| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Two recent instances of questionable conduct Thread poster: Theodoros Kalyvas
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Hi all,
About 10 days ago I sent a quote for a job posted on proz.com, asking for my "best rate".
A few days later, I received an e-mail with instructions on how to proceed. A few minutes later, a second e-mail arrived from the same sender, citing "a misunderstanding on our side as it seems than none of you (this is a group mail) has already talked with XXXXXX about rates, but you have just replied to our Proz.com add".
That mail went on to suggest that "As... See more Hi all,
About 10 days ago I sent a quote for a job posted on proz.com, asking for my "best rate".
A few days later, I received an e-mail with instructions on how to proceed. A few minutes later, a second e-mail arrived from the same sender, citing "a misunderstanding on our side as it seems than none of you (this is a group mail) has already talked with XXXXXX about rates, but you have just replied to our Proz.com add".
That mail went on to suggest that "As there should be a high volume to translate, the client is beating us up on prices, which does not allow us to pay the usual rate/word, but much lower.
We can propose EUR 0.01/word only, but we also expect that this project will be ongoing for months and months so it could represent a good source of income per month due to the high volume."!!!
Needless to say, I didn't bother replying to that e-mail, which added insult to injury by being patronizing.
Yesterday, I received an e-mail by a proz.com member (sent not through proz.com, but directly to my e-mail address, which read:
"Hello
We are looking for a freelancer for translation services on long
term project.
Lang.: English to Greek
Subject: General/ Business / Toursim
We have a first work to start, around 2000 words.
Please send the mail to XXXXXXX, if interested.
Please follow the criteria of application:
1. Name the mail English to Greek translator.
2. Include the link to proz profile
3. Rate per word (We budgeted T:0.02 - 0.03 EUR/word, P: 0.01
EUR/word)
4. Contact phone and mobile
Note: The company will replay only if selected.
Thank You."
Notwithstanding the 2 typos and the bad English, that e-mail struck me as an obvious case of someone having received a contract that they are unwilling/unable to carry out themselves, and looking for fellow translators to subcontract to for a pittance.
Would you suggest that I should take some action (i.e. report these e-mails and their senders to proz.com staff)? ▲ Collapse
| | | | megane_wang 
Spain
Local time: 01:46
Member (2007)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| That's annoying | Apr 14, 2011 |
Hello,
I received something similar directly to my e-mail. It looks like the actions taken in Proz.com to avoid posting jobs at a slavery-level rates are having their effect.
Of course, I think this should be communicated and deserves two "nice" Blueboard entries or comments from Proz's staff.
I must say I thought that my case was an isolated one, but next time I will take my time to publish the company names.
Thanks for sharing!
R... See more Hello,
I received something similar directly to my e-mail. It looks like the actions taken in Proz.com to avoid posting jobs at a slavery-level rates are having their effect.
Of course, I think this should be communicated and deserves two "nice" Blueboard entries or comments from Proz's staff.
I must say I thought that my case was an isolated one, but next time I will take my time to publish the company names.
Thanks for sharing!
Ruth ▲ Collapse
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Just mark them as spam and live your life. The more you think about it the more annoyed you will get.
[Editado a las 2011-04-14 08:45 GMT]
| | | | Michal Glowacki
Poland
Local time: 01:46
Member (2010)
English to Polish
+ ...
As much as I understand that the rate is really low, I don't see a problem here. Someone has a project (whether they are the end-client, translation agency or a translator is irrelevant), they want to outsource it. You don't like the rate, you reject it. End of story. I can't see anything that would give grounds to reporting such situations to anyone.
As for blueboard entries - for what? For offers? Blueboard is for freelancers that have worked with a company.
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| This is just a case of.... | Apr 14, 2011 |
....delete and forget!
| | | | Krzysztof Kajetanowicz (X)
Poland
Local time: 01:46
English to Polish
+ ...
Michal Glowacki wrote:
As much as I understand that the rate is really low, I don't see a problem here. Someone has a project (whether they are the end-client, translation agency or a translator is irrelevant), they want to outsource it. You don't like the rate, you reject it. End of story. I can't see anything that would give grounds to reporting such situations to anyone.
As for blueboard entries - for what? For offers? Blueboard is for freelancers that have worked with a company.
I keep re-reading the initial post and find nothing particularly wrong about the e-mail, except that the suggested rate is low.
However, proz.com should indeed intervene. Before posting a new topic, we should be marking a "I'm just going to whine about low rates" checkbox, that way we can have them filtered out.
| | | | Michal Glowacki
Poland
Local time: 01:46
Member (2010)
English to Polish
+ ...
Before posting a new topic, we should be marking a "I'm just going to whine about low rates" checkbox, that way we can have them filtered out.
Krzysztof! You're a genius! That would be excellent. Or maybe just create a sub-sub-sub-sub-forum in the money matters: "Low rates and how I got insulted". That would be equally good, I reckon.
| | | | | Got the same offers | Apr 14, 2011 |
I "gladly" received both offers from same companies and had two different approaches depending on the time I had on each respective day: With regard to the first offer, I pressed delete (was too busy to even care) and with regard to the second offer, having a little more time in my hands, I replied with the rates I usually work for to show them there are people who work for decent rates. This is a free market, people will say, you can receive or work for ANY rate for that matter! And we are all ... See more I "gladly" received both offers from same companies and had two different approaches depending on the time I had on each respective day: With regard to the first offer, I pressed delete (was too busy to even care) and with regard to the second offer, having a little more time in my hands, I replied with the rates I usually work for to show them there are people who work for decent rates. This is a free market, people will say, you can receive or work for ANY rate for that matter! And we are all free to press delete and move on...what worries me is whether anything will ever change in such a way with regard to rates in our industry... ▲ Collapse
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Krzysztof Kajetanowicz wrote: Michal Glowacki wrote:
As much as I understand that the rate is really low, I don't see a problem here. Someone has a project (whether they are the end-client, translation agency or a translator is irrelevant), they want to outsource it. You don't like the rate, you reject it. End of story. I can't see anything that would give grounds to reporting such situations to anyone.
