Forum: Money matters
Topic: Unethical outsourcers
Poster: Bernhard Sulzer
Post title: Thoughts
[quote]Marcos Cardenas wrote:
Dear colleagues:
I would like to share my experience regarding increasingly unethical practises of outsources.
As you know, when you are contacted by outsources, especially for large translation projects, you are requested to sign NDAs as part of the tendering process and sometimes even adhere to their regulations i.e discounts, penalties, etc. Having said that, I was part of tendering process in which I was finally offered the translation project and for which I had to sign a number of documents that were requested by the end client. To my surprise, and fortunately I had not started yet, they contacted me again to inform that the end client had finally declined to continue with this project. I asked them about what happened and just told me that, no further explanations.
After a couple of weeks, I found out that this honorable, well-known translation company, which also has a perfect reputation and a high WWA rate, had reassigned this translation project to a different translator in their country, which is also Spanish-speaking. No replies at all to my E-mails after they were busted in their deceitful behaviour. I say "deceitful" because our profession is based in mutual trust and ethical behaviour. I considered to pursue legal actions but finally desisted not to waste time, energy and money.
So far, I have come to some conclusions (I might be wrong):
1. Reconsider asking my outsources to also sign a translation contract to protect my interests;
2. Today some "serious" companies are not playing fair and actually scam professionals who hold a university degree, have experience and a robust CV to be awarded contracts; they get rid of such professional and then go for a cheaper bilingual (at this point I do not know whether they are contracting professional translators or not).
3. For being good and trusting dies the lamb.
I share this so that you be aware of the risks when disclosing and signing legal documents. If your country has strict regulations in the translation field, you might even be involved in legal actions because of dishonest and unscrupulous third parties.
Have a nice day!
[Edited at 2015-04-22 16:41 GMT] [/quote]
Thank you for posting this, Marcos!
It seems the important thing here is to make it harder for these agencies to cheat us or use our information illegally.
I don't send out resumes/CVs to agencies or other outsourcers anymore - I point them to the information posted on my websites - that's really all they need. Could they still "create" a fake resume/CV? Yes, they could, but it's probably or hopefully too much work for them.
I don't do test translations. Period (Full stop)!
Regarding your conclusions.
1. For direct clients who are companies, I always work with an order form I create. It's signed by me and co-signed by the client. If I work with an agency (which I do less and less), I will not work with them without a purchase order (PO) that lays out the project details and the payment procedure. If it doesn't reflect my terms, I will not accept the project. Lately, agencies have been asking for NDAs, and I usually don't sign them. Instead, I have my own contract which outlines my terms and conditions. If you need a template, check out ATA's website.
2. If I am not dealing with the end client, I won't submit a CV.
3. Trust needs to be earned. 5 star ratings on Blueboard are not good enough for me as a service provider to "assume" everything will work out fine. Most importantly, we are the service providers and need to step up and make sure clients understand that, be they agencies, other individuals who are also outsourcers, or end clients. This industry seems to be upside down when it comes to most agencies. They think it's okay that they dictate the terms. That's not okay, it's not professional, and I wish things would be much different on this site as well.
Now, clients who work with me fairly and respectfully get the royal treatment they deserve and that's what I want to do for each and everyone of them. I am not interested in other clientele. It would be a waste of my time and open up the opportunity for exploitation. Don't get me wrong, I run a fair business. Don't want to create the impression that I am too expensive, unfair or inflexible. Not at all.
