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Since the AGM, I have spoken with many divers thanking them
for their support, but this is the first opportunity I have had
to thank the rest of those members who voted for me to be
re-elected to the Board. Since being back, Allan Evans and I have investigated making changes to E140 and E16 (London City Airport). Following on from meetings we had with Canary Wharf Management, we were asked to review our dispatching procedures. They felt we were contributing to their problems of having too many vehicles inside the Canary Wharf area that were not plying for hire but were waiting to be allocated a journey via their terminal. We were also informed that many drivers had been stopped at the entrances from going onto the island or been asked to leave because they were incorrectly parked up. Unfortunately some drivers have been very disrespectful to the security staff and banning notices have been issued. In such cases, we believe the PCO are informed in case complaints are received from passengers who have been refused by drivers banned from the island. In order to accommodate the CWM request, we have spoken with the Board and will now disband E140 and dispatch all work after 21:00 and until 06:00 into E14. Not wishing to make programme alterations to the dispatch system, it will mean that that work dispatched |
IMPORTANT CHANGES TO E14 AND LCA… Call Centre Chat from Keith Cain |
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 into E14 will not be masked, apart from normal accounts that are set up to be A/D. It will also change the going home procedure. While E14 is a normal zone when a driver is on a going home facility, all the work will be offered unmasked. It will not be restricted to only work to the home zone or one of the back-up zones. The procedures we have put in place are: A driver must be physically within in the E14 postal area to book in. Any driver who has engaged his going home facility must not book into E14 between these times, even though the system allows it, they must only bid for trips. We also looked at London City Airport and the number of drivers who have been booking into E16 and staying there for a very longtime. Investigations have shown that not all drivers are within the Airport parking areas and some book in when many miles away. Whenever we allow drivers to book into a zone using time parameters to judge if booked in correctly, DaC controllers experience many |
disagreements with drivers based on opinions of how fast someone can travel to the furthest point of a zone. It
was also becoming difficult for those drivers who had been
waiting a long time at the airport, to see drivers arriving and
taking trips in front of them. The Board have agreed with us to make London City Airport a physical rank (CC00). Being a physical rank will enable LCA to be self-policing and the only stipulation is that when a driver reaches the Banjo, they must ensure before accepting a trip they are not prevented from doing so by being blocked in. If they are unable to pick up the passenger for any reason, the trip must be rejected or they should book off the CC00 zone. Like all ranks within zones, when booking into CC00, drivers will retain their queue position within E16. We feel these two changes are very simple to understand and an information sheet has been available from the driver’s reception for a least a week. Terminal messages have also been sent out. It is suggested that all drivers obtain a copy of the information sheet or refer to this article so that the new procedures are followed correctly… Keith Cain |
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BRIAN’S CUSTOMER CARE GETS A BIG THANK YOU! |
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 When it comes to customer
care, Brian Abrahams (G91) obviously knows a thing or two
about keeping our clients happy, as was proven recently by an
account client who especially telephoned Dial-a-Cab House to
heap praise on our ‘wonderful ambassador’!"I always do the best I can for passengers, and in these times of economic downturn we need to keep every account of our client base satisfied with our service," Brian told Call Sign. So what was it that got a client to ring in admiration? "I recently took a young lady up to Colindale to collect her car from a dealership," he told us. "During the journey to NW9, she mentioned that she was going straight on to Nottingham once she had picked up her car and asked me for directions. I told her how to get onto the M1 and also suggested that she check the tyre pressures, engine coolant and screen washer levels before setting off on the fairly long trip. I also advised her to take a bottle of mineral water to sprinkle on her face to combat fatigue if she was a long way between service stations! I was just being helpful by giving her the benefit of my professional driving experience," he said modestly, "and I then thought no more about it." Brian went on: "Imagine my complete surprise when some four hours later, a message flashed up on my terminal screen to say that ‘Emily’ had safely reached her destination, wanted to thank me for my advice and was impressed with my professionalism! I couldn’t believe that she had called DaC to sing my praises! The advice was no different to that I’d have given anyone," Brian said beaming with pride. He ended by saying something that we all know to be true… "Unfortunately, it really is the way of life nowadays that people are so quick to complain and very slow to offer compliments, so it really is quite refreshing to think that someone took the trouble to appreciate my efforts. I’m sure any of our drivers would have treated the young lady in a similar fashion, but it certainly made my day, that’s for sure!" DaC Chairman Brian Rice told Call Sign: "We have a great deal of competition out there, but it is instances such as these that make us all proud to be part of the London Taxi trade and justifiably have a worldwide reputation for our professionalism." © Call Sign Magazine MM9 |
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VOLVO RECALL: HOW MANY ARE PH? |
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An interesting item
recently appeared on the Vehicle & Operator’s Agency (VOSA)
website regarding several types of Volvo. It read as follows: "It has been identified that on vehicles fitted with a supplementary cabin heater, the unit may contain a faulty valve which links the heater to the climate control. The valve in question may become clogged, which could lead to poor water drainage and in extreme cases a short circuit. Should sufficient heat be generated by the short circuit, a fire behind the instrument panel below the radio may occur." And the recalled cars? Volvo XC70, V70 and S80. Whilst not sure of exact numbers, Call Sign has seen some of these cars in the private hire sector – some even in the company famous for servicing the Whitcomb Street "waiting space" before being moved to the car park next door! No doubt all these cars will be treated in the same way as the TX4 was… |
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