To switch or not to switch?

Whoah! Hold your horses, mine is a post of constructive criticism looking for answers/solutions compared to those sprung up just below.

I've just about had it with this major telecoms company. It seems no coincidence that every time I've enrolled for a service, there has been some issue or other to resolve, and thus, it wouldn't be an inaccurate guess that the majority are facing a growing dissatisfaction with this telecoms co.

When Du came into operation as the sole competitor, I saw no need to switch: and rightly so, given the nature of complaints that followed in the first month (hence the "apology" by Du by way of "free credit" to new customers).

Now, I am seriously comtemplating a switch to Du based on repeat occurences of the following:

1)Very poor customer service - Emails of mine to the customer service department and to the helpdesk have gone unanswered, with no follow-up
2)It is not possible to resolve issues by telephone - one must visit a branch in person

The straw that broke the camel's back: there is now a new rule in which you can only buy a replacement SIM card in the emirate you bought it in. That means if you were making a day trip to another emirate and thought "Hey, why don't I pop in here and buy my SIM card" - well, you have to go back there to apply for your replacement. You cannot just visit any branch like before (the good old days).

Firstly, I don't see the logic in sending bulk SMSs to customers promoting your services and when this service is amended, the same means (SMS) cannot be used to notify them. Secondly, I was told the reason for this change was an amendment to the "system". A telecommunications company should have the technological means to issue replacement SIM cards from any branch throughout the UAE - after all, it is a national company, and technology is meant to make our lives easier, and aid companies specialising in technology to make "systems" more advanced, not take a step backward.

Make a complaint, and your emails go unanswered. Ask to speak to a manager in this telecoms company? The manager has no telephone number. They simply do not care.

I would like to know if anyone of you has made a switch to Du; what your experience has been so far, and if it was worth the change.

Star Article

Sadly another star article from the last few days got less attention from bloggers than the Washingtonpost's extravaganza:

Dubai Strike Threatens Building Boom
Associated Press

Complimented by Rupee gives expats sleepless nights & UAE threatens deportation after violent protest it could compete with The Arabian Heights.


Personal opinion: the salaries of the construction workers should be doubled as a first step.

So Long And Thanks For All The Fils

... but when did it happen that this blog community reached apathy saturation point?

There was a time there was righteous debate, brazen hatred, open racism, political engagement, media savvy conjecture and now it seems to be sliding into the slop of indifference.

Maybe that's just my take...

In the last couple of days there has been riots - which was not only an example of unbelievable greed - 600dhs a month pay FFS... plus media protection of the company - NAME AND SHAME PEOPLE, please let them be "listed" - and finally an example in exactly how Dubai Dream Inc TM does not understand how to manage a crisis or communicate their message of "Dubai Cares"...

And then the caring and sharing nature of a prank which was a tragic joke gone wrong... you try to kill yourself, but we'll deport your ass anyway...

These are just 2 of many things that are recently getting me really, extremely frustrated with the Dubai Dream Experience TM

don't even get me started on the f-ing dolphins...

Your's angryly,

Bluey.

PS I reserve the right to leave if I don't like it.

India needs to Ask for Help: Planet of the Apes ???

Forget being sensitive. India cannot manage itself. Sure the economy is up but so is poverty, HIV, and environmental damage. If these were the only problems making the news, then maybe I could look passed them. But the fact is, if you cannot manage the wild life in a major urban area, then you probably cannot manage anything.

I saw this story and follow-ups in the news papers in Dubai and then online: http://www.rationalreview.com/content/37290 .
India: Monkeys attack, kill Delhi politician .

Seriously? They say in Delhi that they have no solution and are at the end of their ability to deal with the problem. I read a larger article in Gulf News last week which had actual local leaders admitting that they cannot manage monkeys. They blame religious beliefs for their failure. However, I simply cannot believe that is the only reason, but it is very convenient.

I think India needs to hire someone to start managing their cities. Maybe Singapore? Singapore seems pretty well run. The Japanese might be good at it, but from my experiences there the police are very lazy. They are good at finding evidence but not actually preventing anything.

Countries outsource services all the time, why not city management? I mean city managers in many cities are not elected officials, yet they have power. So that way India can keep its( fairly corrupt??) political system and still be able to improve its cities.

Being serious for one minute: who is helping Delhi and is it really a bad idea to outsource management when MONKEYS have CONQUERED your CITY!

D. Blogger

HHIE Survey #2

Following on from the last season, I say to all second generation HHIE Survey participants: let the reworded text messages ring no alarm bells.

"Income and expenditure" levels are always of an evolutionary nature, as you can see with the longer-substituted words within your SMS.

Any concerns regarding the terminology of your text message should be directed to your nearest free-of-cost dictionary, preferably in full view of your accountant.

