Off topic: Junk mail to translators Thread poster: Suzanne Blangsted (X)
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Suzanne Blangsted (X) 
Local time: 12:22
Danish to English
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I received an inquiry, a rather strange one, asking for timeline and price without giving any project info. My filtering system warned me not to reply as it was most likely an inquiry to verify my e-mail address and is most likely junk mail. The company doesn't exist according to my extended search in cyberspace. Is anyone familiar with "communicaidinc.com". There is no company info such as address and phone number nor is the request signed. It is a very unprofessional looking message. I a... See more I received an inquiry, a rather strange one, asking for timeline and price without giving any project info. My filtering system warned me not to reply as it was most likely an inquiry to verify my e-mail address and is most likely junk mail. The company doesn't exist according to my extended search in cyberspace. Is anyone familiar with "communicaidinc.com". There is no company info such as address and phone number nor is the request signed. It is a very unprofessional looking message. I am posting this as a "heads-up".
[Edited at 2003-09-26 23:43] ▲ Collapse
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I did a search with google and I came across with this company:
http://www.communicaidinc.com/welcome.htm
HTH!
Diogo Santos
BLANGSTED wrote:
I received an inquiry, a rather strange one, asking for timeline and price without giving any project info. My filtering system warned me not to reply as it was most likely an inquiry to verify my e-mail address and is most likely junk mail. The company doesn't exist according to my extended search in cyberspace. Is anyone familiar with "communicaidinc.com". There is no company info such as address and phone number nor is the request signed. It is a very unprofessional looking message. I am posting this as a "heads-up".
[Edited at 2003-09-26 23:43]
| | | | Suzanne Blangsted (X)
Local time: 12:22
Danish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Thank you. I am surprised that it didn't come through in other places even by searching www. with the name.
| | | | Clarisa Moraña
United States
Local time: 14:22
Member (2002)
English to Spanish
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| It's a real company! | Sep 27, 2003 |
I don't know why a Web search failed to demonstrate that you'd been contacted by a real company. Google demostrated me that the company exists.
Also, I wrote www.communicaidinc.com on the address bar, and the web page of the company appeared.
Finally, I checked the domain name at whois.com, and I could verify that the name of the site administrator is the name of one of the translators of commu... See more I don't know why a Web search failed to demonstrate that you'd been contacted by a real company. Google demostrated me that the company exists.
Also, I wrote www.communicaidinc.com on the address bar, and the web page of the company appeared.
Finally, I checked the domain name at whois.com, and I could verify that the name of the site administrator is the name of one of the translators of communicaiding, and that the address (1550 The Alameda) is real.
You've been contacted by a real agency!
Regards,
Clarisa Moraña
[Edited at 2003-09-27 18:29] ▲ Collapse
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| May be a real agency, but the approach was unprofessional | Sep 27, 2003 |
Just consider the following:
A translator is contacted to quote blindly without any details as to the quantum of work, deadline etc.
I checked the site of the company. Only email addresses are given and one telephone number. What about the postal address?
In the services page the classification of interpreting has been padded up as follows:
Full service interpreting
Administrative hearings
Attorney/ client conferences
OSHA & other safety meeting interpr... See more Just consider the following:
A translator is contacted to quote blindly without any details as to the quantum of work, deadline etc.
I checked the site of the company. Only email addresses are given and one telephone number. What about the postal address?
In the services page the classification of interpreting has been padded up as follows:
Full service interpreting
Administrative hearings
Attorney/ client conferences
OSHA & other safety meeting interpreting
Conference interpreting
Don't they know enough to say consecutive and simultaneous interpretings?
The testimonials are without dates. Are they still applicable?
All these and other things lead one to conclude that this agency is not professional in its approach. The original poster was right to suspect their bonafides.
Narasimhan Raghavan ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I found the postal address | Sep 27, 2003 |
Narasimhan Raghavan wrote:
I checked the site of the company. Only email addresses are given and one telephone number. What about the postal address?
I found a postal address at the bottom of each one of the website\'s pages. They are located in San José, California, USA.
Although I do agree that the manner of contacting does sound unprofessional. I have received letters like that too from other parts of the world without postal addresses.
| | | | | Thanks Gayle | Sep 27, 2003 |
Yes, you are right. Postal address is provided in the place you have mentioned in a grey background without being much highlighted. Don't you think that the address should be in a prominent place?
