| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | How to respond when a client misspells your name Thread poster: Metin Demirel
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Metin Demirel 
Türkiye
Local time: 17:28
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
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I don't think my name is a difficult one to type. Yet a client, whose name contains a letter with a diacritic, which I am sure many languages don't have, misspelt my name twice while I had carefully copied the exact letter in their name for the cute piece of a stroke to be placed where it belongs fearing it would otherwise mean something unkind in their language.
I wouldn't care if it happened only once. But being called Matin and then Metil indicates a pattern of bl... See more I don't think my name is a difficult one to type. Yet a client, whose name contains a letter with a diacritic, which I am sure many languages don't have, misspelt my name twice while I had carefully copied the exact letter in their name for the cute piece of a stroke to be placed where it belongs fearing it would otherwise mean something unkind in their language.
I wouldn't care if it happened only once. But being called Matin and then Metil indicates a pattern of blatant disregard. Does that ever happen to you? If so, how do you generally respond?
PS: Sorry if this is not the right forum to ask this question. I am not sure into which category it should fall. Thank you.
[Edited at 2022-05-26 19:34 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jean Lachaud
United States
Local time: 10:28
English to French
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It happens all the time, People can't read, or spell. And, yes, it is infuriating.
In my next message, I insert this: "Please note that the proper spelling of my name is Xxxxxx."
In the end, what is really important is to be paid the agreed amount, though.
J L
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If it happens again, you can say something like, 'I'm not sure who Martin [or whatever the misspelling is] is, but if you want to contact him, I suggest you send him an email. In the meantime, allow me to ask if there is anything I can help you with.'
| | | | Metin Demirel
Türkiye
Local time: 17:28
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thomas T. Frost wrote:
If it happens again, you can say something like, 'I'm not sure who Martin [or whatever the misspelling is] is, but if you want to contact him, I suggest you send him an email. In the meantime, allow me to ask if there is anything I can help you with.'
I've also been a Martin many times.
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expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 15:28
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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| Depending on the name of that client | May 26, 2022 |
I would reply to him by butchering his name, for example:
"Hello, Rumpelstiltskin,
I hope you are doing well (...)"
I am sure he will get your name right, and he will never misspell it again.
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" 
[Edited at 2022-05-26 21:07 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-05-2... See more I would reply to him by butchering his name, for example:
"Hello, Rumpelstiltskin,
I hope you are doing well (...)"
I am sure he will get your name right, and he will never misspell it again.
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"
[Edited at 2022-05-26 21:07 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-05-26 21:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
expressisverbis wrote: I would reply to him by butchering his name, for example: "Hello, Rumpelstiltskin, I hope you are doing well (...)" I am sure he will get your name right, and he will never misspell it again. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"
Yes- that's the solution. Start misspelling their name; however do it with subtle misspellings- not blatantly obvious mistakes. At some point the two of you will come to an agreement.
You've just reminded my of my grandmother who, when speaking to another member of the family, would run through her various options of names of family members, before coming to rest on the name of the person she was addressing. I was Walt-Dave-Tom.
[Edited at 2022-05-27 06:58 GMT]
| | | | | Not only clients | May 27, 2022 |
My first name is not difficult at all, but I can’t count the times it has been misspelled by people here on Proz (as if I didn’t know how to write my own name). I’ve seen Térèsa/Tereza/Theresa/Thereza. It irritates me but I just sigh and shrug…
| | | | Agneta Pallinder
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:28
Member (2014)
Swedish to English
+ ...
| Is it really such a big deal? | May 27, 2022 |
It happens to me occasionally, but does it really matter? I wouldn't bother unless it was a misspelling in a formal document, like an NDA or a contract. Then I would politely and without making a fuss ask for a correction.
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It happens all the time. They match it to their equivalent in their native language and adapt it.
When I reply to a very foreign sender, I copy-paste their name, even more so when they have weird bars and accents like Serbo-croatian or Polish.
I don't feel offended at all, and I'm sure I've wrongly spellt names that originate from countries where chaining 10 consonants (or vowels) in a row is commonplace.
I find reading more "loose" and "it's" than necessary more irritating.... See more It happens all the time. They match it to their equivalent in their native language and adapt it.
When I reply to a very foreign sender, I copy-paste their name, even more so when they have weird bars and accents like Serbo-croatian or Polish.
I don't feel offended at all, and I'm sure I've wrongly spellt names that originate from countries where chaining 10 consonants (or vowels) in a row is commonplace.
I find reading more "loose" and "it's" than necessary more irritating.
Only when I am called Barbara or Rajalavarumian do I mention the mistake to my counterpart.
Philippe ▲ Collapse
| | | | | How to respond when a client misspells your name | May 27, 2022 |
My family migrated to Italy when I was about 11 and my first name was mispelled in so many ways: Fosca, Oscar, Golf, Gofang ... ehm, my name is Wolfgang ... that I don't care anymore when my second name is mispelled, too, in many ways.
At least, here in France, they don't care too much about a non-French name as I may be native from Alsacia, but without some help they would never get it right.
| | | | | I don’t mind | May 27, 2022 |
Hardly anybody spells my name right. All too often they spell Ice with a silent N at the start. But I don’t mind.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Philippe Etienne wrote:
"loose" and "it's"
Indeed.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Wolfgang wrote:
My family migrated to Italy when I was about 11 and my first name was mispelled in so many ways: Fosca, Oscar, Golf, Gofang ... ehm, my name is Wolfgang ... that I don't care anymore when my second name is mispelled, too, in many ways.
At least, here in France, they don't care too much about a non-French name as I may be native from Alsacia, but without some help they would never get it right.
This reminds me of the car mechanic in Florence who used to fix up my clapped-out secondhand Fiat 500. His name was Silvano and he was part of a community of exiles who left what is now Slovenia, when Yugoslavia was created and Tito took over.
Silvano's second name was Smerde. Not good if you live in Florence among the Florentines, who are known for their sardonic wit.
So he applied to change his name. The trouble was, you are only allowed to change the first or last letter. So his only options were Merde or Smerd. In the end he just settled for "call me Silvano".
[Edited at 2022-05-27 12:10 GMT]
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Tom in London wrote:
So he applied to change his name. The trouble was, you are only allowed to change the first or last letter. So his only options were Merde or Smerd. In the end he just settled for "call me Silvano".
[Edited at 2022-05-27 08:41 GMT]
LOL
| | | | | I don't care | May 27, 2022 |
Agneta Pallinder wrote:
It happens to me occasionally, but does it really matter? I wouldn't bother unless it was a misspelling in a formal document, like an NDA or a contract. Then I would politely and without making a fuss ask for a correction.
Exactly.
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