You can also email your letters to: callsignmag@aol.com

Call Sign’s Fuel Pump Success!
I read the article in Call Sign (April 2004) about the fuel pump markings campaign being taken up by the AA thanks to my original story in Call Sign "Fuel Warnings – Call Sign First Again" (page 25). Because of all the interesting articles in the magazine, I hadn't yet got round to that one and didn’t notice it until much later!
   Well anyway, I'm pleased for two reasons. Firstly, something should now get achieved regarding the absurd colour coding system used for fuel. Secondly, my old mum would have been proud - she always said I would be famous one day - although she most probably would want to know why my name could not have been highlighted even bigger!
Terry Hamston (B24)
Yes, well done Terry. Sadly, had it not been for the AA’s intervention, it is unlikely that the oil conglomerates would have taken much notice of your problem, but with them suddenly you are our hero – and your mum would have been twice as proud! …Ed

Emoluments to the Board? An Open Letter to Brian Rice…
On the subject of ‘Emoluments to the Board’ last year (which for the second year running failed to include N.I. contributions which would change the amount from £429,000 to £475,000), the answers you gave for not showing individual members' payments were not correct.
   The Friendly Society Act of 1992 clearly states 'the Members of the Society are entitled to this information'. I feel this is not an unjust request, for when one takes into account that over the past two years, payments to drivers are down 25%, subscriptions paid by drivers are up 25% and the cost of this Board to the members has increased by 10%. This, I think, would give the members a true reflection of their value.
   Finally, may I ask if it is the policy of this Board to only notify the membership of any offers made to Dial-a-Cab from outside parties, if the offer is deemed to be acceptable by the Chairman?
Darryl Cox (T33)
Brian Rice replies: Darryl you have become so 'angry' over the years. I have known you a long time and you have now got to a situation where you complain about everything and anything! The Prime Minister, football, weather, cab trade and yes, even me!   Incidentally, do I also detect a little bit of the 'green eye’ and envy? You write that I have given the membership incorrect information, well I’m sorry Darryl but the information that I gave was absolutely correct. The Act states that our accounts should show emoluments to Officers of the Society and they do. You also feel that the figure should include N.I. contributions; well that is wrong because it is a payment levied by the Government on an employer for the staff who are employed by that company and N.I contributions have to be paid on behalf of the employee to the Government.  That is not an emolument to an officer.
   Finally Darryl, you know darn well that any offer made for the Society, I would make available to members. However, the offer that was made after the Sovereign withdrawal stated quite clearly that part of the deal was that I had to sign an agreement to work for the 'new' company for a period of three years, something I was not prepared to do. Consequently there was no point in putting that to the members because there was not really any offer as it fell at the first hurdle - as well you know because I explained the
situation to you at the AGM.

Voice Signals
I have been a cab driver for over thirty years and during that time I have seen many changes, mostly for the good. For example, the TXII is like driving a Ferrari compared to my first cab. My first cab needed ‘Easy Start’ even in the 1976 record heat wave! You needed arms of steel to do a u-turn and the cab had a braking system whereby if you managed to stop it, then you’d had a result! However, now that we have this wonderful satellite technology, there are a few things that I just don’t understand:
   A/ Why did we have a better voice radio signal thirty years ago?
   B/ Why does the voice channel go down as often as (name deleted as I like my job…Ed! on a Saturday night?
   C/ Why does the voice channel break up so much and make the dispatchers sound more like Martians?
   I am told that when all the fleet is upgraded, these problems will be solved. I wonder though, because I can’t understand how my local cab company in Waltham Abbey has such a fantastic signal and has had so for years, although I do admit that their dispatchers also sound like Martians! Although on the other hand, that could be because it’s difficult to find dispatchers in Essex! I know it’s old hat and boring to complain that the good old days were the best, but I personally think that is not true.  Dial-a-Cab is a great company and getting better every year, but there is one absolute fact: If we had a voice channel in the past like we have now, then there would be no DaC!
Ken Hardy (G36)
   Allan Evans replies: Ken, like you I have been driving a taxi over 26 years and I agree that when first joining ODRTS, the work was well dispatched by voice - although  I can still remember some very bad channel breakthroughs in those early days! The operating fleet size was much smaller then than it is now, with many fewer mobiles. Mobile phones were also only being thought about and the airwaves were comparatively free from the many millions of calls and text messages etc travelling backwards and forwards that we have today. In addition, hundreds of companies now use these airwaves, which obviously influences the quality and performance of any voice channel. The recent voice channel problems were with BT landlines and completely out of Dial-a- Cab's control, although work has now been successfully carried out to rectify the trouble and in most cases the channel now performs sufficiently well. Using the data channel will allow you in most cases to go about your daily work without the need to use the voice channel, and if you utilise the text message screen on your terminal, it should allow adequate contact with the Call Centre.  Fortunately, voice is now a back-up to the data system and although necessary, the work that is being carried out to improve the data signal problems is, I believe, probably more important to all members at this particular time.

