| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Could we extend the Blue Board system a little? Thread poster: Astrid Elke Witte
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Hi all!
Ruxi said:
"I would not refuse to work with an outsourcer only because it does not accept that 50-50 matter which does not affect me".
I see your point. But I think that by posting this "objective" information, it could raise the alarm in other translators (probably overseas).
Ruxi said:
"what do banks stipulate for fees payment?"
I think it is the PO that stipulates who will bear the bank fees. If you wonder how much, well that's a (fu... See more Hi all!
Ruxi said:
"I would not refuse to work with an outsourcer only because it does not accept that 50-50 matter which does not affect me".
I see your point. But I think that by posting this "objective" information, it could raise the alarm in other translators (probably overseas).
Ruxi said:
"what do banks stipulate for fees payment?"
I think it is the PO that stipulates who will bear the bank fees. If you wonder how much, well that's a (funny) story (at least where I live). For example: Wales-Argentina (50-50), I paid USD36. Spain-Argentina (100% on me) = €84... At the end of the day, you never know!
Andrea said:
"is payment through Paypal a real hassle in Argentina?"
I have not "downloaded" any money yet. But this was not an option at the time of signing the PO.
And then, going back to Astrid's suggestion, I would include these two (IMO, objective) issues:
1. Was payment received within the agreed days?
yes / no answer
if not, please state the number of days delayed. (Thanks Andrea!)
2. Were bank fees afforded bilaterally?
yes / no answer
if not, please state who afforded them.
Best!
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| | | | Astrid Elke Witte 
Germany
Local time: 18:20
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | And don't forget the "N/A" option | Jan 26, 2007 |
I think we have nearly got it right now, Marcela, except that there should be an "N/A" option concerning the bank fees, in the event that there were none to be paid, such as with a bank transfer within the same country (in some countries, at least).
Astrid
P.S. And Question 1 should read, "...within the agreed number of days".
[Edited at 2007-01-26 11:08]
Question 2: "... number of days late".
[Edited at 2007-01-26 11:09]
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Astrid Elke Johnson wrote:
there should be an "N/A" option concerning the bank fees, in the event that there were none to be paid, such as with a bank transfer within the same country (in some countries, at least).
I agree, Astrid, because, as Ruxi suggested, this issue of bank fees does not affect some coleagues.
Best.
mm
| | | | Brandis (X)
Local time: 18:20
English to German
+ ...
| I guess this is after all important to make a BB entry more detailed and subjective | Jan 27, 2007 |
Hi! I had this trouble a few times, but this idea hadn´t crossed my mind. For example I am facing trouble with chinese agency (officially) in the background it is an american agency. we agreed via PO only on the translation and not transproofed delivery. It was evident that the agency wanted to go for external proof-readers and there would be those costs to bear. This kind of situation is not the first time for many of us. That the outsourcers always come with unspoken or unwritten or silent t... See more Hi! I had this trouble a few times, but this idea hadn´t crossed my mind. For example I am facing trouble with chinese agency (officially) in the background it is an american agency. we agreed via PO only on the translation and not transproofed delivery. It was evident that the agency wanted to go for external proof-readers and there would be those costs to bear. This kind of situation is not the first time for many of us. That the outsourcers always come with unspoken or unwritten or silent tricks and time loss and waiting ours. This is a bad situation, when somebody sits there day and night and finishes a project as per given specification. Something seriously must be done here I imagine, but do not know exactly how or in which form. Best Brandis ▲ Collapse
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| Why not use a simple grid for appreciation of several factors? | Jan 27, 2007 |
I would replace this form by a simple grid, in which you could simply answer yes or no to the following:
1. Did the client have realistic expectations?
2. Did the client respect the contract in full?
3. Was the client receptive to questions and comments?
4. Was the client responsive to questions and comments?
5. Did the client pay on time, as agreed?
6. Was the client respective of the service provider?
Each yes would correspond to one poin... See more I would replace this form by a simple grid, in which you could simply answer yes or no to the following:
1. Did the client have realistic expectations?
2. Did the client respect the contract in full?
3. Was the client receptive to questions and comments?
4. Was the client responsive to questions and comments?
5. Did the client pay on time, as agreed?
6. Was the client respective of the service provider?
Each yes would correspond to one point, which would make up ratings anywhere between 0/6 to 6/6. By reproducing this simple grid next to the free text comment of the service provider, service providers would be able to evaluate much better the reason why they should or shouldn't work with a client. Many service providers only give a rating of 1, without any further comment, and it is hard for me to know if I should steer clear of the client because of payment issues or because they are simply bad communicators. I would find it unfair for clients to be avoided because of a bad reference that only exists because of miscommunication.
