A new Dubai based website has come up in recent weeks with its promise to answer the unanswerable, or at least try to.
Howdoidubai.com was set up by Briton Andrea Crossland and a few of her friends. They founded the site after moving to the UAE and finding out that it took more than a quick phone call to get answers to simple queries.
"We have answered hundreds of queries and have heard it all from rent disputes to how can I get divorced from my wife? The only question that has ever stumped us was, 'Can I get radar detectors in Dubai?', to which we answered: 'Slow down'," Crossland said.
"When we first got here, we realised how hard it was to find information. For instance, when you call up many organisations you often get passed around from pillar to post and in the end you still don't have your answer.We've now got getting answers down to a science. We know all the shortcuts and can save you time," Crossland added.
Howdoidubai.com has also been clearing up misconceptions about the UAE.
"People seem to think you can't bring paracetamol into the country. They've heard about that big codeine story a few years back and think they may get arrested if they travel to Dubai with any medicines," Crossland said.
The site is also linked to many expat web forums as the place to go when you need to know, as Crossland's team will process any question free of charge within 24 hours of receiving it."Our aim is to keep it very personalised. Every response is dealt with individually.We'll even take questions about other emirates, although it may take more time getting the answer," Crossland said.
The website also contains basic guides on how to shop, holiday, relocate, run a business and live in Dubai.
"From the many hundreds of inquires we've got, we now know what the most commonly asked questions are and have a lot of those answers already up," Crossland added.
By Zarina Khan
© Emirates Today 2006
