# problems with DEWA billing



## Yoga girl

I have now lived in my "new" flat for 6 months. I registered regularly with DEWA the day after I got my keys.. but I have not received any bills since I moved in.
Actually, that is incorrect, after 3 months of me chasing DEWA to sort it out, they sent me a bill last month and another this month.
In both cases the bill was under someone else's name and PO Box and contract and my name was simply added to the top of the bill.
They were different people, not even the same one!!

I tried to contact DEWA again but they are not getting back to me and simply dont seem to be getting it....

I really dont want to have any problems further down the line, or worse still, to face a massive bill the day I close my account with them!!!

HAs anyone else experienced this kind of problem? ANy ideas how to get to the bottom of this?


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## zin

Yes. I moved in, in February, finally got my first bill in June I believe. The first bill covered part of April and all of May and was under a different name. I covered that and since then it's been about the same price per month and under the correct name. Everything before mid-April was apparently paid for (maybe by previous tenant? I didn't really question it). 

They are terrible at responding to e-mails, a month at a time. When you call them they tell you to go to DEWA HQ to sort it all out. I just persisted by e-mail and phone and it finally got sorted for online billing some time in August.


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## Moe78

I believe you will have to visit a DEWA branch to sort this out even if you do manage to call them. I would recommend visiting a big branch just in case in the smaller ones, no one higher up can help.


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## Maz25

I haven't personally experienced any problems with DEWA (touch wood!) but I did come across a thread about the same thing on another forum. I believe that the person in question had to pay DEWA a few visits and it eventually got sorted. It was a case of DEWA getting 2 accounts confused and mixed up and some unpaid bills left behind by the previous tenant.


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## Yoga girl

In my case there is no such thing as a previous tenant as it is a new building and before me it was all connected under Emaar. I am persisiting and I am sure sooner or later they will get it sorted... but it seems strange for me to be chasing them to pay rather than the other way round!
Fingers crossed and persistence...


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## yankee79

Yoga girl said:


> In my case there is no such thing as a previous tenant as it is a new building and before me it was all connected under Emaar. I am persisiting and I am sure sooner or later they will get it sorted... but it seems strange for me to be chasing them to pay rather than the other way round!
> Fingers crossed and persistence...


I am facing exactly the same problem, I have been in my building for a little over 3 months and still have not received a single bill. Have called them for the billing but still have not had any response. I was actually planning to make a trip to the DEWA office behind masaya centre to check as over the phone it is more frustrating.

I cant imagine having to run after authorities to make payments, would imagine it to be the other way round


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## Moe78

My cousin went for 9-10 months without receiving a single bill from DEWA. After that they cut off his power, he was going to move anyway so no biggie lol He made the deposit and all that but apparently the real estate agent who he told would set the account up never did and he just never asked!


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## zin

Don't forget to waste your time complaining to [email protected] as well, I got 5 different "executives" from customer care respond to me


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## w_man

So - Does this have anything to do with the landlord or the previous renter not canceling his/her DEWA account properly? We just moved in to our place and went to transfer DEWA on to our name ... it was a fairly quick and easy process - they took our money and smiled 

Hopefully this transfer goes through in time and we are not without electricity 2 months from now.


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## Saint Ari

I WAS in the same boat ...

I moved in on April ... got a bill ONCE ... and NOTHING ... after a couple of months, I called them ... and had been told that its on the way ... had been doing this sing and dance for months and months ... called, email, etc etc etc ...

A few weeks ago ... they cut my power off ... had to go to the Mazaya Center to get everything sorted out ... and REFUSED to pay for the reconnection charge of AED 100 ... 

Hopefully ... (fingers crossed) ... my bills would show up on my online account now ... otherwise ... ugh ...


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## Nightshadow

w_man said:


> So - Does this have anything to do with the landlord or the previous renter not canceling his/her DEWA account properly? We just moved in to our place and went to transfer DEWA on to our name ... it was a fairly quick and easy process - they took our money and smiled
> 
> Hopefully this transfer goes through in time and we are not without electricity 2 months from now.


Let the torture begin... soon you'll be posting stuff like Yoga Girl as well... 

Seriously though, good luck guys. Ive heard so many people complain about this problem on and off the forums that sounds to me like DEWA just has a hard time figuring out what the "NAME" field in their system is for...


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## Elphaba

Yogagirl

DEWA's billing is so bad they make Etisalat look competent. 

The only way you will get this resloved is by being VERY persistent and going to a main office. Have hysterics, cry etc if you have to to make them fix it. You will need a letter from the owner of the apartment clarifying the situation, as well as your passport, the rental agreement and your deposit receipt.

