Notification of readiness for delivery / delivery following receipt of payment
Thread poster: Astrid Elke Witte
Astrid Elke Witte
Astrid Elke Witte  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:00
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
Aug 19, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

I wonder if you have ever tried the business model of agreeing to prepare a translation by a particular (fairly short) deadline, notifying readiness for delivery on that date (or one day earlier), and then delivering the translation after receiving payment, or alternatively after receiving proof of transfer of the money.

If so, did it work out for you well? Or what pros and cons did you come across in the process?

Looking forward to hearing
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Dear Colleagues,

I wonder if you have ever tried the business model of agreeing to prepare a translation by a particular (fairly short) deadline, notifying readiness for delivery on that date (or one day earlier), and then delivering the translation after receiving payment, or alternatively after receiving proof of transfer of the money.

If so, did it work out for you well? Or what pros and cons did you come across in the process?

Looking forward to hearing about your experience in this field.
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Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:00
Spanish to English
+ ...
On quite a few occasions Aug 19, 2020

This excellent idea occurred to me quite a few years ago, and I have suggested and implemented it quite a few times. As long as things are clearly spelled out and agreed to in advance, there should be no problem.

On only one occasion was there a problem: when my client claimed not to have understood the delivery/payment arrangements despite the fact that I had clearly spelled them out - and she had agreed to them in writing - before I began work on the project. (She paid, bu
... See more
This excellent idea occurred to me quite a few years ago, and I have suggested and implemented it quite a few times. As long as things are clearly spelled out and agreed to in advance, there should be no problem.

On only one occasion was there a problem: when my client claimed not to have understood the delivery/payment arrangements despite the fact that I had clearly spelled them out - and she had agreed to them in writing - before I began work on the project. (She paid, but only after I delivered the project. I decided to trust her - but I was very anxious during the brief interval between delivery and confirmed payment.

So do make sure the terms are crystal clear!

I would also caution translators that such a procedure has its limitations. For example, I would not agree to it for any large project. Why not? Because let's say you spend several days on a 15,000-word translation, you tell the client it's ready, and the client says that something has come up, and they can't pay you - sorry.

You would then be out a good deal of money.
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Astrid Elke Witte
Astrid Elke Witte  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:00
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
We also thought it was a good idea, initially Aug 19, 2020

Hello Robert,

Thank you for sharing your experience in this field. We thought it was a good idea with a company that did not yet have a Blue Board record, and is at the other side of the world from us. However, it seems that it can, if one is unlucky, work out similar to the case of the certified translator I used to know, in a part of Germany where I lived previously, who got left holding the birth certificates of an entire family of five, who had apparently had second thoughts abo
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Hello Robert,

Thank you for sharing your experience in this field. We thought it was a good idea with a company that did not yet have a Blue Board record, and is at the other side of the world from us. However, it seems that it can, if one is unlucky, work out similar to the case of the certified translator I used to know, in a part of Germany where I lived previously, who got left holding the birth certificates of an entire family of five, who had apparently had second thoughts about needing the translations - or their original birth certificates - due to the disadvantage of having to pay for the translations if they collected them.

I am also meanwhile wondering what the legal position is, in regard to chasing the money, if one has not yet delivered the "goods" - regardless of the fact that a clear arrangement was made that we would do the translation for a certain date (that now lies firmly in the past). It seems not to be such a risk-free model, after all.
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Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:00
Spanish to English
+ ...
Not risk-free Aug 19, 2020

Sorry to hear about your experience.

Not risk-free at all!

That is why I would never do it for a really large project.

The only risk-free plan is verified payment in full before beginning work on the job. This is what I usually insist on for direct clients — especially when relatively small sums of money are involved.

Unless the money at issue in your case is really substantial, I would say just move on.

If you do pursue legal re
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Sorry to hear about your experience.

Not risk-free at all!

That is why I would never do it for a really large project.

The only risk-free plan is verified payment in full before beginning work on the job. This is what I usually insist on for direct clients — especially when relatively small sums of money are involved.

Unless the money at issue in your case is really substantial, I would say just move on.

If you do pursue legal remedies, I think you have a solid basis for complaint. But is it worth the hassle?
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Ivana Kahle
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 13:00
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
My experience Aug 20, 2020

I worked for a few years in Belgium as a sworn translator (I moved to Portugal and here there are no sworn translators). After two cases where my clients never came back to fetch their translations, I decided to: 1. charge a fixed rate per page upfront (1/2 rate for short documents) and 2. require the original documents and never work with photocopies. It did the trick!

 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:00
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
I would imagine it's stressful and time-consuming for both parties Aug 20, 2020

Astrid Elke Witte wrote:
I wonder if you have ever tried the business model of agreeing to prepare a translation by a particular (fairly short) deadline, notifying readiness for delivery on that date (or one day earlier), and then delivering the translation after receiving payment, or alternatively after receiving proof of transfer of the money.

This is what jumps to my mind: The client would have to be constantly checking their emails and available to pay the bill -- perhaps not too convenient for them. And you would have to monitor your bank account (or similar) all the time to know when you've received the money and can release the translation -- perhaps not too convenient for you.

Are you thinking of only accepting wire transfers as a viable payment method? PayPal payments can be clawed back very easily by the client. They simply have to say they didn't receive the goods or services they've paid for and then it's your word against theirs. You'd probably win in the end -- after all, you could presumably simply send another copy -- but it could cause hassle.

I don't do sworn translations for private individuals (which is what I assume you're talking about here) but I do provide CVs and other promotional materials. I always mean to ask for payment in advance of 50-100% but I do sometimes forget. In that case, I just deliver the text with the invoice and cross my fingers. They've always paid so far. Actually, a couple of times when I've had real jitters, I've sent the text as a scanned PDF with a watermark, and then released the editable text after payment. I suppose that's similar to what you're proposing.

For B2B transactions, I'm a firm believer in doing things in the most businesslike way, and in Europe that's most definitely "on account". Businesses don't ask each other for immediate payment; they send invoices payable in 30 days or so. I think asking for immediate payment, especially prior to delivery, risks making the supplier look rather amateurish. Although if I were to be in a position to be tempted to do business with an agency with a poor BB reputation, I'd certainly ask for at least partial advance payment. Fortunately, I can just refuse to work with them.


John Fossey
Kevin Fulton
Thomas Pfann
Michele Fauble
Tina Vonhof (X)
 


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