| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Non-native client claiming issues with 'style' of my translation - can I have an 'expertise' done? Thread poster: stephenkells
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Hello,
The client of my client is refusing to pay for an FR-ENG translation that I have done in conjunction with another translator.
I have received some examples of what they are not happy with. This includes the claim that 'requirements' is a 'pejorative' term and I should have used 'needs' instead. All the other issues come with claims like 'you don't say this like that' etc etc. There are no points re spelling, grammar or misinterpretation of the original text. Th... See more Hello,
The client of my client is refusing to pay for an FR-ENG translation that I have done in conjunction with another translator.
I have received some examples of what they are not happy with. This includes the claim that 'requirements' is a 'pejorative' term and I should have used 'needs' instead. All the other issues come with claims like 'you don't say this like that' etc etc. There are no points re spelling, grammar or misinterpretation of the original text. This person is not a native EN speaker, unlike myself and my colleague, in other words, it appears to be a 'mauvaise foi' attempt to avoid paying or to gain a reduction in price. I would be confident in asking for an 'expertise' to be done on the translation, with the loser paying for it, but am struggling to find anyone who offers this service. Has anyone any suggestions?
Thanks!
Stephen. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:12
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| I get this too | Nov 19, 2021 |
stephenkells wrote:
Hello,
The client of my client is refusing to pay for an FR-ENG translation that I have done in conjunction with another translator.
I have received some examples of what they are not happy with. This includes the claim that 'requirements' is a 'pejorative' term and I should have used 'needs' instead. All the other issues come with claims like 'you don't say this like that' etc etc. There are no points re spelling, grammar or misinterpretation of the original text. This person is not a native EN speaker, unlike myself and my colleague, in other words, it appears to be a 'mauvaise foi' attempt to avoid paying or to gain a reduction in price. I would be confident in asking for an 'expertise' to be done on the translation, with the loser paying for it, but am struggling to find anyone who offers this service. Has anyone any suggestions?
Thanks!
Stephen.
I get this too and it's extremely annoying. Some non-English speaker who (a) hires you to do a translation and (b) tries to correct your much better English.
My suggestion: ask this person to send you an edited version of your translation, with all his comments marked up (in Word).
Then tell him he's right (even if he's wrong), wait until you get paid, and then tell him he's an a**hole and that you'll never work for him again. And oh, by the way, that he has ruined the translation.
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Hi Tom,
it's a bit more complex as this person is not my direct client, rather, the client of my client. And I strongly suspect they're doing it to get out of paying at all - of course in this case, I would retain copyright over the work.
They have already sent a number of 'issues' over to me, to which my colleague on this job has issued point by point rebuttals with sources/examples to back up his claims. Thankfully, they also have a howler in English on their website... See more Hi Tom,
it's a bit more complex as this person is not my direct client, rather, the client of my client. And I strongly suspect they're doing it to get out of paying at all - of course in this case, I would retain copyright over the work.
They have already sent a number of 'issues' over to me, to which my colleague on this job has issued point by point rebuttals with sources/examples to back up his claims. Thankfully, they also have a howler in English on their website's home page (their slogan), so that is useful evidence to back up what I am telling my client, namely that their client's English isn't good enough to be able to judge the English of a professional, native translator.
However, I'm still stuck with the possibility their client will not shift their position, and I am loath to threaten my client with an agence de recouvrement. This is why I see an expertise as maybe being a third way. I would hope the end client would realize that it's not worth the additional expense when the expert finds that the translation is absolultey fine and they end up with an extra bill after this whole process. Have you heard of such a service being offered in France, by any chance?
Thanks,
All the best,
Stephen. ▲ Collapse
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stephenkells wrote:
Hello,
The client of my client is refusing to pay for an FR-ENG translation that I have done in conjunction with another translator.
I have received some examples of what they are not happy with. This includes the claim that 'requirements' is a 'pejorative' term and I should have used 'needs' instead. All the other issues come with claims like 'you don't say this like that' etc etc. There are no points re spelling, grammar or misinterpretation of the original text. This person is not a native EN speaker, unlike myself and my colleague, in other words, it appears to be a 'mauvaise foi' attempt to avoid paying or to gain a reduction in price. I would be confident in asking for an 'expertise' to be done on the translation, with the loser paying for it, but am struggling to find anyone who offers this service. Has anyone any suggestions?
