What Happens When You Vacation BACK to the US from Saudi Arabia?

Image via www.carseatblog.com 

First of all, how was it possible that we all were able to come back to the US for a mini-vacation? We have only been in Saudi Arabia for 6 months. My company was so generous and thoughtful to give me and the kids’ airline tickets to visit the US. During the month of November, I had a bit of a “culture shock” melt down and I think my boss agreed that I just needed a little break to refresh and recharge.

Before we flew out, each family member stated what we needed to stock up on when we got back to the US. Other than being with and enjoying our family, our other mission was to load up on the things that were either too expensive or too hard to find in Saudi.

The “stocking-up” began with my brother taking the kids to Wal-Mart. Not just a regular Super Wal-Mart, but a miniature regular sized small town Wal-Mart. His trip with them took over an hour  2 hours! My brother let them buy whatever they wanted and it was just so funny to see the random things that they chose to buy (based on the things that they must have missed the most).

Our youngest son bought:
·         Chocolate donuts and beef jerkey
·         Angry bird game and watch
·         Trident ice-cream flavored gum –and a
·         12 pack of Capri Sun drinks!

Our daughter bought:
·         US Weekly magazine
·         Press on finger-nails complete with art designs
·         12 pack of HUGS juice drinks –and a
·         Mini-video camera

Our oldest son bought:
·         Beef Jerkey
·         gum and candy
·         A remote control helicopter

While the kids were going crazy at the little Wal-Mart, the hubby and I were hoarding items at the Super Wal-Mart in the next city over.

Here is what we (mostly me) bought:
·         5 boxes of Cold-brew Lipton Iced Tea bags
·         5 tubes of Burt’s Bee’s chapstick
·         5 automatic eye-liners (self-sharpening)
·         My favorite shampoo and conditioner
·         Tomato bouillon cubes
·         Goldfish snacks and Cheez-itz      
·         Chili powder (to make home-ade chili with)
·         Ranch Dressing mix
·         Creamy peanut butter-3 jars
·         Grits (oh, how I missed them!)
·         4 bottles of makeup foundation, powder, eye shadow and lipstick
·         Tampons
·         Saltine crackers
·         Loads of kids Tylenol chewable tablets and chewable Pepto Bismol tablets
·         Socks for the boys

Things I forgot to bring back L  (dang it! why didn’t I think of that while I was there!)
·         Chef Boyardee Ravioli
·         Neosporin
·         Bengeit mix (not available, sadly)
·         Hot Tamales candy
·         Bubble-icious-gum

After our major splurging trip, we made sure to eat at our favorite places throughout the week. We went to: Larry’s BBQ-twice, Cracker Barell, Captain D’s, McDonald’s (for breakfast), IHOP, Chick-fil-A and Olive Garden. Stores we (me) got carried away in were: Old Navy, Bath & Body Works, JCPenny, Dillards, WAL-MART, Target, Barnes & Noble, Michael’s, Kohl’s and several shoe stores.

I was sure to also bring back many children’s books, Beth Moore and Joel Osteen studies, a mini-Christmas tree for each child, new clothes and shoes for the whole family, magazines and my Keurig coffee maker!

Of course there were more high-lights of our trip, but the best ones of all were spending time with friends and family that we hadn’t seen in years!

Multinational brands in Saudi Arabia

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a plethora of well-known multinational brands are on the market. While dining out, one can find almost any restaurant available in the United States of America. Similarly, well-known clothing brands and accessories remain available. As a matter of fact, I believe there is more available in the Kingdom when compared to the United States. But the problem is that some of these world-wide brands do not meet the same standards like I am used to. For me they’ve left a bad taste.

This weekend was no exception. Bad customer service was as always available at all the multinational brands. In one of the malls of Jeddah my wife and I decided to walk into Sephora. My wife wanted to test out the fragrance of one of the lotions. The salesperson promptly responded to her request and gave my wife a little bit of body wash to rub all over her hands. Now most if not all of you can understand what that would do. Overall I must say the sales person were professional and took care of the issue.  She went to her break room, grabbed her own bottle of drinking water (complete with lipstick on the rim) and poured some onto my wives hands. The mistake is a simple human error and since she fixed the problem I have no complaints. After the final selection my wife walked up to the cash register to pay. The gentleman there refused simply stating we do not have change. It is not like we were paying SAR. 20/ item with SAR. 500/- bill. We had a 50 Riyal bill. In comparison to U.S. Dollars the change was less than $10/-. Did he ask a sales associate for help? No. Did he call for a manager? No. He simply took the lazy way out, or the stupid way out. He simply said he could not sell the product. So we left-without the product. My wife was infuriated, to say the least. But then we found “The Body Shop” where she received great service. There was also plenty of change in the register.

