Matt: Most people who haven't been to Dubai or lived here for any length of time think that it's a wonderful place and life is easy and mostly they'd be right, I love living here and have a great life, but I have a gripe..
Why is it so had to get things done here?
A few examples.
I need to procure some business software.So I call one of the largest software companies in the world, I call their office here in Dubai. I ask for sales, I get asked by the receptionist what it is I am after, so I explain my requirements to her. I get transferred to another member of staff, I explain my requirement to him, he then proceeds to tell me that they are a software company and the don't want to buy my software. Huh??. What?? So I re-explain that I want to discuss with someone my software REQUIREMENTS and see if they have a solution to sell to me. (now please bare in mind this could be worth tens of thousands of dollars to them). So he finally understand and says he will transfer me to his colleague. I hear fumbling on the line, then silence, then a little more fumbling, then 'Please hold sir' more fumbling and a little mumbling, waiting, 'bare with me sir'..wait, fumble, mumble. The guy clearly has no idea how to transfer a call and eventually after 5 minutes of fumbling noises he calls his sales guy over to his phone and hands it to him. Technical!. Ok so sales guy is on the line. Good. This should go a little smoother.
I have a brief discussion and then request a meeting
'I'd like to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss my requirements. Please could you come to meet me?'
Sales guy 'I can do tomorrow'
'Great, can you meet me at 10am at xxxxx' I'm feeling confident we're getting somewhere
'Oh, can you come to my office (miles from me) to meet here'
'I'm afraid I don't have time to come all that way' hence i suggest a half-way point.
'Can you come to me another day then?'
'I'm very busy and it would be great if you came to meet me, I'm not at your end of town very often'
'Well, I'm out of town for the rest of the week after tomorrow'
'Ok, is there someone else who I could meet with?'
'No, this is my area'
so no meeting then...good sales, well done.
Next: Last Wednesday, I see a kayak in a shop that I really like and make an inquiry (I've been meaning to buy one for a while). Turns out the Kayak I would need is the slightly bigger version that they have on the promotional sheet pinned to this Kayak. So I ask if they have any in stock, how much it is and how long it will take to deliver. The friendly sales guy takes my name and number and says he'll let me know. So the next day I'm in the vicinity of the store and I haven't heard from him yet. So I wonder in and ask another member of staff, he tries to help but doesn't know and calls the guy I spoke to the day before on the phone, I realise it's the same guy so I ask to speak to him. He tells me that the supplier doesn't know but he'll chase it and let me know. Next day, I'm there with Lenny as Lenny is interested in a kayak too - so this is now 2 potential sales of kayaks that are worth over £1,000. I original guy is there and I speak to him.. do you have a price yet? No! but the delivery could be 6 weeks. Gulp! What? I am seeing the supplier on Monday Sir so I will speak to him then. Ok.. so it's now Tuesday - almost a week after my initial inquiry? I get a call telling me - Sir we still don't know the price - we might know in 2 days.
OMG - how hard is it to give someone money in this town?
So, if you multiply these experiences by a handful per day, you start to get an idea of how efficient Dubai can be. Frustrating, so you see - it's the rough with the smooth - Dubai - Nice weather, shame about the competency!
Words that need to be learned in Dubai: Ownership, efficiency, professionalism, responsibility, reliability.
Rant over..Peace out!
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