| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Is this a scam? Send work before un-edited. Thread poster: Sofia Calado (X)
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Sheila Wilson 
Spain
Local time: 06:02
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| That's the B2B way of doing business | Dec 21, 2015 |
TransAfrique wrote:
Sheila Wilson wrote:
Doesn't sound like a scam to me. More like a very fair agency trying to make the best of a bad situation for everyone.
By getting work (I assume) it hasn't paid for? If they want the unedited work it's fine to send it to them, but only after they send full payment for the work done. The translators who did the work still need to be paid. It's not their fault the agency didn't get "final approval from the government" before commissioning the translation.
I got the impression it was the end client who hadn't obtained full authorisation, but I may be mistaken. But really, it changes nothing. Do we always ask for full advance payment? Do we examine the client's actual ability to pay for that actual job? No - we try to check their reputation, but we don't know if payment is actually going to be made available 30 days from now. In the end, we have to take a small amount of risk - that's business.
AFAIC, showing willing is 75% of the battle. If a client is willing to pay then many things can be sorted. It's the clients that are reluctant to pay even when there's absolutely no reason not to who are the ones to mistrust, and avoid like the plague. And letting them have the work does absolutely nothing to water down your claim for payment for that work. If anything it does exactly the opposite. "Here's the proof that I've been hard at work doing this job for you. Now you need to pay for my labours".
[Edited at 2015-12-21 16:05 GMT]
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Sheila Wilson wrote:
Do we always ask for full advance payment? Do we examine the client's actual ability to pay for that actual job? No - we try to check their reputation, but we don't know if payment is actually going to be made available 30 days from now. In the end, we have to take a small amount of risk - that's business.
Taking a small amount of risk as an individual freelancer is one thing. Moving forward in the face of a giant red flag when you have 4 translators to pay is another. If all the client agency wants is something to "show to the final client and bill accordingly" then samples of the work should be more than enough. They're already acting unprofessionally by commissioning work without the right approval (if their story is to be believed). I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.
Further thoughts: It's also worth asking the commissioning agency what they plan to do if the end client decides not to go ahead with the project even after seeing your unedited work. What's their Plan B for that scenario?
[Edited at 2015-12-21 22:21 GMT]
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 07:02
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Don't forget ... | Dec 22, 2015 |
... to report on developments, Sofia.
Mervyn
| | | | Lianne van de Ven
United States
Local time: 01:02
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Do not start any job without a Purchase Order | Dec 29, 2015 |
... is the basic rule that I follow with all my clients, especially new clients.
New clients will be checked/researched for credentials, this includes website credibility check, domain name check (whois.domaintools.com), physical address check (making sure the address exists and doesn't happen to be a building that is on sale), telephone check (call up the company and talk to someone), any history check (google/online), credentials on Blueboard, translationscammers.com, etc.
<... See more ... is the basic rule that I follow with all my clients, especially new clients.
New clients will be checked/researched for credentials, this includes website credibility check, domain name check (whois.domaintools.com), physical address check (making sure the address exists and doesn't happen to be a building that is on sale), telephone check (call up the company and talk to someone), any history check (google/online), credentials on Blueboard, translationscammers.com, etc.
75K is a VERY large job to take on from an unknown company. It is flattering to be directly approached, but that is also an extra reason to be careful, but I don't know enough about this particular case to judge. With such a large investment of time and resources, I would negotiate a payment arrangement. I often ask new clients without "approved status" (above research) for a partial payment upfront.
It is strange to be asked to deliver work that has not been officially commissioned yet, and worse, that has been put on hold. I would not send anything and keep my fingers crossed, although I like the idea of substituting all vowels with an * (in a copy of your translation, of course) in order to show some goodwill. I am not sure what you can do legally, if the job gets officially cancelled.
This is a very difficult situation. I hope it is not a scam. ▲ Collapse
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 01:02
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| I don't think this is a scam | Dec 29, 2015 |
A scammer would run away with the completed job you have delivered, instead of asking you to deliver the unedited translation.
I think the PM is not a native English speaker. His ideas and intentions were miscommunicated. The normal way to communicate in this situation should be
"Please send over whatever you have completed so far and you will be paid for the amount of work you have done.
[Edited at 2015-12-29 19:32 GMT]
[Edited at 2015-12-29 19:34 GMT]
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 01:02
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| There was a purchase order in her case | Dec 29, 2015 |
Lianne van de Ven wrote:
... is the basic rule that I follow with all my clients, especially new clients.
New clients will be checked/researched for credentials, this includes website credibility check, domain name check (whois.domaintools.com), physical address check (making sure the address exists and doesn't happen to be a building that is on sale), telephone check (call up the company and talk to someone), any history check (google/online), credentials on Blueboard, translationscammers.com, etc.
75K is a VERY large job to take on from an unknown company. It is flattering to be directly approached, but that is also an extra reason to be careful, but I don't know enough about this particular case to judge. With such a large investment of time and resources, I would negotiate a payment arrangement. I often ask new clients without "approved status" (above research) for a partial payment upfront.
It is strange to be asked to deliver work that has not been officially commissioned yet, and worse, that has been put on hold. I would not send anything and keep my fingers crossed, although I like the idea of substituting all vowels with an * (in a copy of your translation, of course) in order to show some goodwill. I am not sure what you can do legally, if the job gets officially cancelled.
This is a very difficult situation. I hope it is not a scam.
| | | | Marius Reika
Local time: 07:02
Member (2006)
English to Lithuanian
| purchase order is not a guarantee that you will be paid | Dec 29, 2015 |
Most of the times I don't receive a PO and never really ask for it any more. It is not necessary as far as the rate or total amount, word count, delivery date, payment terms, details of the client who is ordering the job, are stated in the email. This has the same legal validity as a PO. This was already discussed in the forums.
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 07:02
Spanish to English
+ ...
what happened in the end?
Mervyn
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Sofia Calado (X)
Portugal
Local time: 06:02
Portuguese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | So, after all, it wasn't a scam | Jan 15, 2016 |
Hi!
Thanks for all your tips. After all, it was true, the final client did relaunch the budget process and the translation company did pay me the full amount concerning the work performed. I am currently editing both texts after the budget process being concluded. So, I guess I did well in trusting the company and sending them the translation documents (although locked with Word-based password).
| | | | | All well that ends well! | Jan 15, 2016 |
Continuação de boa sorte, Sofia!
| | | | | I love a happy ending | Jan 15, 2016 |
Good for you, Sofia! And thanks for reporting back!
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 07:02
Spanish to English
+ ...
Glad to hear it. And, much much more so, the translators you detailed for the job.
Mervyn
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Adrian MM. (X)
Local time: 07:02
French to English
+ ...
| A Purchase Order can be cancelled | Jan 16, 2016 |
Lianne van de Ven wrote:
Do not start any job without a Purchase Order
... is the basic rule that I follow with all my clients, especially new clients.
A PO was cancelled and a long translation job countermanded on a regular-client Belgian/French company's translation portal system that also barred any invoice being submitted.
In contract law of England & Wales and based on a case that has never been overturned > White and Carter (Councils) Ltd v McGregor [1961], an order cancellation can be ignored in these circumstances, the contractor complete the work and the full amount claimed.
The topic starter's saga had a happy ending.
But, in my case, the end-users had moved the goalposts after the brief had been confirmed on a Friday by demanding on a Monday afternoon - after the whole job had been dictated for audio-typing - an obscure TM/translation management software the audio-typist declined to use.
Upshot: a charge for the small amount typed up, then lie in wait and refusal of all further work from that agency.
[Edited at 2016-01-16 17:32 GMT]
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