Call Sign May 2009 - Page 32 - All Seized Up! - BACK SEAT DRIVER

It’s said that a friend in need is a friend indeed. In DaC driver Daniel Heaven’s (O01) case, that was very true and referred to a mechanic friend of his and a Dial-a-Cab driver responding to a plea for help... Daniel told Call Sign how, soon after having a major service on his TX2, he experienced a dragging feeling to the rear of his cab. "I was PoB from Olympia to Kensington High Street. As we were going along Ken High, I heard a banging sound from the rear and the cab began to feel very sluggish and un-responsive to the engine. I pulled into the kerbside to set the passenger down and then stopped another cab driver to ask him to check my rear wheels as I moved along slowly. He confirmed that the nearside rear wheel was not turning properly!" That was enough to put the wind up Daniel, who suspected that a major job was looming. He continued the story… "I phoned a mechanic friend	All Seized Up!
	*Daniel points out what happened to his cab*
	who thought it might be seized brake shoes that were ‘stuck on’. He suggested hitting the centre of the hub with a heavy implement to try and free off the brake shoes. So I put out a fleet message to see whether anyone had a hammer in their cab and sure enough, within a short time a fellow Dial-a-Cab driver arrived on scene with the right tool. I gave the hub a solid thump and heard another bang as, sure enough, the sticky brakes returned to normal! Wow, was I relieved!"	The following day Daniel took the cab back to his garage to be checked out and they told him that it did sometimes happen when the brakes had been fully adjusted and dust tended to build up within the brakes. They released the adjusters a fraction and his cab has been fine ever since. "I still have every confidence in the garage," Daniel concluded… ©Call Sign Magazine MM9

Charm Offensive…??? I hailed a Dial-a-Cab taxi last month for a short trip for my nephew and his wife to get their luggage to the nearest tube with a lift. The older-than-average driver turned us down at first, saying he couldn’t get the luggage and two people into the taxi. I could see he could, as Mrs. Nephew is only a wee slip of a girl and there was the space next to the driver as well as the back. I told the driver I knew Dial-a-Cabbies could do anything and identified myself as Poppy and opened the door before he could get away - was that all a mistake? He grumbled about the luggage damaging his taxi and said my relatives would pay extra if it did. No help with the bags and the meter kept running at the end until they’d taken every case onto the pavement. No tip for him then and once I got the email from my relatives telling me of the unhelpfulness, I apologised and felt embarrassed. I really don't think surly does it in these troubled times; do you? And my own DaCman? My DaCman Glen can be as grouchy as the next man, no question about it. For example, waking me up regularly while hissing shhh if he thinks I've been snoring! Wouldn’t a real gentleman just move to the spare room and leave out the remarks about hearing my honking 100 yards away? Of course he would. A girl needs her dream-time… But at work, my Glen's a changed man; all smiles and conversation. Hour-long waits on ranks and nights with just three jobs have	Views on life, love and the laundry basket from the lady behind a DaC driver… BACK SEAT DRIVER
	brought out the Sir Galahad in him. He used to drive straight past anyone carrying smelly fast food, now he stops, picks them up and sweeps up the chips squashed on the floor of the taxi when they’ve gone. In the past, if passengers asked for "the theatre" or "my hotel, can't remember the name but it's near a garage," he was happy to drive round and round as punishment until they realised they were in London, not some one-horse town with only one hotel or theatre. Now he’ll patiently rattle off names of theatres, shows and hotels until the country bumpkins remember where they¹re going. He turns down the radio if they want to talk, instead of turning it up and pulling the divider hatch shut like he used to. Glen was always quite correct with the public, but now there’s eye contact, little jokes for the kiddies and magazines for people to read on the back ledge. OK, it’s just Private Eye and The Spectator, but it’s a nice touch, don't you think? He also takes euros, dollars or pounds and is grateful. People business A publican once told me: "My business isn't beer, it’s people." I	think taxi driving in London is the same. There isn’t much repeat business outside of account work of course, so much of the sunshine Glen’s spreading around really benefits everyone else out there - the trade in general - and not him, apart from an occasional bigger tip, I suppose. So it's back to the sourpuss who condescended to take my nephew to the tube. When you treat your passengers like nuisances, you’re just recruiting work for the minicabs who will send a people-carrier if you say you have lots of luggage and not make a fuss like you did. I'm not saying one spoiled DaC man is the biggest villain in the recession, but it’s one more than we need from where I sit as a back-seat driver. I don’t suppose I'll see you again, at least not if you see me first! But if I do and your taxi engine’s on fire, I'll ring 998, mate! Count on it… Till then, Love Poppy xxx
		PATRICK O’BRIEN
		Call Sign was sad to hear of the death on 9 April of long-time Dial-a-Cab subscriber Patrick O’Brien (E57). The brother of former DaC dispatcher, John O’Brien, Patrick was laid to rest on 28 April at the St Pancras and Islington cemetery. To all Patrick’s family and friends, the deepest sympathy from everyone at Dial-a-Cab. R.I.P.