Hello,

Since translators have so often sad story about collecting fees, (see translatorscafe and proZ forums) I am strongly thinking about requesting a fee before starting any project.  I was warned about a agency before taking a project.  I decided to take it anyway, but the way the PM handled the whole project, I have the feeling there will be problem.  Some people have a tricky way in trying "not to pay" and still take advantage of the work done.  I decided not to accept anymore projects from them until I see how "fair" they will handle this one.  I will not even bother to send them a second invoice in order to save myself emotional stress and will certainly report them on proZ.com BB.  Please comment.  Madeleine

This is a hard one. I did a very large project (278,00 words) for an agency I had been translating for for more than a year. Payment had always been sluggish, but they always did pay. Because of this I had no hesitation in accepting this large job, but alas I have not been paid for it, nor does it seem like I ever will. I am now exploring legal options in trying to salvage something from it, but there are not many professionals willing to help.

This offers a new question: How long should one cooperate with an agency before one can trust them?

I fear the new question should be the other way round - how long do we co-operate on a basis of trust before we are forced to lose that trust?  I think that just as in most other professions/industries we have to start from the premise that we will be paid for services rendered.  I would certainly not pay a plumber, mechanic etc up front (unless for invoiced parts to carry out a job).  Therefore I would not ask for payment up front.  But I would certainly negotiate payment and delivery in instalments for anything large, wherever practicable, unless it was a long-term client.  I've never not been paid, but I did a few years ago do about 30,000 w for a Belgian company/agency which they then haggled about for 6 months afterwards and I only ever got about two-thirds of the money due.  I made sure all colleagues at the time knew about this and refused all future contracts from them.

The bigger the assignment, the more important it is to get something in writing - especially if it's direct from a big company, where someone somewhere will have had to sanction the translation.  In this case, get an official job number from the compnay so you can pester the accounts people afterwards.

Hi, my name is Laura and I also request 50% of the total amount up front, and in case of large projects I request 25% up front, another 25% half way through the project and the remaining amount upon completion of the translation. If you realize a client is not willing to pay for your work why don't you try with a Debt Collection Agency, that may help you get your money.

Good Luck,

Laura.

An interesting note on debt collecting agencies: I contacted Debta (Debta.com) as soon as I realised that I was going to struggle to get anything for the work I had done. They were very quick to reply and encouraged me to submit my invoices to them, which I then did. Unfortunately I never heard from them again, despite e-mails to follow up on the submission of invoices. It seems to me that as I am owed this money by an individual who acted as a translation agency, rather than a large translation agency, they were not willing to get involved in collecting the debt. They clearly are not a very professional agency. I am busy working through a lawyer at the moment who specialises in debt collection to get what I am due.

Hi, Marie Madeleine! How are you?

You´re 1000% right about this. Some agencies (or should  I say most of them?) suck our blood, fool us from the very first moment giving the silliest excuses and by the end of the thing, we lose.

I´ve had sad experiences where I finally got paid but two/three and even six months later after threatening to report to the Brazilian Embassy in their countries and to their Embassy in Brazil, as well. It worked but does not pay the price of stress, disappointment, phone calls, emails and so on. Anyway, even getting paid after all, I will no longer work for those agencies.

You´re right. Getting 50% won´t pay our work but certainly will, at least, work as an instrument to find out what their intention are.

Best Regards,

Januário Palma Neto

Hello everyone,

I'd like to say that this forum is really great and it's also very constructive to be able to exchange ideas and experiences with other colleagues from around the world. I'd just like to make a suggestion: wouldn't it be good, if and when we end up beind deceived by large or small ageancies, to notify other colleagues through this forum to make sure they don't end up being deceived as well? I usually do that with my fellow translators here in Athens but I think it'd be nice to do the same when it comes to agencies or companies that employ translators worlwide?

Thank you for your attention and have a great day!

Maria

Hi;

Based on previous bad experiences and the inability to collect even with collection agencies,  I decided to change payment terms, particularly in large projects.  I divide the estimated total into three installments, the first of which has to be paid up front or I just don't start.  The second installment is due when I turn in half of the work, and the other third is due upon delivery of the final document.  At first it seemed a little harsh even to me, but I have found out that if the client is serious, they have no problem with this arrangement. I do give them some room for negotiation, but this has been the best set up for me.  

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