Can a bottom feeder get lower than 70%? Thread poster: tabor
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tabor 
Poland
Local time: 05:05
English to Polish
+ ...
Unfortunately, my 25+ year-long “career” in translation has not made me a well-to-do man, but at least I have been lucky and very rarely encountered dishonest clients, rip-off merchants, or late- or never-payers on my professional path. I have mainly been working for translation agencies for low Polish rates (or should I describe them as ‘lousy’ instead of ‘low’? For the ENPL language pair, however, the competition is severe) but on fair terms and with payments being made on time, wh... See more Unfortunately, my 25+ year-long “career” in translation has not made me a well-to-do man, but at least I have been lucky and very rarely encountered dishonest clients, rip-off merchants, or late- or never-payers on my professional path. I have mainly been working for translation agencies for low Polish rates (or should I describe them as ‘lousy’ instead of ‘low’? For the ENPL language pair, however, the competition is severe) but on fair terms and with payments being made on time, which is not that common, or so I have been told.
The incident I am going to describe here happened several months ago but I just cannot forget it, and have decided to share the story with you.
So, there is this Warsaw-based Translation Agency, I believe it can be referred to as one of the major ones. I started translating for them, from English into Polish and vice-versa, 13 years ago. In the beginning, everything was fine. The Translation Agency provided me with interesting and extensive projects that virtually paid my monthly bills. The collaboration was going well. I was rather satisfied, the Translation Agency appeared to be satisfied too, as after a couple of years of collaboration I was awarded a Certificate for One of the Best Translators. Over time, the number of jobs from the Translation Agency began to decline, with the PMs changing rather frequently, but in my inbox I still could find, from time to time, a document in my area of expertise to be translated nicely for them. The rates were remaining the same and, well, I am a bit ashamed to specify them here, although for this language pair, they appear to be standard rates offered by translation agencies. Yet, I believe you would not believe that someone is eager to translate EU legislation or medical or pharmaceutical documentation for peanuts so measly. I was still happy, though. Peanuts are better than no peanuts at all, are they not?
Until September of the last year, I was offered, once or twice a month, a job to be accepted via the Translation Agency’s Portal, which means that other translators working in this language pair was offered the job too. When I was available and the project concerned was my cup of tea, I accepted it and, if I was lucky, I was selected by a PM and awarded the job. The job offer was always accompanied by a CAT grid that I would call standard:
> 101% – a multiplier of 0.15;
> 100% – 0.25;
> 75-84% – 0.55;
> 50-74% – 1;
> no match – a multiplier of 1.
I was not picky. Well, actually I could try to be, but other agencies applied similar multipliers and paid more or less the same rates.
A year and a half ago or so, something began to go... wrong, in terms of the volume of projects sent by the Translation Agency. They would send me an offer, I would review it to see if it fitted my expertise, and count the pages, as usual... and something did not feel right. There was this number of pages (usually in an MS Word file) counted by myself, while the number of pages counted by the Translation Agency differed from it, sometimes considerably. Certainly, to my disadvantage. For this, I blamed the nature of the documents as offered by the Translation Agency, e.g. MSDS-type files, patient information leaflets, replies to official letters etc., many of them with a more or less repetitive structure. And I accepted these jobs anyway, and more often than not I was awarded the assignments. At least I had something to do. Did I check the grid every time? Well, the answer is no. I was familiar with the rules, so it somehow never entered my mind to check the grid. Never. (Yes, I know what you may be thinking about me right now).
About six months ago I was sent another document to be translated. Quite interesting, not too difficult, approximately 10 pages of text. According to the Translation Agency, though, the document comprised 6.5 pages. This time, that was fishy. There were actually no repetitions in the document. I counted again. 10 (ten) pages of non-repetitive content. What is this all about? I had an odd feeling, and finally decided to study the grid.
I felt an icy chill run down my spine... . The grid looked somewhat different than it had used to:
> 75-84% – a multiplier of 0.55;
> 50-74% – a multiplier of 0.7;
> No match – a multiplier of 0.7.
Err, what? I could not believe my eyes. Like, what do you guys mean, a multiplier of 0.7 for ‘no match’ segments? Dear Agency, do you understand both the literal and figurative meaning of ‘no match’? And then, an icy hand grabbed me firmly by the throat. With a pounding heart, I opened my Inbox and started checking previous emails from the Translation Agency. The one before the most recent one: no match – a multiplier of 0.7. The previous one: no match – a multiplier of 0.7. An even earlier one: no match – a multiplier of 0.7. It turned out that for over a year, I had been considering accepting jobs, and actually accepting some, on the following basis: Mr Translator, translate the document for us in accordance with the art of translation, properly and on time, and we will pay you 70% of your (pathetic) rate. Even if you turn this analytical standard into a poem written in dodecasyllable verse, you will still be paid 70%.
I was in a state of shock. How come...?
