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The Best Drivers are on DaC!
I booked two taxis at about 1am on 26 Nov on my DaC Chargecard and I just wanted to let you know how efficient, courteous and friendly the driver was. My cab arrived before my friends, so the driver suggested we both wait in the cab for the second one to arrive. When Dial-a-Cab called to say it was waiting, he got out and walked around till he found it for us,
while we waited inside his cab. He was also extremely concerned for my wellbeing when another car caused him to brake suddenly, I felt that he truly was trained in customer service and took his role very seriously.
   I appreciate that all your drivers are efficient, however I felt that this particular one was extremely considerate and that he should get some recognition for going the extra mile. I do hope that you will pass on my appreciation and inform his manager of this top service.
Kate Allen
No passenger transport service can ever please all of the people all of the time and the odd complaint is something that we have to live with.   However, as I have said many  times, few passengers write in to say thank you for excellent service, the excuse usually being that they expect nothing less with us! But being appreciated is something that we all enjoy. So well done to DaC driver Mark Wheaton (B54), whose customer service has helped our company maintain its position as number one …Ed

RAC Atlas Prizes
Just a few lines to thank you for the excellent prize of the RAC Touring Atlas of Great Britain, which I was fortunate enough to win in the December Call Sign competition. My wife and I will have much pleasure visiting the many places in the book.
Gary Heath (W42)
   What an excellent prize to win! When I entered the competition in the December Call Sign, I never dreamed the RAC Touring Atlas would be this good. It will certainly come in useful in addition to providing an interesting read. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys getting about in addition to driving their Taxis!
Alex Constantinou (N05)

Happy New Year from Gordon
Can I, through Mailshot, wish all my friends at Dial-a-Cab a very Happy New Year.
Gordon Poluck (Ex-R34)
And to you, Gordon …Ed

Terminal Upgrade Misunderstandings
I'd like to clear up some misunderstandings pertaining to the mobile application, which were recently printed in Call Sign:

1. Remarks button
In a recent release of the mobile application, we added special remarks that are shown to the driver when the Arrival button, the On-Board button or the Clear Job button are pressed. When these special remarks exist, pressing any one of those buttons may pop up a new window that shows the remarks (or instructions) for the particular button. The Remarks button was added to show all special remarks. This new button has nothing to do with a second details page…

Software Update
I would like to commend whoever wrote the software and implemented our latest upgrade on our terminals. It now makes certain aspects of our work a whole lot easier, especially when carrying out TaxiCard jobs. Well done…
Russell Hall (G44)
Tom and Debbie Carter are responsible for writing the software upgrade following suggestions passed on by Brunswick House …Ed

Ken and Kings Road?
It’s noisy, polluted, double-deckers nose-to-tail, takes forever to drive down and you try and avoid it like the plague. No, not Oxford Street but Kings Road, Chelsea - the new Oxford Street! Yes, that famous icon Kings Road where dedicated followers of fashion first flocked to in the sixties with excitation, has now lost its Good Vibrations!
   The last independent boutique, Joanna’s Tent, closed down last August and the owner has gone to the Greek Islands to retire. The big operations have now moved in, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, the Arriva Bus Company…
   Mayor Ken is ripping the heart and soul out of London as one villagey area after another is being transformed into a giant red caterpillar. This, of course, is all done in the name of efficiency, a meaningless political word as Chelsea and Kensington prepare for the congestion charge. Residents in Chelsea are now fed up with being woken up at night by buses idling at bus stops, outside their houses. Apparently under the new bureaucracy, a bus can be on time or late but not early or the operators risk a fine, hence many buses killing time at stops.
   So those balmy summer days in the Kings Road sat outside a pavement café will soon be a distant memory, unless you want to watch your cup and saucer vibrate to Kens Red Bus Boogie.
   Kensington and Chelsea Council are worried. They know the area is fast losing its charm, hence the plans for a refined pedestrianisation of Sloane Square where the Council say they are returning it to a sort of crossroads circa 1932. Where will the taxi rank go? Many rely on it, particularly late at night. Will Fulham Road follow the same route as Kings Road as we see more small shops die off, unable to cope with the new urbanisation deemed necessary under Kens Law? As Londoners, or those working in London, we must keep challenging that Law.
David Heath (Ex-W27)
Brighton, East Sussex
I agree with you about the nightmare that Kings Road has become and the new plan from the local council to return Sloane Square to its 1932 look sounds horrific. As they obviously won’t cut back on the number of buses passing through, that does pose questions about the Taxi rank. We await with interest. Read the article from Call Sign’s ‘Grumpy Old Man’ in this issue …Ed

Thank You for the Call Sign Website

About Thomas Hollister…
I read the request from Maurice Hollister (Jan Call Sign on-line) who is trying to trace anyone who knew his late father and taxi driver, Thomas Hollister. I knew Tom in the 1960s when we used to meet on the Ladbroke Grove rank, one we both used regularly. In fact, he was also the cousin of my Aunt’s husband – also called Tom Hollister. He lived in Carr Road, Northolt. If his son wants to contact me, my address and phone number are attached.
   As an ex-Dial-a-Cab driver now retired, I really enjoy keeping in touch, so thank you…
Edward Greenbury (ex D85)
Alicante, Spain
Thanks for taking the time to help Maurice Hollister learn more about his father and I have passed your details over to him. Following our December issue when we managed to trace the history of former taxi driver James Hare for his American nephew and Call Sign on-line reader John Osborne, we are beginning to wonder whether we should set up in opposition to the Sally Army! …Ed
Dated January 21, this letter was sent to the Evening Standard re their ‘Haggling’ article.

Haggle for your Black Cab Fare!
Your article on this has caused a great degree of both interest and concern. I would like to make it clear that TfL has introduced no new rules. Following a report by the Office of Fair Trading in 2003, the DoT asked us to clarify the position of the metered taxi fare in London, that is whether it is a minimum, maximum or precise amount that must be charged.
   Metered taxi fares outside London, where taxi legislation is different, are maximum fares and the metered fare in London has always been treated as such. Our legal advice confirmed that metered taxi fares in London are indeed maximum fares. In other words, London is no different from the rest of England and Wales, nothing has changed from the past and no new rules are proposed.
   Fare levels in general since the early 1980s have risen broadly in line with a cost formula reflecting drivers’ costs and national average earnings (the latter usually run a point or two ahead of inflation). Roughly half of the metered taxi fare pays the driver’s cost (vehicle depreciation, fuel, maintenance, insurance etc) while the other half goes towards his salary.
   On the subject of haggling, again nothing has changed. Most regular (non-business) users of taxis have probably experienced the driver accepting less than the metered fare – no one would complain about this and we have now clarified that drivers doing this are behaving legally!
   Metered fares offer clarity to both driver and customer. Widespread haggling would delay London’s traffic if carried on by the roadside or at taxi ranks. If drivers refuse to haggle and drive off, there will be no ground for complaint by the customer and at the end of a journey, the driver is entitled to the full metered fare.   On the other hand, if a driver and customer, for whatever reason and in a friendly fashion, arrive at a fare less than that shown on the meter, that’s up to them.
Ed Thompson
Taxi and Private Hire Director
PCO / TfL

February 2005 Call Sign Home Page

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