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| Nutzer | Initiator des Themas: Ana Naglić Dealing with a prospective new client with a low BB record |
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Ana Naglić 
Kroatien
 Mitglied (2005)
Englisch > Kroatisch
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Astrid Elke Johnson wrote:
Can't you market yourself to the ones with 5's? It might just make life that little bit easier. |
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Of course that most of my clients so far have had 5s (the lowest one had 3.8 at the end athough they had 4.6 when I started the looong project - but even they paid me although a month or two late).
But working for this client is a pure curiosity, as the project looks interesting. However, I'm not willing to do it or free
Likewise, a Canadian agency had 4.8 when I took the project, but the translators weren't paid; so within 4 months the agency had 2,8 and I never got paid - so there is always a risk.
[Uređeno u 2008-09-23 07:43]
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Vanda Nissen
Schweden
  Mitglied (Feb 2008)
Englisch > Russisch
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Marie-Hélène Hayles wrote:
There are countless decent agencies out there, why stress yourself worrying whether a dodgy one really will pay you?
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Totally agree. Being translators we have a lot of things to worry about: deadlines, challenging assignments, marketing, why do you want to become more stressed?
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Lorenzo Lilli
Italien
Englisch > Italienisch
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I wouldn't even think about it. Unless they pay you in advance, of course (but not with a check: it looks fishy to me, what's wrong with a bank transfer or paypal?). You'd better search the BB for reliable agencies, there are lots out there. Good luck!
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Charlie Bavington
Vereinigtes Königreich
Französisch > Englisch
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Ana Naglić wrote:
They are willing to sign a legally binding confirmation that they will pay me on time.
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And how do you propose to enforce that?
Obviously, if they are in Croatia too, it will be easier, but otherwise....
As has already been pointed out, the usual documentation around a job - PO, invoices, etc. is already supposed to be binding, so I don't see another document helps matters.
I would ignore them.
You could go down the payment in advance route, I suppose, although my personal view of that approach is that if I am demonstrating such a lack of trust in the client that I need paying in advance, I see no earthly reason why I should ask the client to trust me to deliver after I have already been paid.
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Kevin Lossner
Deutschland
Mitglied (2003)
Deutsch > Englisch
| | In God we trust... | Sep 23 |
but these people should pay cash in advance.
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Philippe Etienne
Marokko
Mitglied
Englisch > Französisch
| | the BB is not a reference of its own | Sep 23 |
...even if it helps identifying dodgy outsourcers.
Ana Naglić wrote:
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Likewise, a Canadian agency had 4.8 when I took the project, but the translators weren't paid; so within 4 months the agency had 2,8 and I never got paid - so there is always a risk... |
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There is always a risk when you're paid after delivery. The longer the payment terms, the riskier for you. A well-noted French agency went bankrupt in 2001 without warning signs as such, leaving a few translators with a €3000+ loss (inc. me). Payment terms were 60 days end of month.
Don't waste your time on agencies with consistently low scores on the BB, and be sensible and business-oriented with the others. Late payment may mean upcoming trouble and early action is key (ie not take further jobs, get paid and drop the customer before they crash).
Philippe
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Anil Gidwani
Indien
Mitglied (2002)
Deutsch > Englisch
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| | Doesn't seem worth it | Sep 23 |
I took some chances when I was starting out, and only for relatively small jobs, and after weighing all probabilities, such as cross-checking with other sources (payment practice lists etc., and google searches of the company).
Fortunately, I ended up getting paid, albeit with some effort. But today, I have to ask myself: Would I rather be chasing someone down for payment or spending quality time marketing/translating?
In the case you described, I'd just forget about it.
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José Henrique Lamensdorf
Brasilien
Mitglied
Englisch > Portugiesisch
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Ana Naglić wrote:
I am negotiating a project with a new customer.
They have a very low BB record (1.7).
They have 5 negative entries (out of total 7).
Should I trust them nevertheless? |
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If you do, what's the use of having access to the BB?
You should start working for them after having your full payment in advance, and not in a way that can be reversed. (Actually, if they pay you via PayPal, even after you withdraw the money, they can say they didn't receive the merchandise or service, and PP will charge that amount to your credit card. Crooks will be crooks!)
If it's a long job, you can e.g. get 20% in advance, do 20% of it and deliver. Then wait until you got the next 20% to resume work on it, and so on. And if they insist in paying you by check, don't start before it has cleared.
Bear in mind that they had plenty of time to make up for the disgruntled people who left their feedback on the BB, and, if these were satisfied, they'd have a chance to change their opinions there.
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John Rawlins
Spanien
Mitglied (2007)
Spanisch > Englisch
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| | Swimming with sharks | Sep 23 |
Ana
If you swim with sharks, then you are either another shark or dinner.
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NR_Stedman
Frankreich
Mitglied
Französisch > Englisch
| | Don't take the job: beware of cheque fraud scams | Sep 23 |
The most worrying thing about this agencies requirements is their insistence to pay by cheque.
Don't take a cheque up front as some banks can take up to 2 weeks to find out if a cheque is a dud even here in France. I once got paid for something (not a translation) with a cheque from the Bank of Ireland. My French bank (a big bank the "Caisse d'Epargne") said is was 100 % sure that the cheque was OK and credited my account. It took them 2 weeks to find out that the cheque was an excellent fake.
see also http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/information/-/page/cheque_fraud/
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Lawyer-Linguist
Portugal
Mitglied (2004)
Niederländisch > Englisch
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Don't say you haven't been warned.
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Steven Capsuto
Vereinigte Staaten
Mitglied (2004)
Französisch > Englisch
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| | Even cashing the check doesn't solve the problem | Sep 23 |
Alla Douglas wrote:
AND if they pay you in advance, cash the check first |
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I don't know how banking laws work in Croatia, but at least here in the States that wouldn't solve the problem. The money might appear in your account, but if it's a foreign check it could turn out to be bad three or four weeks later and then the money would disappear from your account.
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Kevin Fulton
Vereinigte Staaten
Deutsch > Englisch
| | Crummy companies stay in business ... | Sep 23 |
... because someone is always willing to take a chance on them. Do yourself and the profession a favor by not taking the job.
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Alfredo Fernández Martínez
Spanien
Mitglied (2006)
Englisch > Spanisch
+ ...
| | Those who play with fire...do get burnt in the end | Sep 23 |
If I liked risks.. I reckon I would much rather do some canooing, paraglading, or hitch-hiking, for that matter...
Would you put money into a bank that has notoriously ripped off some of its clients?
Would you lend money to some friend of yours, who owes money to other friends of yours?
Would you apply for a job for a company that has just fired many workers and has left them unpaid?
I think the answer is two letters, and a very short and easy one.
Simply, NO!
Alfredo
Edited, and added:
PS: Please inform that company that we, translators, just like them, need to earn money,we do not work for free.
And moreover: that they should pay those translators before looking for new ones, as well as forget about leaving more translators like us unpaid.
[Edited at 2008-09-23 19:07]
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Ana Naglić
Kroatien
Mitglied (2005)
Englisch > Kroatisch
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And no, I didn't take the job.
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| Vom Thema belegte Seiten: < [1 2 3] > |
The translation workplace 
