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Translation - art & business » Money matters »
interpreting cancellation fee?
Thread poster: carlos cegarra sanmartin
carlos cegarra sanmartin
carlos cegarra sanmartin  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 18:59
English to Spanish
+ ...
Nov 18, 2008

Hi there everyone,

I have just now received an email from an agency cancelling an assignment that I have with them for tomorrow.

Technically this is more than 24 hours and I fear that they will hold rule-of-the-24-hours to claim that they are in their right to do so. I say this because I don't see any indication in their email that they would be willing to pay for having booked me.

They booked me on 28th October and they didn't send a PO (which I think the... See more
Hi there everyone,

I have just now received an email from an agency cancelling an assignment that I have with them for tomorrow.

Technically this is more than 24 hours and I fear that they will hold rule-of-the-24-hours to claim that they are in their right to do so. I say this because I don't see any indication in their email that they would be willing to pay for having booked me.

They booked me on 28th October and they didn't send a PO (which I think they didn't the previous and first time I worked with them), but I think this subtlety means nothing. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks to all for taking your time in reading this. Have a good day.

K- ▲ Collapse
 
Deborah do Carmo
Deborah do Carmo  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 17:59
Dutch to English
+ ...
Move on Nov 18, 2008

If you didn't negotiate and have them agree to a cancellation fee upfront, it's your loss. You can of course ask what their cancellation policy is, but don't hold your breath. Still, it's worth a try.

Put it down to experience and be more business-savvy next time round, that's unfortunately all I can suggest.

Regards
Debs
 
carlos cegarra sanmartin
carlos cegarra sanmartin  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 18:59
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
cancelletion fee, percentage? Nov 18, 2008

THanks for your kind response Debs and your good advice.

I did as you suggested and they kindly answered that they are willing to pay a cancellation fee due to the short notice (there seem to be some sensitive people out there despite my suspicion)

They ask me now how much is my cancellation fee.

I would like to know if other colleagues work on percentages when charging this type of fee and get a rough idea of what I can claim.

Again thanks fo... See more
THanks for your kind response Debs and your good advice.

I did as you suggested and they kindly answered that they are willing to pay a cancellation fee due to the short notice (there seem to be some sensitive people out there despite my suspicion)

They ask me now how much is my cancellation fee.

I would like to know if other colleagues work on percentages when charging this type of fee and get a rough idea of what I can claim.

Again thanks for sheding some light into my complete ignorance about these matters.

Carlos ▲ Collapse
 
Deborah do Carmo
Deborah do Carmo  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 17:59
Dutch to English
+ ...
If you don't ask, ... Nov 18, 2008

... you don't get. I'm glad they seem flexible.

I'm not aware of any 'standard' cancellation fee, but then again I'm not an interpreter. Others may be able to shed light on this.

I'd probably tell them 50% in this case, but that's easy for me to say as I always have other work lined up. Hopefully you have something you can work on too for tomorrow, so the day isn't completely wasted.

Tip: make... See more
... you don't get. I'm glad they seem flexible.

I'm not aware of any 'standard' cancellation fee, but then again I'm not an interpreter. Others may be able to shed light on this.

I'd probably tell them 50% in this case, but that's easy for me to say as I always have other work lined up. Hopefully you have something you can work on too for tomorrow, so the day isn't completely wasted.

Tip: make it clear that had cancellation been given less than 24 hours, your normal policy is to charge full fee - that makes you look flexible too - after all, you might want to work with them again.

If they still come back and say it's too much, ask them to confirm what cancellation fee they charge their end-client under their circumstances and take it from there. Or check their website, maybe something is mentioned there. This type of thing isn't worth running to court over in terms of time and effort, obviously, but you should recover something.

Hope it works out

Un abrazo
Debs









[Edited at 2008-11-18 12:29 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
carlos cegarra sanmartin
carlos cegarra sanmartin  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 18:59
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Many thanks Nov 18, 2008

Debs,

Thanks for your advice, I actually replied to them a moment ago telling them something along the lines that you suggest, which anyway seems to follow some common sense.

Thanks anyway for your valuable help, have a great day!

Carlos
 


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