Attributes
It would appear that some members have recently become a little perturbed regarding the ‘I’ attribute that we had on one of our internal accounts and I believe that Allen Togwell has written quite a lengthy piece (unusual for him!) on this subject elsewhere in this issue of Call Sign. I’m sure you will all understand the reasons why this account was set up, but if some of you Metro/Fairway owners are a little concerned over the situation, then we do not have a problem with removing the offending attribute.
   For the uninitiated among you, the ‘I’ attribute means that a customer will only receive a TX1/II taxi when they make a booking with us. This provision was made some years back when I, or other BoM members, were visiting customers and we were just endeavouring to show these prospective clients how new and pristine our fleet was. In recent times, this attribute has not really been required because if I remember correctly, the first TXI was introduced over seven years ago, consequently some of the TX1s may not look quite so pristine anymore! So we have removed the ‘I’ attribute from the Dial-a-Cab account.
   However, since the ‘I’ controversy arose, some members have e-mailed me with their observations regarding a few of our accounts. It would appear that some of our members after reading the last issue of the magazine, decided to inform some of our customers that when they ring to order the cab (for roaders, naturally!) they should request a TX1/II taxi, consequently all the Metro’s/Fairways in the zone are by-passed until the system finds a TXI/II. Although the driver who "suggested" to the customer that they ask for the ‘I’ attribute cannot be certain that he will get the roader, it certainly cut the odds down quite considerably. Where it does come into its own is when the driver with the ‘I’ attribute knows roughly what time the job is coming out and pulls onto the rank (no, not the Finsbury) as soon as a Fairway or Metro has pulled on, thereby using them as a shield against a ‘walk up’. Then, should the ‘roader’ be despatched, he knows that the job will go directly to him!
   Consequently, to the handful of

you who are participating in the above scheme, please stop it as we are aware of what is going on and when a customer requests the ‘I’ attribute, then further questions are being asked.

Time for T…
As you are all aware, we have been working with car companies in recent times to cover work. The average trip fare that we do is just over £31 and the amount of work that we are receiving from them is increasing all the time. In fact, it is not unusual to find that when checking my Daily Trip Reports, a car company appears in our top three accounts regarding usage!
   I know I have said it before, but I do understand the arguments from both sides on whether or not we should service these accounts and while my heart says no, my head says yes. I also realise that it’s easy to say that if we didn’t service these accounts, then the other licensed radio circuits would, but it’s still as true as ever. I do understand the very strong feelings that some of you have regarding the servicing of these accounts, consequently we have made use of the old ‘T’ attribute that is no longer used and now call it the attribute for Transport Companies.
   You have all been given the attribute and all car work will be offered to you so long as you have the attribute assigned to you. If you do not wish to be considered when the car work is offered, you will need to have the attribute removed by us and will have to speak with Driver Services who will arrange to have this done for you. Remember, the onus is on individual members to ensure the attribute is removed if he/she does not wish to participate in this work. At the time of writing, the ‘T’ attribute has been assigned to you all and 

so far eleven of you have had the attribute removed.

Credit Cards
Most of you will have read in the 

press that as of 1 January 2005, ‘Chip and Pin’ technology will be applied to all credit cards and I have written in the magazine at some length in the past regarding this technology. However, if Dial-a-Cab were to upgrade with this latest development, then it would cost us in the region of £500k. As the magnetic stripe and signature are not being phased out, consequently and at least for the moment, we do not consider it to be a viable proposition.
   However, to help ensure that the amount of fraudulent transactions are kept to a minimum, there are certain things that can be done by you to help the situation. The Cardholder must always be in attendance even if you take the job through the system. You must also swipe the card with the cardholder present and of course, please ensure that the signature the customer gives you corresponds to the one on the card. Keep your signed receipts for six months just in case there are any queries and you have to produce a receipt.
   Yes, it all sounds obvious, but we still have drivers who have been caught out by credit card fraudsters. Tom Whitbread, in this issue, has explained about some of the scams being carried out by these people. Don’t become one of their victims.
   If you adhere to these simple requests, then I feel confident that the number of fraudulent transactions will be minimal.

Coverage
You will all have noticed how busy we have become and it will be even busier as Christmas approaches. I know I really don’t need to tell you as you are all aware, the coverage to our account customers must be maintained. There is a letter in this issue of the magazine suggesting that we offer financial incentives - as we have done in the past - to cover the work. Our fleet is currently the largest it has ever been and there is spare capacity for you to demolish the extra work at Christmas. Surely the best incentive that you have is to cover the work and retain your existing accounts so that we will have plenty of account work for next year. Remember, it is your business…

Brian Rice
Chairman, Dial-a-Cab