Can I force a company to agree to my terms? Thread poster: Jarnail Gill
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Jarnail Gill 
India
Local time: 04:02
Member (2006)
English to Punjabi
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Dear All,
Greetings of the day.
Few days ago, a UK based company contacted me for long term collaboration. After initial exchange of emails, they sent me a 06 page long set of very rigid instructions which are tailor made to comply with their quality control measures. I must say there are nearly 100 instructions to follow wrt proofing, translation and editing. There are some killer terms which clearly say, if I fail to deliver a quality file, if there is some mistake in... See more Dear All,
Greetings of the day.
Few days ago, a UK based company contacted me for long term collaboration. After initial exchange of emails, they sent me a 06 page long set of very rigid instructions which are tailor made to comply with their quality control measures. I must say there are nearly 100 instructions to follow wrt proofing, translation and editing. There are some killer terms which clearly say, if I fail to deliver a quality file, if there is some mistake in the translated file, my invoice will not be processed (means I will not be paid) They have not said that in case of a small mistake they will give a second chance to correct that mistake.
Being a proz.com certified translator, I always make sure I provide best quality translations. However I fear that if somehow there occur a small mistake, they will use this as an excuse to cancel the job.
Can I ask them to sign an agreement which will ensure they don't get away with silly excuses? For example can I ask them that in case they refuse to pay me, I will get the file checked by any proz.com certified translator working in my language pair and if the other translator says quality is good enough, they will have to pay my fees as well as the translator's fees who has checked the job?
Please advise. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You can negotiate, certainly | Mar 29, 2009 |
jelly_gill wrote:
Can I ask them to sign an agreement which will ensure they don't get away with silly excuses? For example can I ask them that in case they refuse to pay me, I will get the file checked by any proz.com certified translator working in my language pair and if the other translator says quality is good enough, they will have to pay my fees as well as the translator's fees who has checked the job?
You can ask them (force them, no, you can't). Whether or not they would accept, is something quite different.
| | | | | You cannot force them nor can they force you | Mar 29, 2009 |
You cannot force them nor can they force you as both of you are free agents.
In your place I would have expressed my remarkable lack of interest in their proposal and that is that.
No question of signing that agreement of course. Please do investigate them, their payment practices are bound to be abominable.
Regards,
N. Raghavan
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 23:32
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Why not propose an additional clause or two? | Mar 29, 2009 |
If you think they are doing it all merely to comply with quality assurance regulations, and that they are basically a sound company that you want to work for, why not propose inserting a clause or two to say that, while accepting that they have the right not to pay for rubbish, you have the right to correct any small errors, and to be paid for all work that has been reasonably performed.
It could be that they are just covering their backs and would be happy for you to add your defen... See more If you think they are doing it all merely to comply with quality assurance regulations, and that they are basically a sound company that you want to work for, why not propose inserting a clause or two to say that, while accepting that they have the right not to pay for rubbish, you have the right to correct any small errors, and to be paid for all work that has been reasonably performed.
It could be that they are just covering their backs and would be happy for you to add your defence measures. ▲ Collapse
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| Your business, your decision | Mar 29, 2009 |
Narasimhan Raghavan wrote:
You cannot force them nor can they force you
You can of course propose your own set of rules, but they are not forced to accept them either.
Personally I would not work for this company if doing so under their conditions makes you feel umcomfortable. I have rejected other interesting outsourcers in the past for the same reason.
| | | | | Some customers are not worth the effort | Mar 29, 2009 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Narasimhan Raghavan wrote:
You cannot force them nor can they force you You can of course propose your own set of rules, but they are not forced to accept them either. Personally I would not work for this company if doing so under their conditions makes you feel umcomfortable. I have rejected other interesting outsourcers in the past for the same reason.
I have done the same as Tomás. Last week someone asked me to proofread a machine translation document and they sent me their terms and conditions. I politely declined. I would have ended earning the same as my cleaner!
| | | | John Cutler
Spain
Local time: 00:32
Spanish to English
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| Try negotiating | Mar 29, 2009 |
I think you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by proposing your own additional clauses for the contract as Sheila mentioned. You'll see how they react and treat you and that will be a good indicator of how they'll treat you in the future.
As they say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained".
Good luck!
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 00:32
French to German
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| Rigid QA measures... | Mar 29, 2009 |
don't make any company better than its competitors.
While reading the OP, I had the impression that this company will not do internal QA, but only search for mistakes - not a good mind-set as far as I am concerned.
I would ask them for some detailed insight about implemented QA measures before going any further.
Laurent K.
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Jarnail Gill
India
Local time: 04:02
Member (2006)
English to Punjabi
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | thank you all | Mar 29, 2009 |
Hi..
All of you have donated your valuable time to read my post and give me your views. Thank you all. I am better informed now to make my next move.
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