Motorcycle Taxis and Transport for London

They owed me more than that and I had to threaten legal action to get my
money and deposits back. When I say worse to work for I mean the "bonus
system" that may couriers a plagued by. You know the score, if you don't
work at least 50 hours a week you lose 10% of your earnings plus you
have to pay the rent on the bike, which was £60 per week when I was
there. Oh, then there's all the hidden extras like insurance, breakdown
cover, servicing and all that shite as well. I ended up leaving CS
because I was regularly earning less than £350 a week less expenses for
between 50-60 hours a week, despite all the usual promises of "we've got
so much work, we're struggling to keep up with it" shit.

Yep, that's how they worked. I had to get legal on their ass, but they
wanted my £500 insurance deposit because someone said I'd damaged their
car and ridden off (in NW10) even though when they checked they could
see I was in Kingston! Getting that money back took 3 or 4 phone calls a
week and several visits in the space of about 3 months!

Last I heard AL cut their hours so you get the same bonuses for an eight
hour day rather than the minimum 10.

About Courier Systems again, it's not even as if the money was all that
good to compensate for the shit working conditions[1] and also how long
did you have to wait at that hatch for someone to come and see you?
Fucking hours! Oh god, and don't even get me *started* on the workshop!
[2]

[1]£3 minimum and 60p a mile.
[2]I was thinking the other day I hadn't had a good whinge for a while.

 

Remeber Pete? He left years ago to go to Norfolk with his daughters.
Excellent geezer he was. Shame I lost touch with him. He knew his stuff.

Shame about the other numpties. There was one of them, who changed the
clutch plates on my R80RT (you had to drop the shaft to do this, IIRC)
and didn't tighten up the shaft properly, so the bloody thing
dis-engaged itself (as in I lost all final drive) after about 10 miles.

 

I've worked for "independents". They're very hit and miss; some pay
really well but you spend a lot of the time hanging round, others pay
not so good but you're moving all day and others (like connections )
are just poo anyway.

I've never worked for a company that was "nice" to it's couriers.
Actually, when I say nice, the companies themselves were ok but you have
to get on with your controller because as you know, it's down to him or
her how much you earn.

I worked my fucking guts out and balls off for CS and thought things
were slow and believed what my controller was telling me, then one day
when I went to the office and saw another bod receiving a cheque for
£800 odd quid I thought that was the last straw. I went downstairs, took
my stuff out of the bike and told them I was going home and wouldn't be
back. Bastards.

 

Pete from the workshop? Dunno, last I remember there was Martin, a sort
of rat tailed stereotypical chopper looking rider who actually had a
Z1000 and a couple of Aussies/Kiwis and a bloke called Ed who was the
workshop cleaner and company gopher.

Yeah and I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to charge you for fixing
it. I picked one of their R850Rs up and the starter went kaput in less
than 4,000 miles and the bastards charged me for a new one. That was the
first of many insults that eventually led me to leave.

 

darsy wrote:
[of rickshaws in Covent Garden]

There appear to be moves to get the regulated but the black-cab
drivers aren't happy.

"Rickshaws can continue to offer an alternative mode of transport
on London's streets after a judge dismissed claims they were working
illegally."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2830735.stm

and

"The war between London's black cab and rickshaw drivers was stepped
up today as the taxi industry released film revealing the dangers of
travelling in one of the pedal-powered vehicles."
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/londonnews/articles/14766049?source=Evening Standard