| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Over your professional career, how many times have you faced non-payment? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Ventnai 
Spain
Local time: 18:24
German to English
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I've been caught out twice. Once, some time ago by a "supposed" agency in another country, which disappeared once I tried to request payment. I used the fax number on the original document to trace it back to another translation company in yet another country, which denied all knowledge of the subcontracted agency. I learnt my lesson.
The second time was translating an end-of-year report for an ex-student's company. I had already done the same report for the two previous years, offe... See more I've been caught out twice. Once, some time ago by a "supposed" agency in another country, which disappeared once I tried to request payment. I used the fax number on the original document to trace it back to another translation company in yet another country, which denied all knowledge of the subcontracted agency. I learnt my lesson.
The second time was translating an end-of-year report for an ex-student's company. I had already done the same report for the two previous years, offered them a good price as much was repeated and had no reason to suspect they wouldn't pay me. I even had to pay the tax on the work as the invoice had been submitted. ▲ Collapse
| | | | John Cutler
Spain
Local time: 18:24
Spanish to English
+ ...
But I have had a few rascals who tried to owe me as much as they possibly could before paying off their debts. I've also sworn off working for governmental agencies that can keep you waiting for many, many months before forking over what they owe.
| | | | nordiste
France
Local time: 18:24
English to French
+ ...
Once I was almost in a case of non-payment but after a few non-answered emails then I gave the agency a phone call and discovered that the nice PM had just vanished !
It was a small agency, so the other PM checked the situation with me : PO, translation sent, and a few days later I was paid.
| | | | David Russi
United States
Local time: 10:24
English to Spanish
+ ...
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
I was owed over US$ 9,000 by a respected international organization. It was a big mess affecting a number of colleagues, but my case was the worst. I finally pulled strings and brought it to the attention of the Secretary General - after which I had to wait another 6 months.
I've also had at least 3 smaller defaults that I haven't pursued.
[Edited at 2011-01-07 10:00 GMT]
I think I may have been in the same boat with you and many other freelancers caught up in the gyrations of that company (which lost a lot of my respect...). At one point they owed my group (3 of us) more than $12,000, and while we did get paid in the end, we waited 9 months for it. It was a lesson in not allowing any one client to have that much credit, and in expanding out client base.
Complete non-payment? 3 instances in over 20 years for me, all small jobs that did not seem worth going to court for.
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| i've been lucky | Jan 7, 2011 |
Only a couple of times. Once early on, a company who gave me the poor quality work story. Another was a client who was actually very good, but HER client was known to be 'difficult' and was not happy with my translation. I insisted that time on payment and got a reduced rate and settled for that. The most recent was a 'private' client in a foreign country. I did a job in july that was shared among other translators and since then have not been able to receive any payment, in spite of numerous e... See more Only a couple of times. Once early on, a company who gave me the poor quality work story. Another was a client who was actually very good, but HER client was known to be 'difficult' and was not happy with my translation. I insisted that time on payment and got a reduced rate and settled for that. The most recent was a 'private' client in a foreign country. I did a job in july that was shared among other translators and since then have not been able to receive any payment, in spite of numerous emails, skypes etc. It wasn't a huge amount, about 250 EUR. That's the problem when someone is in another country. I've been lucky, as i know people who are owed thousands by agencies that refuse to pay for huge jobs or go bankrupt. PROZ has been helpful for avoiding companies like that. I'm also leery of private clients in other countries and usually only take on those who are recommended by people I know. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Michele Gile
Canada
Local time: 12:24
Member (2008)
German to English
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| Blueboard is not a sure bet | Jan 7, 2011 |
Johan Venter wrote: MC-Trans wrote:
It is relatively easy to sort out the bad apples with due dilligence before accepting a job from outsourcers. Check the blueboard entries, look at their homepage, their references and maybe contact one or the other translator who worked for them before... This does not always help. I've fallen victim twice over the years to clients that paid regularly and then suddenly encountered financial problems. The first time I lost more than Euro 10,000 (2 month's worth of invoices from a regular client with a 60 day waiting period before invoices were settled, plus legal costs trying to salvage some money from a bankrupt estate) and the second time a few hundred Euros. As a result I now hardly ever accept payment terms of more than 30 days and I chase after payment as soon as I suspect something might be amiss).
same here, it is the companies that are paying regularly and then have financial difficulties.....
