Never Trust Leader Relocations Service for an International Move from Dubai

Leader Relocations (Leader Pack) Review

So this is how you feel when your relocation services company messes up.

Photo by carvalho on Flickr

I had booked Leaders relocations to transport our personal goods from Dubai to Sydney in June 2015.

Several delays, loss of goods, and broken items may be a regular story for many international shipping companies. However, I was amazed to find that this shipping company has no control of the carton's when they are up for inspection at the custom's authority and if a box is lost, these people just put their hand's up saying what can we do. 

Here is the story

After several follow ups with the company on the delay of the shipment, I came to know that the ship had sailed few weeks later than the due date (June 2015), however we were never informed about the delay. The ship arrived later than the scheduled time as there was some delay while transiting.

We got all our goods in Sep 2015 except 1 carton which had 2 ovens and a quilt and some misc items

After investigation by the Leaders Team and their partners in Sydney it was found that the carton was never loaded from Dubai itself and was lost somewhere. The insurance company had rejected my claim as it is not more than the min fee of USD 250.

I had several exchanges with the company and below is a response from a senior consultant for the missing box: - 

Leaders Relocation's Dubai based consultant responded - "In regards to loading and shipping of your shipment/ packages, I am not sure how you came across the information that it was not loaded at our end. I am attaching the loading sheet from the day of loading in the container which clearly outlines what was loaded. However in regards to the box going missing, there are multiple places that container examination takes place where a box can be easily misplaced - During UAE Customs Exam, Australia Port Customs Exam and during the AQIS exam at the Australian Warehouse. There is no way of knowing where the box could have gone missing to be honest."

So if there is no way the company can know where the box is why are they in the business of movers and removals?

My response was as follows, "I had trusted Leaders Relocation company to carry our goods and deliver them. If the goods are held in customs does your contract say that you won't be responsible to locate them? The agent here in Australia informed me that they never got that box and it may have never reached Australia. Insurance is just an easy way for Leaders to shift responsibility to the customer. I agree that your compensation  is so low that it would not even buy a one time meal"

The Leaders Relocation person comes back with the most weird answer: - 

In regards to customs, it’s a bonded facility and our employees are not allowed inside Dubai Customs facility once we drop off the container for shipping. This is where the inspection takes place and at random packages can be removed and x-rayed and later stuffed back in the container. It’s possible that the box went missing here but by the time we get notification, 1-2 months have passed and it’s impossible to recover the item from customs as we have no influence there. It’s also possible that the box went missing at Australia Customs/ AQIS Exam. There is simply no way of knowing to be honest."

So there was no moral obligation of the company to compensate us, however they were happy to take the money upfront from us. 

I would never recommend such a company who doesn't own the problem and keep shifting it on other authorities.

Have you had a terrible experience with a mover, please feel free to comment. 

Hailstorm Blankets Parts of UAE - Check Out The Photographs

Parts of UAE experienced hail storm.

Some of the areas in Abu Dhabi assumed a white picturesqueness. Check out below few beautiful pics.

The Three Santa Claus Brothers In Dubai

The Three Santa Claus Brothers In Dubai.

Timelapse of traffic in Downtown Dubai - Happy New Year

Wish you all a Happy New Year. Hope things go really well for every one in the coming 366 days. Check out the below video by Gerald Donovan depicting time lapse of traffic in Down Town Dubai at the New Year's eve. Fireworks at 1:28:00.


Timelapse of traffic in Downtown Dubai on New Year's Eve (close-up 2) from Gerald Donovan on Vimeo.

Google Search Index v/s Dubai's House Price Index

Below is a comparison of how the Google Search Index varies when the housing bubble burst in Dubai in 2009. From the charts you may notice that a peak in the search of 'Home Financing' category happened few quarters before the bubble burst in UAE. This is very interesting and probably tells a lot about the fact that sentiment plays a very important role in the market movements. Surprisingly, the search for housing information drops before the bubble bursts and stays lower while the prices are wiped off and most of the people lose their homes.

However, at a macro level the trends match and show that online sentiments do determine the demand and supply of a commodity.

There is a surge in the search for property on Google in 2010, which matches with the house price index trend.

Click here to read Google Trends 2011 for Banks in UAE

Image take from - http://www.globalpropertyguide.com

Photographs of Google Office in Dubai

Check out the below link for few unofficial photographs of the Google Office in Dubai Internet City. The office has a modern Arabic look with dedicated area to work and relax. Most of the meeting rooms are named after famous Arabic cartoon characters.  Google opened its office in Dubai Internet City in early 2008 as part of its plans to focus on its Arabic language services.

