| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > | What a cheek!!! Thread poster: Laurent Di Raimondo
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Dear colleagues,
I can't resist to share with you one of those weird offers I've just received today coming from a French translation agency (maybe one of those lousy junk chained mails).
This email reads:
"Hello, [sic]
We have received a new project in the en-US_fr-FR language pair:
Service: Translation
WC: 4532,3 words
Rate: 0.06 EUR [sic]
Deadline: 07/03 11h CET
Field: Marketing/Photography
TAO: Trados
Wou... See more Dear colleagues,
I can't resist to share with you one of those weird offers I've just received today coming from a French translation agency (maybe one of those lousy junk chained mails).
This email reads:
"Hello, [sic]
We have received a new project in the en-US_fr-FR language pair:
Service: Translation
WC: 4532,3 words
Rate: 0.06 EUR [sic]
Deadline: 07/03 11h CET
Field: Marketing/Photography
TAO: Trados
Would you be available to handle it?
Kind regards".
Reading this, I was about to dump it on my waste bin in first intention. But then, I came around to take time and give a short answer to this cheeky author.
And here is my answer:
"Hello, [same tone and level of courtesy]
Rule no.1: I no longer work for any French translation agency nor for any French LSP. They all have a bad reputation within the translation industry of being late serial payers and dishonest partners in business.
Rule no.2: I don’t let anyone decide for me on my price rates [that took the cake!]. Do you happen to impose your own price when having your car repaired?
I find your attitude quite shameful and disrespectful yet not so surprising coming from a French agency…
Best regards".
For my part, I draw several conclusions of this short and trivial story:
(1) Never work for a French translation agency
(2) Never let anyone dictate nor impose your own prices
(3) Never hesitate to bring down disrespectful LSPs a peg or two when it comes to defend your integrity as as professional translator
(4) Always check their Blue Board (here scored 3.7, what largely vindicated my position)
(5) Never miss any opportunity to "educate" such cheeky players often self-proclaimed "business partners"
Don't hesitate to share your views and same experiences to this respect.
Best to all of you.
[Modifié le 2023-03-03 20:44 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Cultivating a stoic calmness | Mar 3, 2023 |
Laurent,
Examples such as this one abound, but with all due respect, I beg to differ on a number of points:
1. I would say a generalization such as this one isn't useful (except as a shortcut for silent filtering) and does not hold to any serious scrutiny.
2. You can still provide a counter-offer and not agree to their rate. Yes, it can be annoying to feel they try to dictate the price, but it is still a negotiation, nothing has been set in stone yet.
... See more Laurent,
Examples such as this one abound, but with all due respect, I beg to differ on a number of points:
1. I would say a generalization such as this one isn't useful (except as a shortcut for silent filtering) and does not hold to any serious scrutiny.
2. You can still provide a counter-offer and not agree to their rate. Yes, it can be annoying to feel they try to dictate the price, but it is still a negotiation, nothing has been set in stone yet.
An initial price-tag can get the ball rolling or cut down to the chase by helping quickly determine whether there's any realistic room for negotiation (as in, "oh look, it seems they can't afford my rates, let's move on" or "that rate means they are operating in a different market segment, let's move on", etc.).
3. I think you can still defend your integrity while remaining professional at all times. We're communication experts after all
4. Agreed, but with the footnote that while bad BlueBoard rates are a red flag, good ones aren't necessarily an accurate indicator.
5. I am all for educating the client if this helps build a mutually beneficial business relationship and is likely to be appreciated. Adopting a belligerent approach, virtually "spanking" the other party, and burning bridges does not qualify in my book and sounds like a waste of precious time.
---
Your mileage may vary as it all comes down to a personal approach, but cultivating a stoic calmness can go a long way...
Epictetus' Enchiridion to the rescue...
"Remember that it is not he who gives abuse or blows, who affronts, but the view we take of these things as insulting. When, therefore, anyone provokes you, be assured that it is your own opinion which provokes you. Try, therefore, in the first place, not to be bewildered by appearances. For if you once gain time and respite, you will more easily command yourself."
With regards!
[Edited at 2023-03-04 06:36 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Rule 1: Never say never :) | Mar 4, 2023 |
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| | | | Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 09:02
Member
English to Turkish
I was going to post a new forum topic about the job ad that was posted on Proz last night, but I might as well post it here...
