Demanding an advance Autor de la hebra: golf264
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golf264 
Estados Unidos
Local time: 10:02
inglés al neerlandés
+ ...
Fortunately, I never had to demand this as a translator, but once in the past I was defrauded by a so-called employer who afterwards never paid for the project, and never again showed himself anywhere.
Since then, I refuse to work with employers with no or an incomplete profile, or no proz.com rating, or coming from a shady or poor country (no bias, just experience).
But I thought about it, and why not, why is it a bad idea to demand an advance payment? The payment ca... See more Fortunately, I never had to demand this as a translator, but once in the past I was defrauded by a so-called employer who afterwards never paid for the project, and never again showed himself anywhere.
Since then, I refuse to work with employers with no or an incomplete profile, or no proz.com rating, or coming from a shady or poor country (no bias, just experience).
But I thought about it, and why not, why is it a bad idea to demand an advance payment? The payment can be via paypal or something similar so that it is fully refundable, should be the final product (the translation) not be delivered. So it should be no objection or source of concern for the employer that it the translator makes with the looted money.
The advance could be proportional to the size of the project, or a fixed amount of huge projects, for example150 Euros.
A frauder will obviously not continue with the project, he does not want to lose 150 Euros, as he initially never intended to pay. Also that adds up, possibly he will give up his fraudulent practices.
This type of arrangement (advance payment) seems very reasonable and legitimate, and a solution to the problem of cheaters on the site(s).
I would like to hear your opinion.
---Origineel bericht (Nederlands)----------------------------------------------
Het eisen van een voorschot
Gelukkig heb ik nog nooit zoiets hoeven eisen als vertaler, maar ik werd ooit in het verleden wel opgelicht door een zogenaamde werkgever die achteraf, nadat het vertaald project was ingeleverd, nooit heeft uitbetaald en zich nooit meer liet zien.
Sindsdien weiger ik aan de slag te gaan voor werkgevers met geen of een incompleet profiel, of geen proz.com rating hebben, of uit een louche of arm land komen (geen vooroordelen, enkel ervaring).
Maar ik dacht erover na, en waarom zou het niet kunnen, oftewel waarom is het geen slecht idee, om een voorschot van de betaling te eisen? De betaling zou via paypal o.i.d. kunnen plaatsvinden waardoor het volledig terugbetaalbaar is, mocht het eindproduct (de vertaling) niet geleverd worden. Dus het mag geen bezwaar of bron van zorgen zijn voor de werkgever dat juist de vertaler met het buitgemaakt geld met de noorderzon vertrekt.
Het voorschot zou in verhouding kunnen staan tot de grootte van het project, of voor enorme projecten een vaste bedrag van bijv. 150 Euro.
Een fraudeur zal natuurlijk niet verder gaan met het project, die heeft geen zin in 150 Euro verliezen, als hij in eerste instantie nooit van plan was te betalen. Ook telt dat bij elkaar op, evt zal hij zijn fraudepraktijken opgeven.
Dit soort regeling (van voorschotbetaling) lijkt me wel heel redelijk en legitiem, en een oplossing voor het probleem van valsspelers op de site(s).
Ik zou graag jullie opinie willen peilen. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
Reino Unido
Local time: 15:02
Miembro 2008
italiano al inglés
| Much more friendly approach | Oct 6, 2014 |
A much more friendly and less worrying approach would be to simply request, before beginning any job:
Your client's name and business address (which you can then check privately if you want to)
VAT number or Tax Code
That's all you need.
If they don't give you this information, politely refuse the job.
End of story. You shouldn't be making demands or getting into a litigious situation with a new client even before you've done any work for... See more A much more friendly and less worrying approach would be to simply request, before beginning any job:
Your client's name and business address (which you can then check privately if you want to)
VAT number or Tax Code
That's all you need.
If they don't give you this information, politely refuse the job.
End of story. You shouldn't be making demands or getting into a litigious situation with a new client even before you've done any work for them. You should (on the other hand) be starting to build a relationship of trust that can continue over the long term.