Up-to-Date Websites!
I recently noticed while playing around on my computer and going to the DaC website that there is a fare increase coming in
 July 2002! Perhaps you could prevail upon someone to bring   this up to date, as we are now in  March 2004.

Old Ground?
The AGMs of years gone bye had a certain carnival feel about them. With a 1000 or more
   DaC members present, it was almost like being at a circus. We had the clowns on the front bench and the stand-up comics in the audience back row!
   All joking aside, from mid-morning we would debate; pause for tea and biscuits, resume, pause for lunch in the pub, resume and finish. Then on the way home, we’d go for a pint and a ruby it was a right "jolly boys outing."
   Are we to believe that all those members only attended to save a £50 fine or did they have a real interest in the Society? What happened? Postal voting! At this point, Brian, I would just like to say that to my knowledge, no "like minded members" at this year’s AGM were advocating the fining of a fellow member for non-attendance of an AGM as stated by you in your last Call Sign Editorial. Brian, there really is no need for an 8-page rebuttal from your good self - be gentle!
    As I have said before if you can’t discuss a proposition in the hall or question a candidate in an election year, this to me seems like a failing of the postal ballet system. The 100 or so same faces at the AGM would seem to be in the minority and I just wonder how someone who is using the postal ballot really feels when they are to all intents and purposes voting blind with a cursory tick in a box? When the postal ballet was passed by the majority, I don’t think the full repercussions were fully understood. In my opinion, no member should be fined for non-attendance, but rule changes, propositions and electing new members should be voted on in the hall and regardless of how many members are present, the vote Falls or Carries in the room. Yes, we need to change and modernise, to keep in front of the little people and the likes of Confusion Cab, but not all changes are necessarily for the best.
Colin Jenkins (Y22)
Brian Rice replies: A nice letter and quite amusing, Colin, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from you and I think you really answer your own question when you state that the AGM used to be a full day. I accept the fact that you are quite prepared to have a 'jolly boys’ outing, but it is patently obvious that the majority of members do not feel the same. As a matter of interest, how many times have you heard members complain that the AGM has the 'same old speakers saying the same old thing, year after year'? Also Colin, I’ll have to disagree with you when you write that you want to put the future of this company into the hands of 100 members who attend the AGM and subsequently, take the vote away from the majority of members. To disenfranchise the majority in favour of the minority is extremely undemocratic. Finally Colin, there is something that we do agree on when you write that 'not all changes are necessarily for the best'. I believe what you are suggesting fits that scenario exactly – it’s not for the best…

