Off topic: Thank you.... and goodbye! Thread poster: Laurent 1973 (X)
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Laurent 1973 (X) 
Switzerland
Local time: 19:32
English to French
+ ...
Thank you Big Translation Agency for guaranteeing me two days of work per week for almost two years.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for contacting me six months into the project via another PM (unaware of my collaboration with you) with a rate offer that was 20% lower. From that day on, I knew I'd have to watch my back and hold on tight to my rate.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for asking all translators, one year into the project, to translate drawings attached to files without... See more Thank you Big Translation Agency for guaranteeing me two days of work per week for almost two years.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for contacting me six months into the project via another PM (unaware of my collaboration with you) with a rate offer that was 20% lower. From that day on, I knew I'd have to watch my back and hold on tight to my rate.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for asking all translators, one year into the project, to translate drawings attached to files without any extra compensation. That day I thanked God for having Wordfast boost my productivity to make up for 2 hours of extra work per week... unpaid!
Thank you Big Translation Agency for asking all of us to lower our rates at the beginning of the summer. You gave me the opportunity to hold on tight again and turn down your offer.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for almost forgetting me during the summer, only to wake up in August while the others were away. My rates were all of a sudden very convenient again for a couple of weeks.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for replacing a wonderful PM, under whose supervision rate cuts were never asked and the project just went fine, with a PM who thinks it's funny to send messages to all saying almost laughingly that those who've accepted lower rates will get more work. Pathetic!
Thank you Big Translation Agency for making me realize it's now time to move on and say... goodbye! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Happy birthday! | Nov 11, 2008 |
Happy birthday, Laurent! I wish you also to find better clients!
Best wishes from Bucharest,
Delia
| | | | Laurent 1973 (X)
Switzerland
Local time: 19:32
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | Thank you, Delia | Nov 11, 2008 |
Many thanks for your sweet message, Delia.
Laurent
Delia Georgescu wrote:
Happy birthday, Laurent! I wish you also to find better clients!
Best wishes from Bucharest,
Delia
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Laurent, what made you cling to that outfit (it's not a translation agency) for TWO years?
For them, you were supposed to be a one-night-stand just like any other translator they ever hired. However it seems that you felt somewhat attached to them.
Such operations thrive on the fact that there are probably a few million translators and wannabes around the world, so they can cheat one at a time.
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 19:32
Spanish to English
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| I just wonder | Nov 11, 2008 |
Was this the same one I forgot to send my tax certificates to?
You see, we get struck off the database if we don't send yearly tax certificates...
| | | | Laurent 1973 (X)
Switzerland
Local time: 19:32
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Masochism? May be not so much so. I stuck to my rates from day one. I made quite a bunch of money with them, to tell the truth. It's just their recent attitude that makes me think it's time to move on... If their number-one priority is cost and not quality, well, I'm not interested any longer.
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
Laurent, what made you cling to that outfit (it's not a translation agency) for TWO years?
For them, you were supposed to be a one-night-stand just like any other translator they ever hired. However it seems that you felt somewhat attached to them.
Such operations thrive on the fact that there are probably a few million translators and wannabes around the world, so they can cheat one at a time.
| | | | | You said it all! | Nov 11, 2008 |
Laurent 1973 wrote:
If their number-one priority is cost and not quality, well, I'm not interested any longer.
There must be some translators who simply want quantity, they produce e-reams of translation every single day. I see their quality now and then, mostly in the translated user instructions for 99¢ gizmos. Things like "If yu meet a dead battery, and diplay goes vanished, shoul hunt for anew one." add some laughter to my day.
Of course agencies depend on the kind of job they get from their end-clients. If manufacturers of high quality, hi-tech products walk out on them, and all the jobs they get are from such cheap gizmo-makers, that's the kind of work they'll need, that's the level of vendors they'll look for.
Now, chicken or egg? Why did the "good" clients walk away? Did the agency get greedy and move to substandard vendors too early? You'll never know, as apparently you are not one of them. I've seen too many translation agencies considering it much more important for a translator to own Trados than to know the languages involved.
On the other hand, sometimes an end-client goes through a rough patch. One good direct client I've had for the past 20+ years is there. Now, every few months they send me a small fraction of the work they used to give me every single week. However they still pay within 48 hours from delivery. I didn't move on from them. I still give them the same never-compromising quality. But they no longer appear on the first line in my budget.
| | | | Vito Smolej
Germany
Local time: 19:32
Member (2004)
English to Slovenian
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SITE LOCALIZER | I charged it my way | Nov 11, 2008 |
And now the end is near
So you face the final curtain
My friend, Ill say it clear
Ill state my case of which Im certain
... blah blah blah ...
Yes, there were times, Im sure you know
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And charged it my way
Ive loved, Ive laughed and cried
Ive had my fails, my share of l... See more And now the end is near
So you face the final curtain
My friend, Ill say it clear
Ill state my case of which Im certain
... blah blah blah ...
Yes, there were times, Im sure you know
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And charged it my way
Ive loved, Ive laughed and cried
Ive had my fails, my share of losing
And now as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way
Oh, no, no not me
I charged it my way
For what is a man, what has he got
If not himself, then he has not
To say the words he truly feels
And not the words he would reveal
The record shows I took the blows
And charged it my way
The record shows I took the blows
And paid it my way ▲ Collapse
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| I did it my way | Nov 11, 2008 |
Vito Smolej wrote:
And now the end is near
So you face the final curtain
My friend, Ill say it clear
Ill state my case of which Im certain
I love that song! especially when performed by Sinatra or Robbie Williams
| | | | Alicia Casal
Argentina
Local time: 14:32
English to Spanish
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Evonymus wrote: Vito Smolej wrote:
And now the end is near
So you face the final curtain
My friend, Ill say it clear
Ill state my case of which Im certain
I love that song! especially when performed by Sinatra or Robbie Williams
I love by Elvis:)
[Edited at 2008-11-11 14:17]
| | | | Silvina Matheu
Argentina
Local time: 14:32
Member
English to Spanish
+ ...
Laurent 1973 wrote:
Thank you Big Translation Agency for making me realize it's now time to move on and say... goodbye!
If more translators followed your example, this abuse would be much less frequent.
Congratulations, Laurent!
S
| | | | Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 19:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Big Translation Agency needs to speak to the Little Translator:-) | Nov 12, 2008 |
Laurent 1973 wrote:
Thank you Big Translation Agency for guaranteeing me two days of work per week for almost two years.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for contacting me six months into the project via another PM (unaware of my collaboration with you) with a rate offer that was 20% lower. From that day on, I knew I'd have to watch my back and hold on tight to my rate.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for asking all translators, one year into the project, to translate drawings attached to files without any extra compensation. That day I thanked God for having Wordfast boost my productivity to make up for 2 hours of extra work per week... unpaid!
Thank you Big Translation Agency for asking all of us to lower our rates at the beginning of the summer. You gave me the opportunity to hold on tight again and turn down your offer.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for almost forgetting me during the summer, only to wake up in August while the others were away. My rates were all of a sudden very convenient again for a couple of weeks.
Thank you Big Translation Agency for replacing a wonderful PM, under whose supervision rate cuts were never asked and the project just went fine, with a PM who thinks it's funny to send messages to all saying almost laughingly that those who've accepted lower rates will get more work. Pathetic!
Thank you Big Translation Agency for making me realize it's now time to move on and say... goodbye!
Laurent
Great post, good luck:-)
You reminded me a LOT of the Little Translator posts by Mervyn Henderson:-)
[Edited at 2008-11-12 22:16]
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