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New Road Atlas's
Geographers' A-Z atlas has now been upgraded to include many more
parts of the Home Counties. It now includes Hemel Hempstead, St Albans,
Pirbright, Reigate, Chobham, Bisley and Oxted. In completing the enlarged
version of their atlas, they have changed the map co-ordnances. This being the
case, if you have a new atlas, the map reference that is given with the job
details on your screen will not match.
If you have the new terminal, the job offer will go to the street on your
inbuilt map, so there will be no problem for the driver. All that the driver
will have to do if he has a new atlas is that they will have to look in the
index.
Waiting Time
We still have drivers with the new terminal not using the waiting time facility
correctly. If you have an ASAP journey, then when you press your code 21 or ARR
button, the waiting time will start from that point, but if you have a
pre-booked journey and you arrive and press code 21 before the booked time,
then at the end of the journey you will have to re-adjust the waiting time to
show the correct time waited from the pre-booked time.
Advising Arrival.
When you arrive outside the correct address, you should press the code 21 or
your AAR button and then go inside the reception to request your passenger be
told of your arrival.
Code 21 or AAR function does not automatically get the Call Centre persons to
tell the client you are outside.
If the receptionist cannot contact the client, you should return
to your taxi and press the Advise Arrival button and stay within your taxi for
the reply.
After being told that the client is on the way down by either the
receptionist or the Call Centre, you should then wait 15 minutes. On the expiry
of the 15 minutes, if the client has still not appeared you should then take
one of the following actions:
- If you have been told by the receptionist that the client is on the way
down, you should do
an Advise Arrival to the Call Centre.
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- If the Call Centre has told you the client is on the way down, you
should do a No Show.
- If you are told to wait another 15 minutes, then after that time has
expired you must do a
No Show.
- If you are kept waiting any longer, you must inform the Call Centre
every 15 minutes with
a No Show request.
If for any reason you cannot park directly outside the pickup building,
please make sure you tell the Call Centre where you are parked before
doing an advise arrival.
Passing on News
Due to operating on a Data Despatch system, the transferring of news
regarding drivers who are away sick is sometimes hard to obtain. If a
driver is away with a serious illness or bereavement
in the family, we would like to send a card, maybe some flowers or
fruit. So if you hear of a driver who is ill that we have not been
informed about, please let us know. It is nice when you are sick to know
that someone is thinking about you...
Receipt Pads
We have some subscribers who come into the office and keep requesting
receipt pads to give away to their friends. This is totally unacceptable;
firstly these 'friends' contribute nothing to the Society. Secondly, I am
receiving more and more complaints from companies and members of the
public about our drivers who are being rude, overcharging or driving
dangerously. When I check into these complaints with the information
supplied by the passengers, I often find that the driver concerned has
nothing to do with DaC, but they have supplied the passenger with one of
our printed receipts. Please
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don't do it. The damage that it does to our reputation can be
irreparable. It has taken all of us a long time to build this Society into
becoming the most respected, but it only takes a few drivers foolish
actions in giving away our receipt pads to ruin those years of hard work.
Credit Union Payments.
During the summer months, we have some drivers going on extended holidays
without thinking about the payments they have set up to the DaC Credit
Union via their credits. If a driver goes on a month's holiday and has
made no provision for the payments to the Credit Union, by the time he/she
returns and has completed account work to cover the debt, it could run
into another 2 months. With some drivers this can run into hundreds of
pounds, which means they then become a debtor to the Society.
We would ask you when going on an extended holiday, that you make a
provision for the Credit Union. Alternatively make a phone call to Warren
Smith, our Financial Accountant at the Dial-a-Cab office to explain that
your payments may show that you going into debt.
New Terminals
We have now fitted over half the fleet with the new terminals, but have
got to the point where drivers are not keeping appointments. To keep our
fitting programme up to the schedule that we have set, if a driver reneges
on 3 set appointments, the BoM have said that driver will be de-authorised
until the fitment of the new terminal.
Theatre Tickets
We have been lucky enough to be given quite a number of complimentary
tickets over the past few months. As I have now built up a good
relationship with the people who allocate the tickets, I would ask that
you do not abuse these offers.
I had a phone call from a theatre manager who was over the moon that one
of our drivers had written to him, stating what a wonderful night he had
at the theatre. The driver also asked to be given some flyers so that he
could promote the show. This type of kind action helps to put us in the
lead when any other offers come around.
Tom Whitbread |