John Bindon Biography
I wonder if I might seek the assistance of Call Sign readers with my latest writing project? I have been commissioned to research and write a biography of the criminal-cum-actor John Bindon and am anxious to speak to anyone who might have known of his London taxi driver father. John Bindon was one of the most flamboyant villains of his day and turned his "tough-guy" persona to legitimate account as an actor in such television programmes as Hazell, The Sweeny and Softly Softly. Possessed of a menacing physique and considerable charm, Bindon was a gregarious self-publicist who counted among his friends the Kray twins and Princess Margaret. He served several prison sentences and in 1979 was accused of murdering an underworld enforcer in a club brawl.
    A taxi driver's son, John Bindon was born in Fulham in 1943. At the age of 11 he was charged with malicious damage. A few years later he was sent to Borstal for possession of live ammunition. He was holding court one night in a London pub when Ken Loach, then filming Poor Cow - Nell Dunn's gritty story of working-class life - walked in. Noted for his use of amateurs, Loach thought Bindon absolutely right for the film. "The only thing out of character," said Bindon of his role, "is that I have to hit Carol White in one scene - and I never hit women." The success of the film launched him on an acting career in which he frequently played criminals. He held his own alongside Mick Jagger and James Fox in Performance (1973) and was a drugs dealer in Quadrophenia (1979). Bindon had no regrets about being typecast, although he expressed a wistful desire "to play a priest sometime!"
   In the early 1970s, Bindon dominated many Chelsea and Fulham pubs where he was rumoured to run protection rackets. He could be gallant, but a close relationship was precarious. On one occasion a young man who offended him was reputedly driven in a car boot to Putney Common where Bindon made him dig his own grave. His innate anger was apparently only checked by the liberal consumption of cannabis. Despite his substantial earnings - not entirely from acting - he was constantly in financial difficulties and by 1976 he was bankrupt.  Two years later, Bindon killed a gangster named John Drake during a struggle outside a Putney pub. Badly wounded, he fled to Dublin but returned to England for his trial, where the prosecution alleged he had been paid £10,000 for the killing. The jury acquitted him after hearing that Bindon had gone to the aid of a man who had been knifed in the face by Drake. Actor Bob Hoskins appeared as a character witness: "When Bob walked in," Bindon recalled, "the jury knew I was OK."
   His reputation as an essentially decent man had been enhanced when he was given the Queen's Award for Bravery in 1968 for diving into the Thames in a vain attempt to rescue a drowning man - although Bindon allegedly boasted he had been fighting with the man on Putney Bridge, pushed him in, and only dived in to save him when he saw a policeman approaching! In 1982 he pleaded guilty to using a section of pavement as an offensive weapon against a "short and weedy" young man who had bumped into Bindon as he was celebrating his birthday. A year later he appealed successfully against a conviction for threatening an off-duty policeman with a carving knife. In 1985 he was cleared of causing criminal damage to a restaurant in Earl's Court. Two years later he was charged with possessing an offensive weapon and soon afterwards cleared of threatening to petrol-bomb the home of a mother of three. His final days were spent in some privation and loneliness in the tiny Belgravia flat he had purchased in more prosperous times. He died of AIDS in 1993, the day after his 50^th birthday.
   I would like to hear from anyone who feels they can help
with my research or can offer archive assistance. All replies

Westminster Gratitude…
I would like to say how much courtesy I have had from your drivers ever since being included in the Westminster TaxiCard system. I can honestly say that I have no complaints and have never had one that was serious enough to remember. Very occasionally the cab might be a minute or two late, but that is no problem compared to the excellent service I get. The drivers are so helpful and I have even got to know some of them – especially the Dial-a-Cab twins Bert and Kurt. Those drivers who I don’t know are still always friendly as are your telephonists who always sound so charming and who I can honestly say that I have never had a cross word with. To all at Dial-a-Cab, I offer my sincere thanks…
Miss R.Benjamin
London NW8
   Thank you for that, we don’t do it for the gratitude, but it’s still nice to get some occasionally.
   Miss Benjamin’s letter gives me the chance to get something off my chest. The Westminster TaxiCard account has been awarded to DaC for a further five years, but if you look below the surface at the other Westminster contracts, a disturbing trend is arising. I’ve often heard drivers telling me that price doesn’t come into the equation when it comes to account clients "…they just want a cab outside their door on time." But if you look at the other three Westminster contracts that we tendered for, the question of service doesn’t seem to come into the equation. You will remember the ‘Home to School’ contract that we lost to Radio Taxis a few years back (on price), that has now been taken by ComCab who must have undercut RTL – who in turn must have realised that their ultra-low prices were inoperable.
 While I wish it had been us, at least that account has gone to a licensed taxi service. But the other two WM contracts have been won by minicabs and Addison Lee are now operating the Westminster Social Services account while Lewis Day are now operating the third contract. Believe me, their "service" can’t hold a candle to ours, but they offered it cheaply and so won it. DaC are one of – if not THE most professionally run radio taxi organisations in the world and because we are run so efficiently, we can shave prices. However, we cannot hope to compete with minicab companies who pay drivers next to nothing. Am I wrong? I’d be interested in driver’s views …Ed

