In message , Helen Deborah
Vecht writes
Mike Hughes typed

The Zingo system was originally started by Managese Bronze, the owners
of London Taxis International (LTI) the makers of the London taxi. The
system works by locating the position of the customer, then locating the
nearest available Zingo equipped taxi and putting the two together.

There is still the link to Zingo's website from Manganese Bronze, but
then there's NOTHING.

The problem is that, although the customer is charged extra (was £1.60
but may have gone up) this money goes to Zingo and nothing to the
driver. That's OK if the customer is very close but who wants to travel
through traffic to get to someone when there are plenty of other
customers on the street?

There's £2 on Call-a-Cab; where does that go?
To the company NOT the driver!


Zingo was sold to the Delgro, the parent organisation of ComCab (and
others) for £1 (but they had to pay the debts!). Since then customers
phoning Zingo are offered the chance to go into the ComCab system if
there are no Zingo cabs available.

Umm... are there any?
Silence after dialling a number and a web page that does not load do not
bode well.

Before anyone argues about the run-ins and booking fees, have you found
out the minimum charges that 'mini-cabs' make for busy West End pickups?

And do you know how often I call a minicab when I have waited over 45
minutes for ComCab to send me a taxi??? My Taxicard is not much use if I
can potentially miss vital appointments or get stranded in the cold and
rain...

Taxicard business is a *very* low profit item for drivers. The 'run-ins'
are lower with little waiting charges and many represent a higher degree
of 'hassle' than just picking up off the street.

When ComCab was originally started (as London Wide taxis well over 30
years ago) it was run more for the benefit of the drivers, and they
responded by covering the work more. Since it has been taken over by a
company who's prime objective is to make money for themselves there is
less incentive for drivers to do radio work in preference to street
work.

Drivers are all independent businessmen and not employees. What would
you do?

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England