Firstly may I start by wishing you and your family a very prosperous and healthy New Year. Let's hope the work rate continues to improve and that there is even less waiting around.

Credit and Charge Cards
We still have many drivers who give a variety of excuses to clients when they are presented with a credit or charge card, so that they do not have to carry out the trip.  It is relatively easy to swipe any of these cards and input the information needed (see Allan Evans article elsewhere in Call Sign). You then complete the journey as you would a normal account ride. Don't forget, when sending a CLJ form following a credit card journey, you must remember to input the admin charge unless otherwise stated by Dial-a-Cab. You can find these details on the plastic sticker that you attach to your centre partition window.
   I've had complaints regarding drivers refusing the above cards; this is one way of losing work.  Once the clients have been turned away, they often do not bother to return. And, at this time we should be doing our utmost to gain more work - not drive it away.
   The stupid excuses that drivers give clients are: "It's not my taxi,"  "I'm the day man, the night man takes the cards," or "the card swipe is broken." These drivers think they are clever, but the only one that is clever is the man at  Addison Lee who signs up the refused passengers the next day!

Waiting for a Taxi
The other Tuesday at 09:10, I phoned up for a taxi on account from Mare St E8 as I needed to get back to Brunswick House quickly. Firstly I was told there would be a cab within 15 minutes or "we will call you," then 6 minutes later I was told "sorry, we have no cab but will keep trying."  A further 4 minutes and I was informed they had a taxi... "it will be there at 10:00." When I enquired where the taxi was coming from, I was told Ilford.
   This meant I was going to wait 50 minutes from booking a taxi to arrival, yet I was only 10 minutes from the centre of the City. In fact the taxi arrived in 55 minutes, the driver Barry McCarthy, had seen the job sitting in the BID section and did not want to see another account customer disappointed (he didn't know it was me).
   How can we tell our large corporate accounts if they were in the same position, that we cannot cover a journey that is 10 minutes from the City and on the north side of the river. At the time there were nearly 200 taxis booked onto the system empty. Is this the way to keep the work away from the licensed private hire?

Complaints
Since the beginning of the Christmas period, I have been inundated with complaints from customers and drivers regarding the rudeness and bad service of a small minority of subscribers.
   When I speak to other drivers, many say they would not inform on a Subscriber if he or she has done anything wrong, they think this is 'grassing' them up.
   What a stupid way of looking at things! If they are rude or threatening to a client, the client leaves. This being the case, they are losing your work yet some condone this kind of action? I hope that you can look your children or wife in the face when they ask for new shoes or a coat and you cannot afford them because you helped a driver lose one of our biggest accounts.
   All of our subscribers are a self employed businessmen; well if this is the way some run their
   Business, they will never win the Queens Award for industry!

The Second Page
Many drivers are not checking when they get their job details if there is a second page; this causes major problems for the Call Centre and clients. Always look, as it may be directions or information on what to do or not to do when arriving at the pickup.  On deliveries, it may tell you where to deposit the parcel or more importantly, where not to leave it...

Roman Way Depot.
As many of you will have noticed, Roman Way has some new faces; this is to improve the service that we give to subscribers. Shelagh    Adkins has taken over the administration of the office work, new fittings, 

Finsbury Square
As you will have noticed, we have brought in some trial measures for EC5. Not starting until 20:50 is one of them. These measures were brought in after complaints from the City of London Police and London Transport (see article in this issue).
   The main problems were the drivers who wanted to double park to talk to their mates. This is a selfish act, which had repercussions for all of our drivers. We have our logos on the side of the taxis to advertise and show the public how good we are, but once again the mindless few ruin it for everyone.
   Having a coffee stall in the square is great for drivers, but you have some who park all around it causing chaos for any other road users. These drivers also try to park by the coffee stall and book onto the rank. The EC5 rank is physical and you have to be correctly parked on it to book in.
   This also applies to the SE75 rank; you have to be parked on the designated area to book in.

Assaults and Muggings
There has been a spate of taxi drivers being the victims of muggings or assaults in the Brixton and Streatham areas. An officer for Scotland Yard called me the other day to inform me that they need all drivers who have been victims to report the incident. If drivers do not report them, it makes them look isolated and they are not given any priority.    You could be holding the piece of information that could lead to an arrest and conviction of those who can only be called scum.
   We learned the other day that Jim Warren, our ex-day Security officer, got mugged after going to collect his pension. The people who follow an old man of 80 from the post office and mug him are lower than a worm's belly. But if they catch the perpetrators, some do-gooder in her woolly socks, hairy skirt and Dolly Day Dream glasses will come up with an excuse for them! Most probably their mother wouldn't let them watch Telly Tubbies on their 18th birthday. Then they enlist Mrs Blair to defend them!
   I think these mentally deficient persons should be taken to the furthest isolated island off the North of Scotland and dumped there with no food or water and left to fend for themselves.

Tom Whitbread