Not only would it be possible to know the appreciation of the service provider, but it would even be possible to know the reason behind the appreciation. This would certainly help with ratings of 3 and 4, as mentioned earlier. The more ratings a client will get, the more a pattern would appear, which would also turn the BB into a more precise tool for evaluating whether working for a particular client is risky or not.
Any comments?
P.S.: About paying half the bank fees - how is that reasonable? In all other fields, when any financial transaction is involved, it is always the entity who placed the order who pays the finance fees (when you use a debit card at a market, it is you who pay the transaction fee and not the merchant). All my clients pay for those fees and none of them ever had a problem with this. I also charge 3% on PayPal transactions because that's how much commission PayPal takes off the transaction. I don't see why a service provider should disburse anything in order to get paid for the services rendered. Of course, if you don't want to have to pay any fees as a service provider, make sure you offer several payment methods for the client to choose from, whichever is most convenient for them. I accept cheques and most clients pay me by cheque - it's easy for them and there is practically no transaction fee involved. One of my clients just started making direct deposits, and they decided to do so of their own free will, without anybody asking for it.
[Edited at 2007-01-27 22:56] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Uldis Liepkalns
Latvia
Local time: 19:20
Member (2003)
English to Latvian
+ ...
| Experienced that | Jan 27, 2007 |
Does the name of the company begin with "C"?
We had several huge jobs from one such Chinese agency with headquarters in the US, but the jobs themselves were so big that we considered it not worth while to raise a hay about additional 4-5 hours proofreading not mentioned in the PO.
Uldis
Brandis wrote:
Hi! I had this trouble a few times, but this idea hadn´t crossed my mind. For example I am facing trouble with chinese agency (officially) in the background it is an american agency. we agreed via PO only on the translation and not transproofed delivery.
| | | | Astrid Elke Witte
Germany
Local time: 18:20
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Further refinement | Jan 28, 2007 |
Thanks for extending the idea, Viktoria!
The whole system of extending the Blue Board to include specific objective information would, however, only make sense if we could report separately on each job done, not only on the first job done and then again a year later.
I have too often had the experience of being paid punctually for the first job, and given a 5 to the outsourcer, only to find that the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th payments, etc., arrived a couple of days later each ... See more Thanks for extending the idea, Viktoria!
The whole system of extending the Blue Board to include specific objective information would, however, only make sense if we could report separately on each job done, not only on the first job done and then again a year later.
I have too often had the experience of being paid punctually for the first job, and given a 5 to the outsourcer, only to find that the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th payments, etc., arrived a couple of days later each time. I can see a pattern developing in my Translation 3000 program.
In order to achieve this, there could be no vagueness any more, but it would be necessary, for example, to state the exact date the job was carried out (to make sure, for example, that a different job were reported each time).
Astrid ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Astrid, you are right | Jan 29, 2007 |
I did not think of that, but it's true that it would make a lot of sense to add comments for each separate job.
What could be done is that service providers will be able to fill out the form for each job, but jobs wouldn't display separately on the BlueBoard page. Instead, for each service provider, the average of their ratings would be displayed. To avoid adding all of the free text comments, which would make the page extremely heavy to view and digest, the latest comment would app... See more I did not think of that, but it's true that it would make a lot of sense to add comments for each separate job.
What could be done is that service providers will be able to fill out the form for each job, but jobs wouldn't display separately on the BlueBoard page. Instead, for each service provider, the average of their ratings would be displayed. To avoid adding all of the free text comments, which would make the page extremely heavy to view and digest, the latest comment would appear only, and an icon could be clicked to expand all comments from the same service provider. Since the latest comment would appear first, other service providers will be able to detect changes over time as described by Astrid. A pattern would eventually emerge. ▲ Collapse
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