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And DaC’s answer to Victor Meldrew!
As we get to the festive season, it does not seem that it is going
to bring to much happiness and cheer for a hell of a lot of people.
When you read the papers, all you seem to see is doom and gloom -
not just in England, but all over the world. And then to make
matters worse, Terry Wogan is not going to officiate at any more
Eurovision song contests with the BBC adding more gloom by giving
the show to Graham Norton – the man in my estimation who is most
likely to make any intelligent viewer reach for their on/off button
and go out for a walk!
If it wasn’t bad enough that taxi work has dropped by over 20%,
there are still more redundancies in the pipeline from large
companies and institutions. If you have been in the taxi trade for
20 years or more, you will have experienced past recessions and
majors strikes, which have caused us to really tighten our belts and
weather those storms. Problems such as the miner’s strike,
orchestrated by Arthur Scargill with his Shredded Wheat haircut and
the black days of the stock market crash.
It’s during times like that that, you know if you have acted
correctly and prudently so that you have the resources to carry you
through until the economic climate levels out. Perhaps you saw the
past few years, when work was plentiful, as a barometer of the
future and went out to buy a very expensive house and new taxi, as
well as going off on overseas holidays. These drivers are now
finding that they cannot earn the money quick enough to keep up the
bank or building society repayments.
I remember during the last big recession seeing a driver late at
night in his taxi at St James Square. I had seen him stationary for
over an hour whilst I was working around the area, so when empty I
stopped to see if he had broken down and if I could be of assistance
to him. As I asked if there was a problem, he began to cry
uncontrollably. Now I know I’m not the best looking man in the
world, but to take one look at me and burst into tears is a bit over
the top!
He kept repeating the words: "I can’t do it." Had someone
propositioned him for a sexual act and this was his reply? I needed
to know more and after some 15 minutes, I discovered that he had
accumulated so many bills, that the bailiffs were about to move into
his property and he was just sitting there in the first throes of a
nervous breakdown.
It is not just the single person or family that have these
problems, it goes right up to the Government who have been spending
money on inappropriate items to gain votes, only to find that this
bad management is coming back to bite them on the bum. If you do not
believe me, then look at just one of the points I have been
informing you about for months; in the papers it says we have 1500
fewer police officers in England
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Another batch of views from Tom. These do not
necessarily reflect the views of DaC…
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO TOM WHITBREAD |
and Wales this year. The
Government, in trying to
gain votes, have given you a sharp rise in the total misfits acting
as plastic policemen and women (PCSOs) at up to £25,000 a year,
doing nothing to assist in combating crime.
This being the case, if you do not plan correctly you will not
weather the financial crisis. Now look at the three major radio taxi
companies in London and see who is in the most stable position. I do
not mean being told by someone who can make a good speech, who
twists the truth to make it sound like the future is rosy for
their company. We at Dial-a-Cab are in a very strong position to
survive. We have no large debts; we have money in the bank and a
large new building that we own. Is it because you have a lot of the
same people that took you through to last recession and are now
using that experience? I think you will find this is fact.
When you look at MFI, the makers of their 3-legged tables (you may have
ordered 4-legs but this is what you got) and their cut prices, it is
they who have gone to the wall. This is similar to many more
companies who are having to shut up shop.
It is here that drivers need to make sure that our service is the
best and clients have nothing to complain about, because if you give
them a chance to change supplier, then they will. Cover every job as
though it could be the last, the money for the journey you have
completed is yours. The money for that airport or roader you are
holding back for, may not materialise and paper promises do not pay
food bills. Grab the money while you can.
Before you all start screaming that you cover all of the work these
days, that isn’t true for everyone. I had occasion to book a taxi to
go from Dalston to the Dial-a-Cab office in East Road for a 17:00
appointment. The journey went into the system at 16.25 on Wednesday
26 November, some 10 minutes later I got a phone call to say they
could not cover the job and did they want me to keep trying? Who was
to blame for this lack in our excellent service? The despatcher who
could see that this was for a Board Member trying to get to the
office and could put pressure on the drivers to cover the job? Or
was it the fault of the drivers who could not be bothered to cover
the journey? The job was rejected 5 times during which time
there were 64 taxis in EC2 and |
more
in the surrounding areas.
At this time Mr Andy Donnelly (L64) was way up the M11 coming
into town. From the pickup and destination, he worked out who needed
the taxi and seeing that it was not being covered, he phoned in and
said he could be at the pickup in 30 minutes but was informed to
leave it as there would be someone nearer.
I then received another phone call from the call centre informing
me that the job was still not covered and did I want to carry on
waiting? It was not until 16.56 that Andy got to the backup area for
E8 and noticed that the job was still in the BID system. He bid and
accepted the journey, offering another 12 minutes. He arrived,
picked me up apologising profusely for the bad service and got me to
the office by 17.25. Can I take this opportunity to thank Andy once
more for his help on that evening.
I relate this story because I know the facts are true and if I had
not been a DaC Board Member going to DaC’s office, I’d have
cancelled the taxi and rebooked with one of our competitors. I hope
after reading the above problem that if you see a job not being
covered, then you would offer a time to help keep our reputation and
standard of service during these hard times up to the excellence
that our clients have come to expect from our drivers.
Over celebrating!!!
At these festive times, you are getting some great deals from the
main supermarkets and Iceland, the frozen food shop, but you must
watch that expanding stomach. With those good deals come the
backlash! I also know this as a fact as my family say that I am
heading to becoming a fat b*****d! I think if my wife had her way,
my Christmas dinner would be some poached fish and a yoghurt.
Whilst you are off over the Christmas holiday, may I suggest that
you look at the web site www.celeb2nds.com where you will
find some wonderful celebrity auction items. These could make
wonderful presents and they are all authenticated.
The money raised from these items helps us at Dial-a-Dream
make children who sadly may not see another Christmas, have the
dream of a lifetime. Thank You.
At this time, I hope you all enjoyed a very Happy Christmas and
that you have a Prosperous New Year to look forward to. If a member
of your family or yourself have an illness, then I hope that the
coming New Year sees you all back to complete fitness very soon...
Tom Whitbread
DaC Board Member |
