Taxi Driver Online

Generalising m'dear, generalising

I don't think it would be fair to tar anybody with a brush that's been near gazntan

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Jeffs spy

Remember how the AA (Automobile Association for the curious) started.

If you got a salute from one of their Motorcycle Riders, the road was clear, if he did not salute you, there was a "Speed Trap" around the corner.

It was illegal to tell you then and it is still.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

Tut, tut over to the Scottish section you go if you're gonna be nasty

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Come on gazntan we are all waiting for you to explain how messages like this help your members to have a one to one with a Licensing Officer.

Your silence is deafening............

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http://chestertaxicall.co.uk

Ok, Chester J. D. I didn't think it warranted a reply, but if you insist, here goes;
I don't think the messages I was talking about resemble in any way, shape or form, the message you've photographed so ably in your post. But, I will actually defend the posting of that particular message as well, on the following grounds;
We all know that trying to earn a decent wage, in our trade, is getting more and more difficult, so when 2 young ladies approach us, asking us, not if we will take them down the road for a couple of miles, oh no, they want to know if we can take them to Frodsham and Connah's Quay. Is it illegal? Of course it is. Could that one fare be the difference between me paying my rent tomorrow or not? Of course it can. Am I doing any harm to ANYONE by taking the fare? Of course I'm not. Because you mustn't assume, if I turned that fare down, that these 2 young ladies are automatically going to immediately flag a hack. And there are insurance companies you know, mine included, who say they don't give a monkey's if the fare in my car was booked properly or not, if I'm involved in an accident, they will not even ask how the fare was booked, they are absolutely not interested. That being the case then, my only sin is that I've broken the law. Sooooooo, can we have a hands up from all you halo wearers out there who haven't broken the law recently? What????? Not even touched 33 in a 30 zone? So you hypocrites are saying it's ok to break some laws, but not others. Hmmmmm? And be honest Jeff, if you came out of the paper shop at the parade, and there was someone standing by your cab asking you to take him to the Quay, would you take him? Is there a rank at the parade? The only reason you hacks are not done for 'no insurance' when you contravene the police act, is that no local authority has ever bothered to take you through the legal process required to make it so. I've already explained in my previous post, if we are caught cobbling, just a £10 fare, the penalty is approx. £1000, and, if you've already got a couple of SP30's, possible loss of licence and livelihood. Tell me of any other crime on the statute book, where there is NO victim, where all parties involved are happy at the conclusion of the crime, and where the penalties are so punitive? None! So, until the penalty starts to suit the crime, I will defend the distribution of that particular message, till the hacks stop ranking on Cruise.

Well if you were honest to start with instead of all that bull about night drivers having a 'one to one' with the LOs - which any nugget could see through - then your candour could perhaps be admired, but all you've done is to demonstrate that you're a liar as well as a lawbreaker

Really, so what messages did you think the Licensing Team were unhappy about being broadcast. Can`t you see that every time a message like this is broadcast it completely undermines the whole Licensing Enforcement Role. We need Enforcement on both sides PH and Hackney alike because lets face it we are never going to get everyone to behave unless they "have to"



What if you had been parked round the corner for 30 minutes waiting to get to position 1 and the ladies in question had phoned your company, you are then despatched to pick them up and on arrival find they have already been cobbled away ?. What do you pay your settle for ? What do all the other drivers pay their settle for. There are lots of drivers who do actually do the job within the law, as you have stated you know it is illegal but it seems that you think you are above the law, just because you don`t think that it is doing any harm doesn`t mean you can ignore it. Lets not forget it was YOU who started this topic with your indignation about the Licensing Officers who dared to request that your office stop distributing these messages.

Why not just forget about the law and just turn it into a free for all. In fact why not let the Pizza delivery boys join the queue on Go fresco when dominoes has shut. I am sure they are finding it hard at the moment too.



That is not the point, the point is they could ring your office and get you to come and pick them up legally. Never have I said that there is no place for Private Hire and I wholeheartedly respect anyones choice to use them and am well aware that lots of people do indeed choose Private Hire over hackneys. The fact is your jobs must be pre booked end of story.


I am sorry but I do not believe that for one minute, you know as well as I do that insurance companies will do anything they can to wriggle out of paying up. I would be interested to see if you could get that in writing. I doubt it.



