The client disappeared Thread poster: savaria (X)
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savaria (X)
Hungary
Local time: 15:49
English to Hungarian
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Very briefly,the situation is the following:
An Italian client,from an Italian village in the territory around the Italian city of Tivoli sent me an email a few weeks ago(still in July,on the 21 July 2008) stating that he would need an interpreter ASAP.Ever since,I am trying to contact him,and when we manage to speak,then he always says that he was abroad(he wanted me to work for him in Western Hungary,in Körmend,about 30 or maximum 40 kms away from the city where I live,Szomba... See more Very briefly,the situation is the following:
An Italian client,from an Italian village in the territory around the Italian city of Tivoli sent me an email a few weeks ago(still in July,on the 21 July 2008) stating that he would need an interpreter ASAP.Ever since,I am trying to contact him,and when we manage to speak,then he always says that he was abroad(he wanted me to work for him in Western Hungary,in Körmend,about 30 or maximum 40 kms away from the city where I live,Szombathely(and the city that is actually a centre of Vas county),and that I should contact him later. He said(in an email sent by him) that he had found my email and telephone here on proz.com some time ago (I am a free,non-member,simple registered user of this site),and that he wanted to work with me,but he had no idea about any of the conditions(salary,or payment,working hours,conditions,etc). Ever since,the client(who called himself Marco F. by way,I do not know whether I may write out his full name,but maybe I should,because this thing looks as if it was a translation business-related scam,and so as to prevent that other colleagues also fall into his trap) disappeared.He does not respond to any of my emails(I have already sent him several so far,ever since he has disappeared.).I have every contacts of him: four telephone numbers(two fix telephones and two mobile/handy numbers,email,and Italian adress + reference of an approximate address in Hungary,near,about 30 kms away from the city where I live)
What can/should I do? ▲ Collapse
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Peter Manda (X)
Local time: 09:49
German to English
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If you haven't done work for him, you should let go and move on to better things.
(Did he wear a ring?)
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Yolanda Broad 
United States
Local time: 09:49
Member (2000)
French to English
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MODERATOR | Please, no outsourcer names or links to names | Aug 5, 2008 |
Outsourcers, including potential clients, should not be named outside of the Blue Board, the part of the site dedicated to that purpose. Your description of his modus operandi will be much more helpful to anyone who might be contacted by him in the future.
If you are curious about your disappearing client, there would certainly be no harm in creating a Blue Board record with that information. You will not, of course, be able to enter an LWA (Likelihood to Work Again) in that rec... See more Outsourcers, including potential clients, should not be named outside of the Blue Board, the part of the site dedicated to that purpose. Your description of his modus operandi will be much more helpful to anyone who might be contacted by him in the future.
If you are curious about your disappearing client, there would certainly be no harm in creating a Blue Board record with that information. You will not, of course, be able to enter an LWA (Likelihood to Work Again) in that record, but maybe somebody else has actually worked for the person and has something to say about him. Of course, you will need to have the full contact information in order to create a Blue Board record.
Besides, naming the prospective client would not help: he'll surely use a new name the next time he contacts someone if he actually is a scammer (and that seems unlikely, since he's apparently more interested in avoiding you than in obtaining any financial or other private information from you).
Yolanda Broad ▲ Collapse
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Brandis (X)
Local time: 15:49
English to German
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| very phenomenol these days... | Aug 5, 2008 |
Hi! one vanishes to west coast USA and has no contact numbers and the mails bounce back and another leaves UTAH and nothing doing there either. The third says he had a suspicion that the quality does not match his / her under defined QA and and says he will think about the payment, where I had suggested a few years ago that we should have a standardized QA system that is common and foresees may be around 5% deviation. The way prices are going down these days we need tolerance levels being standa... See more Hi! one vanishes to west coast USA and has no contact numbers and the mails bounce back and another leaves UTAH and nothing doing there either. The third says he had a suspicion that the quality does not match his / her under defined QA and and says he will think about the payment, where I had suggested a few years ago that we should have a standardized QA system that is common and foresees may be around 5% deviation. The way prices are going down these days we need tolerance levels being standardized before anything. I also had suggested an escrow system along these lines. The argument is not about a fat translation but we never know actually what goes on in the mind of the OS and why he posts as though he had no choice to find his solutions around the street corner like may be google solutions. BR Brandis ▲ Collapse
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Birthe Omark
Denmark
Local time: 15:49
Member (2006)
French to Danish
+ ...
| Could be a spammer | Aug 5, 2008 |
Nothing bad has happened really except that you have been fooled.
