Week 21 - Hanging around and trying not to get angry

Leaving Dubai is not a happy experience, neither was our arrival. Customer service here isn't the best. Comments from people are to just pay someone, but I have little faith in anyone here, I still haven't had the paperwork from our shipping company or any paperwork at all to say they have our furniture. I had to sign forms, they didn't give me copies. 

We cancelled the internet services and were informed to take the boxes to a local store, on arrival we were shouted at by the meet and greeter and told we were not to drop boxes there and that was that. Boxes were left at the front of the shop and when I tried to take a photo of them in front of the shop sign, I was shouted at again. Peter phoned customer services who again told us to go back to that branch for the final bill, but when we arrived we were told we'd been given the wrong advice and to go to head office. We almost said 'sod it' let them keep the deposit, but we went to make sure everything was closed and we discovered we owed a small sum.

Leaving our Villas has been very unpleasant. The check out form was pre printed with damage and costs to charge us with. This company isn't part of our landlords company, so we've taken the issue upo directly with them. The cost of repairs is the same amount as the deposit. We have an agreement with check in that due to settlement cracks we don't have to repaint when we vacate, but we were billed for that and a clean, which is mad as they made a right mess walking through today with sand blowing in through open doors, let alone the mess they make just to service the air con units. No allowance was made for wear and tear and two air con covers were broken in front of us as well as stating that the front door needs polishing as it is damaged from the sun.

Closing the electricity and water was really easy, done online, final bill sent and credit refunded to our bank account within 3 working days. Great service.

142 Saturday Woke with a migraine. Final check of the Villa, put the fridge and oven back together and all the filters for appliances that we'd cleaned. We dropped off the TV boxes as requested, collected a cheque and closed our electricity and water account, then off to drop a gift with a friend which led to a 3 hour brunch and an afternoon/evening lounging on the sofa watching TV.

We bought this cushion pad when we first moved to Dubai so we had something to sit on

143 Sunday Handed the keys in for the Villa, Peter went off to work and I caught the train back to the apartment. Unexpected firework show on the Palm

144 Monday Check out inspection of the villa, not happy at all. I had my hair cut and a gel manicure, Peter worked from the apartment. Afternoon spent sending emails and providing evidence to get our deposit back. 

145 Tuesday A day of blogging, commenting, walking and drinking coffee. Way too hot to be outside for any length of time, but the advantage of being where we are is I can access everything in a short distance. Spent some time on the beach and went for a swim.

I had gifts for my friends in South Africa that Peter brought over from the UK in February 2020 to take to SA in March. Finally dropped them at a friends sister who lives here and will take them over to SA when she is next allowed to visit.

146 Wednesday I walked down to the beach, the walkway is really rough and the public beach is covered in litter so I walked a little further had a swim, then cut through along a path back to the main road. Except I wasn't on a public path and was barked at to go back on the beach. it was 41c, I said I was lost, sorry but no not good enough, so I said call the police because I ain't going back on the beach and I was escorted through the car park. Really pissed off with this attitude from people in all services here, such job worths. Made a formal complaint to the hotel. Put do not enter signs up then if you're that worried about being invaded.

Peter keeps locking the balcony door, we're on the 32nd floor, no one will be breaking in here.

147 Thursday We popped out for a coffee, I spent most of the day reading and when Peter came home from work we went down to the pool. It was Peter's leaving do, 35 years with the company, 6 of them in Dubai, he's retiring. I enjoyed the evening, it was nice catching up with old faces via conference calls from South Africa, the UK and across Europe. 

Mask wearing outside is almost unbearable, so humid.

148 Friday Last day with the car so we went to Dubai Mall for breakfast, realised the weather wasn't too hot and had no reason to be in the Mall so we went for a drive along the Palm to take before, during and after photos for my construction photography blog posts. We went down to the pool early evening.

I love visiting aquariums, this photo was taken in Dubai Mall.

This weeks blog post really doesn't describe or sum up how we have both felt this week. It's been very emotional and challenging. I've been very pissed off by some comments from people on social media who I know would struggle doing half the stuff we do and have felt a few others have tried to catch me out, whilst many who would normally have an input just haven't bothered. Peter and I are certainly reducing our circle of friends through choice now and wondering why we didn't do this a long time ago.

On the blog this week:

Someones pet cat escaped - Exotic animal on the loose in Dubai

PoCoLo - Hanging around Dubai

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Poor Customer Service and getting results online.

I'm getting increasingly fed up with up.

The last few times I've had a problem with major organisations and companies, I've followed the correct procedures, emailed the dedicated customer service team and waited for their response. Failing to get a response, where possible I've visited the relevant department and finally taken to Social Media, had an immediate response and the matter has been resolved within 24 hours.

