The Wireless Wide World of Webs Access – if you have a card.

I was off work sick today but due to demands from home I had to leave the house and go and work in the Emirates Tower Shopping Maul coffee shop for a few hours while I acted as waiting chauffeur service for the hairdressed to be.

While there I took along my lap top so that I could carry on working while there. I sat down for a bucket of sweet caffeineness and looked forward to using their wifi connection to the wide world of webs. When I asked the log on detail I was told about a Fantastic Service Introduced For My Benefit (FSIFMB) whereby Etisalat provide a WIFI hotspot in the Maul. Brilliant!! I thought, a FSIFMB that actually was a FSIFMB…….or so I thought.
“What is the cost” I asked,
“Oh, standard charge sir”.
“What is that standard charge I’d like to use it”.
The seller looked confused and said
“Standard Etisalat charge”
“Which is?”
“I don’t know sir you would have to check on their web page”
“What, the web page I could look at once you have given me access to your Hot Spot?”
“Yes sir” [big cheesy smile designed presumably to make me feel I have been helped]
“Erm….if you don’t know how much it is how do you know how much to charge me?”
“I don’t charge you sir,
“well who does?”
“Etisalat sir”
“OOoookkkaaayyyyyy…..erm…..so how do I get on-line”
“With your iConnect account”
“And how do I get one of those?”
“Simple sir, from Etisalat”
“Aaaahh, so can you sell me one of Etisalat’s account cards?”
“No sir, from Etisalat”
“But do you sell them, or do they have a desk here in the Maul?”
“Oh no sir, you must go to Etisalat and sign up for an account”
“And where can I do that?”
“At any of their offices, Defence Roundabout is the nearest”

So this FSIFMB turned out to be not so fantastic. In order to use the FSIFMB I need to drive about 10km up the road, take out an account, await my card, card credit on to my card and then come back to the caffine emporium…..all of which would take hours at the very least.

Yet again another case of a nice idea killed by being converted into a Dubai FSIFMB.

Suffice to say I took my coffee and worked “offline” of the wide world of webs.