Another common source of frustration with international brands in the Kingdom is their inventory. Chili’s or TGI Fridays never have all the items on their menu.  For the past 4 months, we have ventured into these restaurants and each time they have not had ribs. To read another good story about available items on the menu click here. So the night got more exciting when we walked in Clarks and sketchers where the items we liked were out of stock. Searching the mall to find exactly what you want and then to find out that they do not have it, just sucks. It really sucks!

Today we went to Ikea and found a computer table we liked for the kids room. In their self-serve area the table was not there. But when I looked up, I saw that it was there. I asked one of the staff members to help us get it down. He simply refused and laughed, and told us to come back in three days. Seriously?

Yes, I know that this country is different than any other place on the planet. Yes, I understand that I must be patient and that this is how their culture is run. Nevertheless, I think the multinational companies who claim to be service oriented need to stay out of the Saudi market. The manpower or the management in Saudi Arabia have little to no clue what customer service is. They do not seem to want to learn it. Granted, there are many hard-working and good-hearted Saudi men and women. However, to run a successful company, employers should train their employees how to assist their customers. 

The Joys of Exchanging Items

Extra, extra, read all about it! The return and exchange policy in Saudi Arabia is a bit different than in the US. For example, you can only exchange an item for a different item or for store credit. You also have to have a receipt. This is quite different than the Wal-Mart policy that I am used too, where you can return a product at any time and without a receipt.

 
image via www.google.com

Now, I have to tell you about our experience with "bad customer service" today in a store called "Extra." We went to the exchange counter to switch out a blender with another one. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, we ended up being frustrated and laughing the whole time. At the exchange counter, the guy there had to call the other guy from appliances to sign off on the receipt. I asked him why he couldn't just exchange the blender for me-since this is the exchange counter. He said that the guy from appliances has to check and be sure that all the parts are there because if not, it will come out of his paycheck. I told him that was too bad, because he seemed completely competent. So, after waiting 10 minutes for the guy from appliances to come down (form upstairs), the guy at the counter told us to just go meet him upstairs. So we did and the guy wasn't there. Meanwhile.....we went upstairs to pick out a new blender. We picked out 4 from the display models, that we liked-but there were none on the shelves. The sales guy said they were all out. We found one that was on the shelf and went back downstairs. We went back to the exchange counter, expecting to see the appliances guy. Nope-he was gone again. We were told to sit down and wait because the guy was helping another customer. I said, c'mon, please help us and he yelled at the appliance guy to come. We lucked out this time-he came! He signed the receipt and we were able to successfully exchange the blender. This took just 40 minutes.

Oh, but wait...Sohail realized that he needed a special USB cord. He found it and we went to check out. We got to the register and as we were in line, I noticed the most amazing thing. 3 people worked at the register-each one having a separate duty. Guy 1 scanned the item, guy 2 pressed a button on the cash register and took the money then handed the receipt to guy 1. Guy 2 gave the item and the receipt to guy 3. Guy 3 put the receipt and the item in the bag. The customer left the register and headed to the doors. Guy 4 had to stamp the receipt at the door. And.....I'm not done yet....Guy 5 was in charge of the doors, telling the other customers that the store would be closing in 10 minutes and the shopper was not allowed inside. We couldn't help but laugh!

American Eating in Jeddah with Updated Reviews

There is so much here that reminds me of my home back in the USA! Everytime I've lived abroad-it's the food that brings life to the phrase "comfort food." Here are some of the nearby food places in Jeddah: Fuddrucker's, On the Border Mexican, Applebee's, TGIF Friday's, Hardee's, McDonalds, Chinese food, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, Starbuck's, KFC, Subway, Quizno's, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Marble Slab, and Tutti Frutti.

Fuddrucker's

On the Border - Me with my "non-alcoholic" Strawberry Colada.

The outside of Fuddrucker's. I love the lights on it!

The outside of "On the Border." The food was ok and the service was great! However, the food was nowhere comparable to the authentic mexican food we are used to in Houston, TX.

The indoor kids play area at On the Border

Baskin Robbins - There are more ice cream shops here, compared to anywhere in the US!

One of my favorite places - Starbuck's. I have only come across 5 in the Jeddah area, nearby where we live. They seem to be the only coffee makers who make iced coffee.

Gulf Royal Chinese in the Rawdah area. The atmosphere was great but the food was not as good as what we were used to in the US. It was also not worth the money. But, the atmosphere and service was great. The kids play area was also a plus!

TGIF Friday's. The food here was ok, but double the price of what we paid in the US. It was nice to be in the American atmosphere, but not worth the money.

Inside the Chinese restaraunt

Fudrucker's again...can you tell I loved this place? The Burgers were great and the service also! 

Applebee's - The food was good, better than TGIFriday's. The service was also great! But, it was double the price we would pay in the US-so not worth the money to us.

Hardee's - The food quality here was not as good as the US. But, there are many locals and expats that like it and say the food it good.