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Why are Indian translation companies so complicate?
Thread poster: Miguel Jimenez
Miguel Jimenez
Miguel Jimenez  Identity Verified
Germany
German to Spanish
+ ...
Mar 15, 2008

I really don’t understand why Indian translation companies are so complicate.

Now I have three year working with several Indian companies in very low fee (not more then 0,05 US$ per word) translation projects.

And every time when I finish a project, there are many problems about the payment.
They never want to pay what the offer you in the beginning.

Some excuses for not paying the original fee are:
- The quality of the translation is not enou
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I really don’t understand why Indian translation companies are so complicate.

Now I have three year working with several Indian companies in very low fee (not more then 0,05 US$ per word) translation projects.

And every time when I finish a project, there are many problems about the payment.
They never want to pay what the offer you in the beginning.

Some excuses for not paying the original fee are:
- The quality of the translation is not enough. So they will pay less or nothing, but then they want you to work again for them!!!!!!!!!!!
-
- They offer you first a project with a specific rate, and then two or three day’s later wanted to pay you less, because the client has not enough money, or the project costs are to high!!!!!
-
- They discount you their bank fees for making their deposit on Paypal or Moneybrookers for paying you, so you get less money paying their bank fees!!!!!!!

Now I have passed many problems, specific with Indian translation companies and take the decision not to work more for them, and make my recommendation not to work for them after these experiences!!!!!!!!!

Have you also many problems with them?
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Luis Fernando Carvalho
Muhammad Rafiq
Nikolay Novitskiy
Said Bazry
 
Hepburn
Hepburn  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 15:18
English to French
+ ...
Why choose Indian agencies indeed? Mar 15, 2008

I did not need to read about your experience to gather or guess that if a job offer came from India, not only would it not be paid at a decent rate for a European but that it probably meant trouble as far as the actual payment was concerned. Why?

Because it is easy to guess that if the cost of living in a country is low, they are surely not going to pay what you expect to get in Europe or in the States.

Therefore, I have no unfortunate experience and am not likely ever
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I did not need to read about your experience to gather or guess that if a job offer came from India, not only would it not be paid at a decent rate for a European but that it probably meant trouble as far as the actual payment was concerned. Why?

Because it is easy to guess that if the cost of living in a country is low, they are surely not going to pay what you expect to get in Europe or in the States.

Therefore, I have no unfortunate experience and am not likely ever to get one as I systematically delete any job coming from India.

Too bad!

Claudette
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Nikolay Novitskiy
Jean Aime ISHIMWE
Said Bazry
 
Deschant
Deschant
Local time: 14:18
BlueBoard Mar 15, 2008

I advise you post a Blue Board entry for each of the agencies you have had problems with, giving details of why you wouldn't like to work with them again. I think this will be more useful for fellow translators.

Best regards,
Eva

[Editado a las 2008-03-15 17:55]


Luis Fernando Carvalho
 
Nurzhan KZ
Nurzhan KZ
Local time: 19:18
English to Kazakh
+ ...
agree Mar 15, 2008

I have also done some translation for one Indian translation company, but in my case they didn't even give me reasons of non-payment...

Luis Fernando Carvalho
 
Miguel Jimenez
Miguel Jimenez  Identity Verified
Germany
German to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Allready done Mar 15, 2008

Dear Eva

Many thanks for your answer.
I have allready done.

Best regards

Miguel



emoreda wrote:

I advise you post a Blue Board entry for any of the agencies you have had problems with, giving details of why you wouldn't like to work with them again. I think this will be more useful for fellow translators.

Best regards,
Eva


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:18
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Reoutsourced work Mar 15, 2008

Sometimes agencies that have very bad scores on the Proz Blue Board (which unfortunately I think very few - if any - end clients have access to) simply cannot get a translator for a job they have. They know rates are very low in India, so they reoutsource there, after having self-generously cut their share.

If the job is, e.g. DE-ES (yours), EN-PT (mine), or whatever, how are they going to find such translators in India? So the Indian agency tries to outsource worldwide, at the low
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Sometimes agencies that have very bad scores on the Proz Blue Board (which unfortunately I think very few - if any - end clients have access to) simply cannot get a translator for a job they have. They know rates are very low in India, so they reoutsource there, after having self-generously cut their share.

If the job is, e.g. DE-ES (yours), EN-PT (mine), or whatever, how are they going to find such translators in India? So the Indian agency tries to outsource worldwide, at the low rates already set by the first agency.

When the job is delivered, they dispatch it to the original WWA = 1 agency, which forwards it to the end client and gets paid. A low WWA score means something: they simply pocket the money, and start giving the Indian agency a runaround. The indian agency, poor thing, tries everything within their reach to stall for time, or to reduce their loss.