See the job below. You're supposed to stay up between 1 AM and 9 AM every single day of the year (literally a 365-day graveyard shift) in the hopes of getting 100 to 1000 words that night and you're supposed to deliver 1000 words within 2.5 hours after receiving it (say you got it at 4 AM while waiting in front of your computer watching crap on Netflix, you gotta w... See more I was going to post a new forum topic about the job ad that was posted on Proz last night, but I might as well post it here...
See the job below. You're supposed to stay up between 1 AM and 9 AM every single day of the year (literally a 365-day graveyard shift) in the hopes of getting 100 to 1000 words that night and you're supposed to deliver 1000 words within 2.5 hours after receiving it (say you got it at 4 AM while waiting in front of your computer watching crap on Netflix, you gotta wash your face, make a coffee and get down to the business).
If you don't get anything between those ungodly hours, you get compensated for the electricity and gas you consumed that night (200 words x 'best rate')!
I know there'll be plenty takers for this job from Turkey. Bottom-feeders here love to stay up during those hours when they engage on social media (especially when their parents are footing the bills), but for the life of me I can't see why a Dutch 'resource' living in the Netherlands (not in Surinam, Peru, Thailand, Philippines) would consider such a prospect. I know that Italians don't mind working cheap, but I just can't understand the Dutch (having checked their BB page, I saw a review by a Dutch translator).
Here is the job in question:
[Edited at 2023-03-04 06:48 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Gitte Hovedskov (X)
Denmark
Local time: 08:02
English to Danish
+ ...
| Keep professional | Mar 4, 2023 |
Did your reply make you feel better or more professional than the people contacting you?
Did it achieve anything at all?
What good did it do you to 'educate' the sender?
I don't get it.
Following your first instinct, binning the message, would have saved you both time and a few moments of annoyance.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 09:02
Member
English to Turkish
| 'Educating' the sender? | Mar 4, 2023 |
Gitte Hovedskov wrote:
Did your reply make you feel better or more professional than the people contacting you?
Did it achieve anything at all?
What good did it do you to 'educate' the sender?
I don't get it.
Following your first instinct, binning the message, would have saved you both time and a few moments of annoyance.
I know where you're coming from, and the OP seems to be making a big deal out of a job ad, which many translators in my pair would simply salivate over... this doesn't merit posting on a public forum.
But, I do not think there is any point in 'educating' a sender who offers you 2-3 cents pw (not in my experience, at any rate), they just need to be told to 'eff off'. Keeping it 'professional' will be a waste of time, and if you ignore them they'll keep coming back (I know from experience).
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 08:02
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Baran Keki wrote:
See the job below. You're supposed to stay up between 1 AM and 9 AM every single day of the year...
It's only 1 AM to 9 AM if you're in the CET time zone. If you're in Australia, it's the afternoon. If you're in India (where the poster is from), it's 6 AM to 2 PM. And if you set an out-of-office reply for the hours that you're not at the computer, the client will know to contact the next available translator directly afterwards. And let's not forget: modern man has his phone in his hands during all waking hours.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 08:02
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Laurent Di Raimondo wrote:
"Hello, [sic]
We have received a new project in the en-US_fr-FR language pair:
Service: Translation
WC: 4532,3 words
Rate: 0.06 EUR [sic]
Deadline: 07/03 11h CET
Field: Marketing/Photography
TAO: Trados
Would you be available to handle it?
Kind regards.
This is exactly how I prefer to get mails from agencies. A neutral salutation ("hello") followed by a polite sentence followed by the particulars of the job, followed by a polite sentence, followed by a neutral sign-off.
This is just enough information for me to make a decision on whether to reply or not, and to ensure that my reply is useful to the client, wherein I can provide a counter-offer or explain how what I offer differs from what is requested, and ask for more information. And, if I suspect that the client will not accept my counter-offer, I can easily just write a friendly reply saying that "unfortunately" I can't assist, due to such and such reasons (e.g. my rate is 0.18 per word, or I'm fully booked until 11/03, etc.).
There is no reason why I can't be polite and professional, especially if the client was polite and professional -- and what you quoted above matches my definition of "polite and professional".