Google office is located in Dubai Internet City, Building no. 9.

Address Details of Google Office


Updated on Nov 19, 2011

Google UAE
Dubai Internet City
Building 4, office 306
P.O Box 502966
Phone: +971 4 4509500
Fax: +971 4 4509523

Photographs are courtesy @ghonim. Click here to view all the pics.

Middle East Leaders on Social Media

The leaders in the Middle East have realized that Web/Social Media are one of the potential mediums to reach their people. Some of the leading personalities in the region are Jordan's Queen Rania, Sheikh Mohammed from UAE.

Recently Egyptian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei (231,462 fans) overtook Queen Rania (207,666) on the total number of followers on Facebook as per an article in Jersusalam Post. As per the article ElBaradei is a potential future leader and challenger to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak according to the article.

Some of the other leading political personalities in the region on Facebook are: -

King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud - 16,045 fans

Muammar al-Gaddafi - 751 fans

President Mohamed Hosny Mubarak - 11,932 fans

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum - 172,202 fans

Some of the above leaders are active on Twitter, which is more like an Information Network than a Social Network, proving that internet is a very influential form of communication.

Time will tell how the leaders will harness the potential of these websites. The fact that Facebook has more subscribers in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries than the number of newspapers circulated in the region is further encouraging for the leaders to be present on these websites.

Wassup Dubai..? Ban on Alcohol in Food and British Couple Kissing Issue

Lately there has been some unusual events in Dubai, which makes me wonder if there is a trend shift in lifestyle or are the officials changing their ways of addressing issues: -

Example 1 - The overly hyped British Couple lip kissing issue. I believe if they have violated the decency laws of Dubai, ideally they could be warned for the first time rather than dragging them into courts. Yes, they may have crossed the line and violated the laws but a warning may have done the trick.

Check out the Dubai Decency Laws here. A note to all the tourists - it is important that you follow these rules as a respect to the emirate's culture and traditions.

Example 2 - An exclusive report published in Arabian Business states that Dubai Municipality(DM) has issued a letter banning use of alcohol in cooking, which has moved the hotel industry in the emirate. This could potentially harm the food industry as this could affect the food cooked in many five star hotels and impact revenues. However Dubai Municipality is now expected to issue a revised policy after the industry leaders have appealed to DM.

Oh! BTW – then DM should consider ban on food products sold in fuel stations, since the fuel contains alcohol. Petrol contains aliphatic alcohols like methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol. Alternatively they may consider a ban on petrol itself. Check out the exclusive report here..

However, I would conclude that Dubai is still the most liberal city in the Middle East where one can enjoy a decent living.

William Dalrymple at Emirates Literature Festival

This was the only session I managed to attend at this prestigious event, which was utterly entertaining.

The story reciting session with Dalrymple was fun and passed too quickly. The session was about him being a travel writer. He described how modern day India has changed since yester years but continues to maintain its charm.

Speaking about his book, “Nine Lives” he thought the book may not turn out to be as successful as his previous ones. The book has turned out to be the highest selling non-fiction book of all time.

He shared his experiences about staying in India and subsequent effects the country has had on him when he visited the country at the age of 18.

My opinion on authors as being reticent, introvert and in their dreams has changed quite a lot. These people are lot of fun and their one liner are a killer

I happen to meet @ruperbu @moneytmunot @faisalkhatib and the rest of the team who are doing an excellent job covering the event #dxblit

View from top of Burj Dubai

Check out this video which shows the amazing view of the city from the top most spot on Burj Dubai. The video depicts the top view of the statling skyline of Dubai and explains the various elements involved in developing the top most floor of the giant structutre. Burj Dubai is set to launch on January 04th, 2010. The Burj Dubai Metro Station will also be official inaugrated on the same day to coincide with the launch of the building. Please note the video source is at ebusdk

Dubai Fountain at Burj Dubai Lake

It is so mesmerizing to see the world largest dancing fountain, set on the Burj Dubai Lake, shooting water as high as 500 ft.

The Dubai Fountain has daily shows scheduled every 20 minutes starting at 06:00 pm. Check out the daily schedule of the fountain show.

The fountain has 1.5 million lumens of projected light and uses 22,000 gallons of airborne water.

The below video has the show performed on the world renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, Con te partiro (Time to Say Goodbye).