Category: Information

So I’ve been pushing DHL EasyShop a lot recently as a replacement to Aramex’s Shop&Ship but now it looks like I am going to start pushing Aramex again.

I received an email earlier today from a reader telling me about how DHL has new calculations for the weight. So I called them up and spent 20 minutes trying to understand how to calculate my shipping weight and honestly I still don’t know exactly how it works. The DHL employee told me its simple mathematics, I told him the last thing I want to do with my life is start plugging in formulas and make calculations to try and figure out how much my shipping cost will be. Here is what I understood:

If you get a package that weighs 2KG but it comes in a big box that gives you a volumetric weight of 8KG then you do the following:

8 – 2 = 6
6 > 5 = charged based on volumetric weight

So the formula looks something like

v: volumetric weight
w: actual weight

v – w = x
if x > 5 then you will be charged based on volumetric wieght
if x < 5 then you will be charged on actual weight Lets try it again. I have a shipment that is 6KG but the volumetric weight is 10kG the answer is? 10 - 6 = 4 4 < 5 so I pay based on actual weight The biggest problem is you can't figure out what the volumetric weight (v) of your package is until it arrives to your DHL mailbox which means you can't estimate the shipping cost. Seriously who at DHL came up with this smart idea? They had a chance here to gain customers that were pissed off with Aramex and now with this new change I think other customers like me will move back to Aramex. Update: I just passed by the Kuwait City DHL branch to pick up my package. What can I say, its hard not to like them. They’ve increased the amount of staff at that branch to 2 which is a good move since 1 guy wasn’t enough and I paid the regular shipping fee for my package which was based on actual weight since it was 2.5KG. I guess I will keep using DHL for everything under 5KG. I will use Aramex for items that are over 5KG but under 13KG and I will use MyUS for items 13KG and up. Life is complicated like that.

That’s a side by side comparison of the new Zain MiFi next to my BlackBerry. It’s pretty tiny.

Update: The Zain MiFi is a portable wireless internet router that runs on battery. The price is KD30 with a 1 year internet subscription.

According to this list Kuwait has a extremely low unemployment figure of 2.2% which is one of lowest unemployment rates in the world. The issue is the figure was last updated in 2004. UAE has an unemployment rate of 12.7% but I think that’s actually low. Thing is I don’t think these numbers for the GCC are accurate because if you don’t have a job here you can’t stay if I am not mistaken. Other interesting numbers, Zimbabwe has the highest unemployment rate which is 90%. Iraq has an unemployment rate of 18% but 83% of the woman in Iraq are unemployed. Thats probably related to the security situation there. Qatar has the third lowest unemployment rate with just 0.6% and in Andorra everyone is employed because they have a 0% unemployment rate. Here is the full list [Link]

Fereej took the time and effort to round up the top blogs in Kuwait based on Alexa’s rankings. I decided to take his list and one by one get all the actual rankings of the blogs and put together a Top 20 blog rank list. Now there are actually two lists that differ slightly. The first list is the Top 20 Kuwait Blogs in Kuwait. The second list is the Top 20 Kuwait Blogs in the World. Whats popular in Kuwait doesn’t necessarily make it popular outside of Kuwait and its interesting to see the differences. Here are the lists:

Top 20 Kuwait Blogs in Kuwait
1- mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com 260
2- ilSul6ana.com 1,000
3- KuwaitStay.com 1,126
4- Frankom.com 1,379
5- ma6goog.com 1,403
6- Buzberry.com 1,799
7- 360Dewan.com 1,804
8- freejsaud.blogspot.com 1,894
9- SomeContrast.com 2,042
10- 4thRingRoad.com 2,926
11- P0ach.com 3,752
12- 3grbgr.blogspot.com 3,760
13- BlushBerry.net 4,035
14- kuwaitpaperdump.com 4,011
15- confashionsfromkuwait.com 4,878
16- Q8BlackMarket.com 5,764
17- blog3amty.blogspot.com 6,349
18- loft965.com 6,670
19- HiKuwait.com 6,751
20- couchavenue.com 7,574
21- catism.org 7,814
22- Qortuba.org 8,029
23- YearOfTeddy.com 8,859

