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Delay for an agency to confirm job?
Thread poster: laurem
laurem
laurem  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 13:26
English to French
+ ...
Aug 5, 2006

Would like to receive other people's opinion on the following :

I have been contacted by a translation agency I have done some work for. They proposed me a big job (to keep me busy for the next 10-15 days) and I accepted the conditions. They promised to come back to me that day after the final customer has given its OK for the project and delay.

Then... no news... I sent a last message end of day to ask them what was the status of that project and did not receive any ne... See more
Would like to receive other people's opinion on the following :

I have been contacted by a translation agency I have done some work for. They proposed me a big job (to keep me busy for the next 10-15 days) and I accepted the conditions. They promised to come back to me that day after the final customer has given its OK for the project and delay.

Then... no news... I sent a last message end of day to ask them what was the status of that project and did not receive any news.

I do not want to turn down any new offer because of my previous commitment but that may just result in... no job at all!

What would you do?

Thanks in advance for your opinions and suggestions. ▲ Collapse
 
texjax DDS PhD
texjax DDS PhD  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:26
Member (2006)
English to Italian
+ ...
my experience Aug 5, 2006

It happened to me too..and I learned my lesson the hard way.
My current "philosophy" is:
no confirmation (and no PO)= no job= no commitment on my part
 
Teresa Bento
Teresa Bento  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 12:26
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Just checking Aug 5, 2006

How long have you been waiting for an answer?

There are times when, due to unexpected events such as huge workflow, people are unable to answer you immediately, which is frustrating and sometimes nerve wrecking, because you don't know what to expect. It doesn't necessarily mean that you will not receive an answer, but I understand you. It has happened to me. I had to write three or four e-mails to my employers to get some feedback, but in the end, everything was okay, they just had ... See more
How long have you been waiting for an answer?

There are times when, due to unexpected events such as huge workflow, people are unable to answer you immediately, which is frustrating and sometimes nerve wrecking, because you don't know what to expect. It doesn't necessarily mean that you will not receive an answer, but I understand you. It has happened to me. I had to write three or four e-mails to my employers to get some feedback, but in the end, everything was okay, they just had too much to do and couldn't reply immediately.
Sometimes you are obliged to depend on people who aren't as professional as you would like them to be. I hope this turns out to be the opposite.

[Edited at 2006-08-05 18:40] ▲ Collapse
 
De la Vera C (X)
De la Vera C (X)
Argentina
Local time: 08:26
English to Spanish
some ideas Aug 5, 2006

Hi laurem,

some days ago there was thread on a similar situation. Maybe you can find some of the ideas there useful. Good luck!

http://www.proz.com/topic/52366


Verónica
 
Jande
Jande  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 21:26
Danish to English
+ ...
Start on the job in good faith Aug 7, 2006

Hi,

As I live in Austrailia, most of the jobs I get, I start them without confirmation or a P.O. because I can't wait up during the night or to the next day to have my confirmation, when the job is due in for instance the next two days. That leaves me zero days to translate. However if I start immediately the job is done before the next day.

What I then do is send them a warning email. I say I've started on the job assuming everything is ok, to send the P.O. and plea... See more
Hi,

As I live in Austrailia, most of the jobs I get, I start them without confirmation or a P.O. because I can't wait up during the night or to the next day to have my confirmation, when the job is due in for instance the next two days. That leaves me zero days to translate. However if I start immediately the job is done before the next day.

What I then do is send them a warning email. I say I've started on the job assuming everything is ok, to send the P.O. and please tell me a.s.a.p. if they want me to stop translating. I give them my home phone number and indicate to them the times I'm not online so they can call (and wake me) if necessary.

It didn't work out in one job, which was proofreading and time based, so I don't recommend you to do such a thing on time based jobs, however with translating I have not run into a problem.

I normally do this when the client has already sent me the files then I'm pretty sure the job is definate.


Good Luck ▲ Collapse
 
Edward Potter
Edward Potter  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:26
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
No confirmation = no job Aug 7, 2006

This situation pops up for me once in a while. If I have a large job coming in I will inquire about translator availability, but make sure it is clear that the job is not confirmed. All I want is a tentative answer. It is understandable if the translator becomes unavailable due to a more definite job coming in before I can confirm mine. I really do not see a big problem here. The control is mostly in the translator's hands.
 
laurem
laurem  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 13:26
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thankd for comments and sharing your experience Aug 8, 2006

"No confirmation = no job"... This is definitely the answer...

The agency just told me they are sorry not to come back to me with a confirmation but they have not yet received the final customer's go-ahead for the project... 5 days later!!

Thanks a lot for your comments! Was very useful!
 


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