Poll: How many clients have you had to fire? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many clients have you had to fire?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 05:24
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
As much as I would love to fire them sometimes, how does one fire a client? Sorry, I don't understand the question.
(Would I have to pay severance?)
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I have never “fired” a client, but I made myself unavailable and stopped working with some clients. I’ve got one client under my sights right now following their decision to use one of those automated management systems where you have to take a course to get your jobs.
| | | | Lingua 5B 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 05:24
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Some of them I fire even before I hire them LOL. I have a folder in my Inbox with a special name where most of the “send us your CV” jobs go to. Some other folders are clients problematic in different ways (the issues are categorized). These folders count hundreds and thousands through years.
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Both times the same multinational agency. And both times they eventually came back cap in hand.
Alex, you sometimes have to work hard to get off the databases of the big agencies and stop them from bothering you with job requests.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 05:24
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
I've never had issues (yet) with clients so severe that I decided to stop working for them. I guess I'm pretty good in assessing if a request from a potential client is worthwile or not. I simply ignore all other requests.
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 05:24
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
Christopher Schröder wrote:
Both times the same multinational agency. And both times they eventually came back cap in hand.
Alex, you sometimes have to work hard to get off the databases of the big agencies and stop them from bothering you with job requests.
In that case, I guess I "fired" three clients so far:
* A multinational company (which has been banned from posting jobs on ProZ in the meantime) for migrating its clients to XTM and for a completely bungled migration from their old, slow and outdated but robust, vendor portal to a whopping four(!) different portals for job, account/identity and payment management.
* An American LSP that randomly decided to introduce its own browser-based CAT tool that was less than useless.
* A German video game localization company that paid all but one of the 77 invoices I sent them with a delay and had hardly been sending me any work because they think MT is useful in video game localization (spoiler: no, it's not).
[Edited at 2024-05-29 09:14 GMT]
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 05:24
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Perhaps I should create a bot/script to eliminate all the bad clients. Any experts willing to help, seems like there are quite a few of them around us.
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| Sadly, good clients sometimes go bad | May 29 |
I worked for several years for what started as a sensible Danish agency, small, interested in clients and translators and accommodating. They got bigger and started wanting discounts for new clients who never became regulars at full rate, and ended up as one of the big ones nobody liked in the UK.
Others have gone the same way.
One fired me because their HQ in Belgium suddenly insisted that they could only work with translators who live where their target language is s... See more I worked for several years for what started as a sensible Danish agency, small, interested in clients and translators and accommodating. They got bigger and started wanting discounts for new clients who never became regulars at full rate, and ended up as one of the big ones nobody liked in the UK.
Others have gone the same way.
One fired me because their HQ in Belgium suddenly insisted that they could only work with translators who live where their target language is spoken - Danglish was not good enough.  But I was about to fire them anyway - their CAT tool was hopeless, and I could no longer persuade the PMs to let me use mine. I was sorry, because they were the first client to find me on Proz.com, and we got on well for a long time.
The happy ending to that story is that one of their PMs moved on to a new agency and recruited me - and that is one of the absolute best long-term clients I ever had!
I have no idea how many clients I have fired in 20 years, but definitely more than I have fingers to count on, quite apart from the ones I have weeded out before I ever worked for them. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I think I worked for that same agency | May 29 |
Christine Andersen wrote:
I worked for several years for what started as a sensible Danish agency, small, interested in clients and translators and accommodating. They got bigger and started wanting discounts for new clients who never became regulars at full rate, and ended up as one of the big ones nobody liked in the UK.
Others have gone the same way.
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Ha! I'm pretty sure I know which one that is. If my guess is correct, I was one of their early suppliers into Swedish.
After growing large enough (on the back of enthusiastic contractors like myself and a few others) this agency suddenly introduced workflows that were frankly unworkable.
I reminded them that (a) we were equals once, and (b) contractors are forced to "run our own businesses" and be "self employed" and that means we should not have our hands tied behind our back.
It was like talking to a brick wall.
I'm not expecting favours, but one day they were surprised when I suddenly called it a day and left as a supplier.
My only regret is that I didn't walk out earlier.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 05:24
Spanish to English
+ ...
But it was ages ago and I don't remember the details.
I had to refuse work from one University client (I had collaborated with them previously without any problems), who insisted that I now had to use a Spanish government billing platform (FACe). After spending some time sourcing and installing the necessary software, it turned out that none of the people insisting that I had to use it were able to tell me how to fill in the complicated form, so I just gave up working with them, as... See more But it was ages ago and I don't remember the details.
I had to refuse work from one University client (I had collaborated with them previously without any problems), who insisted that I now had to use a Spanish government billing platform (FACe). After spending some time sourcing and installing the necessary software, it turned out that none of the people insisting that I had to use it were able to tell me how to fill in the complicated form, so I just gave up working with them, as it was more bother than it was worth. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I don't hire my clients. | May 29 |
Normally one "fires" someone that one has hired. I don't hire my clients so I can't really fire them.
How many clients have I decided to stop working with? Lots. I use a CAT tool but if a client tells me to use one and give them whatever discounts they decide, I will immediately stop working with them. This happened with my biggest agency, just over 20 years ago. Does that mean that I fired them?
I've raised rates on many occasions and have lost more clients (all my a... See more Normally one "fires" someone that one has hired. I don't hire my clients so I can't really fire them.
How many clients have I decided to stop working with? Lots. I use a CAT tool but if a client tells me to use one and give them whatever discounts they decide, I will immediately stop working with them. This happened with my biggest agency, just over 20 years ago. Does that mean that I fired them?
I've raised rates on many occasions and have lost more clients (all my agencies, bar one, again about 20 years ago). On other occasions, I've been asked to lower my rates and have refused, so I've lost many more. Does that mean I fired them?
On one occasion, I found that the agency had used me for the test translation and then paid a lower rate to someone else once they'd got the job, so I stopped working with them - and I told them why. In this case, I'd say I fired them. The same thing happened on another occasion, and I did the same, even though this time I didn't have actual proof.
I've stopped working with more than one client because the work they gave me was just too time-consuming and too highly specialised for the rate they were able to pay me (universities, museums, libraries): here I'd use a euphemism and say I "let them go".
In scores of other cases, I don't know if I "fired" my client or if my client "fired" me. Had I pushed my rates up too high? Was the quality of my work not good enough? Did they simply find a better translator? Did they not have any work for me?
I've no idea. ▲ Collapse
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Natasha Cloutier
Netherlands
Local time: 05:24
Member (2023)
Dutch to English
+ ...
| American expression | May 30 |
Alex Lichanow wrote:
As much as I would love to fire them sometimes, how does one fire a client? Sorry, I don't understand the question.
(Would I have to pay severance?)
IIRC a video about getting paid on time talked about firing clients, so that expression came to be. Of course, on the face of it, it makes no sense, a bit like 'doing lunch'
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