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Weekly Payments to Members I recently received a very nice, polite letter signed by 33 subscribers, requesting that we return to weekly payments for members. As I am not sure who actually composed the letter, I’m taking this opportunity to reply through the magazine rather than contact all 33 members personally. As you may recall, members used to be paid at different times - ie weekly, fortnightly and monthly. As you can imagine, our IT and Finance departments were processing payments to members on a weekly basis, which was obviously taking up time and there was also an unnecessary cost. When this latest recession began to take effect, it reduced our income from clients; consequently we had two alternatives, which were to increase member’s subscriptions or make internal cost savings with staff and other overheads. We decided to take the latter option, as that was the correct decision and in the member’s interests. One of the exercises we undertook was to advise members that we intended to pay fortnightly as from May 2009 as this would make a financial saving for the Society and in turn would be in member’s interests once they had adjusted their financial situation. That’s why we gave six months notice, as we knew it could be a problem for some members. Consequently, I am a little surprised that a new financial system that was given six months notice and has been in operation for over a year, is still a topic of consternation to some members. For many years now, any new member that joined Dial-a-Cab was automatically put onto either fortnightly or monthly payments because it was easier for us to administer. As I stated previously, this system has been in operation for over a year and is working extremely well with the vast majority of members. As a result, our Financial Controller informs me that by implementing this method of payment, we have made substantial savings over the past year. Of course we do not want members to suffer any financial hardship with this system, but after eighteen months, perhaps those members concerned should be accustomed to fortnightly payments. As you would expect, I looked at every member who signed the letter to see if they were in any financial predicament with the |
 Society and none were. In fact, one member had only joined the Society four weeks previously, so he would not have known any different than fortnightly payments. One of the suggestions in the letter was that we cancel paper statements to members in the future and make e-statements (statement via e-mail) compulsory and then return to weekly payments. We have 700 members who currently receive e-statements, so as a consequence, the overwhelming majority of members obviously require us to continue with paper statements. The point I am endeavouring to make is that it would suit the author of the letter to have an e-statement otherwise he would not have suggested it, which proves that individuals only want what they consider to be best for them. That is perfectly natural and I do understand and agree totally. However, my job and that of the BoM is to do what we consider to be in the interests of the Society, the majority of its members and in this particular case, it was in the interests of the Society by streamlining and making our payment system more efficient. I hope the member(s) concerned can appreciate our position, I have discussed the situation with the Board and we have decided that we should not be taking a retrograde step regarding the payment system. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the author of the letter for his courteous approach. Work Improving? |
Barking Physical Therapy Centre I know there are several of our drivers that use the above centre for all types of therapy, so much so that the centre advertises in Call Sign. Consequently, the Editor of the magazine, Mr Fisher, asked a young lady that I work with to visit the centre and write a piece for the magazine about her experiences. Unfortunately, or perhaps that should be fortunately, she is quite young (brownie points for me!) and fit and does not suffer with aches and pains. Consequently, she had to think of someone old and decrepit and generally full of aches and pains to attend the Centre. As Mr Fisher was otherwise engaged, she asked me! For around nine months, I had been suffering from a pain in my left arm between my elbow and shoulder (yes some would call it my wallet side), so off I went to see Andy at the Centre. He diagnosed my problem immediately and used a combination of massage, electric pads and sonic pads (I’m sure there must be a technical name for the equipment) and after just my second visit, the difference was remarkable. Now after four visits, the pain in my arm has almost disappeared and I can now put on my jacket without groaning through the pain – something I certainly could not do before. I cannot believe I spent all those months with pain and yet Andy remedied the situation within a month! He is certainly very, very good and I don’t know if it’s because he is blind that his sense of touch is so acute, but he certainly knows what he is doing. So if any of you are suffering from any aches or pains, give Andy a visit. I would certainly recommend him and he also charges a reduced rate for Dial-a-Cab members. Lou Gitlin Brian Rice |
