Seems having the attendant fill your car in Abu Dhabi is going to become a ‘premium’ service by mid-April. Could be interesting...I foresee engines left on, people on their phones etc while self serving.

They will all pay the extra so they dont have to get out of the car
When they are busy i usually try and do my own but the attendants do not seem to like that at all

Quite right and I will pay the extra. I don’t live in the gulf so I can pump my own gas.

What chance of the attendant's actually being able to keep the service charge themselves.

So, basically what will happen is instead of a 10 Dhs tip to the attendant as it is now you instead pay 10 Dhs and it goes to ADNOC

Well the good news is that cost to you is the same. Now I can use Apple Pay and be guilt free.

A few years back they banned tipping at the gas stations. That was outrageous.

Hang on, 10Dhs tip for the petrol bloke????

5 maximum surely? And that's if he's washed front and rear windows.

Can you peel an orange in your pocket

It's a load of balls and won't last more than a few weeks. They did this a few years ago and it was carnage. It slows the whole process down as half the folk don't know what they're doing and the other half are just unsafe.

As for tips, 5 dibs is the going rate if they do the windows.

Speaking of tips, I'm just having this debate in the office. What's your approach on the different services in Dubai? e.g. cleaner, restaurant, valet etc.

Jeez - just did the conversion, you are tipping a guy more to not spill your fuel than i pay to get my truck washed here. I thought life in your sandpit was supposed to be cheap? Suggest you start buying fuel from trinidad or the lefties in venezuela as we do, that’ll show em :-)

Actually the true measure - what do you have to pay per week or month for an 8 hour a day housekeeper or gardener? Here its circa 275-325 us a month.

I do this when they inevitably spend forever being dicked around by someone else. Usually some truck or minibus driver that has that insane disease that means simple things taking you or I a matter of moments takes them a lifetime to complete.

It definitely won't work though.

Range is probably between 550 and $817 USD (2000 to 3000 AED).

This is western paying for a Filipino.

You can get Ethiopians more cheaply. But you get what you pay for.

I understand it isnt what you mean, but at face value it sounds so racially bad....

It did. I laughed.