Poll: Do you distrust job inquiries sent using free email accounts? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you distrust job inquiries sent using free email accounts?".
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I get a lot of end clients, and a largish proportion of them have free e-mail accounts. I prefer to call them translation requires and inquiries, rather than job inquiries.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 04:32
Spanish to English
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Since I only use frree webmail services like Yahoo and Google myself, it would be churlish of me to distrust other similar users. However, as I am not an agency or an outsourcer, I am usually wary about unsolicited job enquiries anyway. Any collaboration efforts have usually come about as a result of word-of-mouth recommendation from friends, clients or colleagues.
And obviously, as a user of free email accounts myself, I get rather irritated at questions like this and people who co... See more Since I only use frree webmail services like Yahoo and Google myself, it would be churlish of me to distrust other similar users. However, as I am not an agency or an outsourcer, I am usually wary about unsolicited job enquiries anyway. Any collaboration efforts have usually come about as a result of word-of-mouth recommendation from friends, clients or colleagues.
And obviously, as a user of free email accounts myself, I get rather irritated at questions like this and people who consider all freemail users potentially dodgy from the outset. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marjolein Snippe 
Netherlands
Local time: 04:32
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
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Only if the sender claims to represent an agency/company. If they are sending the inquiry as a private person (asking for the translation of their marriage certificate/thesis summary/letter received from XYZ, for example) I don't tend to distrust messages from free email accounts.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 04:32
French to English
Like Neilmac, I use a freebie account for all my email addresses including my business one. I can't deduct expenses so no way am I incurring any that aren't compulsory.
I hold my clients to a different standard though. My freelancer status doesn't permit out-sourcing, whereas my client is doing precisely that. So they necessarily have a different status to me.
A potential client contacting me from a freebie address is probably going to be a one-off, private client (unless they later... See more Like Neilmac, I use a freebie account for all my email addresses including my business one. I can't deduct expenses so no way am I incurring any that aren't compulsory.
I hold my clients to a different standard though. My freelancer status doesn't permit out-sourcing, whereas my client is doing precisely that. So they necessarily have a different status to me.
A potential client contacting me from a freebie address is probably going to be a one-off, private client (unless they later contact me on behalf of a business of course). If I don't already know them personally, I'd require advance payment for anything longer than what I'd do for free as a translation test. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | No, in general | Feb 14, 2020 |
Me too I have a free email account and I have never scammed anyone. A free email account is not necessarily a tell-tale sign of trouble. There are a lot of other signs: broken English, big volume, advance payment…
| | | | | Yes, in general | Feb 14, 2020 |
I usually don't work with individuals, and I expect companies to send me job inquiries with their business e-mail.
But.
I was recently approached for a one-off through a free e-mail address, replied to the business address I found on their website (whois), and was replied to through that free e-mail address. Doubt removed, the order went through, followed by delivery, followed by payment.
Philippe
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 04:32
Member (2009)
English to German
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The fact that the offer is being send using a free email account per se is no reason for distrust. If private individuals need a translation, they usually use their existing email account , which is, in most cases, a free one.
Even if such an offer comes from a (perhaps just recently established?) agency, the content is of greater importance than their email account.
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Wout Van den Broeck (X)
Belgium
Local time: 04:32
English to Dutch
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| Not in itself | Feb 14, 2020 |
It's only one of the things I pay attention to, as it's easier to buy a domain than to build a reliable and coherent online presence.
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No, but of course it tells me something about the client, which must be taken into account.
It could just be a colleague, who I would not mind working with/for.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 00:32
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| Not only those... | Feb 15, 2020 |
Note: In MY case, and MY opinion, this is what I do (I, not anyone else)
The following will go straight to the garbage can without reading:
- E-mails from free e-mail accounts, such as Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, etc. Agencies and companies do not use those. The others are not clients or potential clients.
- E-mails that start with "Dear translator", "Dear friend", "Dear your own email@email.com", or anything other... See more Note: In MY case, and MY opinion, this is what I do (I, not anyone else)
The following will go straight to the garbage can without reading:
- E-mails from free e-mail accounts, such as Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, etc. Agencies and companies do not use those. The others are not clients or potential clients.
- E-mails that start with "Dear translator", "Dear friend", "Dear your own email@email.com", or anything other than my name.
- E-mails that do not start with the person identifying themselves and where they found me.
- E-mails without a signature, including the name of the company, and preferrably the URL to their site.
- E-mails with a lousy English, full of errors and not professional at all
- E-mails from China, India, most Middle Eastern countries, Most African countries, Russia and any South American country with one of the items above additionally.
No, there is no prejudice here. This is only experience, since I NEVER got a positive outcome with any of these in 32 years as a translator.
[Edited at 2020-02-15 19:39 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lincoln Hui
Hong Kong
Local time: 11:32
Member
Chinese to English
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It requires more due diligence, but I use a free email account.
Mario Freitas wrote:
The following will go straight to the garbage can without reading:
- E-mails from free e-mail accounts, such as Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, etc. Agencies and companies do not use those. The others are not clients or potential clients.
- E-mails that start with "Dear translator", "Dear friend", "Dear your own email@email.com", or anything other than my name.
- E-mails that do not start with the person identifying themselves and where they found me.
- E-mails without a signature, including the name of the company, and preferrably the URL to their site.
- E-mails with a lousy English, full of errors and not professional at all
- E-mails from China, India, most Middle Eastern countries, Most African countries, Russia and any South American country with one of the items above additionally.
No, there is no prejudice here. This is only experience, since I NEVER got a positive outcome with any of these in 32 years as a translator.
What each person does is their business, but if somebody puts up rules like this, they better never complain about how they never get end clients and only have agencies to work with.
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| Only if the rest of the e-mail looks suspicious | Feb 15, 2020 |
My own e-mail address is part of a very generic package of services I pay for, so it is close to free. If someone sends me a sensible mail, I am not worried if they have a free account.
The fact that scammers use free accounts too is irrelevant.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 00:32
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| MY opinion, not yours | Feb 15, 2020 |
Lincoln Hui wrote:
What each person does is their business, but if somebody puts up rules like this, they better never complain about how they never get end clients and only have agencies to work with.
To begin with, I wrote down my opinion, not anyone else's.
Also, you can be sure I will not complain about this, since I have a full schedule every day, including weekends, and I refuse jobs regularly because I can't take them all. The difference is, I only have good clients, that pay well a and on time. If you don't follow these rules, you are the one who will complain, not about not having clients, but about being paid peanuts or not being paid at all.
And before you criticize someone else's opinion, check if they don't have 32 years of experience in the international market first, just to make sure.
[Edited at 2020-02-15 19:38 GMT]
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