Pages in topic:   [1 2] >
Scam translation companies
Thread poster: Johanna Lönnfors
Johanna Lönnfors
Johanna Lönnfors
Finland
Local time: 11:41
Finnish to Swedish
+ ...
Jun 22, 2010

Hi!
Is there a page/ pages on the internet where I can find scam translation companies?
I´m afraid that I have been properly taken in..
The company I worked for, promised to pay me in 30-40 days from the delivery of the work, but I haven´t seen any payment yet.. (it´s over 60 days now).
Kind regards; Johanna


 
airmailrpl
airmailrpl  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 05:41
Member (2005)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Check the BlueBoard Jun 22, 2010

You should check the BlueBoard BEFORE you accept the job.

If you are not a paying ProZ member - then you can access a BlueBoard search for a company in exchange for BrowniZ points or pay a fee. Once you access that company on the BlueBoard - you can acess the same company on the BlueBoard forever.

If you are a paying ProZ member you have acess to all of the BlueBoard files.


 
Stuart Robertson
Stuart Robertson  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:41
Dutch to English
+ ...
google? Jun 22, 2010

this may be a silly question, but have u tried googling the name of the company? Do they have a website? If so, you can find out who registered the website name with a WHOIS search on the net (type "whois" into google).

it may be that if you search for the company on google, you may find links to other forums where other people have experienced issues with the company.


 
Johanna Lönnfors
Johanna Lönnfors
Finland
Local time: 11:41
Finnish to Swedish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
google and Blueboard Jun 22, 2010

Hi!
Yes, they have a website, I have tried to contact them trough the website, by mail, by phone but they don´t answer.
I have now learnt that I shall check the Blueboard before I accept a job... I checked it now and the company had no entries, feedback.
Johanna


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:41
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Don't give up yet Jun 22, 2010

Are you sure it really is a real scam?

It may be, of course. But it may also be a company facing real cashflow problems.

I have to say that the ProZ BlueBoard is neither a guarantee of a perfect outcome nor an indication of unreliability of a company that does not appear on it. It can only give an indication of previous experiences - and then only a very small subset. Does anyone on ProZ systematically rate every outsourcer they work with? That said, a negative respons
... See more
Are you sure it really is a real scam?

It may be, of course. But it may also be a company facing real cashflow problems.

I have to say that the ProZ BlueBoard is neither a guarantee of a perfect outcome nor an indication of unreliability of a company that does not appear on it. It can only give an indication of previous experiences - and then only a very small subset. Does anyone on ProZ systematically rate every outsourcer they work with? That said, a negative response on the BB shouldn't be ignored.

Have you tried an old-fashioned paper letter, sent by registered post (or the equivalent) so they can't say "sorry, we never got it"? A final demand sent this way, written in very official (legalese) language and threatening legal action after a fixed period (7-14 days, normally) often works wonders.
Collapse


 
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:41
Swedish to English
+ ...
Even if there were Jun 22, 2010

How long do you think it takes to set up a small fake company site on the internet (obviously using illegally copied source code to speed up the process)? Answer: minutes rather than hours. Once you've done that, most host companies will have your site up and running in 24hrs.

So the site you're imagining could be updated in real time, but still it's unlikely to be fully up-to-date when you access it.


 
3ADE shadab
3ADE shadab
Local time: 14:11
Member (2008)
Hindi to English
+ ...
Blue Board ! Important Jun 23, 2010

Johanna Lönnfors wrote:

Hi!
Yes, they have a website, I have tried to contact them trough the website, by mail, by phone but they don´t answer.
I have now learnt that I shall check the Blueboard before I accept a job... I checked it now and the company had no entries, feedback.
Johanna


Its very important to check the blue board first, before accepting any job offer. Do let us know in which country this translation agency is .


 
Anne Bohy
Anne Bohy  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 10:41
English to French
Proz forums wouldn't help Jun 23, 2010

Stuart Robertson wrote:
it may be that if you search for the company on google, you may find links to other forums where other people have experienced issues with the company.

Well... if other forum have rules which allow that. For instance, Proz forbids to mention any company name in its posts... to protect its BlueBoard business, or to protect bad practices?


