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Mailshot Continued.. CALL SIGN IN CALIFORNIA My name is Josie Allison and I live in Seal Beach, California. I read Call Sign
Magazine every month on-line. I think it's an excellent idea to have your magazine on-line
so people like myself although we live so far away from the UK, still can read such
interesting articles as the ones you write. I found out about Call Sign Magazine when my
boyfriend who is one of the Dial-a-Cab drivers, sent me a copy. Now I read it on-line
every month. Thanks for the kind words, Josie. Is Stephen going to come forward and introduce himself?…Ed A QUESTION TO VINCE CHIN… I read your article on Freeserve (Computer Chinchat Jan Call Sign) and
have to tell you about the problems I had with it. As I only use email I decided to use
Freeserve. BIG MISTAKE! I had dreadful problems with them. Maybe as I was a novice I was
unsure as to how the Internet all worked, but believe me when I tell you it was an
horrendous experience. You also omitted to tell your readers (you may well not have known)
that Freeserve charge £1 per minute for their technical help. I could not get Outlook
Express to work for me and nor could they. And THAT was after paying out a lot of money on
the help-line. Also to uninstall is a work of art. They do not have an uninstall facility
so you have to delve into every archive available and then some more. As it stands, I am
with another free service and this seems a bit better (at least Outlook Express works so
far). Even so, I still have the Freeserve logo on the Outlook Express. If you have any
suggestions as to how I can delete it, I would be grateful. Vince Chin replies: ALL WHITE ON THE NIGHT? Your Lordship, |
given a clearer indication of your bias in
favour of the management. Now, even a blind man could see it! Let's stick with the
football analogies and consider the position you hold as Editor with the role of a
football referee. In a good game of football, the sign of a good referee is one who keeps
control but has a low profile. You however, continually give the home team penalties they
don't deserve; and extend play beyond the normal time when your team are behind, until
they manage to score! Whether Call Sign's content has improved is subjective and down to
an individuals personal taste. However, it's timing has not improved one iota - it is
still dated. If it were a match day programme, readers would be looking at team line-ups
for a game that took place over a month ago. No sooner has one received Call Sign, than the deadline for the next edition is almost up! Yet, strangely, not where the Board of Management is concerned: My second letter squeezed in at the deadline; yet, somehow, others are allowed to read, digest and make comment on it in the articles, which had they already been prepared would need to be altered. A distinct case of one rule for one .... one rule for another! Call Sign, in theory, is supposed to be independent of the Board - it is the Society's magazine void of all Board interference. The reality, as you ably demonstrate, is something far removed. But then, no one should be surprised in light of your statement that the Chairman was the most astute businessman in the square mile!! Why, was it that January's Call Sign resembled "AGM Revisited" and not December's. (Funny what happens when you write to Call Sign isn't it? Did Brian say something about ambushes?!) With regard to your expert opinion on the length of letters and their content, your response to mine was about twice as long and then you couldn't stop yourself, two of your last three paragraphs begin "and finally .... and the last one "and a final point ...... My original letter was, admittedly, lengthy. But I had tried to make it as explanatory as possible; I tried to be constructive and not to make reference to individual Board members. As Wedgewood-Benn said: "It is policies that matter not personalities!" However, I consider it extremely unfair of you to cherry-pick quotes whilst you refuse to publish it - but then as 1 have already highlighted, what does fairness have to do with it? Many of the direct quotes in my original letter came not from the Ascough Report but from the October 1997 Call Sign article "The Progress of Dial-a- Cab" which could only have been endorsed by Roger Ascough had he been led to believe that the Society had complied with his recommendations. The Ascough Report is both significant and relevant as four of the current Board were responsible for it's commission. In 1991, a considerable amount of money was spent on consulting a management expert (specialising on marketing/sales, in response to Com Cab's aggressive strategy in the market place). Since then, we have spent several AGM's looking at changing the status of the Society. The Management have cherry-picked the parts that favoured them and ignored the bits that didn't. However, the conclusion of the report was that we should employ professionals! You, then, decided to use the report to persuade members to vote in favour of PLC. In his last "Chairman's Report", Brian Rice complains that he had no opportunity to explain how the Board saw the future for Dial-a-Cab. Excuse me, but didn't I ask him at the AGM if we were in a position to take Dial-a-Cab forward as outlined by Ascough in the management consultancy report? And did he not answer that we were not?! Surely, here was his opportunity to tell us all - but no, all he could say was "move on". He could have explained marketing strategies, promotional activities, prices, costings, technology, new terminals etc, etc. But he chose not to: "Move on!" He could have talked market share, supply and demand, peak and off peak - the exploitation of markets, investigating new ones, consolidating old ones. But he chose not to. "Move on!" When I mentioned the lack of work in the west in the evening, he responded by exclaiming that "we have to go where the work is!! "Move on!" No, Brian would rather try to bully people; remember, despite his protestations in his report, how he stopped all discussion about the libel case claiming subjudice. What nonsense. Subjudice only affects the details of the case itself - discussing the funding or Board members rights to use Society money is unaffected. The Chairman started the meeting by making a statement about the court case - the onus was on him to present documentary evidence of his advice - none was forthcoming. If he had any integrity he would publish the letter in Call Sign. Don't hold your breath!! When he starts to whine about bullying, he should reflect on how he set the tone for the meeting by his treatment of David Clegg who disputed his version of subjudice. At the end of the day it is we, the members, who will be picking up the tab! A very large tab!! Lord Brogham, a Lord Chancellor once said; "A lawyer is a |
learned gentleman who rescues your Estate from
your enemies and keeps it himself." This year's profits could well be going that way! The significance of the figures that you derided in your nonsense about the price of diesel, is that for the first time, the evening shift (which despite a lack of work in the west, is quite healthy) is out-performing the day shift, which outside of the peak rush hours, is in decline. But the main conclusion is that overall, we have slipped from a service charge income versus subscription ratio of 4.7 - 1 to 2,4 - 1 about 50%, which had we managed to maintain would have seen an income from charges of £8.2 million and profits of approximately £5 million!!! Mark White (B86) Dear Mark, JUST A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS… How are the ‘real time’ Internet bookings doing? I think that this service
should be pushed a bit more. What time do our 5-a-side football team kick off? Can
‘As Directed’ jobs on evening ranks show destinations when being offered to
drivers in ‘Reject Disable’ mode so as to improve the coverage? Finally, Allen
Togwell mentioned £12 minimums; which account? Our web site is being worked on at present. When up and running, you can be
assured that our ‘real-time’ booking service will be pushed hard. |
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