Call Sign July 2010 - Page 29 - Compliance Officer’s Report

Compliance Officer’s Report
Hello Ladies & Gents, We are now fast approaching the holiday season and what with the World Cup on our television screens and the weather rather hit and miss, it seems that the football season has never really ended! While I can’t say that I am over confident about England’s chances, at least the best team won the double this season (sorry all you Man U, Gooners and Spurs fans)! The dollar is very strong against the pound and although the Euro has weakened slightly of late, this is still a good time to visit the UK and we would hope to see more tourists in the capital this summer. You will see by the complaints results elsewhere in this issue of Call Sign that similar complaints crop up on a regular basis. I do sometimes feel that I am constantly repeating myself, but it really is done for your benefit and regular warnings in the magazine or on the terminal still do not seem to prevent some rules from being violated by a small minority of members. By now I am sure you are all well aware that our technology is highly reliable and sophisticated and it is relatively straightforward to prove or disprove whether or not a complaint is warranted or in actual fact relevant to proceed on to a hearing. A few Procedure rules to remember… · You must be able to reach the furthest part of any London inner or outer postal zone within 15 minutes of booking-in.	· Outlying zones (e.g. E50S, SE99, NN99 etc) are physical zones and you must be in the actual zone when booking in. If the trips are unmatched, they will be offered to the relevant back up zones and then appear as BID TRIPS after 2 minutes. · Between 9pm and 6am, all trips in city zones are dispatched to EC5. Please be aware that you must be in EC1, 2, 3 or 4 before booking-in to this zone. · E14 is a physical zone between 9pm and 6am weekdays and all times at weekends. Between 6am and 9pm on weekdays, normal booking-in procedures apply. Can I also please remind you that the arrival button is pressed when you are physically outside of the pick up and the PoB button should be pressed as soon as the passenger enters your taxi. This is particularly important on fixed price trips and trips that incur waiting time charges over set periods of time. It is also important to inform the call centre if you are requested by the client to take a preferred route, which may be appreciably longer in distance but deemed by the	passenger to be quicker. Using the M25 from Heathrow to certain outlying areas may well be faster than driving through town, but it can significantly increase the amount on the meter - sometimes more than doubling the normal fare. So please inform the dispatcher before using an especially longer route. Chipped windscreen repairs at Roman Way Finally and for a trial period, Auto Stone chip repair will be on site at the Roman Way fitting bay on certain days each week to offer our members a high standard, quick and convenient windscreen chip repair service designed solely for the taxi trade. On most occasions, repairs can be carried out at no additional cost through your insurance company and without any excess to pay. Apart from being unsafe, it can prevent a chip turning into a crack, which in turn will almost certainly result in a failure at the PCO. Messages will be sent out over the terminal regarding exactly when the trial will start and even if your insurance does not cover you for such repairs, there is a special rate for Dial-a-Cab Members. It is also hoped that you will be able to turn up without the need of an appointment. Anyway, enjoy the summer break, it’s a time to recharge your batteries and more importantly… be lucky! Allan Evans DaC Compliance Officer allane@dialacab.co.uk

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