Job Discussion Forums

[johnkg]

[MrScaramanga]

Now, now, you two...
Okay, so in the last 7 years, I've been to the PO in Al Ain a lot and it's improved considerably from the time you had to elbow fellow patrons. Now you simply take a number and wait for it to be called. Very "civilized", don't you think?
MrS

[veiledsentiments]

I prefer the 'women get to go to the front of the queue' system much better.

VS

[johnkg]

[MrScaramanga]

VS, I forgot to mention that while you wait for your number to be called at the PO, you can sit in chairs, much like at Etisalat, except Etisalat still has a women's only counter (when it's open!) and a full blown ladies section.

Johnkg, yes I agree: much more egalitarian system. It is always embarrassing to see the laborers at the bank on payday as they wait in long lines to deposit their checks, as a woman breezes by them all the way to the window...

MrS

[veiledsentiments]

Now there is another thing that hasn't changed. The much vaunted "women's" windows that never had anyone working.

VS

[johnkg]

[veiledsentiments]

Gee, I hate to ruin your little boy games, but actually in all my years in the Gulf, only in the last year and a half did I ever encounter a line in my banks. And it had the same rope system as in the US so that there was only one line and everyone waited in it. I don't think I ever had more than two people in front of me.

One thing I was never foolish enough to do was enter any bank on payday.

VS

[tillymd]

She works hard for the money, so hard honey, honey. She works hard for the money so you had better treat her right.

[johnkg]

[MrScaramanga]

[Iamherebecause]

Let's get this straight.
The post offices in the bigger urban centres in the UAE now have a ticket system which has sorted out the chaotic queues; the staff seem to be mostly Emirati and are well trained (can't speak for small post offices though).
Banks began sorting out a roped off queue system years ago; these days you may still have to wait, but no longer than you ought to.
You can pay Etisalat bills at machines in malls etc - except sometimes the machine will 'not recognise' every note in your wallet. Very frustrating!Etisalat has a numbered queue system for when you need to get a new service etc..
The process of reregistering a car is more cumbersome than I am used to, but it has been streamlined considerably over the past 10 years; the staff are well trained and you deal with them across an open desk while sitting down rather than trying to shout from a rugby-scrum through a hole in a window. I believe in Dubai you can reregister a car on-line.
It's quite possible to have a residence visa which will last longer than your passport: the new passport which you eventually need will be stapled to the old one. So don't waste money getting a new passport ages before your current one expires.
In general I would say that the various administrative hoops we have to jump through in order to live and work in the UAE are time-consuming but nowhere near as byzantine as they used to be.
Oh, last point - the special waiting areas/queues for women only are often slower than the mixed/male ones. Unless segregation is obligatory, for example getting a health check at preventive medicine, it can be quicker to join the general throng. And I mean without swanning to the front!

[MrScaramanga]

VS wrote:

[Iamherebecause]

[MrScaramanga]

I used to bank with UNB then switched to HSBC. Not much better but I do almost all my bill paying online and - cross your fingers - so far so good! I pay etisalat, water + electricity, and do international money transfers online, all without a hitch so far. I print all transaction records before I log off, just to be on the "safe" side
MrS