It actually happened to me a couple of years ago, that a very specific and attractive offer for an interpretation job in my home town .. for 3 weeks, 7 hours a day, 5 days. Advance payment of 50% on agreement.
Sounded like a real estate / realty business... But there was no address, so I kept asking the person 'George' to identify himself, then to identify the client he was supposed to negotiate with in my tow... See more Nothing bad has happened really except that you have been fooled.
It actually happened to me a couple of years ago, that a very specific and attractive offer for an interpretation job in my home town .. for 3 weeks, 7 hours a day, 5 days. Advance payment of 50% on agreement.
Sounded like a real estate / realty business... But there was no address, so I kept asking the person 'George' to identify himself, then to identify the client he was supposed to negotiate with in my town. That went on for a few mails, and I made steps to clear my calender ! Then nothing !!
3 weeks later he came back and told that the project had been postponed and that the had been unavoidably detained (???).
Although I had smelled a rat, in the first instance and was all excited, I kept wanting to believe that it was a real thing !
I finally set out to do some research in spamming, and found that the domain used had been reported numeous times for spamming !
So - I learned to be a bit less naïve - felt a bit foolish - but what a wonderful feeling it was for the first couple of days to think I had got such a fantastic contract !
... So Think of he short-lived pleasure and forget about it again !
Birthe ▲ Collapse
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Brandis (X)
Local time: 15:49
English to German
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| I do not adv. you to go for the BB.. | Aug 5, 2008 |
Hi! what normally happens is that you post a remark on the BB and nothing ever happens there because the outsourcer also posts something and there is hardly any control, that is as far as we go with the BB.
I and my teams practise a strict contract issue, but apparantly that is not always helpful either.
Most usually you end up seeking legal help in other countries where you have no representation, this is because proz.com is only a venue!!?
I would have ... See more Hi! what normally happens is that you post a remark on the BB and nothing ever happens there because the outsourcer also posts something and there is hardly any control, that is as far as we go with the BB.
I and my teams practise a strict contract issue, but apparantly that is not always helpful either.
Most usually you end up seeking legal help in other countries where you have no representation, this is because proz.com is only a venue!!?
I would have suggested, when there is a community principle, then it must be practised as such in every sense and in equal manner, this may sound somewhat illusionary but I am sure it is not impossible.
I feel it is getting ever important now, mainly also due to the developement in this industry. There are surely many other portals, but that is not the main point.
BB is not the president of carnegie or TUB or anything. BB is unbound. That it needs vetting makes me have to laugh.
BR Brandis ▲ Collapse
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| Try the Hungarian Forum? | Aug 6, 2008 |
Hi zsugabubus
Have you tried discussing with peers in the Hungarian Forum?
Lesley
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Heidi C
Local time: 09:49
English to Spanish
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What I understand is that someone called you and said that he needed your services ASAP and would call you back. Then, he never called you.
It is just the same as responding to a job posting in Proz or to en email asking for a quote.
Or like when you go to a stall in the market, ask for the price of something and say you will be back in a while.
It is part of life and the way the world and business works!!!
"Don't call us, we'll call you"
... See more What I understand is that someone called you and said that he needed your services ASAP and would call you back. Then, he never called you.
It is just the same as responding to a job posting in Proz or to en email asking for a quote.
Or like when you go to a stall in the market, ask for the price of something and say you will be back in a while.
It is part of life and the way the world and business works!!!
"Don't call us, we'll call you"
I don't think you should worry or give it more thought.
It not only is not a scam, but he could believe that you are harassing him!!
If you had worked for him and he didn't pay you, that's something else. But this was just an inquiry.
[Edited at 2008-08-08 19:36] ▲ Collapse
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