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Poll: A customer always sends you work late Friday for delivery Monday morning. You...
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Nov 23, 2012

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "A customer always sends you work late Friday for delivery Monday morning. You...".

This poll was originally submitted by Julian Holmes. View the poll results »



 
Mary Worby
Mary Worby  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
German to English
+ ...
It depends Nov 23, 2012

Some customers try this and I will always decline. Others often do and I will try to accommodate them. Others I will charge extra. Normally it depends on how much they are offering to pay me in the first place!

 
Susanna Martoni
Susanna Martoni  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 11:14
Member (2009)
Spanish to Italian
+ ...
Oh no Nov 23, 2012

I negotiate a delivery time of course.

(Nota bene: I often have to do some OTHER extra work during week ends! Meaning jobs to be delivered on that Monday - for example - and given to me some days before)

[Modificato alle 2012-11-23 08:14 GMT]


 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:14
Member (2006)
German to English
Accept without charge Nov 23, 2012

if it is a regular customer, and depending on the amount of words. If it is a lot, even then I would see if I could get it pushed to Tuesday, but otherwise I have no problem with that at all.
Sundays are a "normal" working day. I spend a lot of time with my children and wife, so there is a lot of flexibility there.


 
Kimberly Wastler
Kimberly Wastler  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:14
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
Depends on who's asking, what the volume is, and what other priorities I have for the weekend. Nov 23, 2012

Isn't that really the beauty of working freelance?

 
Nicola Wood
Nicola Wood  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 11:14
Member (2010)
German to English
Accept without extra charge Nov 23, 2012

because if this is routine with this particular customer, my rate for that customer will be set accordingly.

[Edited at 2012-11-23 08:34 GMT]

In fairness, I often prefer to work weekends, when my babysitter (husband) is on hand.

[Edited at 2012-11-23 10:36 GMT]


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:14
Member
English to French
Accept with surcharge Nov 23, 2012

because I lose valuable free time if I work week-ends.

Philippe


 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 11:14
English to Italian
as Kimberly said: Nov 23, 2012

Depends on who's asking, what the volume is, and what other priorities I have for the weekend.

 
EvaVer (X)
EvaVer (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:14
Czech to French
+ ...
I don't know about you, Nov 23, 2012

but business has been slow here (Czech Republic) lately, we are all too happy to have any work at all. I often work weekends or nights and then have no work on several weekdays.

 
Tim Drayton
Tim Drayton  Identity Verified
Cyprus
Local time: 12:14
Turkish to English
+ ...
No problem Nov 23, 2012

I have no problem at all with working at weekends. It is usually more convenient for me to take time out mid-week, when the shops are less crowded and government offices are open.

 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 10:14
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Nov 23, 2012

None of my customers does that! It might happen very occasionally, but not always! Anyway, I do not mind working on weekends...

 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 11:14
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Try to educate the customer Nov 23, 2012

Educating the client is well worth a try. It worked in one case.

I did actually have a client with a staff newsletter that came to me on Friday and was wanted on Monday. I never knew whether I was going to spend my weekend struggling with Trade Union law or just some director's birthday speech... or whether it was just the bare essentials and only took a couple of hours.

The long versions almost inevitably came when I had other plans for the weekend, so on Mondays I wa
... See more
Educating the client is well worth a try. It worked in one case.

I did actually have a client with a staff newsletter that came to me on Friday and was wanted on Monday. I never knew whether I was going to spend my weekend struggling with Trade Union law or just some director's birthday speech... or whether it was just the bare essentials and only took a couple of hours.

The long versions almost inevitably came when I had other plans for the weekend, so on Mondays I was exhausted and short of sleep...

I negotiated, and suddenly the client thought it was a brilliant idea to send me the text on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, for delivery as soon as possible.

It was a gamble when other clients sent jobs at the same time, and I still did not know how much time I needed for the regular job, but apparently the printer was delighted too, and we lived with it for four or five years.
________________________

With other clients I try to negotiate and often agree to the job. If I have already packed six days' work into the week, they may get a very quick refusal!

Clients who really have a regular job every week should find a translator who is happy with weekend work - again, educating the client is worth the effort.



[Edited at 2012-11-23 10:50 GMT]
Collapse


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:14
Member
English to French
Exactly my position Nov 23, 2012

Christine Andersen wrote:
Educating the client is well worth a try.

Education via the wallet works wonders. I offer a surcharge of 50% for weekend work. Many agencies then suddenly find out that a hand-off could be done two days earlier or that a delivery next Wednesday is fine too.

Philippe


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
If it came EVERY week Nov 23, 2012

it would be a nice little earner and I would consider having my weekend in the middle of the week instead. I would still charge a lot extra though!


Re education: we charge double for weekend work but it only ever puts *agencies* off...

[Edited at 2012-11-23 10:17 GMT]


 
Laura Bissio CT
Laura Bissio CT  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 07:14
English to Spanish
+ ...
Try to educate the client Nov 23, 2012

As many freelancers, I also work during the weekend whenever it's necessary, but I'd try to educate a client who "always sends work late Friday for delivery Monday morning". I say "I would" because it hasn't happened to me (yet).
Have a nice restful weekend!


 
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