| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Conflict with end client: post-translation adaptation Thread poster: Olga Adler
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| It depends on your previous offer | Jan 11, 2016 |
Olga Rogacheva wrote:
They want me to do it for free because they say that otherwise the translation cannot be accepted and paid for. So, the agency I did the job for is asking me to do this adaptation for their client.
What would you do in this situation considering that I do not want to stop working with this agency despite this one end-client conflict and I really want this situation to be resolved?
It depends on your previous offer and/ or deal. Did you offer post-delivery service? How long post-delivery guarantee you promised? Did you promise that the rate included post-delivery service?
If "NO", you don't have obligation to meet their demand. No post-delivery service mean: Your responsibility had over in the time of delivery. You do not have any responsibility after delivery. To be honest, most of cheap translation service does not provide post-delivery service, and this is the reason why such service is cheap. If clients had a bravery to pick such service, then they simply reap what they sow, when they stuck on problem of rejection.
If "YES', you have obligation to meet their obligation. Post-delivery service means: you have responsibility after delivering your work to client. This service is more expensive than non-post-delivery service. The longer term of post-delivery guarantee, the more expensive the translation service. For example, I provide 3-month post-delivery service for a Singapore-based Germany-headquartered MNC to localize its website. I offered such guarantee. This post-delivery service means: I have an obligation to fix, adjust, and correct the target document without additional cost for 3 months after delivering target document.
Translation service with post-delivery guarantee for at least a month always more expensive than that without post-delivery guarantee, because the first will work for at least a month after delivery without any additional payment.
Then, the solution is to look back at your deal whether the deal and the rate included post-delivery service.
[Edited at 2016-01-11 04:26 GMT]
| | | | jyuan_us 
United States
Local time: 11:51
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| I think you invented the term of "post-delivery service" | Jan 11, 2016 |
It is the first time I have heard this term in my 20 years of interactions with LSPs .
| | | | Olga Adler
United States
Local time: 10:51
English to Russian
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TOPIC STARTER
Dani Karuniawan wrote:
For example, I provide 3-month post-delivery service for a Singapore-based Germany-headquartered MNC to localize its website. I offered such guarantee. This post-delivery service means: I have an obligation to fix, adjust, and correct the target document without additional cost for 3 months after delivering target document.
By obligation to fix, adjust and correct the translation do you mean correcting objective mistakes or any kind of changes made to the translation at the client's demand free of charge? If your client did not provide any glossary at the beginning and asked you to change most of your terms three months later only because they prefer those terms and not because yours were incorrect, would your guarantee cover that too?
| | | | Olga Adler
United States
Local time: 10:51
English to Russian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
jyuan_us wrote:
It is the first time I have heard this term in my 20 years of interactions with LSPs .
what would you call it then?
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Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:51
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Make comments but set a time limit | Jan 11, 2016 |
Olga Rogacheva wrote:
By obligation to fix, adjust and correct the translation do you mean correcting objective mistakes or any kind of changes made to the translation at the client's demand free of charge?
No I would not. I have many Japanese clients and they tend to be fairly demanding. What this means is that you need a good agency who will make a clear distinction between a subjective preference and an error. From what you say this agency is normally pretty good and you want to keep them.
So, you want to mollify the agency while preventing them from making you the scapegoat. I would probably take an approach similar to one suggested by somebody earlier in this thread. I would say something like:
"I sympathise with your difficulties with the customer, but my contract is with you, not them. As you [the agency] are such a good client, I'm going to take two hours to look at the document and comment on as many of the edits made or suggested by the end customer as I can fit in that time. After 120 minutes I will stop and return the document. I believe my comments on the customer's edits will be useful to you in discussing this case with the customer."
The idea is that you will explain why the client's edits make no sense - if necessary making use of screenshots of dictionaries and other documents in which similar language to yours was used. The key issue is setting limits and making it clear that you're not taking on an open-ended job. You're giving them 2 hours of your time, but no more.
Of course, you have to be very sure of your ground to use this tactic. If you're confident that your translation is correct, go for it.
Oh, and I think "post-delivery service" is a useful term. I have used it myself.