No matter whose name the bill is in right now, make a payment or they will cut you off without notice.

Good luck!


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## Yoga girl

Well it is nice to see that I am not the only one facing this problem!

I actually made a payment against the first wrong bill I got ... before I realised it was wrong. I really dont want to have my power and water cut off!

I got all my paperwork together and handed it over to the company PRO this morning who also speaks Arabic so he can go down there. He has everything except my bra size.... 
Fingers crossed this is sorted out soon.

W-man. This has nothing to do with whether or not you had a previous tenant (in my case I was the first to move into the flat!!)... this is just DEWA being totally inefficient.... and yes Elphaba, you are right. They certainly make Etisalat look great in comparison!!


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## miami_hurricanes

My daily routine...

1. Wake up 
2. Make coffee
3. Check DEWA website for any amount due via contract account number (aka premise number fixed to the front door)
4. Initiate bank transfer as/when required
5. Get on with life/work

I couldn't tell you the last time I received an actual bill from DEWA and gave up trying to sort my particular situation at the "service" centre and via email. They were unable to do something really crazy like link my name to the contract account number and send a bill BEFORE disconnecting power.

I found myself writing *BOLD RED ALL CAPS* emails to their 'executives' trying to explain a simple billing concept. Then I discovered the joy of the contract account number and tried to be proactive and make timely payments from the DEWA website but ... nooooooooooooo ... not without a UAE issued credit card. Now when I see an amount due I merrily trigger an online payment from my bank and forget about it until the next day when I check to see the balance is zero'd out.

Moving to another villa in a few weeks and now get to experience the joy of the disconnect / reconnect process with both DEWA and DU - hooray!


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## Yoga girl

miami_hurricanes said:


> My daily routine...
> 
> 1. Wake up
> 2. Make coffee
> 3. Check DEWA website for any amount due via contract account number (aka premise number fixed to the front door)
> 4. Initiate bank transfer as/when required
> 5. Get on with life/work
> 
> I couldn't tell you the last time I received an actual bill from DEWA and gave up trying to sort my particular situation at the "service" centre and via email. They were unable to do something really crazy like link my name to the contract account number and send a bill BEFORE disconnecting power.
> 
> I found myself writing *BOLD RED ALL CAPS* emails to their 'executives' trying to explain a simple billing concept. Then I discovered the joy of the contract account number and tried to be proactive and make timely payments from the DEWA website but ... nooooooooooooo ... not without a UAE issued credit card. Now when I see an amount due I merrily trigger an online payment from my bank and forget about it until the next day when I check to see the balance is zero'd out.
> 
> Moving to another villa in a few weeks and now get to experience the joy of the disconnect / reconnect process with both DEWA and DU - hooray!


That is what I do with Etisalat once a month as I dont seem to receive the bills at all... However DEWA online tells me 0.00 is due and I am unable to make a payment, any payment!!


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## Elphaba

Yoga girl said:


> That is what I do with Etisalat once a month as I dont seem to receive the bills at all... However DEWA online tells me 0.00 is due and I am unable to make a payment, any payment!!


Been there! Do you have the correct account number for the property? It should be on your apartment doorframe or nearby. If you have that you can make a payment which will be credited to the account, no matter what name it is apparently held in. Keep the receipt as proof.
-


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## Lamplighter

I also haven't received any DEWA bills having paid the deposit/connection fee in September. I registered a few days ago for "DEWA Electronic Bill Presentment [_sic_] and Payment Services".

Current status: "Your account(s) is/are yet to be approved." - any idea how long I might wait for this.....?


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## Yoga girl

Elphaba said:


> Been there! Do you have the correct account number for the property? It should be on your apartment doorframe or nearby. If you have that you can make a payment which will be credited to the account, no matter what name it is apparently held in. Keep the receipt as proof.
> -



Are you saying you pay online? or you go to DEWA to pay? ..:confused2:I paid the first bill they sent through the system and have the receipt from them. COnsidering they had 1000 aed deposit and this bill was around 300 aed that should have covered me for now.
Let's see what we can sort out at the offices ....


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## Elphaba

Yoga girl said:


> Are you saying you pay online? or you go to DEWA to pay? ..:confused2:I paid the first bill they sent through the system and have the receipt from them. COnsidering they had 1000 aed deposit and this bill was around 300 aed that should have covered me for now.
> Let's see what we can sort out at the offices ....


Either pay in their offices or at a petrol station.


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## Dozza

I set up the online payment account on their website, logged in many, many, many times for the website to tell me their are NO outstanding payments. 

