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Poll: Do your clients ever remind you to submit your work before the deadline has passed?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jan 10, 2015

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do your clients ever remind you to submit your work before the deadline has passed?".

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Mary Worby
Mary Worby  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:30
German to English
+ ...
No Jan 10, 2015

No, because I always submit on time! Occasionally, for a long job, I'll get an e-mail checking everything is going according to plan and I don't have any queries, but I think that's just so they can send reassurance back to the customer.

 
Melanie Nassar
Melanie Nassar  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 16:30
German to English
+ ...
They take that for granted. Jan 10, 2015

Sometimes they have to remind me to send an invoice though.

 
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:30
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
They wouldn't become regular clients Jan 10, 2015

I worked for a while with a large, highly controlling agency who liked to automate everything. For them, sending a reminder that the job was due in "1hr 35min" was totally without overhead. But I had to suffer email notification bleeps and spend time looking at what they'd sent (or hitting the delete key). It wasn't the only reason they're ex-clients, but it did annoy me.

It seems that those clients who appear to doubt we'll deliver on time are the same ones who "forget" to pay on t
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I worked for a while with a large, highly controlling agency who liked to automate everything. For them, sending a reminder that the job was due in "1hr 35min" was totally without overhead. But I had to suffer email notification bleeps and spend time looking at what they'd sent (or hitting the delete key). It wasn't the only reason they're ex-clients, but it did annoy me.

It seems that those clients who appear to doubt we'll deliver on time are the same ones who "forget" to pay on time. If you aren't trustworthy yourself, you won't expect others to be conscientious.
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neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:30
Spanish to English
+ ...
No Jan 10, 2015

Not usually. I keep to my deadlines whenever possible and usually try to beat them. If they did "remind me", I probably wouldn't mind, but if they did so repeatedly I'd soon get fed up and tell them to (ahem) sling their hook.

 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:30
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Jan 10, 2015

I always submit on time and I’m even known to deliver quite often ahead of deadline. I work very occasionally for one of those highly controlling agencies that Sheila is talking about which sends automated email reminders when the deadline is approaching. I find it not only annoying but also rather childish and unprofessional!!!

 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 15:30
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
No, Jan 10, 2015

No news is good news

and the PMs are busy, they cannot sit and hold their breaths as they are dealing with many other translators and projects.


 
M. Anna Kańduła
M. Anna Kańduła  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:30
English to Polish
Other Jan 10, 2015

None of my regulars do.

Once I had a new client, who kept sending me emails asking if I was going to deliver on time every day (a 4-day project). And then... they were late with the payment, and had a nerve to tell me to be patient when I reminded them the invoice was overdue.
Enough to say, I refused to work with them again.


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 15:30
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
No Jan 10, 2015

My clients know that I always deliver on time, even before the actual deadline. With some of my clients the collaboration has reached a level where I don't even have to confirm a stipulated delivery date and time because they know that I would contact them immediately if meeting the deadline is - for whatever reason - not possible. Saves both parties time and emails.

 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:30
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
No = very rarely Jan 10, 2015

Though they know that I've never delivered a translation job late since 1973, no matter what, now and then one of them either gets anxious or has too little to do, so they ask me if I am on schedule.

Whenever I'll put a job on hold, because I've scheduled to start working on it after I finish another one under way, I tell them when I'll actually begin working on theirs. This gives them some reassurance, so they know that until then, they may change or cancel it without even having t
... See more
Though they know that I've never delivered a translation job late since 1973, no matter what, now and then one of them either gets anxious or has too little to do, so they ask me if I am on schedule.

Whenever I'll put a job on hold, because I've scheduled to start working on it after I finish another one under way, I tell them when I'll actually begin working on theirs. This gives them some reassurance, so they know that until then, they may change or cancel it without even having to apologize for the inconvenience.

The record so far is an end-client who did some major changes to the job four times before I started doing it. They were willing to pay for any work wasted due to their poor planning, yet I could reassure them that there wasn't any.

On the other hand, I know at least one translation agency where any translator having an assignment from them, upon logging in to their web site, will see a message, "You should be working on our job #... You have X hours, Y minutes, and Z seconds to deliver it." Of course, the clock keeps updating on every second, however they pay such low rates that I haven't seen this for years. Pretty insulting... not the rates, but the holier-than-thou innuendo that every translator who bends to work for them is deemed irresponsible regarding deadlines.
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Christelle P
Christelle P  Identity Verified
France
English to French
+ ...
occasionally Jan 10, 2015

It has only happened a few times, every time it was a first job for a new client. It is understandable that they want to make sure the job will be done on time. Giving a first job is trusting someone they don't know and assuming that we are indeed as good as our profiles state it. I don't take it personally, there must be as many bad translators giving themselves the title as bad agencies bugging us.
After a first job though, there is no need for the client to check on the work being done
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It has only happened a few times, every time it was a first job for a new client. It is understandable that they want to make sure the job will be done on time. Giving a first job is trusting someone they don't know and assuming that we are indeed as good as our profiles state it. I don't take it personally, there must be as many bad translators giving themselves the title as bad agencies bugging us.
After a first job though, there is no need for the client to check on the work being done, unless it's a big volume and they want part of it to start with the proofreading or just want to be sure that there is enough progress done and the project won't be finished in a rush.
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EvaVer (X)
EvaVer (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:30
Czech to French
+ ...
sometimes Jan 10, 2015

when they decide that they need it earlier than the original deadline, or that it would be nice to have it earlier, or when it is very important and they are nervous.

 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 15:30
English to Italian
NO, but... Jan 10, 2015

Just recently it has happened but it is quite a strange situation.

I got an email, and I was asked if I was available for a translation.
I asked for more info (length, deadline), and I was told the deadline was 27/12, so I said: ok I am available.

On the 28/11 I got another email, asking why I was late....

I double checked the first email and I said: look the deadline is on 27/12...
to make it short, it turned out that the deadline on the regul
... See more
Just recently it has happened but it is quite a strange situation.

I got an email, and I was asked if I was available for a translation.
I asked for more info (length, deadline), and I was told the deadline was 27/12, so I said: ok I am available.

On the 28/11 I got another email, asking why I was late....

I double checked the first email and I said: look the deadline is on 27/12...
to make it short, it turned out that the deadline on the regular PO was actually 27/11, and I had not even seen it, because I had already asked.

Client understood the situation and I did the job straight away.
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Victoria Batarchuk
Victoria Batarchuk  Identity Verified
Ukraine
Local time: 16:30
Member (2015)
English to Russian
+ ...
Not remind, but sometimes ask Jan 10, 2015

EvaVer wrote:

when they decide that they need it earlier than the original deadline, or that it would be nice to have it earlier, or when it is very important and they are nervous.


The same with me. But it is not the case "they remind", it's the case "they ask" if I could deliver the translation earlier. I try to satisfy such requests, but fortunately they are not so frequent.


 
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