The idea is that your "income and expenditure" should satisfy the "annual analysis".

Dubai's architecture

The Washington Post has a long essay on Dubai's architecture, and the contrast with Abu Dhabi. I won't attempt to summarize. Read the whole thing here.

When are these coming to Dubai?

Spotted in Ajman, these countdown boards give a good idea of how much time is left before the next signal changes. If installed in Dubai, it would definitely make a difference in reducing the number of signal jumpers. It is easier to understand than the blinking light system on certain Dubai roads before the signal changes.

It is about time RTA got some of these timers on Dubai signals. This system is nothing new and is in use by many cities around the world. Way to go Ajman, for taking the lead in installing a device which helps motorists rather than a 'fine' camera.

Why Justin WHY! ;-) lol

A bit on the trivial side... have any of you wondered what made the organisors of Justin Timberlake's concert select Abu Dhabi over Dubai as a venue to host one of the biggest selling artist of the year?

hmmm.. something smells fishy....

Orphaned Cars--Why?

Have you ever noticed all the cars sitting around covered in dust? I notice them all the time. When I see one on one of my common routes I make note of how long it sits.

I have witnessed a car not moving for over two years in Bur Dubai and Al Barsha. As an American I am use to having community laws that would impound such a vehicle. So I started trying to find out why these vehicles are just left.

I had a few hypothesis to start with:
1. The owner was a holiday resident and did not have proper parking.
2. The owner was in jail.
3. The owner owed a loan and skipped town.

But in these cases more researched uncovered more facts. First if the person were a holiday visitor, it would seem that they would pay someone to wash it once a week. I found in my building that the holiday visitors have their cars done once a month at least. Now if they did not have parking then scenario 1 is plausible. BUT most people who can afford to live in Dubai 1/2 the year or a few months a year, should be able to acquire parking.

Numbers 2 and 3 are actually situations where the state will repossess or impound the car. I found that out when I went to the auto auction last year.

So what else could be contributing to these orphaned cars? The answer: a bad registration scheme.

My friend bought a car from someone who was leaving Dubai. They gave my friend the registration card, a copy of their passport and visa, and a letter stating that a transaction had been made.

My friend did not take the time to research the law, as the seller confirmed that they had called the registration office and were following the correct procedure.

The seller leaves the country and cancels their visa.

My friend goes to register the car. She finds out that it is impossible without the owner. She explains the owner is out of the country, and is not coming back. And that the owner no longer has a visa. The registration office says that if the seller has canceled their visa, then they cannot even return to Dubai and transfer the car over.

Basically, without the seller present or a certified bill of sale from a used car dealership, the transaction can not be made legally. Ironically enough, if there are any tickets, the seller still gets fined. The fines accrue even after they cancel their visa.

I was standing next to my friend during this encounter and she looked at me and said, "I am just going to leave this car in the desert and rent something."

I thought that was a bad move. I took another angle. I asked, "Who in Dubai can take care of this situation? " The registrar said, "There is a man in the head office in Deira if you find him he can make an exception." One guy. THE HEAD of DUBAI registrars with access to the immigration records.

My friend still wanted to dump the car because she refused to drive in Deira. She said Deira is too hard to drive in and she would end up wrecking her car before she could register it.

The point of this story is that Dubai seems to be to often managed through rumors and conjecture. Get the information for yourself and in-person. Ask a few people the same question(s). If not you might find yourself in Deira trying to find some government building, dodging the ubiquitous Nissan Sunny, and fighting to eventually cross a crowded bridge in rush hour traffic.

D.Blogger

Tell me...

Who do you go to when you want to bare your soul, speak of your weaknesses and show the most vulnerable part of you; without fear of criticism or remorse, without judgment or hurt?

you can respond by commenting on the same on my blog

Thank you

The world's largest poster revealed by Sorouh Real Estate in Dubai, UAE

Sorouh Real Estate unveiled the biggest poster in the world on Monday in Dubai.

The poster covers an area of 20,000 sq metres and is as big as three football pitches put together.

It's part of the 'Sorouh Faces' campaign conceptualised by Sorouh's advertising agency, TBWA\RAAD Abu Dhabi. The campaign aims to collect and place 1 million faces on the record-breaking site, donating $1 to UAE Red Crescent for every face received - to a total of US$ 1,000,000 for charity.

Anyone can place their face free on the world-record breaking site by uploading it on the dedicated website of the campaign.

A breathtaking picture of the GIGANTIC poster and details on how one can put one's face on it are Farrukh Naeem's Advertising in the UAE blog

There's a New Blog in Town!

A GLOBALISED GUIDE TO THE BEST IN FOOD: COOKING IT, EATING IT AND ENJOYING IT!