 
Johanna Lönnfors
Johanna Lönnfors
Finland
Local time: 11:41
Finnish to Swedish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
google? Jun 23, 2010

The translation company is working in my homecountry Finland...

 
Catherine GUILLIAUMET
Catherine GUILLIAUMET  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:41
English to French
+ ...
In memoriam
BB + payment practices mailing-lists Jun 23, 2010

Hi Johanna,

Before accepting any job from any client, check the following :
1) ProZ Blue Board (BB)

2) the following lists (where you can ask for details after subscri
... See more
Hi Johanna,

Before accepting any job from any client, check the following :
1) ProZ Blue Board (BB)

2) the following lists (where you can ask for details after subscribing for free) :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WPPF/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tradpayeur/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TranslationPaymentsWhoWhenWhat/
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/translationagencypayment/

3) It also exists other paying mailing lists.

Now that you are afraid to have been "trapped", the first action is to check the reputation (if any) of your client on the above mentioned mailing-lists. Ask for details about them (don't forget to indicate name, address, website, etc., in other words as much information as possible). If other translators know the client and his/her behaviour, they will tell you.

Then, you'll see if it is only a delay or if it is real swindling, and can decide accordingly.

Good luck
Catherine
Collapse


 
Johanna Lönnfors
Johanna Lönnfors
Finland
Local time: 11:41
Finnish to Swedish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
BB + payment practices mailing-lists Jun 23, 2010

Thank you all for the good advices!!
Johanna


 
Russell Jones
Russell Jones  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:41
Italian to English
Competing sites Jun 23, 2010

Hi Johanna

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience.
When I first saw your post, I was tempted to remind potential answerers about site rule: http://www.proz.com/siterules/general/3#3 which prohibits the naming of competing sites (the rationale behind this can be found in the FAQs), but I was too busy to do so.
Unfortunately a poster, trying to be helpful, has jus
... See more
Hi Johanna

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience.
When I first saw your post, I was tempted to remind potential answerers about site rule: http://www.proz.com/siterules/general/3#3 which prohibits the naming of competing sites (the rationale behind this can be found in the FAQs), but I was too busy to do so.
Unfortunately a poster, trying to be helpful, has just listed a number of these sites but I was unable to make the post public because it infringes the above rule.
Can I invite the poster to contact Johanna privately through her profile, with this information.
Many thanks.


[Edited at 2010-06-23 12:08 GMT]

To avoid any misunderstanding, I should make it clear that I am not referring to Catherine's post above. The sites she mentions are too narrowly focused, I believe, to be regarded as "Competitor Sites".

[Edited at 2010-06-23 21:19 GMT]
Collapse


 
Johanna Lönnfors
Johanna Lönnfors
Finland
Local time: 11:41
Finnish to Swedish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Competing sites Jun 23, 2010

Yes, you can, many thanks!!

 
Per Magnus
Per Magnus  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:41
English to Norwegian
Black lists Jun 23, 2010

Russell Jones wrote:
Unfortunately a poster, trying to be helpful, has just listed a number of these sites but I was unable to make the post public because it infringes the above rule.


Too bad, but I would encourage anyone to search for:
Black & White List, The List of Unreliable Translation Agencies, Hall of fame & shame, non payment, etc.
There are a lot of resources out there, but I understand Proz hesitance to link to competing sites.


 
Catherine GUILLIAUMET
Catherine GUILLIAUMET  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:41
English to French
+ ...
In memoriam
Thank you, Russell :-) Jun 24, 2010

Russell Jones wrote:

...
To avoid any misunderstanding, I should make it clear that I am not referring to Catherine's post above. The sites she mentions are too narrowly focused, I believe, to be regarded as "Competitor Sites".

[Edited at 2010-06-23 21:19 GMT]


Thank you Russell, I feel better You are right, these mailing-lists are really specializing in payment practices reports.

Thanks again
Catherine


 
Pages in topic:   [1 2] >


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Scam translation companies







Trados Business Manager Lite
Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio

Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.

More info »
Trados Studio 2022 Freelance
The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.

Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.

More info »