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Payment dilemma - would really appreciate advice!
Thread poster: Sarah Jamieson
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 12:12
French to English
Thank you for the feedback Jan 17, 2019

Sarah Jamieson wrote:

You have all been so helpful! Thank you so much. I have taken on the job but am proceeding cautiously. It is actually not a historic text but one from a French weightlifter! so far so good. Will report any problems later.


It may not be a scam, but you are advancing with your eyes open and will (hopefully) not be in a situation where you have risk doing lots of work without being paid. Being paid as you go along is not unusual for large jobs. I have no difficulty really getting 30% (fairly standard) upfront from clients. In the past, I have worked on a couple of publications that take a couple of months to complete. As soon as an installment is late, I wait until it come in before continuing and/or certainly before supplying any more of the work. I also always make sure that payments are cleared before supplying large volumes to unknown clients. (Bear in mind that a cheque can bounce up to 14 days after having been "credited" to your account and that bank transfers can be cancelled too if the account does not have the funds to cover them).

At the first sign of an overpayment, I suggest you drop everything and run for the hills, but it may be a bona fide job that goes well. C'est tout le mal que je vous souhaite!!!

[Edited at 2019-01-17 00:38 GMT]


Sarah Jamieson
 
Rose7
Rose7
Singapore
Contract modalities Jan 17, 2019

Hi guys,

I also have a similar problem. According to the contract: "... the actual contract value is just an indicator of estimated work and the actual payment will be based on the actual translated symbols/words..."

Do actual translated symbols/words mean number of symbols and words after or before translation? The employer can't provide me with explanation.

Thank you very much in advance


Sarah Jamieson
 
Paweł Hamerski (X)
Paweł Hamerski (X)
Local time: 12:12
English to Polish
+ ...
Rose7, please return to your own thread Jan 17, 2019

Quote
Do actual translated symbols/words mean number of symbols and words after or before translation? The employer can't provide me with explanation.
Unquote

Strangely it does not matter so much if you agree your rate or the total price. Did you agree on it or if not why not?


Sarah Jamieson
 
Katalin Horváth McClure
Katalin Horváth McClure  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:12
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Has that 500 Euro pre-payment arrived and CLEARED? Jan 18, 2019

Sarah Jamieson wrote:

You have all been so helpful! Thank you so much. I have taken on the job but am proceeding cautiously. It is actually not a historic text but one from a French weightlifter! so far so good. Will report any problems later.


It has only been a few days since you posted your initial question and mentioned the upfront 500 Euro offer. What happened with that?


Tom in London
Sarah Jamieson
 
IrinaN
IrinaN
United States
Local time: 05:12
English to Russian
+ ...
Weightlifter paying 500 euros upfront for translation??? Jan 18, 2019

Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:

Whatever the deal here, a new client with a 37,000-word job is a rare bird indeed.



[Edited at 2019-01-16 12:06 GMT]


"Rare" ... to put it mildly. Sounds more like a dodo. I am not sure if weightlifters have that many words in their vocabularies at all:-)

Dear Sarah,

Please stop, it is a 100% scam. The upfront offer means that your check is in the mail, for a much larger amount. The rest is described in volumes in various fora and posts all over the net.

There are no clients in this Galaxy willing to distribute huge well-paid jobs to inexperienced translators without much ado, and pay upfront. Unless you offered a very low rate, ask yourself "why"? Why me? Having an opportunity to compare and select from the profiles of the superpros available through Proz, and being prepared to pay a high rate, would you choose you?

Please don't feel offended, just be realistic. If I hurt your feelings, I apologize but I don't want you to get hurt much worse.


Tom in London
Robert Forstag
Sarah Jamieson
 
Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:12
Spanish to English
+ ...
Flexible needs indeed Jan 18, 2019

Marsha Conroy wrote:

To seal my suspicions, the enquirer then asks what language pair I translate and how much I charge. Don't bother with these.


Such a “query” really gives the game away. The “potential client” supposedly is interested in your services, but has to first ask you what languages you work in?

If you were to reply that your services are limited to Estonian-to-Maltese, I imagine that the scammers would Google-Translate their phony text into Estonian and ask for a translation into Maltese, all for a very high rate - and “advance payment” via a check that will bounce higher than a rubber ball (after, of course, you have sent them a refund in cold hard cash for part of their “overpayment”....)


[Edited at 2019-01-18 15:14 GMT]


Sarah Jamieson
 
Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:12
Spanish to English
+ ...
The inexperienced and unwary are specifically targeted Jan 18, 2019

IrinaN wrote:

Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:

Whatever the deal here, a new client with a 37,000-word job is a rare bird indeed.



[Edited at 2019-01-16 12:06 GMT]


"Rare" ... to put it mildly. Sounds more like a dodo. I am not sure if weightlifters have that many words in their vocabularies at all:-)

Dear Sarah,

Please stop, it is a 100% scam. The upfront offer means that your check is in the mail, for a much larger amount. The rest is described in volumes in various fora and posts all over the net.

There are no clients in this Galaxy willing to distribute huge well-paid jobs to inexperienced translators without much ado, and pay upfront. Unless you offered a very low rate, ask yourself "why"? Why me? Having an opportunity to compare and select from the profiles of the superpros available through Proz, and being prepared to pay a high rate, would you choose you?

Please don't feel offended, just be realistic. If I hurt your feelings, I apologize but I don't want you to get hurt much worse.


The scammers often deliberately target inexperienced translators, since they are less likely to be aware of the possibility of a scam, and more likely to be be carried away by the thrill of the prospect of a very well-paid project.


Sarah Jamieson
 
Sarah Jamieson
Sarah Jamieson  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:12
Member (2019)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
What is happening Jan 18, 2019

Well, I have completed the first part of the translation. Haven't had payment yet but have made it quite clear I won't continue unless I am paid. Fingers crossed. I am being assertive. I have just written an email. Company stays in touch regularly which is a good sign. Not going to take any nonsense! If these guys mess me around I will be all over the Proz Blue Board.

 
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Germany
Local time: 12:12
English to German
In memoriam
You are doing the right thing Jan 18, 2019

Sarah Jamieson wrote:

Well, I have completed the first part of the translation. Haven't had payment yet but have made it quite clear I won't continue unless I am paid. Fingers crossed. I am being assertive. I have just written an email. Company stays in touch regularly which is a good sign. Not going to take any nonsense! If these guys mess me around I will be all over the Proz Blue Board.


You are doing the right thing. Contrary to other contributors here, it might still be a legitimate job. Simply keep your risk at a minimum: it is always okay to risk a little of your working time, we all need to do this. Never, however, risk your money, and always be extremely careful when dealing with checks.

Keep us posted, please


Sarah Jamieson
 
Sarah Jamieson
Sarah Jamieson  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:12
Member (2019)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Update Jan 25, 2019

Hello everyone!

I thought that I would post an update. The project is extremely tiring and taxing. It is going well. I already received the advance payment of 500 Euros and will be receiving another installment today, as promised. We have set up a Slack workspace in order to communicate. So far so good and everyone is really friendly! So I have been lucky

Sarah


Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Sumayyah Abulhadid
 
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Payment dilemma - would really appreciate advice!







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