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Why are some agencies making it all so complicated?
Thread poster: S_G_C
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:20
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
How about... Oct 18, 2017

...the collection of signed agreements we all have? I reckon I must have signed over a hundred agreements in my freelance career, 50-60% of which correspond to agencies that never sent one cent worth of paid work.

I wonder how long will it take me when I retire to discontinue the agreements one by one by means of the methods expressed in each agreement. Agency agreements should be automatically void or non-enforceable if they have never sent any paid work! Such a clause would be ver
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...the collection of signed agreements we all have? I reckon I must have signed over a hundred agreements in my freelance career, 50-60% of which correspond to agencies that never sent one cent worth of paid work.

I wonder how long will it take me when I retire to discontinue the agreements one by one by means of the methods expressed in each agreement. Agency agreements should be automatically void or non-enforceable if they have never sent any paid work! Such a clause would be very handy in all agency agreements.
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S_G_C
S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 20:20
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER
Agree Oct 18, 2017

Such a clause would be very handy in all agency agreements.


I agree. Several agencies have asked me to delete all project-related information I might have stored on my computer or any other device/means right after the project was accepted. All agencies have the non-disclosure clause in force for a period of time once you end your collaboration with them.


 
Michael Newton
Michael Newton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:20
Japanese to English
+ ...
Agencies making things complicated Oct 18, 2017

I once was on-boarding with an agency in Europe. They demanded diplomas from me and I complied. The diplomas were in Latin and they further demanded that I translate them into English. Needless to say, I ignored the request.
I agree that the more paperwork required the less the chance of receiving work from them.
Also,keep in mind that "Vendor Managers" oftentimes receive bonuses for the translators they "sign up". They sign you up and then drop you.


 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 19:20
French to English
why discontinue? Oct 19, 2017

Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT wrote:

...the collection of signed agreements we all have? I reckon I must have signed over a hundred agreements in my freelance career, 50-60% of which correspond to agencies that never sent one cent worth of paid work.

I wonder how long will it take me when I retire to discontinue the agreements one by one by means of the methods expressed in each agreement. Agency agreements should be automatically void or non-enforceable if they have never sent any paid work! Such a clause would be very handy in all agency agreements.


If an agent never sent you any work, the agreement is probably already in retirement before you are!
No work sent, agreement not activated.


 
Jo Macdonald
Jo Macdonald  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:20
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
My personal favourite Oct 19, 2017

Translator agrees to pay agency €30,000 for any errors (on the basis of agency's own unquestionable judgement).

Almost as good as "Can you give me a deadline for this urgent job? We don't know if/when the client will confirm/send it....

Just say NO


 
Tradupro17
Tradupro17
United States
Local time: 14:20
English to Haitian-Creole
+ ...
It's true Oct 19, 2017

Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT wrote:

Sorana_M. wrote:
Moreover, does this whole process contribute to an agency's credibility? I mean, those agencies applying this process are more reliable than other agencies, which do not require any of the above?

In my experience of 23 years as a freelancer, the best agencies (in terms of pay, reliability, and good sense) are those that demand very little at the beginning, for instance, just to sign a reasonably long NDA.

The more an agency insists in me filling up forms, register in their system, sign long documents, the more I lose interest, since experience shows me that they will send very little work, if any, and not necessarily well paid.


It is my experience that the more demanding agencies are, the less work they have. In fact, I think that some of them enjoy teasing us because they think we don't have anything better to do.


 
DarwinE
DarwinE  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:20
Spanish to English
+ ...
Precisely THIS Oct 19, 2017

Josephine Cassar wrote:

You definitely won't hear from them again. The ones I filled in the beginning of my translation career, never sent anything while those I never signed up with or/and never did tests for, found me and sent me work. The simpler the process, the better.


Ditto. To the max. I remember when I first started sending CVs to multilingual agencies on here there was a specific one that e-mailed me back. We communicated back and forth for a while negotiating a rate before we finally agreed on one (which I later realized was a ridiculous rate to agree to.) This person was very kind and very thankful and his last e-mail to me said "I will write to you as soon as we have a suitable project for you." Yeah, well that was in January of this year. Since then I've gotten more assignments from people who messaged me first by finding my contact info on the directory.

I think out of all the multilingual agencies I've submitted CVs to, I can only think of ONE that got me work. Again, I've gotten more work by agencies (and maintained relationships with some of them) who have found me first.


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:20
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
My personal favorite Oct 20, 2017

My personal favorite was a well-known American translation agency which after asking for a test, a photo, a signed NDA and a long list of other requirements sent me a so-called welcome pack having 34 pages for me to read, sign and return…

 
Inga Petkelyte
Inga Petkelyte  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:20
Lithuanian to Portuguese
+ ...
Quitting on "OUR" portals and systems Oct 20, 2017

Since long ago, I am refusing to receive and upload files through someone else's portals, systems, etc.
It would take heck of additional time of mine and that time is never compensated. So thanks no thanks.
On the other hand, why should a supplier do the receiver's job?
We deliver the document so be so kind and put it to the drawer you please, your inner organization is your business, not supplier's/vendor's.