Also agreed that we do get such requests often. It is pardonable in a direct client, who does not know better. In fact one client called me for German interpreting and after I reached his place, I was handed over some documents for translation. It seems he does not know the difference between a t... See more Yes, you are right. Postal address is provided in the place you have mentioned in a grey background without being much highlighted. Don't you think that the address should be in a prominent place?
Also agreed that we do get such requests often. It is pardonable in a direct client, who does not know better. In fact one client called me for German interpreting and after I reached his place, I was handed over some documents for translation. It seems he does not know the difference between a translation and an interpretation. But not an agency. Would they quote so blindly themselves? Such unprofessional conduct gives a very bad first impression and there may not be any occasion for forming second impressions.
Regards,
Narasimahan Raghavan
Gayle Wallimann wrote: Narasimhan Raghavan wrote:
I checked the site of the company. Only email addresses are given and one telephone number. What about the postal address?
I found a postal address at the bottom of each one of the website's pages. They are located in San José, California, USA. Although I do agree that the manner of contacting does sound unprofessional. I have received letters like that too from other parts of the world without postal addresses. ▲ Collapse
| | | | sylver
Local time: 03:22
English to French
| Web site and comments | Sep 27, 2003 |
Narasimhan Raghavan wrote:
Just consider the following:
A translator is contacted to quote blindly without any details as to the quantum of work, deadline etc.
I checked the site of the company. Only email addresses are given and one telephone number. What about the postal address?
In the services page the classification of interpreting has been padded up as follows:
Full service interpreting
Administrative hearings
Attorney/ client conferences
OSHA & other safety meeting interpreting
Conference interpreting
Don't they know enough to say consecutive and simultaneous interpretings?
The testimonials are without dates. Are they still applicable?
All these and other things lead one to conclude that this agency is not professional in its approach. The original poster was right to suspect their bonafides.
Narasimhan Raghavan
The Web site is fine. Postal address is there in the contact section (at the bottom).
The "padding", as you call it, has a very valuable function in that it helps people looking for these services to find them on the Web, by using keywords. I will not dicuss whether those are good keywords but I don't see anything really wrong with their web site (not a great one but same could be said for a lot of bonafide companies).
Testimonials seldom have dates on the net. Does it matter? Praise for good work does not come nearly as often as good work. If "Joe Blow" says he loved your work, what's wrong with promoting it? Who cares if it was last year? Unless he came back on his opinion, I see nothing wrong there too.
Their contact, as described by our colleage, sounded quite unprofessional indeed, but a simple email back asking the missing data is usually enough. I get strange requests every week, and although one is tempted to discard them, every once in a while, they turn out to be valid requests or emails.
Some of my best clients are agencies whose first contact was not exactly "pro". That may be because they have a new PM quite green, because somebody pushed the send button by inadvertance, forgot to attach the file or something of that order.
If in doubt with their payment practices, there are lists for that purpose, like transpayment. Afterward, if one is still wondering if that customer is worth the trouble, he probably isn't. Ask an advance payment or drop them.
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Suzanne Blangsted (X)
Local time: 12:22
Danish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Interesting responses from all of you. I am a professional and prefer to deal with professionals and not take chances. But out of curiosity, I tried phoning the company a couple of times. I got an answering machine every time stating I should leave a message and they would call me back. I am still questioning whether this is a legitimate company. With a phone number search through MSN, the answer was "No company listed with that number". I have now received 2 e-mails from them, both the sa... See more Interesting responses from all of you. I am a professional and prefer to deal with professionals and not take chances. But out of curiosity, I tried phoning the company a couple of times. I got an answering machine every time stating I should leave a message and they would call me back. I am still questioning whether this is a legitimate company. With a phone number search through MSN, the answer was "No company listed with that number". I have now received 2 e-mails from them, both the same short unprofessional approach. No greeting, no sign off, and my PC filtering process warns me against answering the e-mail, so I decided not to. Thank you for all the interesting comments. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Sylver's points are well taken | Sep 27, 2003 |
His comments came like a whiff of fresh air and are quite positive. As far as I was concerned, I didn't get a good impression of the site. This being first impression, it only underscores the importance of making a good first impression. By the way no one said anything about the agency being in the blueboard. Does it mean no prozlers have had any experience with that agency? Anyhow thanks for a sober analysis and I appreciate it.
Regards,
Raghavan
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