Client-Agency-Translator relationship

Eleftherios Kritikakis wrote:

The email you received is "standard" - they send the same email to a lot of people.

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sailingshoes wrote:

I'd like to raise a problem which is basic to translation for agencies, and which arises for me every so often.
Last week an agency I frequently work for forwarded a negative comment from ‘the client’ on a short job I had done. The PM accompanied the comment with a sort of ‘What do you think’ micro- message of their own. The client pointed out a pretty elementary typo in my job and stressed they thought the style of my work wasn’t up to ‘the usual standards’.
What annoyed me was the fact that the PM/agency seemed to be just stepping out of the way. There had been no negative comment about my work when I delivered. Also the work had obviously not been proof-read. There were other aggravating factors, such as the fact that the job had been assigned on the basis that I’d worked for ‘the client’ before, although I pointed out that I didn’t think this was the case and even requested some reference material, without success .
In the end I simply told the PM not to adopt this procedure in the future, and that I could not really comment on third-party criticism. I stressed that from my POV the agency was the client, and that once the PM accepted my work and passed it for quality, the problem was pretty much out of my hands. I accepted my share of responsibility but pointed out I needed to know about any perceived shortcomings in my work from the PM, or at the very least from someone else inside the agency.
I have to stress also that I have a good relationship with these people and that they often rely on me for what they see as difficult or challenging jobs.


[Modificato alle 2009-12-07 15:53 GMT]

sailingshoes wrote:
The client pointed out a pretty elementary typo in my job and stressed they thought the style of my work wasn’t up to ‘the usual standards’.

Mariela Diaz-Butler wrote:
Soooo, going back to your particular case, from what I can read, you admit to the error, and the impression you give is that you're offended by the end client pointing it out to the agency, and the agency pointing it out to you in turn and hoping that you'd help them respond to the criticism. Now, from what I can read (and I apologize in advance if I'm reading this wrong), you're acting a bit petulant. Yes, the agency should have done its job and proofread what you gave them, but YOU should have done your job and proofread what you did, and if a mistake escaped your own eyes, why are you surprised it escaped theirs too? And, even if this client is the agency's client and not yours, that does not free you from responsibility. As you said it yourself, your client is the agency, and if the agency is in hot water because of something YOU did, then it IS your problem, even if tangentially so.

Cedomir Pusica wrote:

Did you talk to the agency if the client is willing to pay anything at all?

Mariela Diaz-Butler wrote:


The thing is, that at no point has there been any questions about not paying.

Mervyn Henderson wrote:




Sailingshoes might be in for a little surprise when he or she presents the next bill.

Stanislav Pokorny wrote:
What I especially like are posts where the original poster asks a question, twenty other people comment on it (and argue over it) and the original poster doesn't bother to reply any further. No offence, "sailingshoes".