| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Problem with client: How would you have handled this? Thread poster: David Jessop
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I have had a fairly regular small Spanish agency client for over five years and during that time I have done approximately 100 jobs for this client, some of them quite large. The rate is on the low side but not terrible and they pay on time. I have had a satisfactory relationship with this client, with no major prior issues to note. During the entire five years I have worked with this agency, I received only one complaint about my work, not including the following situation.
On Mond... See more I have had a fairly regular small Spanish agency client for over five years and during that time I have done approximately 100 jobs for this client, some of them quite large. The rate is on the low side but not terrible and they pay on time. I have had a satisfactory relationship with this client, with no major prior issues to note. During the entire five years I have worked with this agency, I received only one complaint about my work, not including the following situation.
On Monday morning, I received an email from the project manager that said, "The client for X project [a 2,000 word project I completed a few weeks ago] is not satisfied with your translation. I am attaching the revised document. In view of the corrections, please let us know your comments as well as the discount you believe is appropriate to offer."
I opened the "corrected" text and it was absurd. The "proofreader" was definitely not a native English speaker and had a very minimal command of proper syntax. One could choose his "corrections" at random and find several serious errors in terms of grammar and terminology that no native English speaking high school student would make.
Shocked, I immediately responded, "Although I regret the complaint, it can easily be seen that the "revised" document that you just sent me contains many errors and the "proofreader" is not a native English speaker and does not speak English properly. There are even changes made that make no sense."
I received no response (typically I will receive a response at least the same working day). Two days pass, and quite concerned as complaints are quite serious affairs, on Wednesday afternoon I sent another message, "I still have not received a response from you regarding this issue. I cannot understand why you sent me a "revised" translation done by a proofreader who does not even know how to speak English properly in order to ask me for a discount for my work. Thank you in advance for your response."
I did not receive any sort of response or acknowledgement of my email until over two days later, Friday afternoon at 5:30, when I received an email from the project manager, "Sorry, the client sent us his complaints and supposed corrections and our proofreader did not have time to properly look at the documents. Indeed, there was no reason for the complaint or the discount."
Quite peeved, I responded a few hours later (Friday evening): "Frankly, your method of handling this situation has surprised me somewhat and I did not expect this from you. We have been collaborating for several years and your first instinct is to blame me without checking anything and make me lose time and energy with this issue. Furthermore, not responding to my emails for several days does not seem to me a proper way to show respect to your collaborators."
Given the fact that I responded Friday evening, the project manager probably will not see my email until Monday. I understand that the way I responded may lead to my losing this client and while ideally this will not happen, I also felt like it was important to tell him my perspective and voice my displeasure. I felt like the way he handled this case was rather disrespectful and I hope that if I were in his shoes, I would have done it differently.
Fortunately, I have not had to deal with too many similar situations in my career. I am curious, do you think I overreacted? How would you have felt and handled a similar situation? What, if anything, can or should be done now?
Thanks for your perspective. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:12
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| You did the right thing | Nov 22, 2014 |
Hi David
I think you did the right thing. Don't worry about Monday morning. If you can afford to, politely refuse the next job they sent you (without saying why), and the next one, and the next one, and so on.....in other words drop them.
| | | | | I can understand your reaction perfectly!!! | Nov 22, 2014 |
I do not think that you overreacted. I can understand you perfectly and I surely would have reacted in the same way!!!
| | | | Nicole Coesel 
Netherlands
Local time: 07:12
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Another point of view | Nov 22, 2014 |
Dear David,
Given the fact you have worked with this agency for so many years without any complaints, I take it/chances are they hired a proofreader with an urgent need to prove him/herself.
That happens. The agency in question should also be aware of this fact.
If not, you may want to point out to the agency that this has been the first time since you started collaborating that there is a serious complaint. And as a professional, you take that very seriously.
... See more Dear David,
Given the fact you have worked with this agency for so many years without any complaints, I take it/chances are they hired a proofreader with an urgent need to prove him/herself.
That happens. The agency in question should also be aware of this fact.
If not, you may want to point out to the agency that this has been the first time since you started collaborating that there is a serious complaint. And as a professional, you take that very seriously.
I don't think you need to let go of collaborating with this agency because of one incident, however, you can make it quite clear to them that you will not accept jobs that will be proofed by this particular person.
The agency has already figured out that is proofreader was not performing up to standards. They only found it very difficult to communicate that to you in an elegant manner.
You acted correctly. Don't panic!
Keep us posted?
Hope this helps! ▲ Collapse
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| I feel your pain but..... | Nov 22, 2014 |
one of the big problems with translators, myself probably included, though I never work for agencies, is that we all tend to live in our own little bubbles and forget that there is a whole big world out there full of people dealing, not only with us, but with lots of other people as well.
