Hi Angela,
I was contacted this morning by an agency asking for 4000 words for tomorrow afternoon, and asking for my availability and rates (nothing unusual there). Not knowing the agency, I looked them up on the blue board, I found that they have a dreadful reputation and are banned from posting jobs here. Questions to other payment practices lists have revealed similar concerns.
Were you contacted by e-mail (i.e. outside ProZ.com), or through your profile?
I am not touching this job with a ten-foot pole, and I really wonder how this agency is still in business considering it declared bankruptcy last year (apparently). But this made me think, and my question is: if such an agency were to be under new management, and had changed its practices and were doing much better, how would we know? What facilities are there for agencies to restore their reputations?
Now that's a simple one (at least as far as ProZ.com is concerned): all they need to do is to settle all outstanding non-payment complaints, in which case ProZ.com will lift the block on job posting rights. Admittedly, this doesn't happen too often, but we have seen it happen in some cases. What made these cases different was the determination of senior management to set their record straight.
Best regards,
Ralf
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