Christmas panic spreads among UAE husbands

Panicked husbands across the UAE have overloaded the airwaves with the burning question of the hour: “What can I buy my new wife without being too generous but not appearing too tight either?”
 
As the clock ticks down to Christmas Day, the Question Company is working round-the-clock, much like Santa himself we are sure, in fulfilling many such queries and wishes that are being sent via text messages to thus UAE-based phone assistance service.
 
With nearly 550 messages hitting their SMS inbox these days, CEO Andy Meikle reveals that if its not desperate husbands stumped for ideas, then its young ones wanting to know: “How do I get off Santa’s naughty list?”; With no chimneys in Dubai, how will Santa deliver my gift?”; or the best yet, “Can Santa be arrested for animal cruelty?”
 
“Instead of just providing a standard response, we try to engage in a conversation with our customers to ensure we are providing the right sort of help they need,” Meilke told Emirates 24|7. “Naturally, if you have been naughty, then we do try and put in a good word with Santa also.”
 
Launched in April 2010, the Question Company offers a quick (a response time of 10 minutes or less) and fun reply to any question sent to its text number, 4644 via etisalat and du, and costing Dh1 per message.
 
Its profit-making business model allows the company to insert an advertisement into the text response that relates to the subject matter of the query.
 
“The idea stemmed in 2009, when a friend came up one random asking me for a recommendation of pest control company in Dubai,” he laughed. “Soon enough, there were five of us on the phones, making calls and trying to help her out.”
 
Meilke said that it him shortly that while the UK and the US provide similar ask assistance services, there was nothing of this sort in the UAE, and so began the formation of the 24-hour service provider, the Question Company.
 
“Since its launch, the service has been doing quite well, starting out with nearly 300 message queries a day and hitting over 500 during festive season,” he explained. “In fact, Ramadan saw our highest spike in users between midnight and 8am, asking us about restaurants and dining options.”
 
He added that service has once again seen a jump in figures in the build up to Christmas; with an upsurge in festive questions relating to retail, restaurants, travel and nightlife.
 
“We’ve had lots of people asking about Christmas, shopping deals and what to do on New Year’s Eve. In particular we get asked to investigate which shop still stocks a particular item, saving frantic shoppers having to drive from one mall to another,” he said.
 
“There are so many desperate spouses looking for last minute gift ideas ¬ we’ve even been asked to do some people’s Christmas shopping for them.
 
“It appears there are hoards of lost males requiring shopping advice and we are getting asked regularly about jewellery and perfume ideas, so it is safe to assume it’s the men who are stumped for ideas.
 
“Someone even asked us where to buy jewellery-making materials ¬ either a lady looking for a hobby, or a husband who is really desperate.”
 
But with the fun and games, Meilke admits that the company has also come across queries that go against the cultural sensitivity of the country. During such instances, he said that they ensure they respect the UAE’s laws by refraining from answering such questions.
 
“We take pleasure in being truly informative, but when questions get religious, political or relate to sex or drugs, we simply inform the sender that we have to refrain from answering such questions in respect of the country we live in,” he said.

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