Cancelled work after I started working on it Auteur du fil: S. D.
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S. D.
États-Unis
Local time: 17:55
anglais vers japonais
Hi! to you all! I appreciate if you can share your thoughts and experience with translation agencies. This morning the company I have been working sent me an assignment. They wanted me to proofread the translated document. The original (Japanese) is about 10 pages of Word document. I checked the contents and accepted the assignment. Then, I started working on it. I proofread about 2 pages of original Japanese against English document spending about two hours. It was highly technical, and there w... See more Hi! to you all! I appreciate if you can share your thoughts and experience with translation agencies. This morning the company I have been working sent me an assignment. They wanted me to proofread the translated document. The original (Japanese) is about 10 pages of Word document. I checked the contents and accepted the assignment. Then, I started working on it. I proofread about 2 pages of original Japanese against English document spending about two hours. It was highly technical, and there were some errors and inconsitency that needed to be changed. Then, the agency sent me an email stating that their quality control department said to check it very carefully because of the highly technical document. Five minutes later, they sent me another email stating that the assignment was canceled. They decided to send it to another translator. The translator coordinator called me stating the same thing as his email. I asked him if it will be proofread by another proofreader or translated from the scratch by another translator. He was not sure at that time. I told him that I had already worked on it and finished about two pages out of 10 pages original. He asked me also about the quality of the translation and I said it is okay, just only minimal erros and inconsistency. He said he would let me know after he discussed with others. He sent me another email stating that the assignment is canceled for me. They decided to send this assignment to another translator to "re-edit/re-translate the entire document." I thanked for letting me know and also told him to be careful not to repeat this type of change/cancelation from the next time because I had already spent a few hourson this assignment. So far, he does not reply to my comment.
Have you ever experienced a job cancellation after you already accepted? If so, how did you deal with it? Did you ask for payment for the part you have already worked on? Or, just let it go like I did? I was going to ask for the partial payment, but I know this company is cheap and they will not pay for me, especially if they need to ask another translator re-do it from the scratch. Plus, I wanted to be in good term because this company is good client for me. So, I didn't ask for the payment. If this type of cancellation happens again, I should ask for the payment, I thought. I do appreciate if you can share your experience and opinions. Thank you for reading and taking your time! Have a great day ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mary Worby 
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 22:55
allemand vers anglais
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| Ask for part payment | Apr 6, 2011 |
I'd send them what you have done so far and tell them you'll just be invoicing for that. It's something I've had to do quite a few times over the years and I've never had any issues. The goodwill element is the fact that you're not charging more for the inconvenience and the fact you may have had to turn down other work as you had accepted this assignment.
| | | | | I agree with Mary | Apr 6, 2011 |
Mary Worby wrote:
I'd send them what you have done so far and tell them you'll just be invoicing for that. It's something I've had to do quite a few times over the years and I've never had any issues. The goodwill element is the fact that you're not charging more for the inconvenience and the fact you may have had to turn down other work as you had accepted this assignment.
The same happened to me lately and the agency said that they would pay me, even though their client had cancelled the job. I think that's what good agencies do.
Good luck!
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you get paid for the time you already spent on proofreading the text.
After all, it is not your fault the order has been cancelled.
Good luck,
Gudrun
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christeld (X)
Local time: 22:55
norvégien vers anglais
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| Charge for the work done. | Apr 6, 2011 |
I charge for any work completed or a minimum of 25% of the agreed fee for a cancellation (I will charge 25% even if the assignment is canceled prior to my starting work on it or if I'm only three words in).
| | | | | You were a bit too bland... | Apr 6, 2011 |
Sorry to say so, but you should have been much firmer in your reply to the cancellation, and should have stated upfront that you had already done two hours of the job. Your reply sounds to me like you just had a quick look, and you can't charge for that, can you?
After a bland reply, you cannot say "Hey! I changed my mind and want to charge you!." Too late for that in my opinion.
Next time you are cancelled a job, ask immediately for a PO for the part of the work done, ... See more Sorry to say so, but you should have been much firmer in your reply to the cancellation, and should have stated upfront that you had already done two hours of the job. Your reply sounds to me like you just had a quick look, and you can't charge for that, can you?
After a bland reply, you cannot say "Hey! I changed my mind and want to charge you!." Too late for that in my opinion.
Next time you are cancelled a job, ask immediately for a PO for the part of the work done, and make a point of the fact that you had received a firm order for the job. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jocelyne S
France
Local time: 23:55
français vers anglais
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Were I in your shoes, I would most certainly have invoiced, but I have a clear cancellation clause in my Terms of Sale which covers such situations.
I agree with Tomas, however, that if you agreed to not be paid this time, you can't really go back on your word now.
What you could do is send an email to the PM stating that you will let it go this time, but that in the future you will invoice the agency for work cancelled after a PO has been issued.
You migh... See more Were I in your shoes, I would most certainly have invoiced, but I have a clear cancellation clause in my Terms of Sale which covers such situations.
I agree with Tomas, however, that if you agreed to not be paid this time, you can't really go back on your word now.
What you could do is send an email to the PM stating that you will let it go this time, but that in the future you will invoice the agency for work cancelled after a PO has been issued.
You might also consider getting some Terms of Sale in which your cancellation policy is clearly defined so as to avoid all possible ambiguity in the future.
Good luck,
Jocelyne
[Edited at 2011-04-07 07:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | S. D.
États-Unis
Local time: 17:55
anglais vers japonais
AUTEUR DU FIL
Thank you for reading this long message and replying to this posting. I agree with all of you; I should have invoiced at that time when they canceled. I did not post this question in order to send another reply to the agency and invoice them for the canceled job. I just wanted to get some ideas for future use because I know it is too late to change my mind now.
If something like this happens again, I will definitely invoice the agency. This is the lesson that I learned for small pr... See more Thank you for reading this long message and replying to this posting. I agree with all of you; I should have invoiced at that time when they canceled. I did not post this question in order to send another reply to the agency and invoice them for the canceled job. I just wanted to get some ideas for future use because I know it is too late to change my mind now.
If something like this happens again, I will definitely invoice the agency. This is the lesson that I learned for small price. Tomas, the reason I did not invoice them is NOT that "I just had a quicik look and I cannot charge for that." Since it was in Word document, I needed to use track change and they should be able to see many changes I had already made in red. So, I really spent my good time to work on it. I was just stupid thinking the company's point of view, for example why are they going to pay me if they cannot use the translation anymore, somthing like that. Plus, they are really cheap. I asked for the raise of my rate about a month ago and they turned me down, so why waste my time when I am sure they are not going to pay me? I thought.... However, as everyone here stated, I should have invoiced for what I have done so far and my time I spent. Maybe I can send a note stating that I will invoice them for what I have done from the next time if a work is canceled again. I do appreciate the time you spent for answering my questions. Thank you again and have a great day! ▲ Collapse
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| Spanish saying | Apr 6, 2011 |
spockally wrote:
I was just stupid thinking the company's point of view, for example why are they going to pay me if they cannot use the translation anymore, somthing like that. Plus, they are really cheap. I asked for the raise of my rate about a month ago and they turned me down, so why waste my time when I am sure they are not going to pay me?
Well, in Spain we say "A enemigo que huye, ¡puente de plata!" meaning: offer a silver bridge to a fleeing enemy. In this case, I reckon it's not the dream customer of every translator, so you will be a happier person if they forget about you and viceversa!
Good luck!
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