| صفحات الموضوع: < [1 2] | Clients say the funniest things... ناشر الموضوع: Phil Hand
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| So recognizable | Sep 24, 2015 |
Phil Hand wrote:
I thought I'd start a thread about how communication with clients can sometimes be difficult even when they're being quite professional and helpful. I've had a couple just recently that made me puff in exasperation!
1) Telling me which are the difficult bits, and which are easy.
This wasn't the whining of the low price brigade. The client, an art gallery, had accepted my price, for some essays and some artist bios. The essays are quite tough, my contact told me, but the CVs are easy. "Actually," I replied, "CVs are some of the hardest work - it's all names of institutions and shows, and every one has to be looked up." No, no, my contact replied, these ones are easy.
Cue puffing on my part.
This is a great client, and they were just trying to be helpful. But I promise that I know better than you which bits of my job are going to be difficult and take the most time.
2) You don't need to change anything, just fix the mistakes.
This is a regular client giving me some editing to do, on a document that has been through several iterations, so it has some new parts and some old parts. Again, the client was actually just being helpful: telling me that the highlighted parts are new, so they will probably need more attention. But the way my contact expressed it was a bit funny:
"How come it's taking so long?"
"Well, there's quite a lot to check, and there are errors that need fixing all the way through."
"The non-highlighted bits are basically OK, just check them for grammar mistakes."
"Er... that's what I'm doing for the whole thing. I'm not rewriting it, just fixing the problems. What did you think I was doing?!"
| | | | jyuan_us 
الولايات المتحدة
Local time: 22:56
عضو (2005)
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| I don't know if this is funny or sad | Sep 25, 2015 |
An error was made by the translator, which was not identified by the editor, not found by the proofreader, not corrected by the person who "QA"ed the PDF layout. The document was delivered to the end client, who found the error.
The company started to "investigate" the issue and blamed the translator for the error. The translator fought back but the PM said you should always deliver an error-free translation and you should not reply on the editor, the proofreader and the QA person ... See more An error was made by the translator, which was not identified by the editor, not found by the proofreader, not corrected by the person who "QA"ed the PDF layout. The document was delivered to the end client, who found the error.
The company started to "investigate" the issue and blamed the translator for the error. The translator fought back but the PM said you should always deliver an error-free translation and you should not reply on the editor, the proofreader and the QA person to correct your error. I guess what the PM would say next will be something like this: it is your error and you should not blame the editor, the proofreader and the QA person for not finding it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Keijo Sarv
أستونيا
Local time: 05:56
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This didn't happen to me but I heard this from a translation agency.
A text was translated, then proofread by editor and finally sent to client.
Few days later the client contacted the agency and said: "we have carefully reviewed your translation and we couldn't find absolutely any errors in it, can you please check it again?"
[Edited at 2015-11-03 13:20 GMT]
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One client, who spoke very good English, insisted that I should use the word ‘investigate’ (because his company always used that particular word). I pointed out that ‘examine’ would be the correct translation but he insisted.
However, he did change his mind when I wrote to him again saying, “I hope that the next time you visit your doctor he examines you and does not find it necessary to investigate you”.
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| I need this video transcribed | Nov 4, 2015 |
I have a video in English, and I need it transcribed in Portuguese. However I need that transcription to come up on the screen in chunks, in sync with what is being said.
Subtitling? No! My budget is very limited, I can't afford that.
How much would you charge for TRANSCRIBING a 30-min video just like I told you?
| | | | neilmac
أسبانيا
Local time: 04:56
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| Grrr... IT wonks | Nov 4, 2015 |
Texte Style wrote:
I do get disgruntled when I'm told a text is "easy". ...
And after struggling to translate the interface of some accounting software (when working in-house at an agency), I finally gave up on a particular word and asked the client. He laughed and said there was a typo. "Well you know it was the software developer who typed it in, they're not too particular with spelling"
I get that quite a lot from my SW developer client. Quite often with that type of text the a*** doesn't seem to know what the elbow is up to....
| | | | Jessica Noyes
الولايات المتحدة
Local time: 22:56
عضو
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| When can you have it? | Nov 5, 2015 |
There must be a reason why some agencies proceed this way, but I can't figure out what it is. What follows is a written exchange, sometimes with a couple of hours between responses:
- PM: I have a 2000 word-translation here. When can you have it?
- Me: I can deliver five days from now at 9 a.m.
- PM: We need it by tomorrow at noon.
- Me: Thanks, but five days from now is the best I can do.
- PM: Can you have it by tomorrow at 5 p.m.?
When every minute counts... See more There must be a reason why some agencies proceed this way, but I can't figure out what it is. What follows is a written exchange, sometimes with a couple of hours between responses:
- PM: I have a 2000 word-translation here. When can you have it?
- Me: I can deliver five days from now at 9 a.m.
- PM: We need it by tomorrow at noon.
- Me: Thanks, but five days from now is the best I can do.
- PM: Can you have it by tomorrow at 5 p.m.?
When every minute counts, this is a real time waster.
I appreciate the agencies who tell me when they need it, perhaps pointing out that even earlier would be better. Can anyone suggest why an agency would play this little game when it takes up their valuable time as well? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Susan Welsh
الولايات المتحدة
Local time: 22:56
روسي إلى أنجليزي
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Jessica Noyes wrote:
Can anyone suggest why an agency would play this little game when it takes up their valuable time as well?
They're desperate, under time pressure. They're hoping you will somehow agree. I get this frequently. "Can't you just squeeze it in?"
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| Two options, safe and unsafe | Nov 5, 2015 |
Susan Welsh wrote: Jessica Noyes wrote:
Can anyone suggest why an agency would play this little game when it takes up their valuable time as well? They're desperate, under time pressure. They're hoping you will somehow agree. I get this frequently. "Can't you just squeeze it in?"
No translator will put the cards on the table on their time management.
I always play it safe, add a generous safety factor to my time estimates. Bottom line is that I haven't delivered a translation job late yet... for 40+ years!
Let's say it's Monday, and I do safely promise it for the next Friday. They often ask me, "Can't you get it done by Wednesday?" My usual response in such cases is, "I can TRY my best to get it done by Wednesday, however I will NOT promise that. I've never delivered a job late, and wouldn't like yours to be the first." Most clients who know me take it, as in some of these cases I've been able to deliver on that very Tuesday evening.
However there are many translators who will take it, promise any deadline the client wants, and then deliver late, saying that it wouldn't have been humanly possible to deliver earlier. They usually adopt low rates too, however that's beyond the issue here.
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Andrea Garfield-Barkworth wrote:
did ask me how long it would take me to count all the lines so I could give a quote.
Did you explain that a line is 55 characters, so you'll actually have to count all of the letters individually?
| | | | | "We have some HMI messages to translate... | Nov 5, 2015 |
...take this as reference (the only we have): www.companies_website_loaded_with_ advertising_and_marketing_stuff_only.com"
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