How many times have you have denied that cobbling goes on, you know as well as I do that it is rife in Chester, you know that the messages that are put out are to warn the drivers so they do not get caught, you strenuously denied on numerous occasions that this was happening when in reality you actually condone it. You don`t agree with this particular law so think you can disregard it. Not only that but your office is complicit in accommodating it which you are now trying to defend.
So who is the hypocrite ??

Do I do 33 in a 30 zone ? Yes I do have I ever denied it ? No I haven`t. Have I been caught and punished ? yes I have. But when I have been caught I don`t start bleating about it, I know the law and I know if I get caught then I will suffer the consequences.



Yes I would. Would that be illegal ? No it wouldn`t.


So as long as there is no victim then there is no crime, is that what you are actually saying?. In that case why even bother with insurance. As long as nobody crashes we don`t need it. Why not just change all the law to suit you. If the penalty was 3 points and a fixed penalty of £60 then are you saying that would be ok.





So you think that the Hacks are going to just go quietly and sit on a rank whilst you rank up illegally and cobble left right and centre, that just isn`t going to happen as has been proved over and over again.
I could say that I operate completely within the law at all times but that would be hypocritical, I bend the law and push my luck now and again and am certainly not going to sit back and watch whilst you cobble away my livelihood.

If I have to rank up on Cruise to stop you then I will, If I have to rank up on Go Fresco to stop you then I will, when you start playing by the rules then so will I.

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http://chestertaxicall.co.uk

gazntan, that's theft. Plain & Simple.

You reckon that rattling around in a £5K Skoda, with a PH Badge, means that you can steal business from the Hackney Trade, whose vehicles are more expensive, at £25K or thereabouts, and regularly inspected.

If I knew where you were, I'd be happy to report you.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

Hahahahahaha, I have to laugh at this thread, here we have Mr PHD the crusader and saviour of those that can't use a phone, justifying touting for hire ILLEGALLY because he may not be able to pay his rent if he doesn't tout for business that isn't his to tout for, you couldn't make it up and it highlights just how bad things have become and how some PHD's don't actually know what their role is.

My mate had this twice in one night recently with an immigrant PHD, he told my mate he wasn't supposed to be where he was because our rank was around the corner, and yet again he had to challenge him when he found him sitting outside a venue openly touting, even the doorman told him to go, and what did he do, he tried to beckon the customers in front of three hacks, he's reporting them all this morning apparently, I would just love to be in the office when that one comes through.

Gazntan, your role is to service custom that phones your radio circuit and nothing more, what would you say if I drew up in an old car without a radio and started trying to take both customers off the street and intercepted your radio as well to nick your booking customers, would that not make you feel a bit put out, simple truth is you are one of the many idiots who has raped this trade to the bone recently, next year I suspect when the commission writes it's report the likes of you will become the double yellow line substitute, and how is that going to feel when the LO issues you an on the spot fine that outweighs what you have taken each night?