Top 20 Kuwait Blogs in the World
1- mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com 68,092
2- loft965.com 212,939
3- zDistrict.com 247,540
4- Frankom.com 351,00
5- ilSul6ana.com 373,252
6- SomeContrast.com 569,120
7- 4thRingRoad.com 588,836
8- kuwaitpaperdump.com 596,987
9- Buzberry.com 606,637
10- ansam518.wordpress.com 636,523
11- 360Dewan.com 656,446
12- ma6goog.com 689,286
13- BlushBerry.net 765,799
14- Uptill1.com 874,165
15- freejsaud.blogspot.com 956,647
16- P0ach.com 1,109,988
17- MeBlogging.com 1,224,863
18- catism.org 1,394,504
19- Rayboy.org 1,494,994
20- couchavenue.com 1,505,123
21- Blog37.net 1,512,128
22- 3grbgr.blogspot.com 1,569,294

Update: I updated the list with a blog called Catism that wasn’t there before. The previous #20’s got pushed off the list and are now crossed out. Every time a new blog gets added a blog will get pushed off the list.

Note: If your blog is not listed above, check your blogs rating in Alexa and if it turns out your blog should be in the top 20 email me or comment below so I can update the list. [Alexa]

I should have posted about this last week but I just started catching up on all my emails. Luckily the exhibition is still on so you’ve still got time to catch it.

“Our exhibition is about “عتيج الصوف ولا يديد البريسم؟” rethinking the way we view our Kuwaiti culture from its proverbs to its simplest and quirkiest words illustrated through traditional calligraphy but digitally enhanced to create an art piece.” -Jassim and Anas

The exhibition is being held at thenumber4 in Shuwaikh Industrial area, Mahdi Habib street, opposite the BMW showroom. [Map]

The exhibition started on the 24th but will be there till the 5th of January.

Confashions passed by and took some pictures which you can check [Here]
And here is a link to the exhibit [blog] and [Facebook Group]

The Aramex Ardiya branch has new working hours. Starting today, the Ardiya branch is now open from 8:30AM to 9PM from Saturday to Thursday and Friday from 12PM to 6PM. I am guessing this is in reponse to DHL EasyShop who’s Ardiya branch is open daily till midnight except for Friday when they close at 9PM. I hope this is a sign that Aramex is going to try and improve so that they can compete with other mail forwarding services. I just hope packages go back to taking a few days to arrive to Kuwait and into my hands instead of the 10 days its taking now.

According to a survey held by HSBC, Bahrain turned out to be the friendliest country in the world. Couldn’t find Kuwait on the list not even after I downloaded the full report from the HSBC website. That’s probably because there is no HSBC in Kuwait. Here is the top 10 friendliest countries:

1. Bahrain
2. Canada
3. Australia
4. Thailand
5. Malaysia
6. South Africa
7. Hong Kong
8. Singapore
9. Spain
10. United States

Here is a link to the Forbes article [Link]

Jacqui has put up an Aramex vs DHL experiment. She ordered the two exact items and shipped one to her Aramex mailbox and one to her DHL. She then posted in detail her experience. The conclusion? Find out [Here]

The New York Times has an article about Shake Shack and their expansion plans and this is the first time that I know of where Shake Shack themselves confirm the fact that they’re opening up in Kuwait. Previously when Shake Shacks PR department was asked regarding the Kuwait launch they wouldn’t confirm it. As I mentioned before in one of my previous posts, Shake Shack will be opening early next year at The Avenues mall. My personal opinion is that they will open up in the location where the Debenhams home store just closed. [Link]

Note: My fingers are still crossed for someone to bring back A&W, Wendy’s and most importantly, Arby’s.