Good business practice 1.01 !
Naturally if the project is very big, and this is your first job for this client, some sort of payment plan would be in the interests of BOTH parties. However in my experience, if an agency hasn't worked with you before they'll "try you out" first with a small project, before entrusting you with something big.
[Edited at 2014-10-06 15:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | golf264
Estados Unidos
Local time: 10:02
inglés al neerlandés
+ ...
PERSONA QUE INICIÓ LA HEBRA | Biased over a new practice? | Oct 6, 2014 |
Tom in London wrote:
A much more friendly and less worrying approach would be to simply request, before beginning any job:
Your client's name and business address (which you can then check privately if you want to)
VAT number or Tax Code
That's all you need.
If they don't give you this information, politely refuse the job.
End of story. You shouldn't be making demands or getting into a litigious situation with a new client even before you've done any work for them. You should (on the other hand) be starting to build a relationship of trust that can continue over the long term.
Good business practice 1.01 !
[Edited at 2014-10-06 15:29 GMT]
You dont mention is wrong with the advance principle other than to say that it is not friendly, which is a subjective concept, and besides professionalism is always preferable to kindness.We have a career to perform. How is it not kind to demand an advance when some other trades do the same?
And how would you, on the basis of a tax code test the background? Would you caree to be more specific?
I deliver the project, so I demand some of the terms. A translation is a COllaboration between two parties, so those requirements come from two sides.
Trust I have to build? So the trust needs first a foundation. Blindly trustin someone I do not even know and cannot verify in the hope of a trust relationship in future doesnt seem too smart to me, sorry.
| | | | Tom in London
Reino Unido
Local time: 15:02
Miembro 2008
italiano al inglés
Read again. In my post I suggested how to begin building a relationship of trust, and what to do if the basic elements are lacking.
You should always have a friendly relationship with your customers. Being professional doesn't mean being unpleasant or unkind. In fact that would be very bad for your business.
[Edited at 2014-10-06 15:58 GMT]
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golf264
Estados Unidos
Local time: 10:02
inglés al neerlandés
+ ...
PERSONA QUE INICIÓ LA HEBRA | Let's go further | Oct 6, 2014 |
Tom in London wrote:
Read again. In my post I suggested how to begin building a relationship of trust, and what to do if the basic elements are lacking.
You should always have a friendly relationship with your customers. Being professional doesn't mean being unpleasant or unkind. In fact that would be very bad for your business.
[Edited at 2014-10-06 15:58 GMT]
Friendly is your subjective concept and demanding an advance payment can be done in a friendly manner.
A building needs a foundation, and that is lacking by someone you dont know.
| | | | Tom in London
Reino Unido
Local time: 15:02
Miembro 2008
italiano al inglés
| We're getting somewhere | Oct 6, 2014 |
golf264 wrote:
A building needs a foundation
... and I suggested how to start doing that. Hopefully other Prozians will be able to help. I'm out.
[Edited at 2014-10-06 16:28 GMT]
| | | | Thayenga
Alemania
Local time: 16:02
Miembro 2009
inglés al alemán
+ ...
| Sums it up well. | Oct 7, 2014 |
Tom in London wrote:
A much more friendly and less worrying approach would be to simply request, before beginning any job:
Your client's name and business address (which you can then check privately if you want to)
VAT number or Tax Code
That's all you need.
If they don't give you this information, politely refuse the job.
End of story. You shouldn't be making demands or getting into a litigious situation with a new client even before you've done any work for them. You should (on the other hand) be starting to build a relationship of trust that can continue over the long term.
Good business practice 1.01 !
Naturally if the project is very big, and this is your first job for this client, some sort of payment plan would be in the interests of BOTH parties. However in my experience, if an agency hasn't worked with you before they'll "try you out" first with a small project, before entrusting you with something big.
[Edited at 2014-10-06 15:55 GMT]
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