Dubai Consumer Mirror: To Sharjah Mega Mall

Saturday, January 07, 2006

To Sharjah Mega Mall

Can anyone explain to me why it took over 2 hours to exit your basement parking (B2)? Why all the stranded drivers and their passengers (many were women and children) almost suffocated due to emissions from cars running for 2 to 3 hours? Why was your staff standing doing nothing even after shoppers downstairs started calling Anjad (Sharjah Police)?

And the most puzzling thing - WHY did this gridlock happen in the first place? Roads outside the mall were clear.. there wasn't any accident and nothing was blocking any exists. Are you trying to give a whole new meaning to "Shop till you drop"?

All that happened last thursday (Jan 5th)

Your shoppers need answers...

8 Comments:

one word explains everything...

sharjah.

By Anonymous, at January 7, 2006 at 4:01 PM
Our one and only visit to the SMM was to witness one of the worst attempts at parking that we have ever seen.

This guy was trying to reverse into a carpark that was too small for his car, and had a large pillar on one side, with a car on the other.

He was holding up about 20 cars as he attempted to park, angry drivers were leaning on their horns, but it didn't perturb him. He carried on, and hit the pillar at least twice!

After a lot of reversing and forwarding, he finally made it - and the other irate drivers were able to exit the carpark.

The irony is that 15m down the same aisle - there were about 5 free and larger spaces that he could have easily parked in.

But his choice was closer to the mall door!

By nzm, at January 7, 2006 at 4:42 PM
sorry to read that moryarti.

seems you had a mega experience...

nzm,

as a structural engineer i've had to design columns for car impact in basements.. usually we assume just 1 hit, but seems in sharjah you need to allow for at least 2 :)

By BuJ, at January 7, 2006 at 11:32 PM
oh yeah, an aside.. why do ppl want to park so CLOSE to the mall door when all they do in the mall is walk?

By BuJ, at January 7, 2006 at 11:33 PM
i'm surprised it was open on Jan 5.. most malls in Dubai were closed. I thought the mourning period was nationwide not restricted to Dubai alone??

By Anonymous, at January 8, 2006 at 12:50 PM
is secretdubai's blog BLOCKED?!?!?!?

By Anonymous, at January 8, 2006 at 1:20 PM
talking about lack of a consumer forum to redress greivances, in today's KT below

Nakheel freezes sales of Palm Deira project
BY JAMILA QADIR

8 January 2006

DUBAI — Sales of the Palm Deira project, the largest of the three Palm Islands being developed by Nakheel, have been frozen for an indefinite period of time as its delivery has been delayed and the project will take at least 10 years to complete, Nakheel disclosed last week.

The company has so far sold some 40 per cent of phase one of the project, but has put sales on hold since the Dutch-based dredging company Van Oord estimated that the land reclamation would take eight years from now to complete.

Palm Deira project initially was expected to be developed in three phases. Investors who bought villas in the project have been given options to either withdraw from the project and have a refund or switch to other Nakheel projects as in case of those owners whose 10 per cent down payment has been reportedly waived by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Nakheel, which recently denied media reports that it was calling off the Palm Deira project, is reportedly not deducting any percentage from down payments made by those who wish to withdraw from the project.

According to industry observers, the move to freeze Palm Deira sales might put the delivery of other Palm projects under question, adding that Nakheel has not delivered any project, except villas in Jumeirah Islands and a number of buildings in Dubai International City.

The company has been frequently changing the delivery date of its Palm Islands projects for the past three years. The Palm Jumeirah project, which initially was scheduled for completion in 2006, is now rescheduled for 2008. Palm Jebel Ali was due for completion in 2008, but now the delivery date has been delayed by one year.

Palm Deira, which was announced last year, initially was scheduled for completion in 2009, then by 2013. Now, based on estimates from Van Oord, Nakheel has postponed the completion date to 2015.

It is not yet clear whether Van Oord would go ahead with dredging works, but industry observers say that Nakheel will have to deliver at least part of the phase one that it has already sold.

The contract for Palm Deira dredging works is valued at some Dh10.9 billion and will take eight years to complete, according to Van Oord. However, Nakheel, which put the value of the contract at Dh16 billion, estimates the whole project to take 10 years from now to be ready, of which six years are for deep-sea land reclamation work alone, two years for infrastructure works and another two years to build villas.

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interesting is'nt it?

By Anonymous, at January 8, 2006 at 1:22 PM
Anon @ 1:20 - no its not ..

KDD-anon. yeah, this has been a thorn in Nakheel's PR department for a while now ..

By moryarti, at January 8, 2006 at 2:38 PM