JEDDAH, 8 June 2006 — Customers that disconnect kilometer counters in hired cars seem to be an everlasting problem haunting car rental companies in the Kingdom. Even though companies charge up to SR1,000 for tampering with the counters, some customers are still tempted to try undetectable ways to disconnect them.
Customers are mainly driven to this by the limited kilometers per day scheme practiced by car rental companies. Many companies stipulate that clients can only cover 100 kilometers a day and are required to pay SR1 for every extra kilometer.
Saudi teacher Hatim Nafie believes it is unfair to limit kilometers and says he doesn’t blame those who disconnect counters. “We pay a rental plus insurance, then why should we pay for extra mileage,” he added.
Nafie said he had rented a car for a whole month for SR3,000, and had to pay SR1,100 for extra mileage when he returned the car. “I have never seen this practice anywhere else in the world,” he said.
Saleh Kassab, from the car rental company Alfi, said his company is forced to implement this rule in order to control how cars are used. He said most of the clients are aged between 23 and 28 and some of them abuse the vehicles by driving deep into the desert or use them for joyriding and drag racing. The limited daily kilometer scheme has proven to help minimize such abuse.
Kassab added that Alfi have included a new clause in their rental contract which stipulates an SR800 fine if meters were disconnected by customers.
Munir Hamza, an official at Dia car rental company, said the company has marked meter plugs with special tags that would be damaged if the meter were to be disconnected.
Hamza said some people had tampered with meters without realizing that the tag was damaged. “We usually make them pay the fine and if they refuse we send the contract to the authorities,” he added.
Some mechanics, he said, can disconnect the meter from the dashboard, but it’s a costly procedure and sometimes can be spotted from marks that result from the board removal. He said other companies simply use colored nail polish to mark the kilometer counter.
College student Ahmed Al-Saeed said he usually rents vehicles and is presently having a hard time paying for extra kilometers. “You can cover 100 kilometers by simply traveling around Jeddah,” he said. He also called for companies to revise their “greedy” policy of limiting kilometers.
Al-Saeed said he used to remove the kilometer counter at times of extreme necessity, like once when he needed to travel to Taif and come back in the same day. “Now I have stopped doing that because it just isn’t as easy as it used to be,” he said.
