Payment Fees and Conditions

Martha Schwan wrote:
There is no guarantee whatsoever on the Translator's side that a Payment, that usually takes 30 or more days to be issued, is actually going to be made!!

I still cannot swallow the fact that I first have to deliver a Job done to an Agency, and then they will "decide" If my job is worth being paid or not.

Joel Pina Diaz wrote:

There is a history about this issue and people in the business should be applying different solutions: On my experience a screen and feed back of customer is made before we start any job, no PO, then I state I cannot continue with job. Once PO is received we check all the information, our PO embrace some essential points that can be verifiable, from Ip address, phones, address, Bank or PayPal or other verified accounts and the most important : We ask our customer diplomatically (not all customers) a reverse payment depending their choice 1.50 UDS or Euro (Moneybookers), reimbursable of course. If this is not possible we request a scan office or home service statement to be send to our e-mail box (argument in this cases, scamming and abusive pseudo customers). It is hard at the beginning but it does result 95%. I am in Argentina and I really worry about this issue, allow me to help you in any way in order for you to collect for your performed job, if possible.

Katalin Horvath McClure wrote:

Sorry, Martha, I am sure this will sound harsh, but this is the truth: this is your own fault.
It seems you started (and delivered) the job, without confirming even the client's basic information (business address, phone number, website etc.) If you are a freelancer, you are running a business, and you should act like that. You are not an employee, you are not at the mercy of agencies, you are running an independent business, with all its freedom, but also with all its risks and responsibilities.

Due diligence is necessary: you should check out the prospective business partners BEFORE you enter into a business relationship with them. There are simple ways to check the basic information, look them up in the phonebook, if they are in-country, call them up, check their website, check whether the address they gave you is a valid address, check if they have a website, check if the email you got came from the same domain (and not a hotmail or yahoo address). Here, on ProZ, you also have the Blue Board, that may help mitigate the risk of fraud, or can give you peace of mind (there are some agencies that are simply slow to respond or to send POs, but they pay all right). If the client looks legit, demand a PO or a signed contract before starting the work (see the ATA model contract for ideas an creating one for yourself), and if it is a new client you can also try asking for a prepayment (the whole or a partial sum). The bigger the prospective job, the more important these details are.

As to this particular case in question, if your only means of contacting them is via email, then do so, a few more times. If they fail to send you a PO, then you can send an invoice without a PO number, just state the title of the document you translated as the job reference. But if they completely disappear, and you can't get a favorable response, then you will have to absorb the loss (chalk it up to experience).

I hope it turns out OK.
Good luck
Katalin

[Edited at 2010-07-21 00:19 GMT]

imatahan wrote:

I don't start any job without a PO since they've done it to me.

But even with a PO, we may not receive payment. There is NO guarantee.

It is very simple for an agency not to pay us, just say that they've disliked the job. Nobody controls that. It's confidence in the business relationship. Nothing else.

Like two months ago, I've done some IT translations to a Brazilian interpreter and he didn't pay for the last article. He hides from me, doesn't answer the phone or the e-mails, nor the skype messages. Miserable 185 reais (around 90 USD)! And he's send me a PO!

So, I take a good look at the blue boards, before I start doing the job. Also, I avoid agencies taht propose to pay me in 45 or 60, or 90 days! It's an absurd, since they'll receive it much earlier from the client, for sure.

Things like that will ever occur. And when one of us try to put their names in ProZ Fori, like a colleague tried some times, the administration of the site says that we are breaking the rules and deletes the post.

imatahan wrote:
Things like that will ever occur. And when one of us try to put their names in ProZ Fori, like a colleague tried some times, the administration of the site says that we are breaking the rules and deletes the post.

Nicole Schnell wrote:

However, to be taken seriously by your prospective clientele it is necessary to appear as such. Trustworthiness is the key. Otherwise you will simply fall victim to the wrong kind of "customers". Your profile page sounds like: "Will do anything. Rate doesn't matter."

In your profile you are stating that you have 11 years of experience, a couple of lines later it says 15 years. In this thread you claim that you are new to the market.

Your rates don't allow any positioning of your skills and services either, as they range from 5 cents to 40 cents. Yet you are willing to work for 10 dollars per hour. Like at MacDonalds.

???

Marijke Singer wrote:



I would not post rates at all. Let them come to you and negotiate.