The Fat Expat is a new Blog dedicated to broadcasting the lunatic babbling of not one but two blogging types to the world. Yes, Alexander and HalfManHalfBeer are collaborating on a new Blog designed to indulge our shared unhealthy and obsessive interest in all things food-related.. We’ll be blogging about food, restaurants, recipes, ingredients. Anything that you can pop into the old bouche, in fact. We’ll be arguing with each other (including a planned series of ‘head to head’ recipe wars) and possibly with some of the restaurants and hotels we’ve been reviewing, too! And we’ll be bringing you a passion for food that we hope you enjoy reading and interacting with. With a little luck this project will grow with time and become smarter and more sophisticated.

The Fat Expat will contain regularly posted recipes, articles about food, restaurant reviews and more. More? Yes! More!

We’re aiming to have a great deal of fun with the format, including special promotions, cook-offs, recipe competitions and, I hope, an increasingly off-the-wall selection of content. There are already over 100 recipes posted up there in the archive, more than yer average cook-book, and we’re hoping to add loads more, together with bringing more contributors to the Blog.

So if you like Arabic food, pies, barbecues, eating out around the world, reading cranky restaurant reviews or prefer to dabble in a delicious assortment of Asian splendours then drop on by to the The Fat Expat!

Opinion

It seams the Government will strengthen the policies applying to Labour hiring:

"The UAE government is contemplating new measures to completely stop hiring workers through recruitment agencies..."

"Plans that could see millions of people forced out of the Gulf under a six-year residency cap for unskilled workers took a step closer on Monday when the UAE labour minister said the Emirates will back the proposal."

"The Ministry of Labour (MoL) is coordinating with the Ministry of Interior to set up a new mechanism for the recruitment of housemaids in the UAE. "

"The UAE will open labour offices in India and the Philippines to recruit workers, ending the role of recruitment agencies."

My questions are:

What will happen to the Recruitment Agencies?

Will the MOL charge us fees for recruiting servants or professionals trough the labour offices?

Many thanks in advance

Dubai and the golden days

We are still in an era where small-talk governs a bygone Dubai: the time when Dubai was Dubai; when the old days were golden days.

What, may I ask, is less golden today than it was 2 decades ago? A society that enjoys economic prosperity is bound to enjoy social and cultural changes with time: and if time diversifies Dubai, the shift is for the better.

Relative to the growth of Dubai, we still enjoy the freedoms and fun of yesteryear, if not on a grander scale. All this nostalgia is just such: nostalgia, and a fear of letting go of the past, when today is much better.

Without the past, we have no future. And without the future, we have no tomorrow.

Dead dolphins found near Dubai-bound dolphins

AFP:

A company in the Solomon Islands exported 28 live dolphins to the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, four years after the government halted the trade when such a shipment caused international outrage.

The dolphins were taken amid tight security to Honiara from their holding pens on an outlying island and then escorted by police to two cargo planes for the 30-hour journey to Dubai.
...
Lawrence Makili, a director of the San Francisco-based Earth Island Institute, said photos published this week showing dolphin carcasses on the side of a road leading to the pens were a sign the animals were under stress.

The Canadian Press:

The dolphins' new habitat on Dubai's palm tree-shaped island complex will be called the Dolphin Bay. It is still under construction and scheduled to be completed sometime next year.

7 Days (Zaywa)

Twenty-eight bottlenose dolphins destined for the Atlantis, The Palm on Palm Jumeirah arrived safely in Dubai yesterday. Kerzner Istithmar, which is developing a "dolphin programme" for Atlantis, said in a statement it had received the dolphins from a facility in the Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Centre where the mammals had lived for the past few months.

"We are proud to welcome all 28 of our Dolphin Bay family who arrived safely in the hands of an incredibly experienced and dedicated team," said Frank Murru, Chief Marine Officer for Kerzner International. "The dolphins are now eating, swimming and acclimatising in their seven million gallon habitat."

Murru added that a staff of more than 85 marine mammal specialists, veterinarians and professionals will be monitor the dolphins 24 hours a day to ensure their comfort, care and feeding and any unforeseen medical needs.

Islands Business:

A spokesperson from Kerzner International - the owners of Atlantis, said the resort will open in a year and will include a large marine mammal rescue centre and a conservation education centre.

“Atlantis, The Palm and Kerzner Istithmar are planning to include a world class dolphin interactive programme at Atlantis, The Palm ... we cannot disclose information about where we acquire our dolphins or details of the transport at this time as a matter of security,” said the spokesperson.

Dolphin Bay is planned to be a state-of-the-art, eleven-acre coastal facility with seven million gallons of salt water - one of the largest man-made coastal facilities in the world, it was stated.