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Those old enough
to remember the Monty Python sketch featuring Eric Idle and
"nudge, Nudge" may sympathise with Board member Tom Whitbread
one recent Sunday. Tom takes up the story... "It was Easter Sunday morning and I decided to go for a walk with my son and dog down along the Shadwell Basin and Thames shoreline, behind the Prospect of Whitby. This was to allow me to indulge in my favourite hobby of photography. It was so quiet and peaceful as we walked alongside the canals between the basins – until suddenly I heard what I thought to be a Shire horse thundering down on us, nostrils flared with lungs pumping out extraordinarily huge amounts of air. As I was about to turn to look at this frightening sight, a voice boomed out: "What are you doing down here, Tommy Whitbread." I turned to see an even more frightening sight, a |
Nudge, nudge - it’s Tom! |
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 Saleem (with the West Ham hat) and Saeed: “Don’t put this in Call Sign!” |
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| rather large West Ham clad jogger - aka Saleem Raja (S46J) - along with his minder/brother Saeed Raja (S46). I quickly focused my camera on these Olympians as they covered the disappearing distance between us and shot the photograph! I do have to admire the bravery of anyone prepared to wear a West Ham tracksuit! Both threatened me with a fate worse than having to watch West Ham play every day for a year if my photo ever |
appeared in Call
Sign, but our mag is fearless and as I’m off on my
holiday anyway...! It only goes to show that whenever you are out in the public eye, always look presentable and be polite, as you never know who you may come across! This backs up what Allen Togwell is always preaching; you are always a part of Dial-a-Cab whatever you are doing! Nudge, nudge!" Tom Whitbread |
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Drivers moan at ‘number twos’ over Bank Holiday! No, silly... not THOSE number twos! |
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If you and your neighbour both worked on Easter Sunday covering
identical trips, one of you may well have still earned more than
the other. Why? Well Lucas Tronic meters – who have been
involved with the London taxi trade for many years - programmed
their meters incorrectly for that day so that it worked on the
normal Sunday rate 2 rather than what it should have been for
Easter Sunday – rate 3. Dial-a-Cab dispatchers were inundated on the day by drivers querying whether their Lucas meter was correct in going to rate 2 and came to the conclusion that as every other make of meter was on rate 3, that Lucas had cocked-up! |
One of several
DaC drivers who contacted Call Sign was Jon
Tremlett (Y32). He wrote to Lucas asking for some financial
consideration for his financial losses due to their meter not
being programmed correctly on that Easter Sunday. Jon told us
that, rather tongue in cheek, he asked for a cheque or a refund
on next year’s rental! But with no real comment other than to
confirm they had incorrectly programmed the meters, Jon, along
with several other drivers, contacted Call Sign to
see if we could speak to Lucas Tronic. We spoke to GM Linda Cain and with complete honesty she admitted the company had been |
contacted by around 60 or so drivers. Each of them had to get
their meters downloaded to find out exactly how much they had
lost, but other than for real roaders the drivers won't have
lost any fortunes. Obviously the mis-programming wasn’t done
deliberately, so Call Sign has suggested that
Lucas Tronic, as a sign of goodwill, make a donation to a trade
charity on behalf of all the drivers that may have lost a few
pounds each. Linda thought it was a good idea and has put it
forward for discussion. As someone once said: Computerisation is brilliant – but only when it works! |
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