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Politeness to customers
Thread poster: Parrot
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 16:22
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Dealing with decision makers Jul 30, 2015

Parrot wrote:
...
(Poor girl on the other end was just a clerk under orders.)


This is often a problem with the types who won't take no for an answer, and who cannot/will not up their offer or accept that you are not going to work with them. They have not really got the authority to do what you want.

Having explained that A) it's not my field, B) I'm fully booked, and C) I want a viable rate (for me) for anything I do take on, I stay with the polite one-liners that I haven't got time if I feel the person at the other end is stuck between a rock and a hard place. I have asked to be removed from databases - in a some cases only to be contacted by the recruiting person a few weeks later!! And then we start all over again...

But sooner or later it is up to them to pull out, and they usually do.


 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:22
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
I had about 3-4 companies that routinely sent me... Jul 30, 2015

... job requests for low rates (under .06) or always with ridiculous deadlines (18,000 words "until" [sic] tomorrow), or jobs way out of my field (and most other people's as well), and after years of politely declining ("unfortunately that rate is.... unfortunately I'm busy.... unfortunately I do not translate medical..."), they just kept on sending me emails (a lot of them seem to be companies with PM "affiliates" all over the world) and the message just wasn't getting to my "file".

... See more
... job requests for low rates (under .06) or always with ridiculous deadlines (18,000 words "until" [sic] tomorrow), or jobs way out of my field (and most other people's as well), and after years of politely declining ("unfortunately that rate is.... unfortunately I'm busy.... unfortunately I do not translate medical..."), they just kept on sending me emails (a lot of them seem to be companies with PM "affiliates" all over the world) and the message just wasn't getting to my "file".

Therefore, I started responding with a simple one-liner: "Is this a joke?" or "Is this a prank?"

Magically, these offers have stopped coming.

Life is good.

[Edited at 2015-07-30 13:59 GMT]
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José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:22
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
You gave me an idea... Jul 30, 2015

Jeff Whittaker wrote:

... job requests for low rates (under .06) or always with ridiculous deadlines (18,000 words "until" [sic] tomorrow), or jobs way out of my field (and most other people's as well), and after years of politely declining ("unfortunately that rate is.... unfortunately I'm busy.... unfortunately I do not translate medical..."), they just kept on sending me emails (a lot of them seem to be companies with PM "affiliates" all over the world) and the message just wasn't getting to my "file".

Therefore, I started responding: "Is this a joke?" or "Is this a prank?"

Magically, these offers have stopped coming.


I wonder what would be the response, if we replied to a ridiculous job offer with this:



Gentlemen,

I have reason to suspect that your IT system has been invaded by hackers. I just received the job offer below/attached, and it is pretty obvious that no company in our trade would have survived for more than just a couple of months operating under such business practices. Therefore it becomes visible that someone is sending such offers on your behalf through your system, in an attempt to severely damage your reputation among vendors.
I strongly suggest that you take immediate corrective action to restore your IT security.


[Edited at 2015-07-30 14:14 GMT]


 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:22
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Love It! Jul 30, 2015

I shall give it a try and let you know. Although this may take a while because lately my inbox has been free of these "invaders".

[quote]José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:

Jeff Whittaker wrote:

I wonder what would be the response, if we replied to a ridiculous job offer with this:


Gentlemen,

I have reason to suspect that your IT system has been invaded by hackers. I just received the job offer below/attached, and it is pretty obvious that no company in our trade would have survived for more than just a couple of months operating under such business practices. Therefore it becomes visible that someone is sending such offers on your behalf through your system, in an attempt to severely damage your reputation among vendors.
I strongly suggest that you take immediate corrective action to restore your IT security.


[Edited at 2015-07-30 14:22 GMT]


 
Parrot
Parrot  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:22
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Oh, those databases... Jul 30, 2015

Christine Andersen wrote:

I have asked to be removed from databases - in a some cases only to be contacted by the recruiting person a few weeks later!! And then we start all over again ...


I've been around long enough to have been bought and sold, from respectable professional service providers to expanding capitalist agglomerations, "inherited" from previous operators as part of an undeserved goodwill that came with the purchase.

But over here, there's a legal provision for freelancers (which not all agencies observe) about not being able to work without tax clearance from the Treasury. One day, one of those pesky new owners writes to say I still had not sent in tax clearance, so would I please comply in order to continue being on the database.

I'd never "forgotten" anything else so happily in my life!

[Edited at 2015-07-30 16:09 GMT]


 
Daryo
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:22
Serbian to English
+ ...
simple solution? Jul 31, 2015

Parrot wrote:

Thank you. I AM trying to close the door. There just seems to be a crowbar wedged in it.


blocking an email address? Blocking all calls from some phone numbers? Too complicated?


 
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