Ya see Jeff, why my silence was deafening, and will be again. Everything that's said on here is misinterpreted. OF COURSE cobbling is a crime, nowhere in my post have I suggested anything else. What I have been saying, is that the punishment for cobbling is SO severe, as to be ridiculous. Are you REALLY going to argue that?
My post was NEVER about the morality of telling the drivers where the officers are at any particular time. I'm going to quote you now Jeff, where you said, "Lets not forget it was YOU who started this topic with your indignation about the Licensing Officers who dared to request that your office stop distributing these messages". NO I DIDN'T!!!!!!!!!!! I don't give a monkey's what they're trying to stop us doing. If anyone out there would take the trouble to see the wood for the trees, my post was about the fact the LO's were threatening us with, 'perverting the course of justice' even though there was NO evidence that ANY crime would have been committed. But this seems to have gone flying over the head of all you hacks out there. Not one of you have even acknowledged it. In my humble opinion, that's because you have spent most of your hack careers hating the private hire trade, so the 'blue mist' descends immediately anything PH comes to mind, and all constructive thought goes out the window. If I wound my window down, next to one of my (lower than a snake's belly) colleagues, and told him the LO's were by 'Brannigans', have I committed an offence? Is that any different to putting it on the data head?
To Mr. Doom, the word 'tout' is a verb, which is a 'doing' word, which, by implication, means, that for me to be accused of touting, I would have to actually have DONE something. Since when is sitting in ones car, minding ones own business, a crime? And where in my posting have I ever 'justified' touting, all I did was offer possible mitigating circumstances why some drivers are pressured into it. And I'm certainly not an 'idiot', nor have I 'raped' any trade. Are you so full of your own self importance that you think EVERY job cobbled by a PH driver is a hack fare in the waiting?
I have over 30 years of service in, and not had any complaints against me, by either the public, or the licensing department. I also never cobble, but only because I'm lucky enough to not have to. If my family were in dire straits, I would have no doubt that 1976 would become just a distant memory. I think the only other thing you haven't insulted yet is my driving skills, so, to save you the trouble, I've done over 1,250,000 PH miles, and never crashed into anyone or anything.
To 'Wee Eddy' OMG, where is the theft????? At the risk of repeating myself, Are you so full of your own self importance that you think EVERY job cobbled by a PH driver is a hack fare in the waiting? How do you know they wouldn't go on to book a PH lawfully, if they are refused at the kerbside by some of my law abiding colleagues? And we're inspected twice a year by the way, with a full MOT required on both occasions, along with the additional council's taxi test. Are you tested more than twice?
To 'Dusty Bin' Have you never heard of 'tongue in cheek'? OMG, is it compulsory for all hacks to be strapped down and have their sense of humour extracted the day they receive their badge? As I said in an earlier post, it is sometimes handy for me personally to know where the officers are, because I really do want to discuss something pressing with them regarding our association members. But, for the majority of driver's, yes, it's really saying, for instance, "have you got your badge on........ have you put your mag mount stickers on your doors.......... are all your lights working..... and on, and on. I don't know how old you are, but I often have 'senior moments'. On more than a couple of occasions, when seeing the officers are out, I've had to reach for the glove box to retrieve my badge, because I've totally forgotten to put it on. Is that really so bad?
I hope I've managed to answer everyone who's taken part in this posting, because this is my last reply on it. While I wasn't naive enough to think you would agree with me, I was hoping for some constructive comments at least, instead of either misinterpreting what I've written, or simply resorting to 'name calling'. It is a great shame. This resource should be a valuable asset to both sides of the trade, and not a shouting board to slag each other off.
To close, I will say this; I have no problem with the hacks, never have had, and if their activities don't, unlawfully, impact on my income, then they can do what they like. No, my problem is with the licensing department, who, year on year, take our license fees, and do not do their job anywhere near as efficiently as they should be doing.

Even if we come up with something constructive

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

gazntan: It's called "cutting off your nose to spite your face".

Don't leave because others disagree with you, stay, give your opinion, fight your corner, take part in the craic, but taking the huff never solved anything.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

Oh come on there we go again, you are trying to deflect from the real reason these messages are posted. To inform all of your colleagues of the whereabouts of the Licensing Officers so that they don`t get caught red handed. So stop trying to justify it with all your waffle.

And just to clarify something, I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with any of the LAW ABIDING private hire drivers who do the job week in week out without cobbling.

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http://chestertaxicall.co.uk

@ Gazntan, you're avin a bubble bath mate, from a legal stand point you've incriminated yourself at least twice with the comment you've made, your message is clear to me......

I'M A PHD WHO WANTS IT ALL HIS OWN WAY!


And btw, I did 11 years as a PH owner D, and as an operator in the days when only a cabby could be a cabby before spoon feed tech arrived, I nearly owned 3 different offices but withdrew interest when it was either a bad risk or I had to take clueless partner's on or both, I know this game inside out, you however seem to only know the PH side of it and as a driver only as well, that says to me limited knowledge of what goes on.

TO SUMMARISE FOR YOU, YOU ARE A PHD YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS TO PICK ANYONE UP WHO HASN'T FIRST MADE ARRANGEMENTS WITH YOUR OFFICE, IT DOESN'T GET ANY SIMPLER THAN THAT, SO NEXT TIME AN UNBOOKED PUNTER APPROACHES YOU, DO THE RIGHT THING AND POINT THEM TO THE PROPER RANK, IF YOU WANT TO WORK THE ROAD BUY A PLATE LIKE WE ALL DID, UNTIL THEN STOP THINKING YOU ARE SOMETHING YOU LEGALLY AREN'T.