The Gas Man

Hi all,

Well here I am again writing about this crazy place called Dubai. I told Rich that I was going to write something positive next post but this story just has to be told.

So we have been living for about 3 weeks with no gas in our apartment. Our stove/oven has one electric burner on it and the oven is electric as well, so that is how I've been cooking since we got here. I finally decided that now that I've got the kids settled in school, I am going to take on the job of getting the gas turned on. Now in Kansas City, and I'm sure most places around the US you would pretty much just make a phone call to your local gas company, maybe put down a credit card or even a credit card deposit and your gas would be switched on and you'd be in business..simple. Well here, not so much...

The securtiy guard downstairs gave me a "how to sheet" with the steps listed to get the gas turned on. 1st step, make a deposit of 1250 AED (dirhams), about $350 to M/s Nekheels bank account located at HSBC bank. Nekheel is the big developer in Dubai, they built the Palm Jumeirah we are living on. So I head to the closest HSBC bank and after waiting in line I am told that this bank was only a service center and to make this deposit I would have to go to an actual branch. He tells me where that is and I head to Jebel Ali, about 20 minutes down the freeway. I get to the Jebel Ali branch and it is crazy busy, which I can understand since the "service" centers don't really service anyone and everyone has to go to one of the very few branches located around Dubai to be serviced!

I get in the info line and the nice woman behind the desk tells me which form to fill out and which line to get in. I then ask if I can use a credit card to pay the deposit, now remember I'm at a bank, and she says no. Cash or check only to be deposited into "Mr" Nekheels bank account. I only have 1025 AED and have just withdrawn earlier in the day from our ATM account. So now I'm worried that my account won't let me withdraw anymore cash..the whole cash withdrawal limit thing (the nice woman behind the counter says that at HSBC they let there customers withdraw $4000 a day so I should be able to withdraw more from my bank if I've only taken out $300, she thought that seemed very low, I said I think they might do things a little differently in the U.S.!)...luckily it lets me take out 300AED more and we're back in business. I fill out my form, get in line and pay the cash deposit. At this point all of this seems very shady! And I am only left with 75 AED (about $20) until the next day. Which again in the States you would think no worries, who uses cash in the States anyway, everything is debit or credit card..well not here everybody wants cash and some places only take cash.

So I have my little pink deposit slip that is my receipt and head back to our building where I am now supposed to take it to an office in building #3. We are in building #6. I stop and park at building #3 (the 1st time) and go in and of course the little man in the little office is no where to be found. Rich says to me, I don't think he would like it if he knew you were calling him the little man, and I say I am so annoyed with this whole process that the gas man is now called the little man in the little office! I take my receipt back to the "little office" three times and each time the "little man" is not to be found. Finally I decide to camp out at the office this past Thursday right after I drop off Emma at school, which proved to be a good plan because after about a 10 minute wait, the "little man" shows up. (He's actually really normal looking but at this point after having been there so many times and him not there, he would not classify as one of my favorite people) I walk in and say I'm trying to connect my gas in our apartment and then I show him my pink slip and he says call this number and ask for Ibraham. I could not believe it, I have wasted over 2 days trying to track this guy down and all he gives me is a number! Do you think maybe it would be a good idea to put that as #3 on the "how to sheet", what do I need to be traipsing over to building 3 for in 110* heat if all I needed was a number to call! Aarrgghh I was so mad!

So I go home and make a call to Ibraham and he tells me to scan my receipt and email it to this email address and then someone will be contacting me. I of course do not have a scanner at the apartment, so I have to drive over to Rich's office and drop the little pink slip off. It gets scanned and emailed. Rich ask when are they coming, I say I have no clue, I was told to wait for a call! Ibraham says maybe Saturday, maybe Sunday we call you, we come turn your gas on..

Now it is Saturday morning and we are getting ready to leave the house in 15 minutes to go watch Emma's first tennis lesson and guess who calls...yep..Ibraham. He says they are in the building and can they come in 20 minutes. I tell him we were just about to leave for my daughter's tennis lesson and could they come later around lunch. He of course says no not good, so Rich decides to stay behind and I will take Emma. The guy arrives before I leave and starts telling me that I have the wrong stove for gas. As soon as he says that I am about ready to explode, I start yelling upstairs for Rich and tell him that he has to deal with this. The "little man" says that we have the wrong stove and that it will cost another 175 AED (cash) for them to hook up some converter so the gas will work. Now Rich is upset, saying what a racket this whole process is, just another way to squeeze a nickel out of us..and why didn't the lady at the store say anything about not being able to hook the gas up to this type of stove..the "little man" was just looking at Rich, like I know you're upset but I don't have a clue as to what you are saying! Rich finishes by saying whatever you have to do just do it...the guy says 175 dirhams cash..we agreed and when I got home from tennis lessons,

I finally had GAS!!

Just think, you make 1 phone call in the States and it only took me 1 week to have that switch turned on!

Love to all,

Jennifer