JEDDAH, 17 April 2007 — Many gas station attendants have been complaining about customers handing over fake notes and others filling up gas and leaving without paying during the night. An occurrence that they say is a regular one.
“Early this week, someone filled the tank and gave me a fake SR500 bill,” said a Bangladeshi worker at the Al-Salam gas station on Andalus Street. To make things worse, SR500 was deducted from the worker’s salary. “I’m trying to make up for it by asking people for tips,” he said.
Being handed counterfeit notes is not the only worry for gas station attendants. Many people, especially those at night, fill up and simply drive away without paying. Workers end up compensating the loss through their own pockets.
Arab News visited many gas stations in Jeddah and learned that incidents of customers not paying occur at least twice a week and that the main culprits tend to be young Saudis. Expatriates have also been seen doing the same at times.
Some workers insist on receiving cash before filling up. But with over 400 gas stations across the city, irritated customers simply go elsewhere.
Many workers have now resorted to adopting a primitive but nevertheless effective defense mechanism to discourage people from leaving without paying. A relatively large stone is kept close to gas pumps.
“It has always been a good way to deal with those who don’t pay for their gas. At least it ensures that they end up paying to replace their rear window,” said Khurshid, a Bangladeshi worker at the Al-Saeed gas station on the Old Makkah Road.
He added that at night workers are more alert. “We have one guy ready with a pen and paper to write down the plate number if a customer drives away,” he said, adding, “At night, all people who come to the station are considered potential thieves.”
Once a customer came at night and asked the worker to fill SR7 worth of gasoline. He then ran away without paying, said Saleh Saeed, a Yemeni worker at the Al-Tasheel gas station in the Madain Al-Fahd district.
“We didn’t doubt the young Saudi man, because he was specific about how much gas he wanted. I later learned from a friend, who works at another gas station, that he had a similar experience with the same thief. This indicated that the thief was smart enough to fill small amounts of gas from various stations in order to avoid suspicion,” he said.