Update: Big Moe sent me the link to this YouTube video of an interview with the Shake Shack guys. Kuwait of course is mentioned since the journalist wanted to know “why Kuwait???”

[YouTube]

Abdullah, a reader of the blog put together a price chart comparing the 4 most popular mail forwarding services, Aramex’s Shop & Ship, U Shop We Ship, DHL’s EasyShop and My US. Is color coded it and the price chart goes up all the way up to 30KG. The conclusion is USWS is the cheapest until you hit 20KG when MyUS becomes cheaper.

You can view the chart by clicking [Here]

Got this from the MOI website (fixed some spelling mistakes but too lazy to fix the grammar). Looks like its going to be one crappy week:

In preparation for the GCC summit some roads will be closed starting from Monday 14/12/2009 from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM

1. King Faisal motorway will be closed from the Airport to Fifth Ring Road.
2. King Faisal main motorway the side coming from Kuwait city after Yarmok area towards the Airport will be closed and diverted to Fifth Ring Road as an alternative road for both sides to Jahra and Salmiya.
3. King Fahad main motorway coming from the city will be closed and diverted to Fifth Ring Road both toward Jahra and Salmiya.
4. King Fahad main motorway coming from Fahaheel will be closed and diverted to Six Ring Road of both sides left side to Jahra and right side to Salmiya.
5. Side road of the Fifth Ring Road going to King Fahad motorway which coming from Salmiya towards Ahmadi will be closed only but towards city is permitted.
6. King Khaled bin Abdulaziz with all intersections will be completely closed starts from Khaitan Club bridge to Mishref bridge of King Fahad motorway.
7. Sabhan road, from Seventh Ring Road to Sabah Airport road will be completely closed for both sides.

For all who want to go to Kuwait International Airport, they either to take airport road towards Six Ring Road on the right side to cargo station or through Ghazali motorway to cargo station then to the airport.

And for all who want to go to Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Airport terminal have to go towards Sabhan Qurain bridge road and King Fahad motorway and take road (208) the military show road.

Alternative roads
All road users in case of close of all previously mentioned closed roads can use the following routs:
– All seven ring roads (First Ring Road-Second Ring Road-Third Ring Road-Fourth Ring Road-Fifth Ring Road-Sixth Ring Road-Seventh Ring Road) of both sides are open towards Jahra and Salmiya.
– Ghazali motorway.
– King Abdulaziz (Fahaheel motorway) both sides.
– Airport road, Farwaniya side.

The Traffic General Department is calling upon road users to cooperate with policemen and follow the issued instructions for the success of the summit events.

[source]

I got my Drobo tonight and just wanted to post an update on how much it ended up costing me including shipping.

Price of Drobo: KD100
Price of shipping to DHL mailbox: Free
US Tax: None since it shipped to my DHL mailbox
Shipping to Kuwait: KD31
Customs and handling fee: KD8

Total price of Drobo: KD139

It looks very cool and the size isn’t that big. My 1.5tb hard drives just arrived to Kuwait tonight so they should be ready to pick up tomorrow so I could install into my Drobo. You don’t need a voltage converter, the Drobo adapter is 100-240v.

Here is the link to the Drobo on Amazon [Link]

I just received my first package with DHL today and I have decided they will be my primary shipping courier from now on and here is why.

1) I was able to sign up, open an account and pay for it all online and in a few minutes

2) Their mailbox is located in Ohio which means I no longer need to pay the 8.375% New York sales tax

3) It seems they ship packages the next day which means my package doesn’t sit in the mailbox in the States for long

4) They have EXTREMELY detailed tracking (check this)

5) Because they have extremely detailed tracking I can use the iPhone app Delivery Status to keep track of my packages

6) They’re fast. Package shipped December 2nd, arrived to Kuwait December 5th, cleared customs and was ready to pick up on the 6th

7) They don’t deliver but they have 4 pick up locations, Khaleejia in Kuwait City, Ardiya, Fahaheel and Camp Arifjan. The Ardiya branch is open till midnight everyday except on Friday they close at 9. The Kuwait City branch closes at 9 every day.

