KUWAIT: The number of car rental offices have increased in Kuwait. It seems to be a successful business as people are quite often renting cars. Some rent a car when their car is in the garage while others rent particular cars to try it out for a day when they are interested in buying one like it. There are some people who rent cars to use it to make money wherein they drive people from place to place for a fee such as a taxi driver would do.
In addition to the traditional car rental offices, some offices are now starting to offer luxury cars for rent. These offices are offering vehicles such as Lamborghinis, Porsches, Jaguars, Corvettes and other expensive cars for rent. Renting these cars is very expensive as some of these cars can reach KD 50 per day. Moreover, the car rental office must put additional security measures on the client renting the luxury car in order to ensure the safety of the car.
All rental offices have certain rules when renting out a car wherein they take some security measures to secure themselves against being conned by a client. These rules differ from one office to another and there is also some differences in treatment between Kuwaiti citizens and expatriates.
When a person wants to rent a car, the rental office usually demands a copy of an expatriates civil ID and the driving license from Kuwaitis. But sometimes, offices ask for more than just a copy of an expatriate's civil ID and ask for the original civil ID card or his original passport. Although taking these original documents is illegal, it's a usual practice followed by many rental offices in Kuwait.
We are not keeping his documents forever, we are only keeping them at the office for the duration of his renting the car. Once he returns the car and there are no problems, we return his ID or passport. Moreover, when he is already a regular customer and when there is trust between us, we don't demand these documents anymore," said an employee at a car rental office.
The rental offices offering luxurious cars demand additional security measures. "We take the passport and the civil ID from both Kuwaitis and expatriates. We also demand that they sign a promissory note which he will get back when he returns the car. We have to do these procedures as the cars we are renting out are worth thousands of Dinars," said Abu Abdullah, an owner of a car rental office which rents out luxury vehicles.
Car rental offices face various problems but the most common problem and the biggest problem is when a customer does not return a car and just disappears. "We have had one car missing for 20 days already and the police haven't been able to find it yet. It's an expensive car and we hope to find it soon. This customer will be penalized and we have already put a travel ban on him and opened a breach of trust case at the police station," Abu Abdullah added.
Also some clients talked about the bad experiences they had in regards to renting cars wherein they didn't get the service they were suppose to get. "My car was in the garage getting repaired so I rented a car for a few days. However on the second day of renting the car, the car's battery was dead so I couldn't use it the second day. I also couldn't trade it in or get it fixed given that it was Friday and the office was closed," said one unsatisfied client of a car rental office in Hawally.
Some offices try to solve this problem and keep in contact with their customers all the time. "We have transferred our land lines to our mobile lines. Hence, our customers can call us anytime and even during the weekends. This way, our customers can call us anytime if they face any problems," said Ahmad, an employee of a car rental office in Salmiya.
By Nawara Fattahova
© Kuwait Times 2007
