Claim's Cabbies Corner. Kill crazy rampage imminent.

Talk about your cars etc here. Keep it sort of sensible and on topic please.
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Warren t claim
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by Warren t claim »

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19 "guests".
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by Eddie Honda »

Warren t claim wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:19 am
Eddie Honda wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:15 am
Warren t claim wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:19 am I think to protect those involved this thread should be moved somewhere slightly more private.
I think you can manage that yourself. Do you need Hooli to spoon-feed you?
I'm just throwing the idea out as I don't want to land anyone in trouble and anyway, why should non-members be able to read it?
What I'm saying is your name is in green, you have the POWAH!
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by Eddie Honda »

paulplom wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:17 am I think only our grand master can do that.
So you just have names in green, but fuck all else. Riiight.
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by Warren t claim »

Eddie Honda wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 7:04 am
paulplom wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:17 am I think only our grand master can do that.
So you just have names in green, but fuck all else. Riiight.
Approve new members. Delete spambots. Don't censor or play god with other people's posts.

I think it works quite well.
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by Hooli »

I think you can move it yourself Warren, but happy to do so if you want me too. I do see your point about keeping it private.
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by DodgeRover »

There were 30+ guests on here earlier, have seen 70 before in guessing they may be why we are slowing down?
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by Warren t claim »

Warren t claim wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:17 am Moving with the times wasn't for Frank. Customers started to expect their taxi company to call them when their car had arrived which isn't possible when we still offered a voice despatch system. We still had our hardcore regulars who stuck with us for years and a few select few who would only use us because we didn't use a GPS based system! I'll try to put this as diplomatically as I can, a job would be shouted from the office to pick someone up at a house address although what was written on the despatch log was a collection from a nearby street corner or phone box. The reason for this is that the passenger would be using a taxi to do a few pharmaceutical deliveries and having no electronic footprint of where he'd been was a definite plus point.

Another reason for us never moving into the 21st century was that doing things the old way suited Frank, especially when his bit on the side was operating. Unfortunately for Frank, he was blind to see that she was rinsing him. The money we paid him by posting it under his office door would go missing, and as several drivers also had a car and insurance off him that could be anything up to £210 at a time. As only Frank and her had a key for the office everyone but Frank could see what was happening. The problem is we lost several drivers and operators who Frank had accused of either not paying him or breaking into the office to steal money. His bit on the side has a pretty heavy gambling habit and to the rest of us, it was pretty obvious what was happening.

Be right back!
I think it's time I expanded on Frank's bit on the side, AKA June.

In all honesty as a night driver I never really had to work that often with her. I know that when Mutha_Claim worked days there they got on well and were friends and she did attend her funeral and offered to help me around the house afterwards. We can only speculate how many of Frank's houses were thrown through the slots on the fruit machines, but when I returned after my trucking break the firm was a different place to work from. Frank was driving an 08 plate Avensis that was acquired by dubious means and had lost most of his houses. Obviously, the house June lived in avoided being repo'd, but almost all of the others had gone. The firm had moved offices and was temporarily run by another firm while Frank was inside for smacking a bailiff, (yes I know!) he was expecting a fine and suspended sentence but ended up serving six months.

The real rot started to set in when money got tight. June was feeding Frank the best jobs, not for greed but because the number of drivers working there had dropped down to well below break even point. It became a vicious circle, he needed to cuff the best jobs to break even but couldn't attract new drivers because everyone knew he was skimming the cream for himself. Eventually, his Avensis started to need a new starter motor every few weeks because the DMF was fucked and he didn't have the cash to replace it. Luckily for him I'd just bought my first Mk4 Mondeo so he could jump into my old Mk2 Focus estate. And ex Leicestershire Police dog van.
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In all my years this was the first time I'd known Frank to drive a Ford. Previously he'd driven a Peugeot 406, Rover 75, Mercedes C Class estate and latterly a Jag X Type saloon. The X Type really pissed him off due to the boot not being able to take the four standard suitcases necessary for many airport trips.

Despite a heart condition, Frank was being forced to work 12 to 18 hour days just to keep the firm afloat.

BRB peeps x
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by Warren t claim »

So how did it all end then?

Back in the glory days, if Frank didn't like a driver he had the luxury of fucking that particular driver off. Sadly due to desperation, he couldn't afford to sack anyone who paid the weekly base rent. Enter John 2. John had a car off Frank that was involved in a non fault accident. I really don't know the exact details but Frank and John fell out over the insurance payout.

With the benefit of hindsight, it probably wasn't a good idea to send Frank out on the job to collect John 2 and his missus one Saturday night. They were squabbling through the whole journey and when they arrived at John's house John made the mistake of jumping out, opening Frank's door and squaring up to him. Frank just knocked him out with one punch without even leaving his seat. Mrs John started screaming and rang the police but also somehow took the keys out of the ignition and dropped them down a grid to stop Frank from driving away until plod arrived.

Frank was obviously nicked! Now, due to our appeals process and being innocent until proven guilty, Frank wasn't immediately taken off the road by the local council. Frank sought legal advice.

Now, we had a driver called Franny who everyone called Norris due to him being the double of the Coronation Street character of the same name. Norris is worth a chapter in himself, utterly clueless about street names and routes and we all wondered how the fuck he managed to pass even the new and dumbed down local knowledge test! An ex bank manager and functioning alcoholic, I once stayed on late after my shift because he rang the office up pissed out of his mind only three hours before his shift was due to start meaning I'd have to cover the early morning. To everyone's surprise, Norris turned up looking totally normal three hours later! Norris has a brother who's a well known local solicitor who gained notoriety by defending a local bent copper all the way to jail.

Frank duly instructed Norris's brother to act on his behalf. The advice he gave Frank was to voluntarily surrender his taxi badge before going to court and insist on getting it back when found not guilty. Frank obeyed his advice and chucked his badge back to the town hall.

The trial date quickly came around and Frank had his day in court defended by Norris's brother. Frank was found not guilty! The court agreed that opening the driver's door on a taxi and squaring up to the driver was worth getting a slap for! Let's get back to normal then! Sadly not...

As Frank had followed legal advice and thrown his badge back it was up to the council to reissue him with another and after consulting the borough solicitor, they decided that it would be treated as a new issue meaning Frank would have to pass a medical that they knew very well that he wouldn't pass! If he'd have not surrendered his badge then he would have been fine. Shortly afterwards the council decided that they'd close the firm down as he wasn't "fit and proper" to hold an operators licence. Game over.
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by mercrocker »

Sadly every advancing year in this horrid fucking century makes it less and less conducive to the likes of Frank. I've worked and drank with so many "Franks" (many of them less colourful, admittedly). They've all gone.

Great thread which got even better with Frank.....Cheers!
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Re: Claim's Cabbies Corner Let's be Frank with each other.

Post by Warren t claim »

mercrocker wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 10:20 pm Sadly every advancing year in this horrid fucking century makes it less and less conducive to the likes of Frank. I've worked and drank with so many "Franks" (many of them less colourful, admittedly). They've all gone.

Great thread which got even better with Frank.....Cheers!
Oh, don't worry! The tale of Frank isn't over yet!
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