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French to English translations [PRO] Bus/Financial - Accounting / Subscription to taxi service
French term or phrase:Suivi des attentes
I´m translating a letter sent to a client about his subscription to a service called "Club Affairs". The company that provides this service locates taxis for its clients, and the clients pay the company for the taxi services provided on a monthly basis, rather than paying the taxi drivers directly.
In the letter the subscription fees are listed as follows:
Abonnement 1605,00 €
Droit unitaire d'utilisation 2,16 €
Suivi des attentes 0,31 €
Later on in the letter the cost of the "suivi des attentes" is put at 0,30 € PAR MINUTE D'ATTENTE, EN CAS D'ATTENTE SUPÉRIEUR A 10 MINUTES.
My guess is that clients are charged 0,30 € per minute by the company for keeping taxi drivers waiting. (That seems the most logical explanation, as clients surely wouldn´t be charged extra when the taxis arrive late!)
My suggested translation is "follow up of waiting time". Any better suggestions?
Explanation: I'm not sure if this is right, and I'm not sure if it only applies if the client is late ("waiting time" in the example below), or if it applies while on the road ("traffic wait time") as well. :-|
Same reference as I posted in my discussion entry:
City of Charlotte Taxi Rates
Drop Charge $2.50
Each 1/5th of a mile $0.50
Each passenger after 2 $2.00
Airport - Downtown Flate Rate $25.00 Waiting Time $30.00/hr Traffic Wait Time $30.00/hr
(7am-9am and 4pm-6pm weekdays only) http://www.crowncabinc.com/quoteafareonline.asp
There are other similar examples for other cities; chose this one on a whim.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 4 hrs (2011-09-05 00:53:04 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
On second thought, "EN CAS D'ATTENTE SUPÉRIEUR A 10 MINUTES" does make this sound like a "waiting time" charge... and not a "traffic wait time" charge... At €0.30/minute, that's €180/hour or about $25 and change per hour... Could be.
But I wonder, does that mean that there's no extra fee if the cabbie waits for ten minutes or less? OK, I suppose that sounds reasonable.
Explanation: I'm not sure if this is right, and I'm not sure if it only applies if the client is late ("waiting time" in the example below), or if it applies while on the road ("traffic wait time") as well. :-|
Same reference as I posted in my discussion entry:
City of Charlotte Taxi Rates
Drop Charge $2.50
Each 1/5th of a mile $0.50
Each passenger after 2 $2.00
Airport - Downtown Flate Rate $25.00 Waiting Time $30.00/hr Traffic Wait Time $30.00/hr
(7am-9am and 4pm-6pm weekdays only) http://www.crowncabinc.com/quoteafareonline.asp
There are other similar examples for other cities; chose this one on a whim.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 4 hrs (2011-09-05 00:53:04 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
On second thought, "EN CAS D'ATTENTE SUPÉRIEUR A 10 MINUTES" does make this sound like a "waiting time" charge... and not a "traffic wait time" charge... At €0.30/minute, that's €180/hour or about $25 and change per hour... Could be.
But I wonder, does that mean that there's no extra fee if the cabbie waits for ten minutes or less? OK, I suppose that sounds reasonable.
cc in nyc Local time: 17:22 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 30
idle time charge/fee (to ensure that the taxi will wait for you)
Explanation: Hello,
I think that they mean that taxi service has to pay a fee to keep the taxi driver "idle" as he wants for the the client to be picked up.
assurer le suivi des attentes = to ensure the continuation of the wait
Often times, "assurer" does not mean "ensure", but I think it does here, in a more "commercial" context. It reminds me of "assurer le suivi d'un produit" (to ensure the constant supply of a given product).
I hope this helps.
I hope this helps.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 4 hrs (2011-09-05 01:01:24 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Wait time fee per hour = $30.00 ($2.50 for each 5 minute wait or $0.50 per minute)
- This charge can be defined as an opportunity cost fee for the cab company and the Authority, ie they're going to charge you for the time that you tie up their revenue - generating asset as it sits idle. Simple math suggests that if you make the cab wait for more than 6 - 7 minutes, you're better off hailing another cab and paying the drop fee again ($3.30 drop fee on the new cab vs. $3.50 for a 7 minute wait). The taximeter jumps into a "wait time" mode as it is while you're on your way to your chosen sin den and sitting at red lights or moving slowly due to world-renowned Vegas traffic snarls (anytime the cab is moving at less than 8 - 12 mph, it charges riders 20 cents every 24 seconds). Indeed, you have to pay to sit
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 4 hrs (2011-09-05 01:02:42 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
2.3. Suivi des attentes
Le client peut, à sa demande, disposer d’un chauffeur à l'adresse convenue sans l'utiliser immédiatement. CityDriver s’engage dans ce cas à assurer le suivi de l'attente du Chauffeur, quelle que soit la durée souhaitée par le client, en dépêchant au besoin un chauffeur de substitution, et en gérant les contraintes éventuelles de stationnement, Ce service est facturé par CityDriver, dès la première minute, en cas d'attente du chauffeur supérieure à cinq minutes, selon le tarif CityDriver en vigueur. En cas de « réservation », l'heure de départ de l'attente correspond à l'heure de rendez-vous.
The translation workplace 
