How long does it take to renew your Emirates P.O. Box?

© Hind Mezaina

My friend Nicolas Dumont (an accomplished commercial photographer based in Dubai) shared a very funny email he sent to Emirates Post's Customer Service. In the UAE, we don't have mail delivered to our homes. Instead, we have a P.O. Box (Post Office Box) system, where the mail gets delivered to and these are are available in all the branches of Emirates Post (the company that operates post offices and postal services) across the country.

To have your own P.O. Box, you have to pay an annual fee. So when it was time for Nicolas Dumont to renew his P.O. Box account online, it turns out it was quite an ordeal. 

Here's the email he sent to the  Emirates Post Customer Service:

Customer Service - Emirates Post,Your online PO Box renewal service is a joke. Online services are supposed to take less time than having to do things physically. Let me explain why your service is a joke: 

RENEWING POST BOX PHYSICALLY:

- Drive from my home to the post office: 10 minutes

- Renew the Post Box at the post office: 10 minutes

- Drive from the post office to my home: 10 minutes

--- TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes ---

RENEWING POST BOX OVER THE INTERNET:

- Go to www.emiratespost.ae, try to login but cannot as I get error messages: 15 minutes

- Call customer Service number, told to send email to custservice@emiratespost.ae with passport photocopy attached: 5 minutes

- Send email to custservice@emiratespost.ae with passport photocopy attached: 10 minutes

- Get login and password from Customer Service by email the next day: 1 day

- Login, fill out the form, but told to take receipt to Post Office for approval!! 10 minutes

- Drive from my home to post office: 10 minutes

- Present the receipt at the post office: 10 minutes

- Drive from the post office to my home: 10 minutes

--- TOTAL TIME: 1 day, 1 hour, 10 minutes ---

Thanks Nic.