Went to the VFS Visa Office today to submit the passport.
Although the letter doesn't mention it, there is a 39.57$ service charge for VFS, but they actually take 40$ and don't give change back.
They accept neither card payment nor Lebanese Pounds, so I suggest you take exact amount IN USD. Some people were complaining that the agents would not break a 100$ for them.
If you want SMS notification, there is a supplementary 2$ charge, which I skipped as I did not have enough USD cash on me to pay for it.
They will send us an email notification when it gets ready for pickup, so SMS doesn't really matter.
Overall process took me about 1h30 (I had to queue twice, as I didn't know they only took USD. Went down to the ATM across the street in between queueing).
As per the agent, the minimum processing time is 3 business days (1 day to send, 1 day at VO, 1 day to retrieve), but that I should expect around one week turn-around time.
There were lots of people. Everyone I saw or talked to was applying for a visitor visa.
VFS office is in Condord center. There is a parking downstairs that charges 3000LBP for the first few hours.
Google Maps location for VFS office:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/33°53'34.1"N+35°29'11.8"E/ @ 33.8937234,35.4874938,18z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0