| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | A Milano-based agency owes me and has no intention of paying, how/where to report? Thread poster: Maija Cirule
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| On the right track - limiting losses in advance | Sep 10, 2016 |
Maija Cirule wrote:
are not worth the hassle with European Payment Order. You may call me a b...ch but all I want is to teach them a lesson, the money in this case is of secondary importance.
You probably smelled a rat, and took a small job from them, to limit the damages in case they defaulted on payment.
I recently had a similar case with an agency from the USA. It was just an urgent proofreading job, as the translation they delivered had been criticized (and rejected) by the end-client. It was bad enough to be rejected, however not as bad as some "overly cheap translation salvage" jobs I've been hired to do in the past. I mean, it was NOT blatantly worse than free online machine translation, it did NOT justify redoing from scratch.
Realizing that this cost would be funded by the low-paying agency itself, and not the end-client, I gave them my COD (3-day) price, thereby sparing them from hefty Brazilian interest rates (18%/month). US$ 33.00 is no big deal; in spite of credit cards, I think I never left "home" in the USA carrying less than $50 in cash.
They had approached me with translation jobs a number of times before, but the timing had always been bad, I was too busy. This time they got me in a good moment. Also, their Blue Board record is close to "horrible", however I tend to give new clients the benefit of the doubt, albeit with a very low credit limit. After all, the BB record for one of the best clients I ever had showed only ONE LWA=1 (later I learned it had been some kind of a misunderstanding).
Of course, they didn't pay COD, as expected. One week later, I e-mailed them about it, and they said they "usually pay in 30 days". The COD was very explicit on both my estimate and my invoice. The client didn't know the acronym, so I had to explain it stood for Cash On Delivery, and they still agreed to it before I got started.
So I waited exact 30 days, and put a LWA=1 on their BB record. As this was in a 31-day month, they asked me why I didn't contact them before doing it. I said I had done so, one week after they had failed to pay as agreed.; that was when they replied mentioning 30 days.
They wrote me saying that they would pay me (of course, the COD price) AFTER I had deleted that WWA=1 entry. I smelled a rat again, so I told them that I would NOT delete it. As soon as they paid, I'd change it to LWA=2, and ADD to my comment "paid after bad BB entry", as I keep LWA=1 exclusive to absolute non-payers.
Epilogue is that they didn't pay me (as it would be predictable), and they now own that $33 nail I put in their coffin. Case closed.
Real trouble arises when a translator, after some skimpy due diligence, fails to limit their risk, and gets defaulted on a 3- or 4-digit USD job.
As it is, the best solution is to bite the bullet, make an entry on the Blue Board (and other similar places), and move on. At least you'll be forewarning other translators like you to limit their credit risk upon dealing with them. Some colleague might do the same for you regarding another unknown client.
I read the Proz Blue Board using my own key.
LWA =
1 = Never paid
2 = Paid after a LWA=1 was published
3 = Paid late, after extensive negotiations
4 = Their payment methods create trouble/add'l expenses for me
5 = OK
I know that the "normal" plain-vanilla client should get a LWA=3, but the entire system has been warped by subjectivity for many years already. Anything different from 5 is taken as some kind of potential trouble.
Nevertheless, I'll work for any client, regardless of the LWA I gave them myself, if they pay me in full up-front via an irreversible method (PayPal IS reversible).
| | | | | | | My experience | Sep 12, 2016 |
I had a couple of clients a few years back who refused to pay. Both Italian. I managed to find a lawyer who wrote me two letters for an extremely moderate fee, and both paid up, and quickly. This could be an option for you. I'm sure they are assuming you will not pursue the matter because the amount is so small.
| | | | Maija Cirule 
Latvia
Local time: 04:05
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Fiona Grace Peterson wrote:
I had a couple of clients a few years back who refused to pay. Both Italian. I managed to find a lawyer who wrote me two letters for an extremely moderate fee, and both paid up, and quickly. This could be an option for you. I'm sure they are assuming you will not pursue the matter because the amount is so small.
for your input. Maybe you know how I can obtain name and e-mail address of their CEO or owner? In Latvia, we have Register of enterprises with these details. I do not think that their PMs and accountants give a rat's a$$ about Blue Board or lawyers letters, but their CEO's attitude might be different. I'm not a scandalous person and do not see many advantages of reporting to authorities but their shamelessness and barefaced lies have to be stopped.
[Edited at 2016-09-12 10:53 GMT]
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If you contact me privately with the name of the company, I will be happy to do whatever I can to help you out.
| | | | Maija Cirule
Latvia
Local time: 04:05
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
The agency transferred the money today. I wonder if somebody has informed them about this thread? Anyway, now I can dismiss this issue and, in the future, I would not touch this agency with a ten foot pole. Sincere thanks to anyone, who supported me with useful tips. I highly appreciate your input.
Best regards,
Maija
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Your persistence paid off. Glad it worked out for you.
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