Bad experience with 2 Japanese translators. Please tell us what we should do.

Nicole Johnson wrote:

is the fact that the deadline was so tight. Surely this was part of the problem. If one translator did the job alone, and IF he had a full 48 hours to complete the translation (which I doubt was the case), that would mean he would have to do 3000-3500 words per day (which is feasible, but difficult, in my opinion). However, this would leave the agency very little time for proofreading and checking the final translation.

Perhaps in the future, you can stress to your clients the importance of allowing the translators a sufficient amount of time to translate the text so that they can be ensured a quality product. This of course would mean they would have to do a little bit of planning around their translation jobs.

I often wonder how people who expect translators to churn out a ridiculous amount of material in a short period of time think they will end up with the best possible product. I believe one of the duties of translation agencies should also be to help clients plan their translation projects in such a way as to end up with a good-quality translation with minimal stress for everyone involved.

ksbtranslation wrote:

Please tell us what we should do. This is our first experience.

Iwan
KSBTranslation.com

cbolton wrote:
I've read the entire forum and, at this point, fail to understand what it is you REALLY want to know. You've been let down miserably by two totally unprofessional translators, yet continue to defend them and are even concerned with "protecting" their reputation.

In the end, you are to blame for (1) underestimating the amount of time needed for the translation when you first negotiated it with your customer;

(2) allowing Translator 1 to "insist" when you clearly knew that he was totally out of his field;

(3) not issuing a PO to Translator 2 (did you even have the translator do a test translation?).

ksbtranslation wrote:



I admitted from the beginning that this job should be split. That is why I contacted 4 translators to collaborate.

ksbtranslation wrote:
We cannot push the client to do what we want. Most of the orders are rush jobs. This client, in particular, has stressed this in her email: We will NOT pay you if deadline is not met !!!!

Yolande Haneder wrote:

If I were a boss in your case, I would warn it and prepare my back (look for similarly qualified translators and start to test them on small assignments) so that the next time it happens (and it will of this translator starts to think you are at his mercy), fire him and replace him with the other translator you tested.

I am here always being told that a boss will never be able to be the best friend of an employee. The fact that you adore him so much to be dependant of him is a receipt of disaster in the long term.

A boss has to try to see clearly, defend the translator if he did a good job and the client is in a bad mood, defend the client if it is clear that he didn't even follow your instructions.

ksbtranslation wrote:

Here is the situation. Just imagine that you are a boss. You have the best employee in your office who is an asset for your company. Your customers adore him. You make a lot of profit because of him. However, he asks you too much. You cannot complain when he is absent for trivial matters. Then you have this situation in which your company's image will become tarnish because of him. What should you do? Fire him? Or you will try to defend him?

ksbtranslation wrote:
The client placed this order on May 27 dan the job must be completed on May 29 at 8:00 GMT.

I agreed to assign him the whole project, provided that he could confirm it to me before 10 a.m. on that day if he changed his mind. ... Around 11 am I received an email from another translator who could do the whole project too.

He said that he had to start the project all over again because he found that the files already translated by the previous translator had different legal terms (...this file was sent to us 2 hours before the deadline).

In fact I had told the translator that he should not be worried with such differences and just did the best he could. I was so surpised to find that he had erased all the work he had done in the last minutes without informing me.

ksbtranslation wrote:

I was so surpised to find that he had erased all the work he had done in the last minutes without informing me.

cbolton wrote:



I've read the entire forum and, at this point, fail to understand what it is you REALLY want to know. You've been let down miserably by two totally unprofessional translators, yet continue to defend them and are even concerned with "protecting" their reputation. (The reason you'd want to do that is totally beyond me.)
The point is that you have already said you'd rather lose the customer than a "quality" translator. There you go, decision made. Say goodbye to the customer, give your translators a smile and hug, and hope and pray they don't let you down again (though I wouldn't count on it).
You can offer the best quality in the world, but if you turn in a job 3 days after the book has gone to press (for example), it's completely useless.
In the end, you are to blame for (1) underestimating the amount of time needed for the translation when you first negotiated it with your customer; (2) allowing Translator 1 to "insist" when you clearly knew that he was totally out of his field; (3) not issuing a PO to Translator 2 (did you even have the translator do a test translation?).
Catherine


[Edited at 2007-05-30 06:19]

Arturo Delgado wrote:
Clients should come first.

If you have already decided that you would rather lose your client than your translator, then you don't need us to tell you what to do.

If I were a boss in your case, I would warn it and prepare my back (look for similarly qualified translators and start to test them on small assignments) so that the next time it happens (and it will of this translator starts to think you are at his mercy), fire him and replace him with the other translator you tested.

The next job you give him you'll be biting your nails to the quick wondering if he'll deliver on time - if at all! And this time it might be for a customer you can't afford to lose.
You say that an agency without good translators can't operate. By the same token, an agency without customers goes out of business very quickly!

Samuel Murray wrote:
Good. The first translator did not reply by the agreed time, therefore he is no longer in the running. The second translator was now the "first available" translator.

You should not have confused the second translator by sending him more stuff which complicate his job. If the client had wanted you to follow the earlier terminology, he should have given you the file in advance.