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| User | Thread poster: savaria Shocking payment practices |
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savaria
Hungary
English to Hungarian
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I have done some translation tasks for a dog farm,in particular,a sharpei farm in Hungary.
Until now,they paid me regularly(every month,or at the end of every project).Now,having just finished a translation of a book on the sharpei specie,they came up with the idea that they would not pay me a penny for translating their book,but they would rather give me a shar-pei instead(and maybe a maximum of 20-30 €s in plus).
What should I do?Shall I burst with anger and tell them that OK,then I go to trial,or what?What would you do?
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Jenny Forbes 
United Kingdom
 Member (2006)
French to English
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Gábor Széles wrote:
I have done some translation tasks for a dog farm,in particular,a sharpei farm in Hungary.
Until now,they paid me regularly(every month,or at the end of every project).Now,having just finished a translation of a book on the sharpei specie,they came up with the idea that they would not pay me a penny for translating their book,but they would rather give me a shar-pei instead(and maybe a maximum of 20-30 €s in plus).
What should I do?Shall I burst with anger and tell them that OK,then I go to trial,or what?What would you do? |
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Let the dogs out, Gábor!
No, but seriously, that's outrageous. Didn't you have any kind of contract or purchase order for the sharpei book? If so, you must insist on being paid the agreed rate.
(Or perhaps a good percentage on the book sales, but it doesn't sound like a best seller).
Best of luck
Jenny
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Tina Vonhof
Canada
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
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Tell them "no thanks, I'm allergic to dogs (just kidding). I agree with Jenny: you should insist on being paid the agreed upon rate. You don't have to threaten them right away, just stay calim, be assertive, and insist that they stick to the terms in the purchase order or e-mail.
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Carla Guerreiro
France
Member (2006)
French to Portuguese
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| | Without pay, no more translation jobs | Jul 24 |
I don't know if I should consider this behaviour shocking or ridiculous or both.
You can tell them that, if they don't pay you, you refuse to work for them.
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Richard Jenkins
Brazil
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
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The company must think that there is now a natural affiliation between you and shar-pei dogs because of the amount of work you've already done for them. So accept the dog and sell it to a nearby restaurant.
SERIOUSLY though, they're probably running into financial difficulties and are looking for an alternative way to pay you.
You just need to make it quite clear as to your position without getting angry or threatening them in any way.
Hope that helps.
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texjax DDS PhD
United States
Member (2006)
English to Italian
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| | The shocking evolution of payment practices | Jul 24 |
Yesterday
Today
Tomorrow
 ?
On the bright side: puppies are cuter than peanuts.
Good luck Gàbor, please keep us posted.
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Amy Duncan
United States
Member (2005)
Portuguese to English
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| | Hahahahahahaha!!!! | Jul 24 |
texjax, that is absolutely hilarious!! 
jazzrascal
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Kevin Lossner
Germany
Member (2003)
German to English
| | Translation is going to the dogs! | Jul 24 |
Wow. This is a new one. On the other hand, if someone offered me a well-bred Vizsla puppy I might take it. Not a shar-pei, though.
Maybe you should take this as a compliment: your translations for them are so good that they are convinced you are a great lover of the breed, and they want to make you happy. I'd thank them politely and ask for the money instead. There's nothing wrong with barter, but both parties have to want what's up for trade.
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Liliana Roman-Hamilton
United States
English to Italian
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| | and cuter than froggies! | Jul 24 |
texjax DDS PhD wrote:
On the bright side: puppies are cuter than peanuts.
Good luck Gàbor, please keep us posted.
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...and puppies are cuter than froggies, too! Sounds like he got a good deal then!!!
Gabor, you should tell them that you're in Hungary where real money is used, not in a God forsaken place in the African desert where you can pay for certain things with camels or oxen .
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Sawal
Senegal
English to French
| | nobody pays with camels in Africa | Jul 24 |
Being an African and living in Africa, I just wanted to clarify that there is no place in Africa where you pay with Camel or Oxen
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texjax DDS PhD
United States
Member (2006)
English to Italian
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| | Your translation as seen by... | Jul 24 |
Yourself
Your client
Freely inspired by this shocking thread and this old one.
I apologize for the double posting, but...I couldn’t resist 
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Henry Hinds
United States
English to Spanish
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| | In the wrong business | Jul 24 |
Texjax, you are in the wrong business! You're postings here are fantastic! More, more...
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Liliana Roman-Hamilton
United States
English to Italian
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Sawal wrote:
Being an African and living in Africa, I just wanted to clarify that there is no place in Africa where you pay with Camel or Oxen |
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I apologize for the misunderstanding Sawal, let me clarify. I didn't say that in Africa the currency is camels or oxen, I was referring to the use of camels or cattle in certain tribal transactions, like paying for a dowry or in litigations. You can see a few examples here (I am quoting a BBC article and other official sources, not the National Enquirer):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/903785.stm
http://www.calvin.edu/minds/vol02/issue02/jdekock.php
http://www.springinstitute.org/Files/thebantuinourmidst4.pdf
(page 16:
Engagement
The potential bride and groom meet, discuss marriage, and agree to marry each other. The groom informs his family, particularly his father, paternal uncles, or elder brother, about the marriage agreement that he has reached with his future wife. The groom’s family meets with the bride’s family and presents their official request for marriage between their son and the young woman. If the bride’s family and presents their official request for marriage between their son and the young woman. If the bride’s family agrees, a schedule is fixed for an engagement. During the engagement day, the groom’s family provides a dowry (harad iyo gabaati), which is paid either in cash or kind (cows or camels), to the bride’s family).
My sentence was said in jest, in response to the surreal offer made to Gabor by that client. I was far from offending. If I did, again, I apologize and rephrase:
"Gabor, tell them that you're in Hungary where real money is used, not in the times of the Mayans when they used cocoa beans".
 
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Mervyn Henderson
Spain
Member
Spanish to English
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| | Start your own farm as a sideline | Jul 24 |
Gábor, I read that shar peis sell for between 500 and 1,000 USD each.
If you genuinely can't get real money out of them, take the dog, do some more work for the miserable so-and-sos, get paid with another dog, of the opposite sex this time, and start breeding them yourself. After all, you must know quite a bit about them by now with all the stuff you've translated.
In a year or two you can stop translating because you'll be making more money than you know what to do with, and will be an authority on shar peis as well. Then you can tell them what to do with their translations.
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Selcuk Akyuz
Turkey
 Partial member
English to Turkish
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MODERATOR | | Any Mayan translator here | Jul 24 |
accepting 'paper' money.
Just joking Mayan language is included in the directory.
Liliana Roman-Hamilton wrote:
"Gabor, tell them that you're in Hungary where real money is used, not in the times of the Mayans when they used cocoa beans".
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[Edited at 2008-07-24 18:43]
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The translation workplace 