Regards
Dan
| | | | | Conditions need to be defined | Jan 11, 2016 |
It is common practice to amend any errors free of charge. However, sometimes the line between errors and preferential amendments can become blurry, and I can see how agencies and/or clients try to make any editing part of the job.
I find Dan's strategy quite helpful and I will remember it should I find myself in such a situation - so I hope that you don't find a real mistake!
| | | | Olga Adler
United States
Local time: 10:51
English to Russian
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TOPIC STARTER
I agree with Dan, I should have used this strategy when they called me. Instead I spent almost 8 hours checking their corrections and as a result I found out it wasn't corrections but adaptations. Although, if I hadn't spent all that time on making sure there was a fault from my side I wouldn't be sure about it. Anyway, I contacted the client today (couldn't do it before because the official holidays in Russia are January 1-10, so, my clients were out of office), explained the situation and said... See more I agree with Dan, I should have used this strategy when they called me. Instead I spent almost 8 hours checking their corrections and as a result I found out it wasn't corrections but adaptations. Although, if I hadn't spent all that time on making sure there was a fault from my side I wouldn't be sure about it. Anyway, I contacted the client today (couldn't do it before because the official holidays in Russia are January 1-10, so, my clients were out of office), explained the situation and said that I'll change the terminology the way they want it but I will have to send an extra invoice for it. I also attached some examples of the terms used by the expert that are totally inconsistent with the original terms to prove my point. Now I'm waiting for their reply ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You're the expert on translation | Jan 11, 2016 |
Olga Rogacheva wrote:
I started making a report on their corrections inconsistency but now I'm having second thoughts. The client seems very sure of the adaptations he made, because he is the expert.
You say that the client didn't look at the English source files. He may be the expert dentist, but you're the expert translator! You were asked to translate, and you did that and were paid. You didn't agree that you'd spend extra time on editing afterwards. I realise it's difficult because you want to keep the agency as a client, but the agency should support you in this situation. They're supposed to be experts on translation too. So I would take Dan's suggested approach, which seems very reasonable and professional.
I agree that since the client gave you no style-related instructions in advance, and you were simply asked to translate the text, what they are asking for now (editing the translation in a very specific way) is different from your original task, which you fulfilled. So in my opinion, you're right to charge for any extra work you choose to do. In effect, the end client is trying to add a new term to its original contract with your direct client (the agency) after the agency performed the contract, so I don't see how the end client can enforce that new term against the agency - and you weren't even a party to that agreement. The agency should charge extra, and so should you.
There are some people in this world who have difficult personalities and enjoy wasting other people's time, and it sounds like this dentist might be one of them! So if you choose to spend more time on this text, make sure your time is paid and not wasted.
[Edited at 2016-01-11 13:37 GMT]
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Olga Adler
United States
Local time: 10:51
English to Russian
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TOPIC STARTER
Peter Shortall wrote:
There are some people in this world who have difficult personalities and enjoy wasting other people's time.
[Edited at 2016-01-11 13:37 GMT]
That is so true. This 'post-delivery service' or whatever they call it was an onerous and unfair burden. I made the required corrections and told the client that I'm going to send them an extra invoice for it. So far, they haven't objected to it.
| | | | Laura Kingdon
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:51
Member (2015)
French to English
+ ...
I get clients sometimes who will send back the translation with a couple of comments (never my own errors - always something subjective or changing something I wrote that was correct into something that isn't) and a demand to review the entire translation. I would do this at first, but now I always insist on additional payment, which I never get, so the unnecessary "review" is never done. But I will never again spend hours trying to guess what the client wants unless I'm being paid for it.
... See more I get clients sometimes who will send back the translation with a couple of comments (never my own errors - always something subjective or changing something I wrote that was correct into something that isn't) and a demand to review the entire translation. I would do this at first, but now I always insist on additional payment, which I never get, so the unnecessary "review" is never done. But I will never again spend hours trying to guess what the client wants unless I'm being paid for it.
I think Dan's suggestion was great - spend some time to show that you have carefully considered their request, which I'm sure the agency knows is ridiculous anyway, and to show that it is not reasonable and that your initial work was good. Even an hour or two spent reviewing comments should prove that point. Plus, if you normally do good work, I'm sure the agency won't drop you just because of one client's ridiculous complaint. ▲ Collapse
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