AGM and a smear
attack…
I must begin with a big thank you
to the 1122 subscribers who voted for me
at this year’s AGM. That still leaves
about 1000 I apparently failed to
convince I’ve done a good job as a Board
Member over the past two years! Or does
it mean that many of the drivers who
fell foul of the complaints procedure
over the past two years failed to vote
for me? If that is the case, does it
mean that I am very competent in the job
as Compliance Officer, therefore if they
can get me out of the job then they can
get in a much weaker person? If you get
a weaker person, then you also get more
crooked subscribers taking an unfair
advantage over the majority of our
subscribers who are honest.
There was also the most vicious smear attack I have ever witnessed
in my 30+ years on ODRTS and it was no
surprise that they directed it at me.
One of the culprits admitted his
involvement in supplying and
distributing leaflets to another Board
Member. I am used to this type of
campaign against me, but they also
involved the Treasurer of Dial-a-Dream,
a children’s charity of which I was a
founder many years ago.
The sad outcome is that because of this ex-subscriber,
the Treasurer has decided to relinquish
his position on the charity – and who
can blame him? So it is not just my
colleagues on the charity and myself
that will suffer, it will also be the
children who are suffering with terminal
illnesses.
These children look for us to make a last wish in their short lives
become a reality, but now we
will probably have
to divert funds to pay for accountancy
support that we used to get free. Thank
you to that ex-subscriber – for nothing…
This same ex-subscriber also wrote to the PCO to get my
bill revoked because he claimed I had
under gone major heart surgery. But I
hadn’t; I had preventative surgery to my
arteries. I have now agreed with the PCO
to undertake the Bruce Protocol
(treadmill test).
When I last wrote about my surgery, I had never seen any paperwork
in the 30+ years that I have held a
badge, telling me what the PCO expected
me to do after treatment. But after I’d
spoken to them, a printed sheet suddenly
appeared in my post. Surely every badge
holder should have already been sent
this sheet of paper so they can know the
rules they are supposed to adhere to
when having any of this modern
treatment?
I cannot name this ex-subscriber at the moment as legal proceedings
are in place against him at this time,
but when the time is right I will allow
you the information.
One of the seconders of another candidate who failed to gain a
position on the BoM this year also tried
a smear campaign at a recent past AGM.
At that AGM he went to the lectern and
stated that I owned a minicab firm in
opposition to Dial-a-Cab before
scuttling off to the back of the hall.
Yes, I do own a company that used to supply chauffeurs to Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen
Mother. I still hold the Royal Warrant
for this prestigious position. I could
have at any time joined with ODRTS and
you would have been the only taxi
company in the world able to carry the
Royal Crest. But with these types of
subscribers on Dial-a-Cab, I could not
take the risk.
So the persons who suffer are the children who are dying of
incurable diseases and the honest
subscribers who work with pride on
Dial-a-Cab.
Over the years I have built up a reputation with our
subscribers, other circuits and the PCO.
They consider that we have the fairest –
albeit the strictest - complaint’s
system in the taxi trade. But there have
been three occasions during my time as a
Board Member when the Board has
instructed another member to take over
the
complaint’s department. During
|
those times, the faith in
the department dropped and when I
returned I had an uphill struggle to
restore that faith and goodwill.
New drivers I have spoken to when they have come in for their
training, have told me that they are
happy to get onto our circuit because we
run the fairest system. Rumour has it
that some drivers on other circuits
constantly manage to get choice
journeys, but on Dial-a-Cab we
scrutinise patterns much more closely,
so that cheats are wheedled out.
Sir and Madam?
I read with
great interest David Kupler’s
letter, which you can view in the
Mailshot pages of this magazine. I have
known David, his mother, father and
sister since they worked for us in
Shirland Road; sadly some have now
passed on. He posed me a question in
that letter that I should have guessed
could not be an easily answered one! In
the situation with your bladder full and
a rude client, David wants to know how
would I have handled the situation!
Well David, after all the years you have spent driving a taxi, do
not take anything for granted because
sods law says it will go wrong and in
your case, you could end up with wet
pants! If the call of nature is there,
answer it, do not take a chance. It
could have been that the passenger came
straight out saying: "I’m sorry, but
I’ve missed my train - could you go
straight to Chelmsford in a hurry." What
would you have done then?
David, I know you can be the most awkward person in the world, but
I also know that you can be charming and
diplomatic. So why lower your standards
to the level of this ignorant and
arrogant little person? Act like the
intelligent person I know you are and
don’t lower those standards to the
gutter. Even if you want to insult them,
still end it with Sir or Madam. You
deflate their ego. Don’t tell me you
have never used that option when being
stopped by the constabulary for a
misdemeanour?