Thanks!
Stephen.
Have you tried the ITI database? If you get it done by a qualified MITI (or MCIOL) it may carry a bit more weight. I would have thought most FR-EN translators would be happy to do this for you.
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Adieu 
Ukrainian to English
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| How many figures are we talking about here? | Nov 19, 2021 |
And is anyone involved an important business connection for you?
Also, to be honest, you DO have a somewhat visible francophone style. Which is NOT to say that your client's version couldn't possibly be 1000x more French. It might well be.
[Edited at 2021-11-19 12:09 GMT]
| | | | | ITI suggestion | Nov 19, 2021 |
Hi,
Thanks for your suggestion. I'm not sure about that approach - if I pick someone, the client could always allege I had unduly influenced this person, or hand-picked them, or something else. And I don't trust the client to pick someone either...
Thanks,
Stephen.
| | | | | What about the agency? | Nov 19, 2021 |
So what does the agency have to say about this? It sounds to me like it should be their responsibility to establish the truth. The end client not paying for spurious reasons should not be a reason for *you* not to get paid. I don't see why you would be unwilling to take action against your agency client if they are not sorting this out.
| | | | | how many figures are we talking about here | Nov 19, 2021 |
It's not a huge job, but not tiny either. Most of it I subcontracted and I don't want my colleague to lose out on this, it's really not fair on him.
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| What about the agency? | Nov 19, 2021 |
Well, they're an agence de communications, rather than a translation agency, so they will have less experience and understanding of the situation. I have explained everything as well as I can to them and am awaiting their client's response to my translator's rebuttals of their criticism. I've worked with this agency a few times before and obviously I can use the nuclear option of an agence de recouvrement but I really want to avoid that if I can.
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Adieu wrote:
Also, to be honest, you DO have a somewhat visible francophone style.
Not that I can tell.
| | | | | Subcontracting | Nov 19, 2021 |
stephenkells wrote:
It's not a huge job, but not tiny either. Most of it I subcontracted and I don't want my colleague to lose out on this, it's really not fair on him.
If you subcontracted and you know the translation is fine there should be no question of your colleague 'losing out'. It's not just 'not fair', you are legally obliged to pay them.
| | | | | Subcontracting | Nov 19, 2021 |
Hi Rachel,
My colleague is not insisting on payment given the situation - we have worked together on various jobs before and have a very good working relationship. What we have here is a situation where the end client is trying to wriggle out of their legal obligations and I don't know if my client is going to enforce her legal rights on it. I don't want my colleague to be out of pocket, but neither do I want to be out of pocket either!
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| How many figures are we talking about here? | Nov 19, 2021 |
Adieu, with all due respect, I don't have a somewhat visible francophone style. I'm a native English speaker (British), I've been translating for 15 years and more importantly, my English was good enough for me to work on a regional daily newspaper (the Irish News) in a past career.
| | | | | legal obligations | Nov 19, 2021 |
stephenkells wrote:
Hi Rachel,
My colleague is not insisting on payment given the situation - we have worked together on various jobs before and have a very good working relationship. What we have here is a situation where the end client is trying to wriggle out of their legal obligations and I don't know if my client is going to enforce her legal rights on it. I don't want my colleague to be out of pocket, but neither do I want to be out of pocket either!
Not my business, I suppose, but it sounds like there's more than one party in this chain trying to wriggle out of their legal obligations. If you've subcontracted, and the work is sound, you pay your translator. As the middleman, it's your job to bear the risk of something like this happening. Same goes for your client (the other agency in this chain). They have a legal duty to pay you, whatever their dispute with the end client.
There are too many agencies out there that think that paying their translators is contingent on them getting paid by the end client. That's not how it works.
| | | | | legal obligations | Nov 19, 2021 |
Thanks Rachel,
hopefully this will get sorted out in the end. I still don't actually have a definitive answer to my question of whether I can get an 'expertise', your answer coming closest to the mark so far.
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