As for blueboard entries - for what? For offers? Blueboard is for freelancers that have worked with a company. I keep re-reading the initial post and find nothing particularly wrong about the e-mail, except that the suggested rate is low. However, proz.com should indeed intervene. Before posting a new topic, we should be marking a "I'm just going to whine about low rates" checkbox, that way we can have them filtered out.
The same could be applied to those colleagues who, instead of simply not answering to these posts, prefer to attack the original poster. This is brilliant for support (of any kind). It feels as though Proz is turning into some sort of social network full of people full of themselves.
[Editado a las 2011-04-14 12:35 GMT]
| | | | Michal Glowacki
Poland
Local time: 01:46
Member (2010)
English to Polish
+ ...
| Not answering? | Apr 14, 2011 |
instead of simply not answering to these posts, prefer to attack the original poster
If this:
As much as I understand that the rate is really low, I don't see a problem here. Someone has a project (whether they are the end-client, translation agency or a translator is irrelevant), they want to outsource it. You don't like the rate, you reject it. End of story. I can't see anything that would give grounds to reporting such situations to anyone.
As for blueboard entries - for what? For offers? Blueboard is for freelancers that have worked with a company.
is not an answer to this:
Would you suggest that I should take some action (i.e. report these e-mails and their senders to proz.com staff)?
than I really don't know what constitutes a valid answer...
Surely you don't think that I should write something like "You are right! Take them to court!" or "I received it too and I felt insulted! grr!!" just because the asker is a fellow colleague? I feel for the translators that have problems, but in this case there is no problem. The rate is low, you reject the work. Case closed.
It feels as though Proz is turning into some sort of social network full of people full of themselves.
Yes, I see what you mean. I have this distinct feeling that ProZ.com is getting more and more full of people who get easily insulted by low rates, don't understand circumstances that agencies in some countries are facing and clearly are very eager to join their fellow colleagues in attacking those evil agencies. I'm so sorry that I haven't posted my doubts about the world and agencies each time someone offered me a really low rate. I feel so embarrassed and ashamed of myself.*
*Irony/sarcasm/tongue-in-cheek
And I may be full of myself (but who isn't?), but at least my ego agrees with me. At least that's what I think, it's hard to tell when all you can see of it is the bottom of it's feet standing outside. Cheer up and enjoy!
| | | | Jaroslaw Michalak
Poland
Local time: 01:46
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER
Paula Hernández Sambeat wrote:
The same could be applied to those colleagues who, instead of simply not answering to these posts, prefer to attack the original poster.
Don't forget those who do not refer to the original topic themselves, but instead choose to attack the attackers.
| | | | Soula Kokotinis
Canada
Local time: 19:46
Member (2010)
French to English
+ ...
| Still good to share this info | Apr 14, 2011 |
Although perhaps the original issue was not "problematic" and the poster could just ignore, as a fellow colleague, I find these discussions are still helpful. It reminds me we are not alone and opens up dialogue and collaboration. If you can't vent about these things here, where else is there?
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 01:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Two stories, one commentary | Apr 14, 2011 |
Theodoros Kalyvas wrote:
A few days later, I received an e-mail with instructions on how to proceed. A few minutes later, a second e-mail arrived from the same sender, citing... We can propose EUR 0.01/word only...
So, someone at the agency screwed up, but was quick enough to rectify a potential disaster by "cancelling" the job within minutes of commissioning it. I think you should be happy that they didn't wait a few hours before trying to cancel the job.
Needless to say, I didn't bother replying to that e-mail, which added insult to injury by being patronizing.
If you had previously indicated your willingness to work on that project, and if you had created the impression that you are a party to the translation process, then you should have replied -- even if only to say that unfortunately you can't work for that low rate.
It is good manners to do so because it saves the project manager the stress of discovering at a later stage that you had unilaterally dropped out of the process. Also, if that PM moves up in the world and starts working for another agency with better rates, and he ever comes across you again, he might remember that you had dropped him and consider you potentially unreliable.
Writing a coureous reply to indicate one's refusal to work for a low rate takes only 2 minutes.
[Edited at 2011-04-14 15:24 GMT]
| | | | | Why bother???? | Apr 14, 2011 |
Just ... "delete and forget"...
I did the same thing for both ads.
| | | | | Thanks for your answers | Apr 14, 2011 |
To all of you who provided meaningful answers, regardless of what they were, thank you.
To those of you who missed the point, this was not about whining about low rates. It was about a) sending a specific quote and receiving a "go ahead" reply, only to have it cancelled minutes later, by a ridiculous counter-offer, and b) about (ab)using the resources available to proz.com members, in this case e-mail addresses of fellow members, to advertise for a job at rates too ridiculou... See more To all of you who provided meaningful answers, regardless of what they were, thank you.
To those of you who missed the point, this was not about whining about low rates. It was about a) sending a specific quote and receiving a "go ahead" reply, only to have it cancelled minutes later, by a ridiculous counter-offer, and b) about (ab)using the resources available to proz.com members, in this case e-mail addresses of fellow members, to advertise for a job at rates too ridiculous to merit a proper job ad. THOSE are the points I considered questionable and wanted your opinions on. "Money matters" was simply the topic that seemed most relevant to post under. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | 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 » Two recent instances of questionable conduct | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
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