An AGM Thank You…
Alan, may I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your excellent coverage of the AGM
in the March Call Sign. It was the most comprehensive I can ever recall and considering the low attendance, vitally important for the democracy of the Society. Well done!
Daryl Hall (T33)
   You’re just saying that because I put your photo in! …Ed

One Number…
In think that the idea of a one number cash line is excellent. It increases the number of cash trips that we get and means that we are getting back work that has always been in our domain. I have had no problem at all with the collection of the extra £2 – although admittedly I do inform passengers about it as they get in. One or two thought it a bit expensive, but the majority were fine.
John Davis (F60J)
I’d still like to see Ken Livingstone spend some money pushing the scheme so that it becomes more widely known, but we seem to be part of the public transport system in name only …Ed

Credit Cards
I recently read in a trade paper that a credit card company are giving 5% of the handling charge back to the drivers. Why don’t DaC do this, especially as they now have put the charge up to 12% plus? DaC are also getting £1.50 for cash bookings as well. I just think it’s a bit unfair. Another option might be to just deduct the 5% of the radio rent on each credit card done, which would probably generate more CC work, as there would be more of an incentive for drivers to do it.
Dave Raymond (F56)
   Brian Rice replies: I have not read of a Credit Card Company returning 5% of the handling fee to drivers, but if you tell me that is the case Dave, then I believe you. However, as you know there is no such thing as a free lunch. Although we charge 12.5% handling charge to the customer, we have to pay a percentage of that as a Merchant fee to the credit card company, consequently paying by CC is still more cost effective than having an account, something that I would not want to be publicised too much.
   Yes we do get £1.50 for a cash booking - less the VAT of course - but you also get 50p of the cash-hiring fee – surely that's being fair? Finally, I would like generate more credit card work, in fact more work of any kind and the best incentive that our members have is that the more they do, the more they earn.

Mentioned in Dispatches
I've paid for an hour in this cyber café and I'm running out of people to write to! I'm in Kathmandu and Brian Lloyd (L41) (Mickey Tarbuck's nightman) - ‘Brian the Boat’ from the Finz - should have been with me. Unfortunately he fell down the stairs shortly after we booked the trip and broke his ankle badly and had to cancel. Can you mention him in despatches? I'm sure it will cheer him up to see he is not forgotten!
   I was in Delhi for three days before coming here and later I'm off to the Ganges - those erotic temples - and later to Rajasthan for a mooch around. Every cab I've been in so far has had a broken meter! What a coincidence!
   Perhaps there might be an article of interest for Call Sign on my return…?
Jon "the Mush" Tremlett
(Y32)
   Sounds like a great trip John and I’m sure drivers would be interested in reading about it. Nice to know that you only emailed me because you couldn’t think of anyone else to write to! …Ed

Madrid Tragedy
My sympathies to your European allies Spain for the terrible bombing that occurred in Madrid. As a Cuban living in America, I know about tragedies, but the scale of those on 9/11 and 9/3 have been just too shocking to believe. But one point that everyone seems to have overlooked; the number of days between the twin tower destruction and the Madrid bombs was 911 days. Coincidence?
Josie Allison
Seal Beach, California

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