Poll: Has a client ever sent you a message or file which was not intended for you?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Mar 7, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Has a client ever sent you a message or file which was not intended for you?".

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Angus Stewart
Angus Stewart  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:07
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
Yes Mar 7, 2018

Yes, I have been sent files for languages that I don't translate.

 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 11:07
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Mar 7, 2018

The message was for me but the client had used the same message sent to another translator and had forgotten to change the name. My given name, though quite common, seems to pose problems to some clients and at times is miswritten as Tereza, Theresa or Thérèse…

[Edited at 2018-03-07 16:17 GMT]


 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 12:07
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
Yes Mar 7, 2018

I have even received a list of all their Danish translators, that was interesting. And I was surprised the list was very, very long.

 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:07
French to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Occasionally Mar 7, 2018

Yes, I've occasionally been sent a message or document obviously not intended for me, sometimes apparently meant for another Jennifer (there are a lot of us about), sometimes for someone with a completely different name.
Just as we can sometimes accidentally send a message or translation to a PM with a similar name, I guess agencies can do the same. It's not normally a problem.


 
Katalin Szilárd
Katalin Szilárd  Identity Verified
Hungary
Local time: 12:07
English to Hungarian
+ ...
It happened with a colleague Mar 7, 2018

A colleague was doing medical translation to a translation agency and she/he accidentally received the bill that was supposed to be sent to the pharmaceutical company. He/she was very surprised at the rate & sum. So the agency had an extremely high profit on each translations. That's why I'm saying don't be fooled by "best rate", "we have a low budget", "this is the budget we have for this customer" "due to many repetitions we have this budget" etc. Most of these excuses are lies, lies, lies...<... See more
A colleague was doing medical translation to a translation agency and she/he accidentally received the bill that was supposed to be sent to the pharmaceutical company. He/she was very surprised at the rate & sum. So the agency had an extremely high profit on each translations. That's why I'm saying don't be fooled by "best rate", "we have a low budget", "this is the budget we have for this customer" "due to many repetitions we have this budget" etc. Most of these excuses are lies, lies, lies...


[Edited at 2018-03-07 12:46 GMT]
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Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 12:07
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Yes, also the other way round. Mar 7, 2018

Once I sent a flight booking confirmation sheet to a translation client (it was intended for a family member). When I realized what I did, I apologized and the client just laughed it off and said it was OK. LOL

 
R. Alex Jenkins
R. Alex Jenkins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 08:07
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Oh yes... Mar 7, 2018

"Dear Frau Jenkins" is a particular favourite of mine.

 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:07
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Yes - pretty much eveything Mar 7, 2018

I think it's to be expected over the years. I've received a contract destined for someone else, a couple of files, and a few emails including one listing very many email addresses... I've sent an invoice to the wrong person and at least one email. Maybe there were some errors I never found out about. Highly embarrassing but then we're all human.

 
Claudia Aguero
Claudia Aguero  Identity Verified
Costa Rica
Local time: 05:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Not only documents Mar 8, 2018

I have received documents for other clients, not translators, though. In many cases, my clients just forward their "final" email and I get a very long sequence of previous internal mails.
I have also received messages they are sending via Skype or WhatsApp to other people.
My immediate reply has always been the same: "I'm afraid this message is not for me."


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 08:07
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Mar 9, 2018

Several times. In addition, I receive many e-mails sent to several translators of several pairs mentioning some mistake made by most or a mistake in the original document, asking for corrections, that don't apply to me because I either didn't make the mistake or noticed the mistake in the original and corrected it. But of course sometimes and didn't, so it applies to me as well.

 


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Poll: Has a client ever sent you a message or file which was not intended for you?






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