I love Italy. Communication can be a problem, as an Italian friend of mine likes to say, Italians tend to speak pretty good Italian, but... and cultural differences to NW Europe do exist, but getting off the beaten path in Italy can pay handsome rewards. And then it's dinner time.

That said, kind of like in France, when faced with a customer "service" situation like the one described here, the only recourse is to huff and puff and blow their house in. Sad but true.