in planning activities, our villa was robbed twice during our 2 week stay, once by the maids hired to clean, and then a second time by 2 men who broken down the door while we were at lunch. Since the thefts, Emma Villas have been non-responsive and silent, failing to answer any of our questions about the frequency of these events, if our property was victimized before, and if the owner has insurance for theft.

I did notice that the very last line of the contract has a clear and loud disclaimer about their responsibility for theft, but we are wondering if this is purposeful, i.e., the maids cased the joint then informed the professional thieves about what valuable are where. Unless and until Emma Villas at least answers our questions about the robberies or makes restitution via insurance, I am not to inclined to use them again and encourage readers to avoid them as well. Perhaps they should have burglar alarms on their properties, or at least sturdy in-house safes or lock boxes for valuables. The clarity and poignance of the disclaimer is a pretty clear indicator that they anticipate problems of theft and collusion is certainly possible. And their silence is both deafening and damning.

Posted by
23653 posts

The problem with first time poster who post a negative rant is that you don't have much credibility. How are we to know if you are being absolutely truthfully or simply trying to run down a place over a minor problem? Obviously your theft, if true, is not a minor problem BUT how do we know?

Posted by
7 posts

Happy to provide the police report from the local carabinieri. Or, alternatively, to provide the testimony of the other 8 adults in the villa.

Posted by
4152 posts

I don't think accusing Emma Villas of being in league with the robbers is very smart. I'm sure they have nothing to do with the break ins. You should probably pull your posts from here and Trip Advisor as this type of accusation could prove worrisome for you, especially without proof.

Donna

Posted by
12037 posts

our villa was robbed twice during our 2 week stay, once by the maids hired to clean, and then a second time by 2 men who broken down the door while we were at lunch

Some questions in no particular order

If the 'maids' robbed the place, what was left for the 2nd theft?

If you were out to lunch, how do you know it was '2 men' who did it the 2nd time; how do you know it wasn't 1 , 3 or 5 or some other number?

If after being victimized once, why did you leave valuables unattended for the '2nd time' ?

You may have been victimized as you say, but you can understand why some may be skeptical.

Posted by
34221 posts

8 witnesses and none helped stop the gang?

Posted by
7 posts

Oh, I was not suggesting Emma Villas was complicit or behind the plot. It was the local carabinieri who suggested to us the possibility that the hired maids were perhaps working in concert with the thieves. I agree with you that the former scenario is highly unlikely; it would be terrible for business. But the latter seems plausible and the carabinieri think so, too. Until this happened, Emma Villas was very responsive and attentive to questions and needs. In fact, this response recently came from them in response to my question about frequency of such incidents:

Regarding your questions, I would like to inform you that the percentage/frequency of such events is very low that it is difficult to give you an accurate number. However, four cases were reported last year in properties located all over Italy. Two of them happened in Tuscany while in the area where you were located, the last reported burglary happened 20 years ago.

Posted by
7 posts

Thanks so much for your interest and concern. Answers below.
If the 'maids' robbed the place, what was left for the 2nd theft?
The maids were quite circumspect, taking some cash, leaving others. Same with jewelry. Like perhaps they thought no one would even notice.

If you were out to lunch, how do you know it was '2 men' who did it the 2nd time; how do you know it wasn't 1 , 3 or 5 or some other number?
A suspicious vehicle was observed on the property by workers with two men, one even sporting a NY Yankees baseball cap that was among the stolen items.

If after being victimized once, why did you leave valuables unattended for the '2nd time' ?
A good and fair question. It was 2 of our party of 8 who made this mistake, I think mostly out of incredulity and may be even a naivete.

Posted by
7 posts

Oh, we did not catch them in the act. Police investigation yielded the results already discussed, though I don't think a counter attack would be the advisable approach.

Posted by
31 posts

Thanks for the cautionary tale that really applies to all rentals - a person may want to inquire and make sure that a safe is available for their valuables.