RuthM my post was not meant to come across as
a lecture,just a different point of view.
The wonderful thing about marrying and moving on in life
is how you and your DH can make your own Christmas
traditions in the years to come.
My DH and I decided earlier on to only bring forward the positives
of our Christmas experiences as children ( some were really bad )
and make this time nothing but amazing for our children no matter
what.It worked and now every year our children and grand children
are literally mad with excitement, more about the rituals than what
they are going to get.Almost like we are in our own little Christmas
bubble.
Anyhoo hope you can still enjoy the day:)
edited by Nomad on 25/12/2013
<em>edited by Nomad on 25/12/2013</em>
I know it has been a pain RuthM but al least MIL made an effort.
My in laws on most occasions never even made contact .... even
a lost parcel or card would have been something.
Hopefully you can enjoy the day in spite of the turkey and table
display......put a candle on the table to remember those who are
not seated at the table.
Merry Christmas.
DH hasn't spoken to his brother for four years. His older brother spends his time trying to rip off his mother and every time DH goes to see his mother or takes her out for a meal his older brother randomly turns up and gets himself a free meal (DH won't let his mother pay for them all and if DH doesn't pay MIL will insist on paying she won't ask evil BIL to pay). The brother he hasn't spoken to for four years is so selfish he hasn't spent a Christmas with his mother for over fifteen years. One year when we were spending Christmas with my mother he offered for her to come over in the morning for 20-30 minutes at 11am to give the grandchildren their presents but then she had to go home so they could prepare their lunch. We told her to forget it and DH made the 3 hour round trip to drive and pick her up after getting off a flight to London and bring her to my mothers so she could have a proper Christmas.
His family policy at Christmas is to pass cheque/cash around which really I cannot be bothered with. To me the entire idea of gift giving is the thought and effort that goes into it, I enjoy seeing people receive gifts (hopefully if they like them). I spend a great deal of time choosing the best gifts I can for people and want them to enjoy them. To me a cheque or cash is meaningless (unless you're giving to a teenager as they often want money to save for bigger things).
As for Rob from Choithrams, unfortunately Park and Shop was who was recommended when I asked where to get a goose on this forum but perhaps next time that is where I will try. If there is a next time as DH has agreed to allow me to cancel Christmas from now on.
Still hope you all have a Merry Christmas.
See, she could have at least picked up her parcel, instead of going around dubai looking for a goose. Next time just call Rob from Choithrams, he aims to please, and will get you anything you want and keep it in the chiller for you, tut tut.
yes I hear he is very obliging...
I know it has been a pain RuthM but al least MIL made an effort.
My in laws on most occasions never even made contact .... even
a lost parcel or card would have been something.
Hopefully you can enjoy the day in spite of the turkey and table
display......put a candle on the table to remember those who are
not seated at the table.
Merry Christmas.
See, she could have at least picked up her parcel, instead of going around dubai looking for a goose. Next time just call Rob from Choithrams, he aims to please, and will get you anything you want and keep it in the chiller for you, tut tut.
Ruth, it is in Al Quoz post office.
https://www.epg.ae/esvc/services/track/index.xhtml?lang=en
You can call 600 5 99999 to check.
<em>edited by WhistlingTrees on 23/12/2013</em>
I would DEFINITELY do nothing and let the mail service return it to sender! Hopefully it will not arrive back before May, so she will understand that it was a silly idea. Unless you want the same story again next year!
Next year you could open a paypal donation account for them!
Ruth i suggest you take the tracking number down off the site. A quick google can tell you where the package is and a call to Empost will confirm if still here and you can either go and collect at Central post office or have it forwarded to your PO box address (possibly). I'm in the process of chasing a parcel from Germany and i have to say Empost have been simply brilliant and so helpful to deal with.
I had a delivery from a company in the UK go missing here with Parcelforce. They delivered it to the wrong address and the maid there signed for it when the family she worked for were on holiday. As we had paid for the goods and delivery, we were given a tracking number for the website and I had to phone them in the UK several times because someone had signed for it and they couldn't tell me who it was or where it had been delivered to. In the end, when the family came back from holiday they saw the address on the parcel and delivered it to us themselves.
I suggest you tell your MIL that you have no idea where the package is, as you have received no attempted delivery card and ask her to phone Parcelforce and find out where your package has been sent. Stress the urgency of it to her - it could well be sent back if nobody collects it in the next week (or two, if you're feeling generous) - and then let her have all the hassle of tracking down where it is. After all it's so much cheaper for her to phone a UK number than you. I'm sure she'll be happy to spend her Christmas trying to sort it out and decide whether she wants to go through it all again next year or would prefer to transfer money directly into your bank account instead. Good luck!
It will be in Karama post office. Thats were all parcels go. After two weeks there it will be sent back to UK. You have to go there physically. Dont bother over the phone or email as you will get very frustrated. Easy to collect if you have the reference number with no headache.
Not sure if this is an option, but what we have done with relatives in the Uk is given them the bank numbers for our kids accounts in the UK as we too were getting chequest for £25 that are more expensive to cash than they were worth etc!! It works well, and we get an email at birthdays and Christmas to let us know they have paid in to that account.
If you don't want her to do it, I'm afraid I'd be very tempted to do nothing... Let the postal service return it to her. It might make her think twice before doing it next year! Alternatively, is tell DH that he will need to retrieve the card (and go through all the hassle that will create!) as I am far too busy making arrangements/cooking for Christmas Day!
Similar experience but not with Parcelforce. It was registered mail from Canada and when we tracked it, Canadapost said that an attempted delivery was made and notification card was left. As with you, no card was left and no delivery was made (and there is ALWAYS someone here). DH went to the postoffice in Karama and they were only able to locate the mail 1 week later.
So MIL has struck again. We really cannot spend Christmas in Dubai without her insisting on posting cash to DH. She has decided to post cash to the sum of 1000-1500 AED (despite me REPEATEDLY asking her not to) along with his families' Christmas cards which they cannot be bothered to address to Dubai and post themselves.
As his family also can't be bothered to buy each other Christmas presents, there is likely even more cash in all those cards or cheques in Sterling (probably £10 in sterling because sterling is really useful in Dubai) - it's like pass the cheque with his family at Christmas, I try my best to avoid it, in fact have suggested cancelling Christmas altogether. (to me the point of Christmas is actually choosing gifts etc. regardless of the cost)
All we have on the Parcelforce website is:
[i'>Delivery attempted
A delivery was attempted for your item with reference RJ895362914GB in UNITED ARAB EMIRATES before 08:40 on 17/12/13.
If the addressee does not collect it or make an arrangement to have it redelivered, it will be returned to the sender in the UK.[/i'>
But no delivery was attempted (we were here then) and no card has been left so there are no contact details to arrange redelivery or collection. We have no idea if the package is with Empost or some other courier, am considering just letting it be returned to be frank (if it makes it back).
Does anyone have any experience with Parcelforce packages from the UK out here? Do Parcelforce have a UAE courier or are their packages handed over to Empost? (I do love rooting through Empost Offices). Just so I can figure out where to commence our search of doom.
TIA.