I'm not saying this takes place as a rule, but it seems to happen often enough for translators to be wary about it. A telltale sign, though not definitely reliable, is payment being scheduled beyond 30 days from delivery.
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Nesrin
Nesrin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:18
English to Arabic
+ ...
Good explanation, Jose Mar 15, 2008

José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:

Sometimes agencies that have very bad scores on the Proz Blue Board (which unfortunately I think very few - if any - end clients have access to) simply cannot get a translator for a job they have. They know rates are very low in India, so they reoutsource there, after having self-generously cut their share.



And even if no dubious agency is involved, the fact that a European end-client with a De>Es job (or another European language pair) would turn to an agency in India (or indeed any country known for its low cost of living), signals that this end-client's main concern is saving money, not getting a quality translation. It's simply not an end-client that can be taken seriously.

[Edited at 2008-03-15 16:05]


Shatlyk Penayev
Nikolay Novitskiy
 
Boris Sigalov
Boris Sigalov
Local time: 16:18
English to Russian
I refuse jobs coming from India, too Mar 15, 2008

Claudette Hepburn wrote:

I systematically delete any job coming from India.


So do I.

[Edited at 2008-03-15 16:19]


Shatlyk Penayev
Nikolay Novitskiy
 
Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 16:18
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
Why repeat bad experiences Mar 15, 2008

First of all we should not offer lower rates because the outsourcer comes from a low-wage country. Because the end-client probably comes from a high-wage country. Our rates should reflect OUR cost of living.
My only experience with an Indian outsourcer was excellent, payment arrived on my bank account within a few days.
Regards
Heinrich


Luis Fernando Carvalho
 
Henry Hinds
Henry Hinds  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:18
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
Check this Mar 15, 2008

A thread I started yesterday, a bit far down on the list now; the title is:

At least they are honest: "job is mainly for budding translators... rate... on lower side"

It referred to an Indian agency that actually replied, the first case I know of where any outsourcer from any country has done so.


Said Bazry
 
Language Aide Pvt. Ltd. - Translation & Interpreting Agency
Language Aide Pvt. Ltd. - Translation & Interpreting Agency
India
Local time: 19:48
English to Hindi
+ ...
There are such agencies but you cannot generalise... Mar 15, 2008

Miguel Jimenez wrote:

I really don’t understand why Indian translation companies are so complicate.



I represent an Indian agency and I hardly remember we have cut payment of anyone (except a few) in last one decade of working in the translation field.

Our blueboard records, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/6641, can be a proof of this claim I am making.

Vivek


 
Henry Hinds
Henry Hinds  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:18
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
Thanks again Mar 15, 2008

...for joining in, Language Aide. The more insights we can get from your side of things the better.

I may have been a bit sarcastic at first, but I really am encouraged that you actually have come forth with some good, honest comments. It would help to know some of the dynamics of tha market from your point of view.

There are many facets in the market, including no doubt many end clients who may be more interested in complying with some requirement for the lowest price
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...for joining in, Language Aide. The more insights we can get from your side of things the better.

I may have been a bit sarcastic at first, but I really am encouraged that you actually have come forth with some good, honest comments. It would help to know some of the dynamics of tha market from your point of view.

There are many facets in the market, including no doubt many end clients who may be more interested in complying with some requirement for the lowest price possible with little or no concern for quality. Others may be concerned with both, but with a certain trade-off. Still others are willing to pay whatever it takes to get the best quality.

How is it with the market you serve? Do you find a good potential in that market? Do you think you (and others who work with you) can find success there?
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Brenda Kennedy
 
casey
casey  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:18
Member
Japanese to English
No pay because end client refuses to pay Mar 16, 2008

Granted, I have never had such an experience, but it alarms me that so many agencies think it is acceptable to not pay simply because the end client does not pay. That means they have no in-house quality control in place, so their translators do not get paid if the end client does not pay, regardless of the merit of the claim. If I saw those words in a response on the Blue Board I'd run in the other direction.

Luis Fernando Carvalho
 
Miguel Jimenez
Miguel Jimenez  Identity Verified
Germany
German to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Yes Mar 16, 2008

Yes Casey

That´s normally in many translation agencies.
Or sometimes they want to reduce also the fee.

Best regards

Miguel

casey wrote:

Granted, I have never had such an experience, but it alarms me that so many agencies think it is acceptable to not pay simply because the end client does not pay. That means they have no in-house quality control in place, so their translators do not get paid if the end client does not pay, regardless of the merit of the claim. If I saw those words in a response on the Blue Board I'd run in the other direction.


 
The Misha
The Misha
Local time: 10:18
Russian to English
+ ...
Just don't work for Indian agencies Mar 16, 2008

How much more bad experience do you need? Just don't work for Indian agencies any more. In the end, it is all about risk control and risk/return ratio - a low one in the best possible case.

Said Bazry
 
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Why are Indian translation companies so complicate?







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