Poll: Do you work with translation companies WITHOUT a Blue Board record? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you work with translation companies WITHOUT a Blue Board record?".
This poll was originally submitted by Bora Taşdemir. View the poll results »
| | | | Ana Vozone 
Local time: 07:57
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
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I had a client base before I joined Proz. These were either clients that found me by word of mouth or clients recommended by friends, for instance.
Never had a problem with those!
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 08:57
Spanish to English
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I used to occasionally work for an agency which had a bad Blue Board record because people had slated it for taking longer to pay than they would have liked (they used to pay at 90 days, or as soon after that as they managed to get it together; this is, or used to be, common practice in Spain). However, the last few times they've approached me I've passed them on to colleagues with more availability. The agency also tended to send clunky formats, which I find offputting.
However, ha... See more I used to occasionally work for an agency which had a bad Blue Board record because people had slated it for taking longer to pay than they would have liked (they used to pay at 90 days, or as soon after that as they managed to get it together; this is, or used to be, common practice in Spain). However, the last few times they've approached me I've passed them on to colleagues with more availability. The agency also tended to send clunky formats, which I find offputting.
However, having said that, I might still work with them as long as the deadlines and format were acceptable. I don't have a bee in my bonnet about payment terms, as long as they stump up in the end. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 08:57
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
Several of my customers didn't have a BB entry when I first started working for them, but have one now. Never had any problems with those customers. In fact, the only customer that I ever felt the need to stop collaborating with actually did have a BB entry, and not a particularly good one at that.
Also, I only got a paid membership during an extended lull in 2020, so I didn't have access to BB entries before anyway.
[Edited at 2022-05-31 08:44 GMT]
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Like Ana I had a client base before I joined Proz. My longest-standing customer (a Belgian agency) with whom I have been working very regularly (almost every month) for over 25 years has not a BB record. Our collaboration has been built on good old-fashioned trust: no NDAs and no POs. These days, if I am contacted by a potential new client, I always check the Blue Board first. If he is not there and the client appears to be serious there are plenty of other methods of checking besides the BB…
| | | | John Silva
Brazil
Local time: 03:57
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Some of my clients don't have it, but they're really good clients.
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 02:57
German to English
| Direct customers | May 31, 2022 |
In my experience, direct customers are largely unproblematical and generally don't engage a lot of translators, so it's less likely that any hired will make an entry on the Blue Board. I have colleagues who claim not to have heard of Proz or who rarely access the site, mainly because like myself, they have a steady of flow of work from long-time agencies or direct customers. I made a few positive entries for agencies years ago and haven't felt the need to add to them.
| | | | Inga Petkelyte
Portugal
Local time: 07:57
Lithuanian to Portuguese
+ ...
| Absolutely yes | May 31, 2022 |
Actually, I don't even look at BB. I see periodical comments on how the BB is unreliable and I can only confirm that from my own experience. So I just don't bother
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One currently active agency customer, from before I registered with Proz.com.
Anyway, being registered on the Blue Board is not a criteria for my working or not with a translation company. The fact is, there is an immense amount of agencies registered there. when an unknown translation agency contacts me, I still find it a good resource to get an overall feeling of their practices, but I am more interested in comments and poster profiles than in the actual grading.
And as a tr... See more One currently active agency customer, from before I registered with Proz.com.
Anyway, being registered on the Blue Board is not a criteria for my working or not with a translation company. The fact is, there is an immense amount of agencies registered there. when an unknown translation agency contacts me, I still find it a good resource to get an overall feeling of their practices, but I am more interested in comments and poster profiles than in the actual grading.
And as a translator, I can register companies I work(ed) with for the community's benefit (or not): https://www.proz.com/blueboard/?&sp_mode=entry . Good manners would likely require that I ask the relevant company beforehand. Besides NDAs and all that.
Philippe ▲ Collapse
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That was when I got back into the industry many years ago and didn't worry about things such as BB ratings. Because, back then, most of them offered good rates and I could always get a good idea about their trustworthiness by visiting their websites. But there are so many scammers when it comes to anything anymore, I tend to look them up on BB anymore. As a literary translator, I almost always work with direct clients anyway. And in those other cases, I decided a few years ago to only work with ... See more That was when I got back into the industry many years ago and didn't worry about things such as BB ratings. Because, back then, most of them offered good rates and I could always get a good idea about their trustworthiness by visiting their websites. But there are so many scammers when it comes to anything anymore, I tend to look them up on BB anymore. As a literary translator, I almost always work with direct clients anyway. And in those other cases, I decided a few years ago to only work with a couple of agencies in the UK I have worked for more than once before and that always have demonstrated professionalism and intelligence in their interactions with me, and at least a few in the US, when and if they contact me, and if the project reflects my fields of expertise and I happen to be available.
[Edited at 2022-05-31 20:37 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-05-31 20:46 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-05-31 20:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Chié_JP
Japan
Local time: 15:57
Member (2013)
English to Japanese
+ ...
Major agencies do not even have ProZ profile - since they have plenty of freelancers base,
and do not need to post last minute job on search website.
Agencies constantly in search for freelancers often mean they are not good clients. BB record can be "bought" by outsourcer so to speak - you send a very small job to several people, pay soon and ask (or force) to post good experience on BB.
In reality the agency with a lot of BB record does not have enough end client or enough... See more Major agencies do not even have ProZ profile - since they have plenty of freelancers base,
and do not need to post last minute job on search website.
Agencies constantly in search for freelancers often mean they are not good clients. BB record can be "bought" by outsourcer so to speak - you send a very small job to several people, pay soon and ask (or force) to post good experience on BB.
In reality the agency with a lot of BB record does not have enough end client or enough job, and every single linguist won't earn more than 15 USD in LIFETIME. I encountered one of such agencies and still owe them more than 1500 USD, and proz staff intervention did not work at all (I doubt if the staff was doing their job seriously at that time) the non payment agency still have great BB record to date, but watch out if the majority of the records are from third world when the agency is (or supposedly in) advanced countries. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | There is in fact a world beyond Proz.com! | May 31, 2022 |
I have often had clients recommended to me, or I have worked for colleagues who are not actually agencies. They choose to outsource work, perhaps because the job calls for a native speaker of English, and they normally translate out of English. I know who they are, and have met several of them in person, at powwows, for example, so a BB record would make no difference.
I do not work for many direct clients, but they are not on the Blue Board either. I have never had any problems wit... See more I have often had clients recommended to me, or I have worked for colleagues who are not actually agencies. They choose to outsource work, perhaps because the job calls for a native speaker of English, and they normally translate out of English. I know who they are, and have met several of them in person, at powwows, for example, so a BB record would make no difference.
I do not work for many direct clients, but they are not on the Blue Board either. I have never had any problems with them! ▲ Collapse
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I don't have much work from agencies anymore because they keep lowering the rates. If they met my conditions, it wouldn't matter to me whether they had a Blue Board record.
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