| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | What should I think of this inquiry? Thread poster: Oliver Walter
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Ana Vozone 
Local time: 04:47
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
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| A simple Skype call | May 20, 2015 |
might give you a lot of answers!
| | | | Oliver Walter
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:47
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER | 1. Not Skype. 2. I turned it down | May 20, 2015 |
1.
Ana: Skype is not usable in this case because (since last September) it doesn't run on the computer I'm using (which has Windows XP and the Service Pack SP2). I've logged into the Skype Community (it's a web site) and tried to find her but, not surprisingly, that failed: either she doesn't have a Skype account or her account has a username that is not her name (quite a lot of Skype users do that).
2.
In the end, I decided it would be too much trouble to pursue this inquiry, ... See more 1.
Ana: Skype is not usable in this case because (since last September) it doesn't run on the computer I'm using (which has Windows XP and the Service Pack SP2). I've logged into the Skype Community (it's a web site) and tried to find her but, not surprisingly, that failed: either she doesn't have a Skype account or her account has a username that is not her name (quite a lot of Skype users do that).
2.
In the end, I decided it would be too much trouble to pursue this inquiry, for several reasons:- the questions about the inquirer's identity;
- the documents were in slightly difficult formats: 3 PDF files with text and images, and a Word document with lots of text boxes;
- I haven't read the documents in detail, but it seems they could raise some significant terminology problems;
- in any case, I don't want a lot of translation work.
So, I sent back an email (without my address or phone number!) saying that I'm not available for this translation and hoping that she'd find another translator. I probably won't receive a reply.
Thank you for all your contributions - I hope they'll be useful and interesting to other people also, not only me.
Oliver ▲ Collapse
| | | | Edward Potter
Spain
Local time: 05:47
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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| Giving away a secret | May 20, 2015 |
I always ignore apparent scams.
Non-serious offers without reliable contact information are also usually ignored.
However, interesting projects from a new potential customer, with a low Blue Board rating, is given consideration. I respond politely, paste in the link to the low rating, and dictate my terms. It will be my price, and 100% up front.
I am giving away a secret with that last paragraph. You would think that you would never get any work that way, a... See more I always ignore apparent scams.
Non-serious offers without reliable contact information are also usually ignored.
However, interesting projects from a new potential customer, with a low Blue Board rating, is given consideration. I respond politely, paste in the link to the low rating, and dictate my terms. It will be my price, and 100% up front.
I am giving away a secret with that last paragraph. You would think that you would never get any work that way, and that it is high risk due to the nature of the client. But it is not high risk, and I sometimes land the sale. It is actually win-win if you cut the deal. Requiring 100% up front shifts all of the risk onto the low-quality client, while the client gets a chance to build back up his credibility..
In my experience, I get about 10-20% of these bad customers to accept my terms. That's more money that I would have had, and working under excellent conditions that I rarely get. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 23:47
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
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| I usually just ignore 100% of all | May 21, 2015 |
requests from private individuals (non companies).
[Edited at 2015-05-21 01:07 GMT]
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| Potential risk even with 100% upfront payments when paid via PayPal | May 21, 2015 |
Edward Potter wrote:
However, interesting projects from a new potential customer, with a low Blue Board rating, is given consideration. I respond politely, paste in the link to the low rating, and dictate my terms. It will be my price, and 100% up front.
Requiring 100% up front shifts all of the risk onto the low-quality client, while the client gets a chance to build back up his credibility.
Edward, I assume you are getting paid via PayPal, in which case your client is in a position to file a complaint within 180 days (previously, 45 days) after payment date, demanding a full refund. This means you risk getting involved in a nasty scandal, at least.
| | | | Edward Potter
Spain
Local time: 05:47
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| PayPal complaints | May 21, 2015 |
Vladimir Pochinov wrote: Edward Potter wrote:
However, interesting projects from a new potential customer, with a low Blue Board rating, is given consideration. I respond politely, paste in the link to the low rating, and dictate my terms. It will be my price, and 100% up front. Requiring 100% up front shifts all of the risk onto the low-quality client, while the client gets a chance to build back up his credibility. Edward, I assume you are getting paid via PayPal, in which case your client is in a position to file a complaint within 180 days (previously, 45 days) after payment date, demanding a full refund. This means you risk getting involved in a nasty scandal, at least.
Hi Vladimir. I had forgotten that you can dispute a PayPal payment. It is true that in theory it could lead to negative publicity for yourself. However, if you have a good rating and they have a bad rating, people who even care about the dispute would see what is going on.
I have always gotten a bank transfer in the described situation, which often goes through in 1-2 days (although banks tell you 3-5 days just to cover themselves). It has worked great.
As for PayPal, I would still risk the potential dispute. But you are right that it is not really 100% of the risk being shifted to the bad customer. Maybe 90%?
| | | | Oliver Walter
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:47
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Well, over a day after I sent my email saying I'm not available and hoping she'd find another translator, I have, as more or less expected, received no reply. Conclusion: it was probably not the real inquiry that it purported to be.
If she does reply, it's too late: I've accepted a real job from a real agency I have worked for many times, and I know I can do it with, as it happens, the same deadline (next Wednesday).
Oliver
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