Now I am about to quit on one more agency.
They ha
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Since long ago, I am refusing to receive and upload files through someone else's portals, systems, etc.
It would take heck of additional time of mine and that time is never compensated. So thanks no thanks.
On the other hand, why should a supplier do the receiver's job?
We deliver the document so be so kind and put it to the drawer you please, your inner organization is your business, not supplier's/vendor's.

Now I am about to quit on one more agency.
They have won a EU tender and need translators in all EU language pairs.
They contacted me 3 years ago, the test was done, all documents filled in, all trainings completed.
They wanted the translations to be done through their system and with CAT.
I refused. Since then, they've been looking for other translators, occasionally bumping into me by mistake.
Earlier this month, a very nice, concise, friendly PM contacted me again.
I explained my reasons.
She managed to convince me. We agreed they would send the files in Word.
Last week, I got the first assignment.
All my reasons proved to be true and beyond:
1) The text was extremely short: 343 caracters (1500 caracters make a EU page);
2) The time the administration of the assignment took was close to 20 times the translation itself;
3) Then I receive their approved PO and calculations, in 2 different files - additional time to dispense;
4) The calculations the agency did differ from mine by several times (some fusion discounts, perhaps? There weren't so many repetitions. Never mind, it doesn't matter g«here anyway);
5) The total I am to receive for the above is... 1 eur with cents.
AND
6) To receive that 1 euro, I have to log in to their system, previously finding the username and the password among usernames and passwords of dozens other agencies, introduce full details of the project, provide the invoice issued under the legislation requirements, and wait around 2 months... for my 1 euro!

This is a joke.
With all my understanding agencies can't invent bigger files for translation in tender projects, forcing translators to use particular portals, platforms orsystems for whatever reason is kind of abuse.
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Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 19:20
Member
English to Italian
BB Oct 20, 2017

Inga Petkelyte wrote:

With all my understanding agencies can't invent bigger files for translation in tender projects, forcing translators to use particular portals, platforms orsystems for whatever reason is kind of abuse.


The good(?) thing is that you did work for them and can now leave a rating on the BB...


 
Inga Petkelyte
Inga Petkelyte  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:20
Lithuanian to Portuguese
+ ...
Not a believer Oct 20, 2017

[quote]Mirko Mainardi wrote:


The good(?) thing is that you did work for them and can now leave a rating on the BB...


Mirko, I'm not a believer in BB.
Even if I were, what would I complain about exactly? The agency didn't do anything wrong, the situation itself is ludicrous in this case.
I could have told right in the beginning I wouldn't enter any systems but I previewed the translation would have the name longer than the body.
Just tried not to be stubborn (or rational?).


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:20
Member (2008)
Italian to English
nasty Oct 21, 2017

[quote]Inga Petkelyte wrote:

Mirko Mainardi wrote:


The good(?) thing is that you did work for them and can now leave a rating on the BB...


Mirko, I'm not a believer in BB.
Even if I were, what would I complain about exactly? The agency didn't do anything wrong, the situation itself is ludicrous in this case.
I could have told right in the beginning I wouldn't enter any systems but I previewed the translation would have the name longer than the body.
Just tried not to be stubborn (or rational?).


- and with the new WWA thing, if you leave a negative comment about them on the BB, they could come back at you, accusing you of all kinds of bad behaviour.

[Edited at 2017-10-21 10:48 GMT]


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 19:20
Member
English to Italian
I understand, however... Oct 21, 2017

Inga Petkelyte wrote:

Mirko, I'm not a believer in BB.
Even if I were, what would I complain about exactly? The agency didn't do anything wrong, the situation itself is ludicrous in this case.
I could have told right in the beginning I wouldn't enter any systems but I previewed the translation would have the name longer than the body.
Just tried not to be stubborn (or rational?).


I perfectly understand, and share, your doubts about the BB, however I believe its residual usefulness lies precisely in negative LWAs, as we have all read stories about enthusiastically positive LWAs conveniently left in swaths to aid this or that outsourcer's rating, about the pressure exerted by some outsourcers to leave or modify feedback, etc., so, in general, you can be wary of an outsourcer if you find even just a few bad LWAs left by colleagues you know, trust and/or respect. Definitely not how it should be, but it is what it is, so we can only work around that as best as we can.

As for the grounds to leave a negative feedback, well, if you weren't informed beforehand about different compensation, rates, "discounts" applied, etc. and you ended up being paid €1 for 60-70 words, then I'd say that alone would warrant a negative feedback, just stating the truth, which is to say your "likeness to work with them again" is 0 (or 1), without citing any specific reason, or because of low rates, unclear terms, overly bureaucratic procedures, etc.


 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 19:20
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Please give the agency a low rating Oct 21, 2017

Mirko Mainardi wrote:

Inga Petkelyte wrote:

With all my understanding agencies can't invent bigger files for translation in tender projects, forcing translators to use particular portals, platforms orsystems for whatever reason is kind of abuse.


The good(?) thing is that you did work for them and can now leave a rating on the BB...


I give these agencies a 2 or a 3 and a short, objective comment if I ever get as far as working for them. I have never had 'too much hassle' or 'their portal is a pain' removed - or any of my other comments.
One agency challenged my rating, but I insisted, and my rating is till there. Staff can't really just remove all unfavourable ratings, and they don't.

What is really annoying is that often, after a lot of hassle, no job ever materialises, and the agency gets away with a long chain of 5-ratings, which is totally misleading.


 
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