Why have a customer service email and procedure to follow on a website when all you need to do is complain on twitter?

It irks me and it's not fair on people who don't use social media or have access to the internet and have to resort to being fobbed off over the telephone, after pressing a combination of buttons and being put on hold at considerable expense or being fobbed off face to face or even worse waiting for a reply via the postal system.

I visited several branches to obtain a deposit after a house move at the 'happiness centre' I left in tears on more than one occasion after being told all the paperwork they told me to have was incorrect and in the bank had a complete meltdown when i was made to obtain a ticket and queue 3 separate times to complete my banking needs and was in the branch for over an hour, as I had to see people in 3 different departments to change address and print a statement.

Living in Dubai I'm constantly comparing between here and the UK, whilst I find the above works pretty much the same in both countries, what I find different about Dubai is the service in the stores.

There appears to be an assumption in Dubai that all customers must be followed around the stores, closely by a sales assistant, muttering at you the entire time, taking your purchases off you and trying to get you to the counter or leading away from what you're looking at to show you something better and usually more expensive. This is for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, if they assist you with a sale, they may get commission on your purchase, secondly, if they're seen not to put packing your bags and serving you at break neck speed, then their manager will tell them off for not helping and thirdly because they think it's what we want or in some cases demand.

For me it feels rushed, I feel like I'm suspected of shop lifting. I like to browse. I may pick up several items to compare and then decide which one or two I would like to purchase. I might like to pack my own bags as I don't want potatoes put on top of bread or meat in with fruit or one item per plastic bag as I've actually brought my own bags with me.

Quite often though it is assumed you don't actually know what you want or what you are doing so they assume what you want and take over leading you down an avenue to purchase something you don't actually want or need. I don't speak any other language other than English and I'm pretty much in awe of people who do speak other languages, but often things get lost in translation or people just don't listen and it's difficult to get them to stop and work out what you are actually asking for without shouting at them to stop and listen.

But what irritates me the most is when I go into a relatively empty store, have dealt with most of the above and as I put something back on a rail or a shelf, before my hand has even left the object, the staff are right by your side, tidying it and lining it back up with perfection, making you feel like you're just an inconvenience and all it makes me want to do is leave the store and ruffle their window display as I exit.

Change is a big issue also for me as in no one ever has any and they think it's ok just to give you the receipt, since the introduction of VAT in January, unless the total is a round number, I'm no longer using cash and am paying by card, as I estimate I can save 2-3 dirhams a day which can add up to quite a considerable saving every year.

In Dubai there are 3 coins.

1 dirham

50 fils

25 fils

Prices are not set where it is possible to give exact change so a lot of rounding is done, if you pay by bank card you'll be deducted the 67 fils, if you pay by cash, they'll take 50 fils and let you off the rest.

Although sometimes if the total is 10.67 and you give them 11 dhs, you'll not get the change.

The cash machine dispenses large notes in denominations of 100, 200, 500 and 1000, yet the shops rarely have change for you. I was turned away from Boots trying to buy an 11 dhs packet of sanitary pads in an emergency and due to the fact I was using a UK bank card at the time I'd withdrawn 1000 dhs to save on costs and it came out the machine in 1 note. 

They will often force customers to use a bank card for small purchases, which is ok for me as I have a local card, but for a tourist, the charges can often cost more than the product.

A lot of companies are now charging VAT on products and services purchased prior to it's introduction earlier this month and it's causing a lot of arguments. We purchased a service agreement for Peter's car last year, there are 3 services left. At the time of purchase they were aware that VAT would be introduced, yet they waited until January 1st to ask for payment on all remaining services. Now in my mind that is not acceptable. It may be correct, but large organisations should in the name of good customer service, absorb these costs for their customers and only charge the VAT on newly purchased services. They're also trying to do it with gym memberships, purchased last year. Many companies have also taken the opportunity to increase their prices. At the car wash I was informed the price increase was due to the added 5% VAT, but in December the cost was 25 dirhams, now it is 36.75 dirhams, meaning a price increase of 10 dirhams for the same service, yet they're trying to tell me it's only gone up because of the added VAT.

I was denied access to speak with the manager at the garage, I called head office who informed me I had to speak to the manager, I called customer services who informed me I had to speak with the manager and despite telling them both no one made any effort on the desk to ask the manager to speak to me, they just then quoted the law about VAT at me on a loop till eventually I was forced to pay it as the garage refused to hand my car back to me until I did.

That is poor customer service and we will not be renewing the service agreement with them.

Do you have experiences with poor customer service? Does it always take longer to resolve an issue than it should? Is it the same where ever you are in the world?