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Payment practices: about granting credit...
Thread poster: Blanca Amoroso
Blanca Amoroso
Blanca Amoroso  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:58
Member (2004)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Apr 28, 2003

Payment practices: about granting credit...



Dear colleagues:



When we decide to work granting credit to agencies and we are not dealing with well known/reliable clients, sooner or later we may find a bad paying experience. We may not worry if we lose a small amount of money, but when the amount in question is considerable enough, we should better think twice about granting credit to the “new” client. The only resource we have in this case is the use ... See more
Payment practices: about granting credit...



Dear colleagues:



When we decide to work granting credit to agencies and we are not dealing with well known/reliable clients, sooner or later we may find a bad paying experience. We may not worry if we lose a small amount of money, but when the amount in question is considerable enough, we should better think twice about granting credit to the “new” client. The only resource we have in this case is the use of payment practices lists to inquire about agencies we do not know, but we may not find enough information or any information at all. Then, the decision is just personal, we may run the risk or not.



As freelance translators, if we had standard or more general practices concerning the granting of credit to agencies, we would avoid a lot of problems and would make our working method more reliable. As a friend told me some days ago, “it is no secret that translations done via Internet (when there is only virtual contact and you hardly know who is at the other end of the line) has to be understood as HIGH RISK business. The TRUST factor is very important. You have no way other than to trust the person/company at the other end of the line based in a few directives such as phone number, addresses, website, etc... Sometimes you may TRUST the wrong people, so you never can tell. By High Risk I mean that you are most likely to take a risk above the average while trying to put your hands on the resources from your work.” The fact is that just having a look at the payment practices lists we realize that bad paying experiences are numerous enough so as to leave the situation as it is and win or lose, depending of our lottery ticket.



BY THIS, I DO NOT MEAN WE SHOULD NOT GRANT CREDIT TO AGENCIES AT ALL and I do not wish to affect translation agencies’ business. Fortunately for us, most of our clients and new clients are professional people we can trust. However, I think it would be a good idea to share our credit practices with other colleagues. In my case, I have always granted credit to new clients, but I have seen it is not funny to spend your time and effort to find out later that you will not be paid and someone else benefits from your work (for those who would like more information, see the topic “Another trick to vanish...Be careful”, recently posted. What are your payment practices? Do you usually grant credit? Do you have a specific limit for granting credit? What in your opinion is the best practice, 50% in advance or after a first delivery, 50% at the end of the assignment?.



Needless to say your comments are welcome and all of us will benefit from them.



Sharing our ideas will be the best way to protect our profession (until some legislation protect us!!). United we stand!!



Best regards,

Blanca.

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Payment practices: about granting credit...






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