| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Rude? What else are we expected to accept from agencies? Thread poster: Siegfried Armbruster
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Edward Potter 
Spain
Local time: 03:58
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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| Burning bridges hurts the numbers game we are playing | Sep 23, 2010 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
...when they send a global email to all translators, they apologise in the first line of the email!
I agree. Some sort of acknowledgement that it is a mass mailing is in order. It shows the sender understands the situation well and is sensitive to the professionals' mind set.
The poster did what we all would like to do and used the same curt language back at the customer. Not too good. You are supposed to hit the delete key and move on.
How about that anecdote where a customer asks not to pay for spaces? I've heard plenty of translators boasting that they replied, "well, I'll just leave out the spaces then". Not on your life do you say this to a paying customer. If it is a mere inquiry, you hit the delete key and move on.
Offending inexperienced outsourcers is unprofessional. When they get some experience they will come back to you and give you some work that you do like.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 02:58
Member (2007)
English
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| Better not to play by their rules | Sep 23, 2010 |
I agree entirely that their email was very off-putting - not necessarily rude in the accepted sense but certainly not a company I am ever likely to collaborate with.
But is it a good idea to respond in the same fashion? Aren't you then descending to their level? Wouldn't it be better to stay well above their level? That can be done in one of two ways: a) press the "delete" button and get on with something more worthwhile; b) reply in perfectly correct, formal terms that this is not ... See more I agree entirely that their email was very off-putting - not necessarily rude in the accepted sense but certainly not a company I am ever likely to collaborate with.
But is it a good idea to respond in the same fashion? Aren't you then descending to their level? Wouldn't it be better to stay well above their level? That can be done in one of two ways: a) press the "delete" button and get on with something more worthwhile; b) reply in perfectly correct, formal terms that this is not the way you do business.
Personally, I'd choose the first approach every time. Do you really think the worm is going to turn (i.e. they will change their ways) because of your reproach?
Sheila ▲ Collapse
| | | | John Rawlins
Spain
Local time: 03:58
Spanish to English
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Sheila Wilson wrote:
But is it a good idea to respond in the same fashion? Aren't you then descending to their level? Wouldn't it be better to stay well above their level? That can be done in one of two ways: a) press the "delete" button and get on with something more worthwhile; b) reply in perfectly correct, formal terms that this is not the way you do business.
Sheila
I believe this depends on personality.
I sometimes respond to silly agency mailings with sarcastic and scornful remarks. And I always feel a little better afterwards.
| | | | John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 21:58
Member (2008)
French to English
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| Educating the customer | Sep 23, 2010 |
Sheila Wilson wrote:
b) reply in perfectly correct, formal terms that this is not the way you do business.
Sheila
I agree, except that I must admit that I get more satisfaction by responding in kind.
But seriously, I think we need to educate customers in a brief but professional way. It will help upgrade the entire industry.
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 03:58
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Rude clients also have money | Sep 24, 2010 |
Siegfried Armbruster wrote:
Therefore I answered:
Hi,
why don't you just read my profile. There you will find that I am not
working in the fields you require.
Please dont contact me again.
It is your right to repay rudeness with rudeness. You must be swimming in clients that you can afford to antagonise a potential client (and who may also tell colleagues about your rudeness).
Ask yourself not if the e-mail is rude. Ask yourself if the e-mail is unreasonable. Providing your CV and your rates shouldn't take much time. Providing samples may take a while if you don't have samples lying about, ready to be sent to anyone asking for it.
Asking "who are you" to the client in a friendly way doesn't take long either. By being nice to the rude agency, you may win their favour long before they've seen your samples.
And the fact that they want an economic translator this time doesn't mean that they might not have work in your field some time later.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 03:58
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Line about incomplete applications | Sep 24, 2010 |
Simone Linke wrote:
Now, aside from that, the phrase at the end with the comment on incomplete applications - that's rude, yeah, but also a nice way to know right from the start that you won't be valued much there.
The advantage of that line is that it saves the translator valuable time. If the translator is unable to provide these things, he should know that his application has a very low chance of success, and that he should not spend time writing a reply unless he is certain that his e-mail will not be deleted. This is the opposite of rudeness... the agency is actually being considerate (in a rude sort of way).
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 03:58
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| No signature ... | Sep 24, 2010 |
... is inexcusable. I work with clients, not with ghosts.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 03:58
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Lingua 5B wrote:
I work with clients, not with ghosts.
Some might say that having no real name (only a cryptic nickname) is the same as being a ghost.
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 03:58
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Not at all.. | Sep 24, 2010 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Lingua 5B wrote:
I work with clients, not with ghosts. Some might say that having no real name (only a cryptic nickname) is the same as being a ghost.
This is a chit-chat, not a business proposal. A completely informal correspondence.
Not sure how you can compare the two.
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Well, it's one point of view. Others might say it's professional business people having a discussion on a website aimed at professionals about a business-related matter, with all that such a situation implies.
The OP's email contact may have left the mail unsigned, but at least we know the company they work for.
Anonymity is a personal choice and I utterly respect that position, but don't shift the goalposts in an attempt to reduce what is, IMHO, a fairly valid, if not ... See more Well, it's one point of view. Others might say it's professional business people having a discussion on a website aimed at professionals about a business-related matter, with all that such a situation implies.