Yet we havent paid a bill in 2 months? Called the call centre to be told (Obviously) we have outstanding bills. They then said we would be able to pay the bill online the following day. 2 weeks later the website still states NO BILLS PENDING?

Yet another call to the call centre to be told we can pay the following day. The following day comes & guess what - Still no payments outstanding.

Yet another call to the call centre, this time I am told our final settlement bill should be ready tomorrow?

I ask why they are preparing a final settlement bill, to which I am told 'We thought you had requested this as you were moving'?

At this point my head is about to pop off due to an overload of frustration! 

Just going to stick to paying at petrol stations - Why do these companies recruit people from the retard brigade?

I have the same problems with DU, only company to not make a complete hash of simple billing procedures (SO FAR) is Palm District Cooling.........


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## Gavtek

6 visits to DEWA, 7 hours wasted, and one threat to punch someone in the face later, and I'm still no closer to having my DEWA account application processed.


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## Maz25

Lamplighter said:


> I also haven't received any DEWA bills having paid the deposit/connection fee in September. I registered a few days ago for "DEWA Electronic Bill Presentment [_sic_] and Payment Services".
> 
> Current status: "Your account(s) is/are yet to be approved." - any idea how long I might wait for this.....?


I had the same issue when I first moved in! I called them up and screamed and shouted until they finally activated it (luckily I was receiving paper bills in the meantime)! And that was after I'd sent them the same set of documents 3 times - the first person would acknowledge receipt of the documents whilst the second person could not find them! Obviously retrieving the documents from their system was too much trouble! My colleagues would literally sit and laugh at me cause they thought it was funny watching me lose my rag completely!


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## desertdude

You guys should try dealing with SEWA, DEWA's counterpart in Sharjah and then you will thank your lucky stars.

Took me 10 mins at Mazaya Center to have the account transferred, never waited for their paper bills which do come in occasionally but I just log on the website and pay the amount due and khalas never visited Dewa other than my first time again. 

Although Nakheel are being their usual A.Holes selfs as the apartment already had a 600 dhs bill before I moved in and have a letter from Nakheel they will clear it, I was first tennant and I can understand the bill as there are many flats which havent been handed over yet and litereally the light and AC have been on nonstop since I moved in over a year and a half back !

I called Nakheel about it and was a mess to finally get through to someone who actually knew anything about this issue and he said I'm not the only one many residents of DG have this problem, I can either choose to pay the full amount and wait for Nakheel to refund the money or wait for Nakheel to resolve it. The Indian chap himself said not to pay the full amount as it would be a real PITA have Nakheel refund the money. 

Anyways a couple of months the issue was still not solved, Called Nakheel and they would blame DEWA for not sending them the bills and DEWA would blame Nakheel. After a few months I just stopped bothering and just pay current months charges as mention on th eonline bill. But I have also given up hope of Nakheel every paying up so pretty much my deposit is gone once I leave the flat. 

As with almost everything here its not worth the blood, tears and hassle for the small amount. Just pay and move on and screw your principles unless your willing to spend twice as much money or time to get it set straight and then wait for it to happen the very next time again.

The system has been setup so breaucratically and not to mention the staff employed has no clue as in what to do, that its not worth persuing these issues without going crazy, be it unwarantted traffic or salik fines or Dewa or Etisalat bills.

When in rome, do as the romans do. Pay up and move along !


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## zin

I pay my DEWA bill online with ADCB, not sure if other banks have this option. Works great so far, I just need to know how much I owe and send a bank transfer and don't have to worry about it.


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## Lamplighter

Lamplighter said:


> I also haven't received any DEWA bills having paid the deposit/connection fee in September. I registered a few days ago for "DEWA Electronic Bill Presentment [_sic_] and Payment Services".
> 
> Current status: "Your account(s) is/are yet to be approved." - any idea how long I might wait for this.....?


Just an update, having registered for online billing on 30 December, my account was approved today, 04 January - just 3 working days.

Now I can log in and see my bills for October, November and December, all of which are unpaid because, of course, I've never previously seen them!!

I can also make a payment online using e-services, which allows you to pay by credit card (or eDirham) through the Dubai e-government portal.

I must say, given the negative experiences of others, I'm quite impressed with this. :clap2:

Regards, Lamp


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## nat_c

I haven't read through the full thread so apologies if im repeating anything, but when we moved in here we went ot register with DEWA and were told as it was Emaar who DEWA was registered with and not our landlord we had to provide his title deeds etc to prove he owned it.

This obviously never happened, but each month I just go online to the DEWA website, put in my DEWA number from my door and see ho wmuch is outstanding I then send a payment from my internet banking. 

