| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Have you encountered any non-payment issues throughout the course of your career? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 11:16
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Interesting business strategy | Dec 3, 2015 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
... for you to learn a lesson on due diligence.
I had one, her name was Claudia Smith, her translation agency was T4U.com. No, moderators, no need to delete this message, because they don't exist, they were ghosts. Her request was rush, rush, rush, so I was rather lenient on due diligence. She provided two phone numbers, which later I ascertained to be prepaid "burners" from BT, London area code, probably floundering on the bottom of the Thames (this was before SIM cards) ever since.
After that, I set a credit limit for new clients, something in the USD 50~100 range, depending on the exchange rate.
If the cost estimate is above that, I tell them that we must share the risk, since some people change their minds while work is under way, so I require a 50% up-front advance to start working on it.
This splits them into two groups:
a) those who vanish into thin air, like Claudia (above) did as soon as I delivered her job; and
b) those who rush in asking for my bank details so they can deposit that half immediately to get me started.
And then they say ghosts don't exist!
Good idea, José, to share the risk as it is a very business-oriented approach.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 11:16
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Burned by a pastor | Dec 3, 2015 |
Before 1992, the year I started working as an independent translator in New York City, I got burned by an unscrupulous pastor who was freelancing for Sprint (before Sprint, the U.S. telephone carrier, became big). Back then, telephone cards were highly popular for domestic, long distance and international calls.
A friend had brought me this prospect and I went to have a chat with him. He wanted a 2-minute video transcribed into English and then translated into Spanish. Being the neo... See more Before 1992, the year I started working as an independent translator in New York City, I got burned by an unscrupulous pastor who was freelancing for Sprint (before Sprint, the U.S. telephone carrier, became big). Back then, telephone cards were highly popular for domestic, long distance and international calls.
A friend had brought me this prospect and I went to have a chat with him. He wanted a 2-minute video transcribed into English and then translated into Spanish. Being the neophyte I was, I suggested a $2,000 fee for the project.
A church friend (church unrelated to this pastor) did me the favor of transcribing the video. Before I started translating, I contacted this pastor to no avail. I finally sued him in court and won. It was a Pyrrhic victory, however, since I had no cancelled checks from him or bank account numbers. ▲ Collapse
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One client - a reputable international organization - owed me $9,000 for two years. I finally collected, after appealing to the Secretary-General himself.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 12:16
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| I had one of those, too | Dec 3, 2015 |
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
One client - a reputable international organization - owed me $9,000 for two years. I finally collected, after appealing to the Secretary-General himself.
An agency from São Paulo, after paying for almost three years on time, decided to delay their payments. Since I trusted them for the previous three years, I allowed the bill to accumulate for almost six months, under their excuses. It added up to almost BRL 10,000. I had to file a suit against them, but I received full payment within 30 days. Unfortunately, I had to pay the lawyer, since the judge did not grant attorney fees (it was a labor court, not a civil court).
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