UAE | Traffic and Transport
At some stations 'fuel evaporates into thin air'
Some motorists who have been cheated at the gas pumps have warned others to keep an eye on the pump meter when filling up or they will be shortchanged.
- By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:40 July 4, 2008
- Image Credit:
- The motorists should check the pump meter to see if they are getting the right amount of petrol they are paying for, says a police official.
Dubai: Some motorists who have been cheated at the gas pumps have warned others to keep an eye on the pump meter when filling up or they will be shortchanged.
Some victims, many of them women, complained to Gulf News that they have been cheated by gas station attendants in various emirates.
The trick is simple, explains one motorist. When you drive in, the attendant will ask you to go a little forward, so as to make it difficult for you to see the meter.
The attendant will then start filling up, but he has not brought the meter to zero, says one motorist who realised he has been cheated.
"Say, a driver comes in and asks for Dh10 worth of petrol. The attendant will keep the meter at Dh10 when he leaves and when a new motorist drives in, fills up, starting at Dh 10."
One motorist said he was being cheated when he realised because of what his vehicle's fuel indicator was telling him. "I had paid for Dh30 worth of petrol and the fuel indictor showed it was much less."
One woman driver said she felt there was a significant drop in the mileage after she filled her tank at one gas station.
"I was ripped off many times, but I did not realise it until much later," said Ramia, a Lebanese expatriate living in Dubai.
Ramia said she asked for Dh100 worth of gas and the attendant asked her to move her vehicle a little in front. "It seemed to me he did not want me to read the meter," she said.
"Then another attendant came and removed the hose and said the bill was Dh80 and returned Dh20 which I had already paid the first attendant," she said.
Sufian, an Iraqi expatriate, said he asked attendant to fill up the tank and the man said the bill was Dh170. "I know for sure that my full tank usually costs me Dh150," he said. "I threatened to call the police but the manger apologised saying it will not happen again and returned Dh20."
Khowla, an Emirati motorist says she never looks at the petrol pump meter, but one day noticed she had paid more for the gas.
Raja from India said it happened with her once when her 40 litre-tank was filled with 45 litres. Lisa, an American, who lives in Abu Dhabi, said she saw the attendant inserting the hose in her tank without renewing the meter.
Not happened
Ahmad, a Sudanese who works at a petrol station in Sharjah, said such things never happened at his petrol station where he has been working for the past seven years.
Police officials said that motorists should check the pump meter to see if they are getting the right amount of petrol they are paying for.
"Such issues must be reported to police even if the amount of money is small."
A public relations spokesman at one of the oil companies in Dubai said people can contact the company to such issues as a complaint numbers is available at any petrol station.
"The name of each service attendant is on the badge on his shirt," he said.
Have you experienced this? What recourse did you seek? Do you make it a point to observe the amount of fuel being filled ? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com
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