This then is deducted from the DEWA bill in a few days so you'll not run the risk of being cut off for not paying and also avoid being landed with a huge bill!!

There was 400 outstanding from the old tenant so i always just leave a balance of 400 on it and not had any problems in the 7 months weve been here


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## Yoga girl

nat_c said:


> I haven't read through the full thread so apologies if im repeating anything, but when we moved in here we went ot register with DEWA and were told as it was Emaar who DEWA was registered with and not our landlord we had to provide his title deeds etc to prove he owned it.
> 
> This obviously never happened, but each month I just go online to the DEWA website, put in my DEWA number from my door and see ho wmuch is outstanding I then send a payment from my internet banking.
> 
> This then is deducted from the DEWA bill in a few days so you'll not run the risk of being cut off for not paying and also avoid being landed with a huge bill!!
> 
> There was 400 outstanding from the old tenant so i always just leave a balance of 400 on it and not had any problems in the 7 months weve been here


That only works if the online system works... ie if they actually post your outstanding amount next to your DEWA counter number!! Which wasnt the case for me!!
Emaar has the connection yes but the landlord is registered too as the owner. You need to register with DEWA and send Emaar a copy of this registration and a copy of your tenancy contract to avoid problems in future.
Then it is all up to DEWA.

I am happy to say though that I seem to be well on the way to sorting it all out. They are now producing bills .... although only from November on... Not quite sure what happened from June til end of October! I am sure I will find out soon enough!


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## yankee79

Yoga girl said:


> I am happy to say though that I seem to be well on the way to sorting it all out. They are now producing bills .... although only from November on... Not quite sure what happened from June til end of October! I am sure I will find out soon enough!



I finally received my first DEWA bill today. August to Novermber shows as arrears. current bill details are given. And they have my name correct on the bill to. surprisingly water is more expensive then electricity. 

Yoga girl, hope you get your soon


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## Mark50

I've had no problems and do everything through the online site they have. If you have an account number then you can look yourself if not I am afraid only luck will help you....


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## spam

Lamplighter said:


> Just an update, having registered for online billing on 30 December, my account was approved today, 04 January - just 3 working days.
> 
> Now I can log in and see my bills for October, November and December, all of which are unpaid because, of course, I've never previously seen them!!
> 
> I can also make a payment online using e-services, which allows you to pay by credit card (or eDirham) through the Dubai e-government portal.
> 
> I must say, given the negative experiences of others, I'm quite impressed with this. :clap2:
> 
> Regards, Lamp


Lamp: that sounds fantastic. I registered 9 October - new villa and connection all okay - no bills received - got SMS mid December to tell me I owed some money - called to ask for the bill - told it had been sent (I've never received!) - decided to register online - all worked okay - can see the most recent/2nd bill - called to ask about first bill - told I can only see billls from date I register online. Your comment that you can now see previous bills is completely opposite to what they told me (no real surprise with that). Biggest issue is the amount they're 'claiming' I owe. Apparently we used 25700 water 'imperial gallons' in one month - which seems absolutely ludicrous (no pool, small grass area) according to some colleagues. 

Oh well - onwards and upwards!!


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## newbie913

DEWA are officially the new BT for me. I hate them along with most other service providers! I keep getting bills based on estimates as I was away for 2 months in the summer and still got charged the same for electricity and water as always. Still haven’t managed to get my money back!


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## worldworker

What can i say, all your woes above are now compounded by a new DEWA billing system apparently.

Just move (yesterday) to Ghoroob......last week i was ready to commit Hari Kari (what ever that actually is) all over DEWAs stupid internet system....

The agent was unable to connect my DEWA for me ( i know its lazy, but i was too busy to pick nose let alone sort DEWA out) in the end i was told the reason was because new tennants cannot have activated supply until landlord has cleared the bill for construction related usage. A way round.....go online and activate supply.....pay the 1000AED that way...

no problem except it still took them nearly a week to sort and at one point in 3days i sent tenancy copy, passport and visa copy, online security deposit proof FIVE TIMES and in shear desperation a copy of my business card. i wouldnt have minded except once was directly uploaded to they webform!!!! have they sorted the online billing yet??.....NOPE...i am to find out in the months to come if they are competant enough to send paper bills to me....

meanwhile i requested final bill for old place...requested termination of supply yesterday and at 21:00 last night obtained notification that my final bill was ready....thats funny given they need 2 days apparently.....however the premise number is wrong.....so god knows what cluster @#$# i am to find when i visit the main office near wafi tonight!!!!

cummon DEWA it really isnt that hard!!!!