For example, on Thursday I sent off a file I had sweated blood over to a direct client and have had zero feedback so far. Obviously, I would have appreciated a quick reply to say the file had arriv... See more one of the big problems with translators, myself probably included, though I never work for agencies, is that we all tend to live in our own little bubbles and forget that there is a whole big world out there full of people dealing, not only with us, but with lots of other people as well.
For example, on Thursday I sent off a file I had sweated blood over to a direct client and have had zero feedback so far. Obviously, I would have appreciated a quick reply to say the file had arrived. He could have commented on my annotations because the original was a bit of a mess. He could have even sent me the order form I still haven't received!
Why has he been so silent? Doubtless because he was out of the office all day or in meetings or such like. I am unphased because, despite the fact I can't bill him yet (this is purely an admin matter), I know full well I am not the most important person in his life, that he will come back to me before the end of the month and that he is going to need more work done on the text later and I might as well only bill him once.
The point of this tale is that, under pressure, someone panicked, misreacted and tried to pass the buck to you. When you responded, they clearly had to conduct an in-house enquiry. You came out smelling of roses. But you still felt slighted.
That you should wish to fire them a rocket about how you had been treated is a normal human reaction. I think it rather a pity that you shot back so fast, especially knowing that your message will probably be one of the first things your contact will get to see on Monday morning, which isn't going to put him or her in a good mood for the day (or the week!).
Perhaps you should have prodded the PM gently at some stage but I venture to say that your timing could have been better.
What to do now? Perhaps call the person on Monday morning and talk it over, if time zones allow?
Sadly you may have gone that bit too far. Remember: he who pays the piper calls the tune! If this is the first such incident in 5 years and they recognise their mistake, no point in rubbing their noses in it.
I appreciate this is poor consolation but you asked what others would have done. I suspect I would have phoned them in due course. Failing that, I would have waited till Monday and let the heat die down. ▲ Collapse
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...there wasn´t any external proofreader involved but the end client himself made the "corrections". This can happen when the end client has a relatively good command of the spoken target language because he often makes use of it in his business matters. Those people often cannot distinguish between their self-estimated "near native" skills and the skills of a professional translator as you are. Moreover these people tend to complete the target text with content which was not included in the so... See more ...there wasn´t any external proofreader involved but the end client himself made the "corrections". This can happen when the end client has a relatively good command of the spoken target language because he often makes use of it in his business matters. Those people often cannot distinguish between their self-estimated "near native" skills and the skills of a professional translator as you are. Moreover these people tend to complete the target text with content which was not included in the source. Your agency of course seems to have the attitude that "the customer is always right", that´s why they did not answer. Try to inquire whether I am right, perhaps you then can stay with your agency for some more time before you are able to get rid of them.
Good luck!
[Bearbeitet am 2014-11-22 18:40 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Morano El-Kholy
Egypt
Local time: 07:12
Member (2011)
English to Arabic
+ ...
| You acted wisely and properly. | Nov 22, 2014 |
Dear David,
I do not think that you overreacted. You acted wisely and properly. If I were in your place, I would have definitely reacted just as you did.
Nicole Coesel wrote: I don't think you need to let go of collaborating with this agency because of one incident, however, you can make it quite clear to them that you will not accept jobs that will be ... See moreDear David,
I do not think that you overreacted. You acted wisely and properly. If I were in your place, I would have definitely reacted just as you did.
Nicole Coesel wrote:
I don't think you need to let go of collaborating with this agency because of one incident, however, you can make it quite clear to them that you will not accept jobs that will be proofed by this particular person.
My advice to you: Keep on working with this agency till you find better Outsourcer/Agency.
Kind regards. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I wouldn't have sent that last email. | Nov 22, 2014 |
In my experience, even the best agencies have a habit of passing on end customers' complaints without checking, and without going into bat on your behalf. It's very irritating, and the obvious question is "If this translation is so bad, why did you send it to the end customer?"
What they should have said was "The client has complained. We're sure they're wrong, but we'd be grateful for your comments." Not "The client has complained, please reduce your fee." But no one's perfect.
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| Slightly off topic but along the same vein | Nov 22, 2014 |
A school I occasionally teach conversation classes for recently threw me under the bus - I gave ample notice of canceling a lesson but instead of contacting the client immediately they hemmed and hawed and only notified the client at the last minute. They called me and said that if it ever came up in conversation with this particular client, I should say I only notified them at the last minute and not 30 hours in advance as I had actually done.
I don't think we can expect agencies t... See more A school I occasionally teach conversation classes for recently threw me under the bus - I gave ample notice of canceling a lesson but instead of contacting the client immediately they hemmed and hawed and only notified the client at the last minute. They called me and said that if it ever came up in conversation with this particular client, I should say I only notified them at the last minute and not 30 hours in advance as I had actually done.
I don't think we can expect agencies to be our allies, everyone wants to save their own a*#, as it were. Brush it off, carry on. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:12
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Somebody unqualified, certainly | Nov 22, 2014 |
Matthias Brombach wrote:
...there wasn´t any external proofreader involved but the end client himself made the "corrections".