8) You pay based on weight and the size of the package doesn’t effect how much you pay

9) It’s KD3.5 for the first half kilo and then its KD2.5 for every half

Now to clear something up. Like Aramex, you also have to pay customs for packages over $100. The stories about Aramex making up this 5% to make more money is not true. But, unlike Aramex, with DHL you pay 5% customs and KD3.5 handling fee. With Aramex its just a KD1 handling fee. Now the advantage of DHL is they clear the package the same day while with Aramex it currently looks like its taking over a week.

I picked up my Drobo today and I paid KD31 shipping and KD8 for customs and handling. Overall I found DHL cheaper than Aramex. Why? Because you save on the New York sales tax, because you pay based on actual weight and not volumetric weight and because you pay KD2.5 for every half KG instead of Aramex’s KD2.750.

If you want to sign up for an account here is the link to their website [Link]

Note: Ignore the shipping price that’s displayed in your DHL account when tracking a package. My Drobo according to the online invoice was going to cost me KD70.57 in shipping fees but that was based on volumetric weight which was calculated to be 11.02 kg. Before I picked up my package they put it on the scale and it weighed 5.5 kg and thats what I paid for.

A reader sent me the following email with a few pictures (of which I’m sharing two).

i received my aramex package today , i saw the package little bit outta shape i thought something was up. i payed shipping charges then i headed to my room opened the box and here comes the SHOCK there is a puddle of water inside and the items are soaking wet. the funny part that the box contained a 400$ digital camera :S. i called aramex they told me customer service should contact you soon and hoping a refund for the item and shipping charges. been waiting and no one called :S. waiting till tomorrow.

I’m guessing the shipment got damaged while waiting to be cleared at the airport customs so it’s interesting to see how this will pan out. According to their terms & conditions:

Aramex is not responsible for any customs or duties incurred on any package contents. Furthermore, Aramex is not responsible for penalties, loss or damage of shipments while in possession of customs.

Aramex is responsible for the customer’s packages only while they are within Aramex’s custody and control. Aramex’s LIABILITY IN ANY EVENT IS LIMITED TO ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS (US $ 100/=) OR ITS EQUIVALENT PER SHIPMENT as stated on the back of the Express/Air freight waybill.

So legally Aramex are no liable for any damage and even if they are they only cover up to $100 which is not much. Has anything like this happened to anyone? What was the outcome?

Note: Btw if you ever wondered how Aramex’s building looks like in New York, a blogger 3baid found it using google street view. Looks cool, maybe someone from Aramex could get us pictures of the inside? That would be an interesting tour. [Link]

Update: Aramex resolved the issue with the damaged package and refunded the reader. Here is what the reader (Sam) had to say about it:

Dear Members,

NEW UPDATE regarding my issue.

i just got a call this morning from Aramex Shop and Ship Manager notifying me regarding my damaged package, he was very helpful and he took full responsibility of the damage caused, told me to bring the package to Aramex Arthiya for a full Refund of the product & shipping charges.

I went there got my refund and the manager was kind enough to explain to me the cause of the incident due to a leakage in customs warehouse, where they are taking action to solve this issue.

PROBLEM SOLVED.

Thank you, Shop & Ship Manager for Handling this Issue Professionally.

THE 99 is a locally created comic book featuring a team of superheroes based on Islamic culture and religion. Although it’s been only 2 years since the comic got published it quickly became a bit hit and is now licensed in 8 languages including Chinese. Next year Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other members of The Justice League of America will team up with THE 99 in a global series by DC Comics. In addition to that THE 99 is being turned into an animated series and the video above is the preview. 26 episodes are currently in production written by top names in Hollywood who’ve also worked on Ben 10, Spiderman, X-Men and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. [YouTube]

Here is a link to THE 99 website [Link]