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Mailshot is your chance to tell the
subscribers of Dial-a-Cab exactly what you think. Complaints, compliments or just to write
about Call Sign. This is YOUR paper within your magazine.... You can also email your letters to: callsignmag@aol.com TESCO TAXIS I could not agree more about your comments on Tesco (December Call Sign -
Editorial). I worked for a large multiple supermarket chain for 17 years in the sales
department. They are retail vampires who will not be satisfied until they have sucked dry
all retail life that do not come under their control. There is a real sense of being above
the law in their board rooms. If they dont like a law - they just ignore it! Then
they challenge Councils and the like to do something about it. This has been very evident
in the last 10 years; Sunday trading, net book agreement, newspaper distribution agreement
and now the Pharmacy laws are proof of this attitude. NAMING PASSENGERS Many thanks for your very fine magazine, Call Sign (as I told you in person while being
majestically whisked skywards via the lift at the AGM)! Keith Cains reply: LESS MUSIC - MORE TALK? On the odd occasion that I need to telephone the office, I never know the correct
extension numbers and have to listen to that awful music while waiting for the nice person
on the other end to answer. In order to make life a bit easier, would you be able to get
hold of a list of extension numbers of Board Members, driver payment department, and any
useful extensions. I quite like the music actually, and of course it means that you get to speak to the lovely Tammy! But if you really insist, some useful extensions are: Helen (444) and Nuala (445) of Drivers Services with problems re jobs done before the day of calling or Roller Bond queries): For problems with an on-going job or one recently done, the Call Centre help-line is on 557: Health problems can be sorted out with Doreen on 528 while Tom Whitbread (555) covers Drivers Operations with those things that dont come under Helen and Nuala. If you have to have Tom but cant get him, you can try his assistant, Shelagh on 556. Toms extension is also for the Complaints Officer. Failing all that, we are starting with Mantovanis Hits for Swinging Hod Carriers from April! Ed NON DELIVERIES Having just read the December Call Sign on the Internet, I understood the
predicament of Frank Danna (Hurry up driver - My water has just broken!). When I
started driving in 1969 in Syracuse NY, this was more common than today. Women would call
us for the $1.50 trip rather than a $35.00 ambulance ride. Cliff and Pam Wheaton are the proprietors of Trans-West Taxis in Boise, Idaho Ed THANKS FOR TRYING I saw the December Call Sign yesterday with my request for help in (Help required -
December Mailshot) and I compliment you on the superb job you make of it. I read it
through and it is certainly a cut above your average magazine. How do you fit in running a
London taxi and acting as editor for such a quality magazine? John Pearceys letter was printed in the December Call Sign when he tried to make (unsuccessful) contact with an old friend, Mike Stophers, who had been in the London cab trade. If you know anything about this person, please let me know and I will pass the info on Ed PS. If you know anybody - ANYWHERE in the world - who might be interested in reading Call Sign, it is available on the Internet at: http://www.taxicab.co.uk/dialacabmag |
THANK YOU DRIVERS I would like to thank you all so much for your service while my husband has been so ill
in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Fulham. You have been prompt and reliable after
what seems to have been such a long time - to me almost a lifetime! DIAL A CAB AND THE SINGLE CURRENCY Having watched the launch of the Euro on television, I am wondering what the
implications for Dial-a-Cab and the taxi trade will be. Although there will be no Euro
cash (notes and coins) until 2002, electronic transactions, credit cards and cheque
payments in Euros are now possible. Although the UK has yet to decide whether or not to
join the single currency, it will still affect British business - particularly in the
Capital - London being the largest financial centre in Europe. Finance Manager Alastair Hill replies: CHRISTMAS COMPETITION Did you work over the Christmas period? Were you, like me, somewhat underwhelmed by the
volume of work over Christmas and Boxing Day compared to previous years? I am not taking
into account the New Year weekend as the banks working provided distorted figures for that
weekend. The letter put out by the BoM regarding drivers' incentives, states that they
look every year at ways to encourage drivers to undertake extra credit work. I do not
think that 10 drivers sharing £5,500 is a very fair way of doing this. If, say, 200
drivers worked over the period, then that means that only 5 % of drivers gain any benefit
and to do so they would have to spend a long time at the wheel in order to qualify as
there was not a lot of work coming in. If the BoM wanted to reward drivers who were
working over this period, and so far as I know this is the first time it has been done,