I was thinking this myself. Either that or they foolishly let the intern do some of the proofreading and that person got carried away.
These days I try never to send potentially difficult messages without sleeping on them first.
Regards
Dan
| | | | | I think you went a bit too far | Nov 22, 2014 |
I would not have been very lucky with how the agency handled that neither, but would not have sent this message on Friday. Sometimes it's better to wait one or two days and respond then.
It's alright to tell them that you dont agree with how they handled the problem, but I think you exagerated a bit. E. g. I think you should not have talked about respect.
I agree with Nicole and would still colloborate with this agency as you worked with them quite a few years without s... See more I would not have been very lucky with how the agency handled that neither, but would not have sent this message on Friday. Sometimes it's better to wait one or two days and respond then.
It's alright to tell them that you dont agree with how they handled the problem, but I think you exagerated a bit. E. g. I think you should not have talked about respect.
I agree with Nicole and would still colloborate with this agency as you worked with them quite a few years without such things happening.
Maybe you can give them a call on Monday and get that clear. As polyglot45 says as well I think you have gone a bit too far, but they might understand that as their reaction was not very great neither! I guess you can both learn of this situation, the project manager and you! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 23:12
Dutch to English
+ ...
| Not improperly but a bit too far | Nov 23, 2014 |
I agree with others who suggested that it may be client him/herself who made the revisions. The agency apologized and withdrew the request for a discount - issue closed. I would not have sent that last email or kept it shorter, just expressing your disappointment about the way it was handled and maybe say that you hope something like this will not happen again. That also implies that you do expect to work with them again. Another good suggestion made by others: never send an email 'hot off the p... See more I agree with others who suggested that it may be client him/herself who made the revisions. The agency apologized and withdrew the request for a discount - issue closed. I would not have sent that last email or kept it shorter, just expressing your disappointment about the way it was handled and maybe say that you hope something like this will not happen again. That also implies that you do expect to work with them again. Another good suggestion made by others: never send an email 'hot off the press' but sleep on it first. ▲ Collapse
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| Don't beat yourself up over it. | Nov 23, 2014 |
What's done is done. They wrongly accused you and you reacted, expressing your frustration with how they handled things. But let's not confuse things. The mistake was made by the agency, essentially demanding their money back and questioning your integrity as a professional and then being unavailable for communication. It was not made by you for expressing your frustration. I doubt that there will be repercussions based on this. If they are professionals worth working with, they will likely jus... See more What's done is done. They wrongly accused you and you reacted, expressing your frustration with how they handled things. But let's not confuse things. The mistake was made by the agency, essentially demanding their money back and questioning your integrity as a professional and then being unavailable for communication. It was not made by you for expressing your frustration. I doubt that there will be repercussions based on this. If they are professionals worth working with, they will likely just reiterate their apology, in which case you should smooth things over and assure them that you accept it, if you want to continue collaborating with them. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The right idea, but with the wrong message | Nov 23, 2014 |
I feel that, while I completely agree with you that the matter was not managed well by the project manager (and perhaps the agency), there are many different ways of expressing things. You are a professional translator and know that. Misunderstandings are frequent everywhere and, after all, you had already "won the battle". When winning in battle, it is best to be gracious with the defeated party.
Having said all this, I think it is not really a big deal.
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 07:12
Danish to English
+ ...
| Always remain professional, not emotional | Nov 23, 2014 |
I would have reacted the same way as you, but I would not have acted as you did. In other words, I absolutely HATE it when, on rare occasions, a client complains, and I will literally drop everything I am working on to look into the matter and assess whether there is any chance I have actually blown a job so badly that the client deserves a discount.
Having ascertained that the complaint was unfair, I would probably just have explained this to the client, cool and calm as a cucumber... See more I would have reacted the same way as you, but I would not have acted as you did. In other words, I absolutely HATE it when, on rare occasions, a client complains, and I will literally drop everything I am working on to look into the matter and assess whether there is any chance I have actually blown a job so badly that the client deserves a discount.
Having ascertained that the complaint was unfair, I would probably just have explained this to the client, cool and calm as a cucumber, drawing out a couple of examples of the 'mad proofreader's errors' and then stating that based on this, I saw no reason whatsoever for granting a discount.
Off screen, I would then immediately contact a trusted friend of mine, who has the patience of an angel, and have a good old rant about the injustice in our business, and he would most likely manage to calm me down and end up thinking, "these things happen". On receiving the half-hearted apology from the client, I would then have echoed that and just left it at 'these things happen'. In your case, the client actually ended up agreeing with you, sort of apologised and took your side, so as Tomás said, you had already won the battle, and could afford to be generous. In fact, that would have given you some credit with this client.
As for what to do now: Wait until you hear from the client, and see if you can smooth things over and restore the good working relationship you had before. Yes, they wronged you, but it is quite likely that the PM just panicked under pressure. Try to leave emotions, pride in particular aside, and just be professional. These things happen... ▲ Collapse
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