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Baran Keki wrote: I was going to post a new forum topic about the job ad that was posted on Proz last night, but I might as well post it here... See the job below. You're supposed to stay up between 1 AM and 9 AM every single day of the year (literally a 365-day graveyard shift) in the hopes of getting 100 to 1000 words that night and you're supposed to deliver 1000 words within 2.5 hours after receiving it (say you got it at 4 AM while waiting in front of your computer watching crap on Netflix, you gotta wash your face, make a coffee and get down to the business). If you don't get anything between those ungodly hours, you get compensated for the electricity and gas you consumed that night (200 words x 'best rate')! I know there'll be plenty takers for this job from Turkey. Bottom-feeders here love to stay up during those hours when they engage on social media (especially when their parents are footing the bills), but for the life of me I can't see why a Dutch 'resource' living in the Netherlands (not in Surinam, Peru, Thailand, Philippines) would consider such a prospect. I know that Italians don't mind working cheap, but I just can't understand the Dutch (having checked their BB page, I saw a review by a Dutch translator). Here is the job in question: [Edited at 2023-03-04 06:48 GMT]
I received the same job ad for English-Portuguese. It went directly to the bin. Unfortunately, the contact method is by email, so we will not know how many takers it will have…
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 09:02
Member
English to Turkish
| Thanks for the explanation | Mar 4, 2023 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
If you're in India (where the poster is from), it's 6 AM to 2 PM.
Then this should be the ideal job for the Dutch hippies in India! Having turned their backs on materialism, they'll likely not require any money for the services rendered. Their 'best rate' would be to get paid in kind in the form of certain substances...
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It looks like a potential live branch of DeepL for subscribers willing to pay more for their subscriptions to get instant translations, produced by a combination of NMT output with live 24/7 post-editing done by human best-rate translators hired in a kind of virtual translator farm.
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I wondered where you’d gone, now we know 😂😂
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Baran Keki wrote: I was going to post a new forum topic about the job ad that was posted on Proz last night, but I might as well post it here... See the job below. You're supposed to stay up between 1 AM and 9 AM every single day of the year (literally a 365-day graveyard shift) in the hopes of getting 100 to 1000 words that night and you're supposed to deliver 1000 words within 2.5 hours after receiving it (say you got it at 4 AM while waiting in front of your computer watching crap on Netflix, you gotta wash your face, make a coffee and get down to the business). If you don't get anything between those ungodly hours, you get compensated for the electricity and gas you consumed that night (200 words x 'best rate')! I know there'll be plenty takers for this job from Turkey. Bottom-feeders here love to stay up during those hours when they engage on social media (especially when their parents are footing the bills), but for the life of me I can't see why a Dutch 'resource' living in the Netherlands (not in Surinam, Peru, Thailand, Philippines) would consider such a prospect. I know that Italians don't mind working cheap, but I just can't understand the Dutch (having checked their BB page, I saw a review by a Dutch translator). Here is the job in question: [Edited at 2023-03-04 06:48 GMT]
Is there anything else you know about me that I don’t, Mr Keki?
Do you also offer clairvoyant services?
What is your rate for a tarot reading?
An Italian
| | | | | What am I missing here? | Mar 4, 2023 |
Laurent Di Raimondo wrote:
"Hello, [sic]
We have received a new project in the en-US_fr-FR language pair:
Service: Translation
WC: 4532,3 words
Rate: 0.06 EUR [sic]
Deadline: 07/03 11h CET
Field: Marketing/Photography
TAO: Trados
Would you be available to handle it?
Kind regards".
It looks to me as a normal job notification. Yes, low rate (I have seen worse though), but like Jean suggested, you could negociate.
So, what is the insult?
[Edited at 2023-03-04 12:08 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-03-04 12:09 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-03-04 13:41 GMT]
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 09:02
Member
English to Turkish
Maria G. Grassi, M.A. wrote:
Is there anything else you know about me that I don’t, Mr Keki?
No, I absolutely know nothing about you, but I'm pleased to e-meet you
Maria G. Grassi, M.A. wrote:
Do you also offer clairvoyant services?
No, I don't. But Proz forums, especially the Italian translators on Proz forums, provide enough information.
Maria G. Grassi, M.A. wrote:
What is your rate for a tarot reading?
I haven't branched out to that particular service as yet, but might I interest you in my 'Mastermind course on Gmail spam folders' and other useful tips on taking your translation business to the next level? Super early bird special is only $299.99!
Maria G. Grassi, M.A. wrote:
An Italian
Your surname should've tipped me off, but then my surname kind of sounds Italian as well, so you never know!
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » What a cheek!!! | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
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