| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Advice Needed: Client Dispute Over Translation Project Thread poster: Jonathan Cohen
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| don't let yourself be bullied | Mar 30 |
Jonathan Cohen wrote:
Considering the tight deadlines of the project and the significant time spent grappling with formatting and image issues, the translation perhaps didn't meet my usual high standards I strive for, some of their comments were justified.... I'm confident that I gave it my best given the circumstances and constraints I faced. I worked quite diligently on it, creating a lexicon for all terms (of which there were many, over 650 in total), and while the outcome may not have been perfect, it was the best output for me.
As far as I can see, you did as well as could have reasonably been done given the circumstances and tight deadline. OF COURSE there will be errors and imperfections if the deadline was set too tight. As far as I can see, the error was with the client who did not set up an adequate work flow, and now they are trying to bully you to believe the errors they've found were your fault.
If I ask the pizzaman to make me a pizza but to not spend more than 1 minute to prepare it and only bake it for a few minutes in the oven, can I then complain about the quality of the pizza when I receive it (for instance that it's undercooked and only has tomato on it) and will it be reasonable of me to ask for a refund in that case? Can I complain that he didn't make the pizza properly?
Besides asking to see the changes, as other have suggested, I think you need to explain to the client that the imperfections are perfectly normal given the circumstances and that they need to be prepared to organize their work flow differently next time if they want to ensure higher levels of quality, and you should give them a set of constructive suggestions in that regard (e.g. longer time frame, better reference documents, opportunities to get feedback/answers from the end client, review by a second linguist, and perhaps they should also consider using another translator if they need one with special competence in a particular field etc.).
| | | | Jonathan Cohen 
Canada
Local time: 07:18
Member (2015)
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Quick update: I have gone back to the client proposing to do another complete review, free of charge for the work which will take the better half of 7-8 days to complete.
The client now informs me that the third party client went ahead and hired their own reviewer to bring the work up to standard. So some of you were correct on that intuition, they want me to pay for this reviewer by returning half my funds.
I never even got the option to clean up the review, nor did ... See more Quick update: I have gone back to the client proposing to do another complete review, free of charge for the work which will take the better half of 7-8 days to complete.
The client now informs me that the third party client went ahead and hired their own reviewer to bring the work up to standard. So some of you were correct on that intuition, they want me to pay for this reviewer by returning half my funds.
I never even got the option to clean up the review, nor did I get an opportunity to participate in any review process. They just went a head and did it without my knowing and now expect me to pay for it by giving back half the amount. This is not standard practcice as I understand it.
I am seeking legal council to make sure my contract would be valid shopuld this go to small claims and will keep you posted. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 13:18
French to English
Jonathan Cohen wrote:
Quick update: I have gone back to the client proposing to do another complete review, free of charge for the work which will take the better half of 7-8 days to complete.
The client now informs me that the third party client went ahead and hired their own reviewer to bring the work up to standard. So some of you were correct on that intuition, they want me to pay for this reviewer by returning half my funds.
I never even got the option to clean up the review, nor did I get an opportunity to participate in any review process. They just went a head and did it without my knowing and now expect me to pay for it by giving back half the amount. This is not standard practcice as I understand it.
I am seeking legal council to make sure my contract would be valid shopuld this go to small claims and will keep you posted.
No this isn't standard practice.
They should have been checking your work on an ongoing basis, asking to see your lexicon at regular intervals. That way any problems with terminology can be caught quickly, and any preferences specified, before you've got too far. That way you can adjust immediately, reducing the latitude for further errors.
And as you said, it's normal to find some errors in a translation of that size. They should have factored the price of the review into the end price billed to their client.
You have a rock-solid contract and they've already paid. The working relationship is probably doomed already so in your shoes, I wouldn't bother with any goodwill gestures.
When I accept large projects like this, I always negotiate staggered delivery, for example a certain number of words + glossary every two weeks. The client is expected to look over my work and make comments/ask questions before the next scheduled delivery, so I can fold in any requested terminology as I go. I also make sure there's a clause stating that they will not use or publish any of my translation until I have translated the entire document, just in case of last-minute changes that need to made throughout.
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Jonathan Cohen wrote:
Quick update: I have gone back to the client proposing to do another complete review, free of charge
Stop offering to do free stuff until you know the EXACT situation, expectations and likely outcome.
Jonathan Cohen wrote: to bring the work up to standard.
Stop admitting any kind of shortcoming or liability until... (see above)
Jonathan Cohen wrote:
they want me to pay for this reviewer by returning half my funds.
This is a matter between your client and the end client. Your contract was with your client. They had a month to request corrections etc. They didn't use it. They have paid you. They have implicitly if not explicitly accepted your work (unless you know different).
If there is a dispute over quality, I would argue that by this point, it is between your client and the end client. That would be my opening negotiating position. From which you can start to make concessions of course - that's negotiation
But fer Gawd's sake stop offering to do free work and handing money back before you are compelled to.
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Michael Bachmann
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:18
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
Legal advice is always first when you're having legal issues, just my opinion, experience and takes from my university years (law). We can all have assumptions and beliefs from experiences close to what this is about and some of it might be absolutely right but it might be plain wrong as well especially if we don't know the full contract and the conversation throughout the project. Sadly in many countries one needs to consider the costs for such advice. If there is any affordable (and reliable) ... See more Legal advice is always first when you're having legal issues, just my opinion, experience and takes from my university years (law). We can all have assumptions and beliefs from experiences close to what this is about and some of it might be absolutely right but it might be plain wrong as well especially if we don't know the full contract and the conversation throughout the project. Sadly in many countries one needs to consider the costs for such advice. If there is any affordable (and reliable) legal advice you can get, do this first, I would suggest. You need clarity from a professional, I think.
[Edited at 2024-04-04 14:24 GMT]
[Edited at 2024-04-04 14:53 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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