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 12:24
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Twice, and for trivial amounts | Jan 7, 2011 |
It was not even worth my time to pursue collection.
That's as far as actually being stiffed. I have "faced" non-payment (i.e., become aware of an agency's "problems" after submitting work; or had payment delayed more than two weeks with inquiries unanswered) but I have always eventually gotten paid in those cases. So my percentage of collected monies during my freelance career is something like 99.999%.
As I've pointed out before, I think it is important for a freelance... See more It was not even worth my time to pursue collection.
That's as far as actually being stiffed. I have "faced" non-payment (i.e., become aware of an agency's "problems" after submitting work; or had payment delayed more than two weeks with inquiries unanswered) but I have always eventually gotten paid in those cases. So my percentage of collected monies during my freelance career is something like 99.999%.
As I've pointed out before, I think it is important for a freelancer to be willing to take swift action as soon as there is a whiff of trouble. And, regretably, there are circumstances where it simply does not pay to be "nice" and "understanding"....
[Edited at 2011-01-07 17:10 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:24
Spanish to English
+ ...
Both approached me through proz. One was a company with a good Blue Board rating. What happened was they quibbled about the amount of words translated, which was more than originally agreed. As their Magyar billing procedure was more complicated than my usual clients, I couldn't be bothered with all the rigmarole and didnt follow it up any further, so perhaps it was partly my fault.
The other was from China, the man promised to pay me after the job was delivered, but I never heard ... See more Both approached me through proz. One was a company with a good Blue Board rating. What happened was they quibbled about the amount of words translated, which was more than originally agreed. As their Magyar billing procedure was more complicated than my usual clients, I couldn't be bothered with all the rigmarole and didnt follow it up any further, so perhaps it was partly my fault.
The other was from China, the man promised to pay me after the job was delivered, but I never heard from him again. I knew who the translation was comissioned by and could have gone that route but again I felt it wasnt worth the time and effort.
Nowadays I usually stick to clients in my immediate geographical area - that way I can employ the time-honoured Glaswegian methodology of debt recovery if anyone every tries to stiff me again. ▲ Collapse
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Oleg Osipov
Russian Federation
Local time: 19:24
English to Russian
+ ...
Celebrated 2 years on non-payment in December last year after I had been promised to be paid for a power point presentation valued at $150 from by a renown UK investor.
There is a way to chase him down and settle the issue... just need to find some time for that.
| | | | | Thank goodness... | Jan 7, 2011 |
... the question was not about late payments. I'd probably need a scientific calculator.
Some cause more trouble than others, but most eventually pay. In my case, only two didn't so far.
The first lesson for me was from a woman supposedly in London, supposedly named Claudia Smith, supposedly being a one-woman translation agency owner, who gave her street address and two phone numbers. There were ... See more ... the question was not about late payments. I'd probably need a scientific calculator.
Some cause more trouble than others, but most eventually pay. In my case, only two didn't so far.
The first lesson for me was from a woman supposedly in London, supposedly named Claudia Smith, supposedly being a one-woman translation agency owner, who gave her street address and two phone numbers. There were no Google maps nor Skype in those days, and the job was so urgent that there was no time for a thorough check. Later, some investigation led me to the fact that the address did not exist, and the two phones were burners, possibly floundering in the Thames by the time I tried to call them (no cell chips then either).
As the translation was a collection of e-mail messages between two world-class IT companies, three months after "Claudia" had received the job, confirmed receipt, and thereafter vanished leaving no trace, I e-mailed a detailed report on the incident to all the umpteen e-mail addresses mentioned therein. Nobody replied, but I felt relieved after having done my share of damage to whoever this job had been assigned to.
