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Questionable agency behavior
Thread poster: Thomas Johansson
Angie Garbarino
Angie Garbarino  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:24
Member (2003)
French to Italian
+ ...
Same here Apr 8, 2015

My antivirus was convinced that it was a phishing site and stopped my playing with it.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 04:24
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Thomas Apr 8, 2015

Thomas Johansson wrote:
I have no doubt the agency knew it was a Google translation.


Assume they didn't. Even if you're 100% certain that they did. Assume they didn't, and discuss what to do from there. Explain that it is an unedited machine translation and that you will not be able to proofread it, but are willing to translate it for X. You win nothing by assuming that the agency has it in for you.



[Edited at 2015-04-08 14:23 GMT]
 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:24
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Lets assume it is a proper job Apr 9, 2015

If it is a phishing job, stay far away from it. But I am more interested in the original question.

Lets say it is a Google translation. I don't mind. I just charge the agency my hourly rate, like I do with all proofing jobs. Of course, you have to inform the client about it, but you'll be surprised how many agree,
 
Andrea Halbritter
Andrea Halbritter  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 04:24
French to German
+ ...
Same problem in the meantime Apr 9, 2015

Just had that problem in the meantime and proposed a retranslation. The agency accepted at a rather good rate because they urgently needed a high quality translation.

[Modifié le 2015-04-09 22:26 GMT]
 
Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz
Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 04:24
English to Polish
+ ...
... Apr 30, 2015

I can be wrong as per the relevant jurisdiction, but contracts normally aren't as absolute as that. If they hire you for a normal proofing job, it should be done on a proofable text, and just simply accepting to perform a defined job should not be construed as a guarantee of viability where there were no reasons for you to expect such surpises.

If you hadn't seen the text before booking your time (or otherwise making a booking for them), then you should be able to r... See more
I can be wrong as per the relevant jurisdiction, but contracts normally aren't as absolute as that. If they hire you for a normal proofing job, it should be done on a proofable text, and just simply accepting to perform a defined job should not be construed as a guarantee of viability where there were no reasons for you to expect such surpises.

If you hadn't seen the text before booking your time (or otherwise making a booking for them), then you should be able to reject a job that fails to meet even the most basic professional parameters.

In any case, obviously, there is no fixing of a 9000-word crap text in just 5 hours.

Depending on the jurisdiction, the letter of the law may be against you, but you still have some leverage since you can post comments online or just simply tell the agency it's the last job ever, if they force you to do it.

(Some agencies expect you to just accept it, move on, hold no grudge and accept more jobs after being tricked by them once, apparently.) ▲ Collapse
 
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