I remember a time many years back when Dave Kupler used to take his
Old English sheepdog to work, sitting
him in the luggage compartment. One
night he was dropping off a cash ride at
Shepherds Bush when the punter did a
runner. Quick as a flash, David opened
the luggage door and told Boris to get
him! Off shot Boris into the alleyway by
the side of the Shepherds Bush Theatre.
Then three yards in he stopped, up went
his back leg and he relieved himself as
the bilker sped off. Seems like Dave and
his dog both wait too long to go to
toilet and it can cause problems!
Are we doing
enough?
I am
continually sending out complaint
letters to drivers who are not
completing the minimum number of 40
data-despatched credit trips per month.
Street Credit Card pickups do not get
included in the count, just trips that
clients phone us for at Dial-a-Cab.
I do not pick on a subscriber because he/she has not completed 40
jobs for one month; I have built up a
record of all the subscribers’ jobs that
count month-by-month since January 2005.
That is, of course, if the subscriber
was on the circuit in January 2005.
That means that if a driver has been on since the beginning of my
records and not completed the minimum
amount of jobs, they could have a total
of 25 complaints to answer. It is one
complaint for each month, as the
official rulebook states you have to
complete the 40 every month. We get
drivers who have a week off due to a
holiday or overhaul during the month and
they say due |
to that, they could not
reach the minimum. But on the other hand
we have many drivers who complete the 40
jobs in one week, if it were not for
these drivers we would have a lot more
scrubs and accounts in jeopardy.
I Love our country…
Some months
ago, I wrote an article about the
lowering of standards in England due to
the influx of persons being allowed in
via the EU or illegally. There were just
a few letters, mainly from people who do
nothing to assist the Society or were on
complaint and who wanted to class me as
a racist. But I had many more letters
and phone calls from subscribers,
subscriber’s wives and other readers of
Call Sign agreeing with my
views. I have even met some of those who
made comments either way about my views
and I think they now know the real me. I
do not want to carry on in that vein as
it scares the life out of the Editor!
I’ll just say that problems that have
happened since the articles came out,
have proved me correct.
Even as I write this article (17 February), another person has just
been shot and the street in Homerton
ended up like the American mid-west.
This was but 2 miles away from us! The
Home Secretary has now announced more
prisons are soon to be built.
There is also an increase in the penalty for using a mobile phone
whilst in charge of a motor vehicle -
£60 and 3 points on your licence. This
is still not enough, how many times have
you seen mothers on the phone while
driving - and with young children in the
car! Not to mention drivers of 38-ton
lorries also holding their phone…
In the past month, we’ve had Judges who wanted to deport rapists
and murderers, but couldn’t because
their hands were legally tied. We had
adults claiming to be minors to try to
get lower sentences with authorities
being unable to get proof either way of
their age. There were also minors
murdered in their own homes - they may
have had a criminal record, but did they
deserve to die?
Do you think that politicians also read what I put into writing in
Call Sign magazine, because they
are now agreeing with me?
We also have a Chancellor of the Exchequer who wants to send
£500million to Africa to combat malaria.
Excuse me, but doesn’t that money
belongs to the English taxpayer? Maybe
he has forgotten that our young and old
people are going into hospital for
treatment and it is a lottery as to if
they catch MRSA. Why? Because the
English hospitals are filthy. Mr Brown,
please sort out our country first. And
then we have the Transport Minister who
wants to charge you for every mile you
drive, do you not both think that the
English are already too highly taxed and
the money needs to be used to improve
the lives of the English? Oh, I am
sorry, you are both from Scotland, which
governs its own country!
Argos the final
episode
Anyone who
subscribes to Which magazine, may
be surprised to see an article reporting
on my successful tussle with Argos.
It should be in the March issue and
after you have read the article, you can
use the photograph to keep the children
away from the fire…
A subscriber’s humour
A subscriber sent me a text message on
Valentine’s Day explaining his present
to his wife. It read: "I bought my wife
a lovely bag and belt for a Valentine’s
Days gift and now the Hoover works
great."
Speaking of Valentines Day, I sent my wife three cards on Tuesday,
13 February, posted at the corner of
City Road and Shepherdess Walk. This is
2 miles from my home. We are still
waiting for any of them to arrive at my
house! I must thank the Post Office for
their abysmal service and the problems
it caused in my household…
Tom Whitbread
DaC Compliance Officer |