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## Jynxgirl

worldworker said:


> What can i say, all your woes above are now compounded by a new DEWA billing system apparently.
> 
> Just move (yesterday) to Ghoroob......last week i was ready to commit Hari Kari (what ever that actually is) all over DEWAs stupid internet system....
> 
> The agent was unable to connect my DEWA for me ( i know its lazy, but i was too busy to pick nose let alone sort DEWA out) in the end i was told the reason was because new tennants cannot have activated supply until landlord has cleared the bill for construction related usage. A way round.....go online and activate supply.....pay the 1000AED that way...
> 
> no problem except it still took them nearly a week to sort and at one point in 3days i sent tenancy copy, passport and visa copy, online security deposit proof FIVE TIMES and in shear desperation a copy of my business card. i wouldnt have minded except once was directly uploaded to they webform!!!! have they sorted the online billing yet??.....NOPE...i am to find out in the months to come if they are competant enough to send paper bills to me....
> 
> meanwhile i requested final bill for old place...requested termination of supply yesterday and at 21:00 last night obtained notification that my final bill was ready....thats funny given they need 2 days apparently.....however the premise number is wrong.....so god knows what cluster @#$# i am to find when i visit the main office near wafi tonight!!!!
> 
> cummon DEWA it really isnt that hard!!!!


Welcome to the forum Worker


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## worldworker

Jynxgirl said:


> Welcome to the forum Worker


Arrrr yeah... thanks jynxgirl...
i have been a lurker for a while, but sometimes you just cant hold back and need to put your two pence worth in....or two fils


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## Fatenhappy

Yoga girl said:


> I have now lived in my "new" flat for 6 months. I registered regularly with DEWA the day after I got my keys.. but I have not received any bills since I moved in.
> Actually, that is incorrect, after 3 months of me chasing DEWA to sort it out, they sent me a bill last month and another this month.
> In both cases the bill was under someone else's name and PO Box and contract and my name was simply added to the top of the bill.
> They were different people, not even the same one!!
> 
> I tried to contact DEWA again but they are not getting back to me and simply dont seem to be getting it....
> 
> I really dont want to have any problems further down the line, or worse still, to face a massive bill the day I close my account with them!!!
> 
> HAs anyone else experienced this kind of problem? ANy ideas how to get to the bottom of this?


The *ONLY WAY* to sort anything out with them is to take all your receipts and *go and see them face to face* ... the call centre staff never get back to you.

We have had two separate incidents and found face to face the only way to resolve it.

Best venue of the lot is DEWA HQ just there near the Waffi shopping centre !!


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## Yoga girl

Fatenhappy said:


> The *ONLY WAY* to sort anything out with them is to take all your receipts and *go and see them face to face* ... the call centre staff never get back to you.
> 
> We have had two separate incidents and found face to face the only way to resolve it.
> 
> Best venue of the lot is DEWA HQ just there near the Waffi shopping centre !!


I hate to be the one to contradict everyone.... but I got it all sorted online and I have always received replies that way! I have never set foot in a DEWA office. I registered online and sorted it all online with the added advantage that I have records of everything they say to me plus what I write to them.

Additionally I attach all the old email history and documents so that there is absolutely no way they cannot find what is wrong!

Call me obsessive but I always managed to solve things with this method. And if anything ever goes wrong I have it all in writing. You dont get that over the phone or face to face. But you gotta keep insisting until you are completely satisfied!!


I am happy to report that my billing issue is all sorted now. They even gave me an entire breakdown of the months and how they had deducted the deposit of 1000 aed. Very clear, no doubts.

Also, for everyone's info, today I found out that the reason there are so many problems recently with DEWA is because they changed the system and it all reset back to what it was before. Consequently the bills started going to the previous tenants/landlords/construction company and even though people were paying and were in credit they got cut off!!!
So if you haven't seen your bills in a while just double check that they your account is still registered in your name before you get cut off!!


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## Moe78

Welcome to Dubai!


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## justforus

I haven't read all the thread but my experiences are as follows:
employer asking me for DEWA bill. Never recieved in 11 months then cut off, despite asking for a bill regularly. i didn't want to cause a fuss incase i got my housing charges put on.
after being cut off paid the bill then continued not to pay.
Got cut off today with water, morning shower and get home to no water after 7.30. Race to DEWA, getting there at 7.55 (they shut at 8) and pay the full bill. Water is on 2 hours later, can't complain really as they have been really good since i haven't paid in months. Spent the time waiting for water in the bar hence my poor grammer/spelling.


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