The OP's email contact may have left the mail unsigned, but at least we know the company they work for.
Anonymity is a personal choice and I utterly respect that position, but don't shift the goalposts in an attempt to reduce what is, IMHO, a fairly valid, if not identical, comparison ▲ Collapse
| | | | Paula Borges
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:58
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Since we are service providers... | Sep 24, 2010 |
We can simply politely decline or ignore clients we wouldn't like to work with. There is no reason to be rude back, especially if the client hasn't done anything other than sending you an e-mail you did not like.
| | | | | Rude? What else are we expected to accept from agencies? | Sep 25, 2010 |
Siegfried Armbruster wrote: Since I am not native English, I sometimes miss certain nuances, and I just want to understand something. I did receive the following email: To: [email protected]
From: **fo@***ua-p***.com
Subject: EnGerman Translator Needed
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 10:54:34 +0000
Hi,
We're looking for 2 translators for our on-going project (1 year)
in general/economic field. Interested candidates, please provide
your:
1. CV
2. Rate per source word in USD
3. 3-5 different sample translations in banking/finance/economic
field (English paragraph followed by German translation) from any
of your past clients.
Incomplete application without sending the 3 information will be
deleted without notice. Thanks. Personally, I consider this type of email quite offensive. It violated 3 of my personal rules: a) it did not address me with my name b) the agency did not check that I am not working in the fields they require c) it did not contain any information of the person contacting me Therefore I answered: Hi,
why don't you just read my profile. There you will find that I am not
working in the fields you require.
Please dont contact me again. I got the following response: Don't you know that the email is automatically sent to German translators.
And yes certainly, we won't work with rude translators! What is your opinion? Was my answer rude? How would you have reacted to such an email from an agency? "Edited to correct spelling error" [Edited at 2010-09-23 08:24 GMT]
I never have had this problem. All the mails I receive that are not adressed to me by name go by mean of a filter to a spam folder I check from time to time. And from there, near all the mails make a very quick trip to the wastebin...
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inkweaver
Germany
Local time: 03:58
French to German
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| It' not what you say | Sep 25, 2010 |
but how you say it, and I would have not liked the tone of the e-mail Siegfried received, either.
It is also not such a big deal to do a translator search by specialisation, that way they would have avoided addressing all the wrong people. Some outsourcers seem to think though, that as long as you speak the language you are able to translate any sort of text.
I receive so many e-mails via Proz with something along the lines of "Hi, we have text of 2000 words to transla... See more but how you say it, and I would have not liked the tone of the e-mail Siegfried received, either.
It is also not such a big deal to do a translator search by specialisation, that way they would have avoided addressing all the wrong people. Some outsourcers seem to think though, that as long as you speak the language you are able to translate any sort of text.
I receive so many e-mails via Proz with something along the lines of "Hi, we have text of 2000 words to translate into German by yesterday. What is your rate?". No mention of the subject matter, an unreasonable deadline and often not even signed and without any details of the sender.
Personally, I don't respond to e-mails which don't meet a few basic requirements like stating the subject matter and giving some details about the company the request is coming from.
And, to be quite honest, I can understand Siegfried's reaction.
And even if rude clients do have money, I would not work for them. Those clients usually spell trouble and there are enough clients out there who appreciate our work and treat us accordingly.
[Edited at 2010-09-25 05:06 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | JaneD
Sweden
Local time: 03:58
Member (2009)
Swedish to English
+ ...
It's true that the original email can be seen as rather abrupt, but it's also worth considering that this has clearly not been written by a native English speaker. It may have been written by a project manager trying to give the essential information and unable to go any further in English or to make the message more human.
It's also true to say that sometimes what is perfectly polite in a non-English language comes across as unnecessarily abrupt when translated directly into Eng... See more It's true that the original email can be seen as rather abrupt, but it's also worth considering that this has clearly not been written by a native English speaker. It may have been written by a project manager trying to give the essential information and unable to go any further in English or to make the message more human.
It's also true to say that sometimes what is perfectly polite in a non-English language comes across as unnecessarily abrupt when translated directly into English. (Of course you could ask what professional agency would fail to have such a standard email translated into correct English.)
Personally when I receive such an email, I look at the message behind the words and consider the project itself.
Even when it's a project I don't want to apply for, I do quite often reply politely to say that I am not interested in this particular opportunity but that they should feel free to contact me in the future.
Why bother? Because the aspect of the Internet that I particularly dislike is the way in which so many people feel free to be so rude, so I try very hard not to be!
Jane ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 03:58
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Hum, here is an identical comparison. | Sep 25, 2010 |
Charlie Bavington wrote:
Anonymity is a personal choice and I utterly respect that position, but don't shift the goalposts in an attempt to reduce what is, IMHO, a fairly valid, if not identical, comparison
Identical comparison? Why can't we name the names of translation agencies on this board? This board can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, anytime via Google. Maybe some people want to have some control over their personal data.
For example, Blue Board has a selected and restricted access so there's a better control over who reads personal information.
[Edited at 2010-09-25 08:51 GMT]
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