Call Sign December 2005 - Page 24 - DIAL-A-CAB COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENT

DIAL-A-CAB COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENT

Forty jobs
At the beginning of October I sent out just over 600 letters to drivers who had not completed forty credit rides during September. The fact this was going to happen was well publicised in this magazine - a waste of time and energy on my behalf it seems.
   We have been issuing complaints forms to drivers for breaking this rule over the years. It is a rule that is in the official ODRTS rulebook, but which had gotten out of hand as many drivers completely ignored it. Care of supplying a good service to Dial-a-Cab clients is obviously the furthest thing from the minds of some drivers. We are not talking about a few drivers here, we are actually looking at almost one third of the fleet not completing the minimum amount with totals ranging from zero to 39.
   If any driver tried to telephone me over the past few weeks, they probably hit my voice mail due to drivers who had received the 40 jobs letter jamming up my telephone line and voice mail. The Chairman correctly wrote last month that I had sent out 571 letters, but it hadn’t occurred to me to request loggers of any drivers who had completed zero jobs in September! It took the count to over 600. I had incorrectly assumed that apart from long-term sick, all drivers would have at least completed 1 job!
   The excuses for not doing the 40 jobs went from the genuine to the stupid. The job of a Complaints Officer is to protect your work and to make sure that every subscriber has a level playing field. Most drivers claimed that they were on holiday during that month and asked why did I not check first? Well, the task of checking would have used half of the Amazon rain forest in loggers! As we had publicised what we were going to do, a simple phone call prior to September would have stopped the receipt of the letter.
   What the system also calculated was that if the driver had not completed the September quota, it would also show their history for the past year. When drivers then came on the telephone to scream and shout that they were "on holiday," I could go straight back and ask if they had been on holiday on those numerous other months throughout the year?
   As a direct result of the letters going out, we gained driver information giving me an insight into how many drivers were at retirement age or older. The oldest working driver I spoke to was 84 and he had just had his bill renewed. No, they had not completed the forty trips and were quite happy for the hard-working, rule-abiding subscribers to cover the work. Then, if the street or airport work dried up, they would then "help us out" by having account work to fall back on. What a selfish attitude! Some were only staying on the circuit hoping we were going to be bought out by an independent company and to be in line for a windfall.
   We also had drivers who were now only paying Ł1 subscription and who had decided that due to

their paying virtually nothing,
would now take it easy and only work a few days and get their money from street hirings. Those
street hirings give Dial-a-Cab a great big zero, yet they were happy to run around with Ł2,500 worth of computer equipment laying idle in their taxi. This
equipment could be put into another taxi which would help to cover account work and bring revenue into the Society, then the Board would not have to consider increasing the fleet size to help cover out clients needs.
We are currently putting through more account work than ever before - much of it as a direct result of Concierge. Those who criticised us in spending Ł24,000 on Concierge, should now look at the Łmillion extra work it has generated for DaC subscribers.

Illness
What the letter also gave us was information on the number of drivers who are seriously ill or who have someone close within their immediate family who is seriously ill. Since we stopped despatching by voice, we have lost drivers giving us information about other drivers – it was a bit like a local newspaper. If someone failed to hear a particular call sign, they would ask the despatcher and sure enough someone else would call in with the missing news.
   I now know of so many drivers who are suffering with cancer and other life threatening illnesses or are acting as unpaid full time carers for their wives or children who are suffering with these tragic illnesses. There are also drivers who have suffered bereavements
within their immediate family in the last few months - some of these caused by accidents.
   On one particular Friday, I took so many calls of this nature that I felt depressed for the whole weekend. Those tales were indeed tragic.
   However, I fail to see how any driver who is working full time - or even part time - cannot comply with the ruling re completing 40 credit journeys a month. It takes just 2 jobs a day on a 5-day week. Part time workers seem able to complete many street hirings whilst out. Is this because they want cash straight into their pockets and the taxman not knowing about it? These drivers need to come into the real world as the taxman is far more informed about the workings of licensed taxi drivers than they obviously realise. We know how many street hirings they are taking, so it is a little silly to tell me that they are not out long enough to cover 40 trips.

Building up the circuit…?
Many told me how long they had been on DaC and that "they were

the ones who helped build it up."
Well the Chairman, Allen Togwell and myself are also old Shirland Road drivers who helped built up
the circuit and know that although we have done over 30 years, if we do not continue to get the work covered there will be nothing for the younger drivers who are hoping to get their livelihood from the radio. Our Sales staff are now reluctant to open any large accounts due to the failure of the third of the drivers in not contributing for whatever reason. I’m waiting for the next driver to tell me we do not have enough work as the facts that have been gained by this exercise and the driver’s loggers show how many rejects individuals have achieved on any given day, which will allow me to win any argument.
   Some drivers seem to think that we were only implementing the rule for September, but this was and is untrue as we were just giving you an extra warning for that month. To those of you who got the letter - which included an official warning - and have not contacted me with a valid excuse for September and prior months dating back to January, then the warning still stands.
   If on any subsequent months drivers fall below the minimum number of account rides, you will be issued with a formal complaints form and asked to appear before a Complaints Committee. All reasons for not completing the 40 jobs have been logged onto the computer as an aid to anyone who might be acting in the office as Complaints Officer.
   To all those drivers who I have now discovered are suffering with an illness, I’m sure I speak for everyone in wishing you a speedy recovery.
   If you have been hospitalised or have a prolonged illness, make sure you get a doctor’s certificate and send us a copy so that you can claim a re-imbursement on your subscriptions. If you have a prolonged illness that stops you completely from driving your taxi, contact Keith Cain or myself to see if can claim a re-imbursement on your subscriptions. Remember to always get a doctors certificate.

Long Jobs
If you are lucky enough to get a journey going to the outer zones and you have just been given a zone code as the destination such as E99, S99, SE51 etc or just a county such as Essex or Sussex etc, before finishing the job go to voice and give them the destination so that they can change it on your trip details. This will stop enquiries when the clients receive their invoices in case they do not know the exact details of where E99 S99 or SE51 are.

Christmas Incentive
May I take this opportunity to wish you all the luck in the world when trying to win one of our splendid incentive prizes. You only get these chances by being on Dial-a-Cab.
Finally, as another year comes to a close, may I take this opportunity to wish you and your family, a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Healthy New Year.

Tom Whitbread
DaC Complaints officer

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