The second one was a translation agency that is a minor division of a giant world-class and worldwide corporation in a somewhat related trade. They assigned me a 120,000 words proofreading job, with a very formal PO, lots of penalties if I didn't do this and that, etc. They wanted me to commit all my time 'next week' to do it as fast as they needed. Sent all the originals, advised that 9 translators were working on it. The next week came, but no translations with it. After some persistent follow-up I was told that the project had been put 'on hold' by the end-client, however I was expected to stand by, as it might hit me any time (and what about the 9 translators?). So I refrained from taking any large or urgent job while standing by, and they kept me so - in spite of my persistent, every second day, follow-up - for four months!!! ... until the job was finally cancelled.
From what I read on the press, there were good reasons for the end-client to put it on hold, as well as to cancel it afterwards. Such small things like cancelled translations should be part of the cost of attempting to close a US$ 9-digit deal. Hence that LWA=5 agency should charge them for keeping freelancers (me and the 9 translators) standing by for so long (which maybe they did), and compensate translators according to some common-sense criterion. In spite of how much that agency liked my work - as it leaked to me through some internal e-mails careless people there inadvertently CC'ed to me - they are not getting it any more of it.
[Edited at 2011-01-07 20:20 GMT]
[Edited at 2011-01-07 20:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 18:24
French to German
+ ...
| Once - and that was enough! | Jan 7, 2011 |
At that time, I was not aware of the BB's existence (among other things) and became an easy target for an outsourcer who has a mile-long record on ProZ.com and elsewhere. So I lost 90.42 euros ex VAT on gaining experience - point taken!
This particular outsourcer still spams me every year on Christmas, Easter etc. So far, his ISP was unable to stop the abuse...
Makes one wonder!
[Modifié le 2011-01-07 20:39 GMT]
| | | | | there's no way to predict | Jan 8, 2011 |
when a translation agency will go kablooie. The BB is a good tool but we can also rely on our colleagues. There was one local agency that I had sent my CV to, but was warned away from them by a local colleague who is also a PROZ member. They had notorious record of non payment and have since gone bankrupt, leaving dozens of translators unpaid for thousands of dollars. The same colleague recommended I contact another agency who were really great, gave me some good assignments and paid well, even... See more when a translation agency will go kablooie. The BB is a good tool but we can also rely on our colleagues. There was one local agency that I had sent my CV to, but was warned away from them by a local colleague who is also a PROZ member. They had notorious record of non payment and have since gone bankrupt, leaving dozens of translators unpaid for thousands of dollars. The same colleague recommended I contact another agency who were really great, gave me some good assignments and paid well, even though I only got a few jobs from them. The grapevine can be the best way to find the gems and avoid the duds! ▲ Collapse
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Marta Parisi
Spain
Local time: 18:24
Member (2008)
Spanish to Italian
+ ...
| agency couldn't afford 10 euros payment!! | Feb 2, 2011 |
I fortunately had no big problems with payments, maybe delays, but no invoices that were not paid at all...the only unpaid invoice was the one I sent to an agency, worth 10 euros..I never saw that amount of money on my bank account. Once I decided to send and e-mail to ask something about it (feeling ashamed due to the amout of the invoice which was soooo small, I must admit that I did it more because of my principles than for the money itself) and their reply was: "we would pay as soon as we ha... See more I fortunately had no big problems with payments, maybe delays, but no invoices that were not paid at all...the only unpaid invoice was the one I sent to an agency, worth 10 euros..I never saw that amount of money on my bank account. Once I decided to send and e-mail to ask something about it (feeling ashamed due to the amout of the invoice which was soooo small, I must admit that I did it more because of my principles than for the money itself) and their reply was: "we would pay as soon as we have the possibility to do so". I was freaking out, which agency can't afford a 10 euros payment???? I just decided to give up, although I really felt I was being messed around... ▲ Collapse
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