No go for gold—take back the housewarming gift and give real customer service

No go for gold—take back the housewarming gift and give real customer service

For Precious de Leon, Abu Dhabi’s Bawabat Al Sharq gets a silver star for trying but is holding out on the gold for when their ace aftersales are rolled out.

August 22, 2011 1:22 by Precious de Leon

When you are shopping, how much does the accompanying gift convince you to make that purchase? Let’s face it, to some extent, it does influence our buying decision. After all, why not buy that pack of four toothpaste tubes instead of just buying one tube since it comes with the free toothpaste. We’re always going to need toothpaste to brush our teeth, anyway, right?

Of course it depends on how much of a commitment you need to make with that purchase. Would a gold bar (or several gold bars), for example, tip you over to buy a house in Abu Dhabi this Ramadan?

To some extent developers of the Bawabat Al Sharq hope you will. We say ‘to some extent’ because the gift is intended as a welcome gift for buyers in a specific location in their development who have already sealed the deal with them, as reported in The National.

Now, does this indicate a return to brand associations in the property world? A return to the opulent gifting days of 2007? Remember that almost forgotten time when villa buyers were gifted with a complimentary luxury car (Jaguar, we think) for every purchase? As the real estate reselling market is less than surviving in the UAE and property developers are surely albeit ever so slowly and cautiously finding their feet again, we doubt the extravagance of three years ago will ever return.

But what Kipp would like to see is the stabilisation and regulation of after sales and maintenance in the property sector. None of that water cut off fiasco in Palm Jumeirah, which, frankly, is a major concern. (Bathing in the pool? Bathing in the sea? Don’t we take showers after dipping into those places?…) Our eyebrows are raised, Nakheel.

And while Kipp appreciates that Bawabat Al Sharq wants to be associated with gold and the way that the element appreciates overtime, we wonder what kind of “after sales added-value” do homeowners really need? Sure, who’s going to say no to a bar (or several bars) of gold, but what we want isn’t necessarily what we need. It’s time we put the glamour aside and get to the business of some real customer service. Shall we?