Tag Archives | on demand

Bid Farewell to Long Queues at The Mecanique Centers

No matter how smart you try to be about timing your car inspection visit to the mecanique center in Hadath, it is almost always guaranteed to be like a trip down to hell. I personally utterly hate to take a day off for the sole purpose of waiting endlessly in long queues to get that stupid task done. And I dare call it stupid because all cars end up driving on the Lebanese roads regardless whether they pass or fail.

However, a new service by “Blink My Car” (the app that made car washing a tap away) seems to have found a workaround for that as it currently offers sending one of their officers to have your car inspected.

I got in contact with them and was informed that the process takes an average of 3 hours and costs 50,000L.L (in addition to the 35,000L.L inspection fees). To benefit from it, all you have to do is to request an appointments through the app and provide the officer with the car registration license.

Once your car passes you will of course have to pay the mecanique fees which can be done at Naf3a, Banks, and some certified centers, but if you wish them to pay it on your behalf then you can pay an additional 25,000L.L and also have one of their officers pay it within 48 hours.

I believe this is pretty convenient for employees especially those with strict working hours, and the service fee is both fair and absolutely worth it.

For those who are not familiar with the app, the cool people at “Blink My Car” were kind enough to provide me with a free promo code for people to try their car wash service when I was inquiring them about the mecanique thing. All you have to do is download their app (for either iOS or Android) and enter the code “plus961free” to benefit from a free wash. There’s no limit set for the code so feel free to tell your friends as well!

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Lebanese TV Stations and Copyright Basics

metel-el-amar-600

Most Lebanese TV stations have been uploading their content to YouTube for a while now, and I’m personally glad they do because I rarely manage to watch programs on time. My wife and I usually put my little kid to sleep and then start watching our favorite shows starting 8:30 or 9:00PM, including anything interesting we might have missed on a Lebanese station thanks to YouTube.

However, I’ve been lately noticing that those in charge or maintaining the YouTube channels are sometimes uploading every show the stations are airing regardless whether it was produced by them or not. For instance while it is normal for LBCI to upload their news reports or Nharkom Saiid for example, I don’t think it’s ok for them to upload a series they bought from some production company because they don’t have the right to redistribute it.

Yesterday for example I was going through MTV Lebanon videos and noticed that they have every single episode of “Metel El Amar” series on their YouTube channel even though it was produced by Marwa Group (link). On the other hand, LBCI have episodes of “Shaware’ Al Zell” (produced by Phoenix International) on their channel.

I know there’s no way to compare but imagine some European TV channel uploading Game of Thrones episodes the minutes they finish airing them, that would piss HBO off big time… And in case you’re wondering, I personally don’t respect copyright laws as I get most of my movies and series from torrent websites, but I was just thinking that TV stations should be more responsible about such things.

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Blink My Car – The Latest On-Demand Car Wash Service

blinkmycar

Blink My Car” is a new mobile app that allows people in Beirut to book a car wash for their car or motorbike wherever they are around the city. All they have to do is place an order through the app and a team will show up at their place to clean the vehicle using waterless products.

The idea is not new to the market since two similar services were previously launched in 2010 (Yara Service) and 2014 (Just Wash), but Blink My Car seems easier to use since it doesn’t involve calling any phone number.

I actually downloaded the app and it required me to register and enter basic details about my car in order for them to identify it once they arrive (car model, color, and plate number). I’m not sure though how much helpful will these info be in crowded areas, but anyway I was mostly curious to know how much is their fees. It turned out they charge $10 per car/motorbike and an additional $2 for the car interior, so that’s a total of $12 of 18,000L.L to properly clean your car.

I honestly found the fare a bit too high since I usually can get my car cleaned for anything between 5,000L.L and 10,000L.L. But then again, if I ever felt like I really really need to wash my car ad was unable to go out, then I will probably consider using “Blink My Car” and will be willing to pay the extra 8,000L.L.

I wish their team all the luck anyway!

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