surely it would have been fairer to reward every driver who worked over this time. You can read about the Incentive presentation elsewhere in the mag. In the meantime, I asked Allen Togwell for a nice, quiet, inoffensive reply to Ray Sorenes letter. This is it Ed The idea of the driver incentive was to make it attainable to everyone - not just
high credit men. The objective being to encourage better coverage, particularly on the
run-up to Christmas, which could be achieved simply by every driver making a concerted
effort to increase their normal percentage of credit work. Although frankly, exactly why
incentives should be made to encourage drivers to earn money I've yet to understand! It
wouldn't take a genius to guess what action a driver would take come January if the garage
where the driver regularly filled up put £2 extra on a gallon of Diesel because it was
Christmas! The majority of our clients give us work all the year round. In return for that
work - and subject to the volume of their particular business - we gage our charges. We
are aware of the letters our two main competitors sent to their clients informing them of
the extra charges they were forced to pay over the Christmas period. We are also aware of
the enormous displeasure that many of those clients took on receiving it. The attitude we
took was to inform our clients that, unlike our two main competitors, we would not be
levying any blanket charges over Christmas. However, in the event that we encountered
difficulty in covering any particular journey, we would like the authority to use our
discretion to levy a premium. We received not one complaint or objection to this request
and as a point of interest, our coverage over Christmas was excellent. January and
February traditionally are the months when clients look at re-assessing the cost of their
suppliers and the situation regarding Christmas charges which are still fresh in their
minds, often goes in our favour both when we are consolidating our existing clients, or
when we are giving a presentation for new business. MINICABS, LICENSED TAXIS AND THE AGM So the Director of Services of a large American bank would rather use minicabs than the
Licensed trade because we are arrogant and rude etc (Jan Call Sign). Well, I wonder just
how many he has met in order to be able to make such a stupid and ignorant statement! The
only reason is about money and I hope you told him so - although you probably did not. |
be hopeful in being voted on, is
beyond me. Which brings me to the reason for this letter. All future candidates should
have to put up a deposit of say £200 and risk losing it if they do not poll at least 100
votes. This, I feel sure, would deter those who do not have the welfare of this Society at
heart. Let me finish by thanking the BoM for a great year. Heres to the next
one
T.M.Wright (P39) Im sure the BoM appreciate your thanks but from my personal point of view, I feel that it would be wrong to ask drivers to forfeit a deposit. Sure they may have a nonsensical argument not worthy of putting forward, but they could also have a good argument but be unable to speak well enough to put it across. It would be unfair to punish all for the sake of a few Ed AND MORE ON THE AGM Because I am no longer a subscriber, I was not permitted to attend the 1998 AGM.
However, I read the report of the proceedings in the January Call Sign and to say that I
was sickened by the shenanigans that took place would be putting it mildly. I think that it should be pointed out that not everyone who stands against the BoM should be perceived as a trouble maker. By the same token, a low poll against someones name does not automatically mean that person was a trouble maker. Every candidate should be judged on their merits. This year I believe that they were Ed MILLENNIUM DOME AND TAXIS Several issues ago, you published an article on the Millennium Dome which said that
taxis would be allowed to pick up and set down. I recently read an interview with
Transport Secretary Glenda Jackson in The Daily Express in which she stated that the ONLY
vehicles to be allowed into the Dome area would be VIP cars and that there would be no
exceptions. Does that mean that we have now been banned behind our backs? I have been assured by the Domes PR company that the situation regarding taxis is unchanged. We will be allowed to set down at the Dome and it is also proposed that a taxi rank will be put into place at the exit. The only question seems to be just how big is the rank going to be. An event catering for up to 30,000 visitors at a time would need a sizeable rank - even allowing for the (sigh) Jubilee line extension Ed FARE INCREASE I am writing with an idea for our next tariff increase. Could it not be just an
increase in the initial hiring - say starting at £1.80 or £2? You could increase the
yardage by a little if need be, but leave the rest of the fare alone as nearly all the
drivers I have spoken to agree that the longer rides are high enough at the moment eg LAP
£30+. If and when the minis are licensed, they will knock at least £5 off an airport
ride and much more off the Southends and Guildfords etc. It will make the shorter rides
more attractive because if we dont get it right soon, it will be too late. After
all, we are already doing fixed price rides at below meter prices. Allen Togwell replies: |
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