Modern Theft – DU They Think They’ll Get Away With It?

DU are modern thieves. There’s little more to this story than that. But bare with me anyway, assuming false charges against Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Makhtoum triggers your curiosity, that’s where this is going. And yup, that’s exactly what DU’s done.

I bought a flat from Nakheel. No, that’s not correct; I bought a flat that was developed by Nakheel from a real-estate agent. For a moment, let’s assume it wasn’t a flat but a vehicle developed by Mercedes, and sold to me by some authorized distributor. Does Mercedes, or say Eppco petrol station have the right to sign a contract with each other, giving Eppco exclusive rights to my petrol needs, banning me from using Emirates petrol stations? What if Eppco didn’t have any petrol in stock and probably wouldn’t for the next 3, 6, or even 9 months, while Emirates was fully equipped to serve my needs today? What if I bought my Mercedes with the intention of using it as a taxi; my only form of income? Does Eppco have the right to financially handicap me that way? No logic, no matter how bent, twisted or exaggerated, can convince me that such a contract would be ethically, morally, or economically fit, anywhere on the planet between any two companies. On the contrary, every singe day that went by, Mercedes & Eppco both would be stealing my consumer rights and my daily income.

And that’s exactly what DU is attempting to do to me and any other Nakheel, (and even Emaar, so I’ve heard) property owner right now. You see, DU’s signed contracts with Nakheel, giving them exclusive rights to the communication infrastructure of all the new properties. To make simple, it means they’ve build all their tunnels banning Etisalat from doing the same, but they’ve not got any active wiring to actually install people’s communication needs in their houses. Letters have been sent to Etisalat banning them from serving any Nakheel property owner, so Etisalat can’t just run their wiring through and give us all internet, cable and telephones. No, no without a no objection letter for Etisalat, we’re forced to wait out DU. And as we all know, DU isn’t prepared to serve anyone anything yet, despite their multiple promises concerning their completion dates, they’ve ye to come through. What logic gives DU the right to enforce some bizarre ban on my property, literally stealing my consumer right to chose, simply because they’ve got infrastructure rights to this building, regardless of DU’s current consumer incompetence, is truly beyond my comprehension. And since both Nakheel & DU repeatedly tried to place the blame on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, claiming he had signed a decree making all of *New Dubai* exclusive to DU and banning Etisalat from serving the same area, I have an inkling it’s beyond these company owners conscious ethics, as well. Infrastructure rights and consumer rights are two completely different things. A lesson DU’s manager needs to learn.

You see, after hearing this excuse from multiple staff members in both DU & Nakheel, who I’m more than willing to name, I called the executive office of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and inquired about it. I couldn’t believe that man with such a gleaming reputation for logical morals would consider such a decree. And of course, no decree of such consumer thievery was ever signed, according to a gentleman who has given me permission to also pass on his name to the appropriate parties. But DU still doesn’t want to admit it. And they’ve done a fantastic job of convincing their staff, because even as I heard it pretty much from the concerned mouth itself; offered a name and the telephone numbers to them, many of DU’s staff members still argued that this decree was a fact. Tell me, are DU staff members calling the Executive Office liars? And if so, where should that leave them and their company all together?

Nakheel on the other hand, was immediate to apologize for the mistake. Nakheel on the other hand, has more ethics than DU ever will. Nakheel, though a company I was almost outraged by initially through this entire scenario, eventually gained my respect. They gave me my letter.

I need internet. I want it from Etisalat. ‘Why’ is irrelevant to DU and they have no right to inquire. But to state the obvious, it’s because DU isn’t prepared yet. To state the unobvious, I never intended to shift to DU and I won’t even consider it now, after speaking to DU’s grossly rude, completely egotistical, incomprehensibly arrogant manager, who has no problem stealing from me and forcing all us property owners to use DU’s services against our wills. All of which he was more than happy to make clear during my conversation with him, “I am not willing to break my contract with Nakheel for you.”

Haven’t you already broken multiple contracts concerning deadlines, which assuming such contracts existed, would make you in void of them anyway?

To which I actually shouted back, “All of your staff is telling me it’s ok to have Etisalat installed, but you’re not willing to give it in writing. What you mean is, you intend to deceive the public by stating you never forced us to use your services, knowing Etisalat can’t do anything without a ‘No Objection’ letter from you, effectively binding us to you by force?”

“Yes. Maybe if you learned to speak nicely to people, you’d get somewhere in life.”

Funny, I got further than you did. Right now, Etisalat is running their wires in your infrastructure and will be providing me the services I want. Seems like you lost a potential customer – and are now being rightfully slammed on the net, while I got what are my rights; what I wanted from the start.

It was that simple. The man admitted to being a deceiving, money-grubbing thief, with the audacity to give me life advice. Personally, I’ll never deal with a company managed by such a person, even if it somehow evidently means reselling my flat and never dealing with Nakheel as well, again – though that would be a pity as they’ve been more than helpful in sorting this issue out. I don’t recommend you deal with DU either.

What I want to know now, is why haven’t any of the local newspapers reported this pretty massive (for us and for potential future property owners) issue? Had I known about DU’s attempts at modern thievery, I’d not have bought here in the first place. Or I’d have been damn sure I sorted this all out before I considered purchasing. I wasn’t lucky. I was pushy and demanding about my consumer rights. And eventually, I got exactly the help I needed from Nakheel. But it was only after so much effort I was almost exhausted. And I don’t imagine many people would bother taking it as far as I did simply due to lack of required energy. And I wonder if Nakheel will eventually be forced to write a “No Objection” letter for 70,000 + individual property owners before DU realizes they can’t force anyone to use their services – regardless of their infrastructure rights.