I wrote an email to the PM who had offered me the job. Without effing and blinding, I explained why I was writing to her, and asked her two simple questions: Firstly, what mathematical, economic, or other principle have led the Translation Agency to make a decision to pay 70% of the rate for my hard work? Secondly, could the Translation Agency be so kind as to indicate a document I have been provided with to read, understand, and approve, which states clearly that the Agency applies the equation 100% = 70% when settling accounts with translators (or a particular translator for that matter)? I was not able to recall any such document, even though I had had to sign a variety of documents for the Translation Agency over the years.
The response from the PM came soon. I learnt from her message that, quote:
(...) the following multipliers result from the fact that the translation process will be aided by our translation memories and machine translation. The last time when we collaborated on the XXXXX project, the multiplier was identical and, apparently, you did not find it a problem, did you?
The percentage values are pre-determined by our system and, unfortunately, I have no control over them. As regards the 50-74% range, it would be possible for us to pay 100% rate if it turned out that machine translation is of poor quality and hinders rather than helps.
Should you have any further questions concerning the settlement, I can ask our Vendor Managers to contact you (…). End of quote, translation from Polish by myself.
In short, this much I learnt. Was I satisfied? None of my questions were answered. Still dazed and confused, I wrote to a Vendor Manager myself, and asked her the same two simple questions: Why is my rate so bizarrely multiplied? And when have I signed a document to approve that? This time, I waited much longer for a response, but finally I was informed by the VM that, quote:
(...) Regarding the grid settlement (which always shows before a job is accepted), we cannot dispense with it. A solution we are offering to you is to raise the base rate from PLN 0.12 to PLN 0.13, and please bear in mind that each time you can negotiate the rate with a PM where a project requires more work input than expected. In such a case, the rate will be changed with no problem at all.
We would also like to point out that machine translation is supposed to make your work easier and not harder (...). End of quote, translation from Polish by myself.
As I did not consider the above to provide answers to my not-so-complicated questions, I insisted and asked them once again. I received the following reply, quote:
(...) With regard to your first question: as I mentioned before, the “pre-translated” segments are intended to help translators complete their projects faster, and thus, if something is already pre-translated, no full rate applies. If, however, pre-translation is not helpful at all, you can request the Project Coordinator to change the multiplier so that the remuneration corresponds to the work done (…). End of quote.
I become irritated. Do they actually understand simple Polish? I asked the VM how to contact the Boss, the Head, the Director, or whoever is in charge, as no such person was indicated on the Translation Agency’s website. I received Ms X’s e-mail address. Her name rang no bell for me. I asked her the same two questions: why the “no match = 70%” principle, and where is the document that I signed... .
The response from Ms X was as follows, quote:
(...) I have read the content of the correspondence sent to me as well as the correspondence you kept with the PM Deparment employee and the VM.
In the correspondence provided, I could see that the questions you asked have already been answered. I can only repeat what has already been stated, namely: we do not sign agreements with translators on fixed collaboration rates, as the details of settlement are communicated each time a project is offered. It is up to our translators to accept, reject, or negotiate the settlement provided. In this regard, we are fully transparent (...). End of quote.
Yes, I know, I know – I myself am to blame. This is what you see – this is what you get. If I had read the grid etc. But even so, I still feel bashed, spat upon and, finally, scornfully ridiculed. Show me another profession where the service provider is, for starters, expected to negotiate for being paid a full rate, and not a proportion of 70%, for their work.
Is my outrage justified or do I simply misunderstand today’s business rules?
What do you say, fellow translators? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Translators using MT plugins in CAT tools | Mar 30, 2023 |
The translation agency knows that translators use the free MT plugins that can be enabled with a single click in most CAT tools, so they thought, "Heck, why would I pay for full human translation when I actually get PEMT? Bam, let's cut their fee by 30%* more."
They just forgot to inform you. You're not important anyway. Bottom feeders are bottom feeders all the way.
*Money previously directed to us doers is now transferred to faceless web juggernauts who sell MT tech. ... See more The translation agency knows that translators use the free MT plugins that can be enabled with a single click in most CAT tools, so they thought, "Heck, why would I pay for full human translation when I actually get PEMT? Bam, let's cut their fee by 30%* more."
They just forgot to inform you. You're not important anyway. Bottom feeders are bottom feeders all the way.
*Money previously directed to us doers is now transferred to faceless web juggernauts who sell MT tech. That's progress.
Philippe ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 05:05
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
| Probably not | Mar 30, 2023 |
Philippe Etienne wrote:
The translation agency knows that translators use the free MT plugins that can be enabled with a single click in most CAT tools
I don't think that was the case here. It seems he received (partly) pre-machine translated files from his client.
| | | | Emanuele Vacca
Italy
Local time: 05:05
Member (2020)
English to Italian
| Confusion between translation and MTPE | Mar 30, 2023 |
I think that the confusion here stems from the fact that probably, in the past, you have always done (human) translation jobs for them, but at a certain point they started to send you MTPE jobs. Using the new grid, you don't need to set a specific rate for MTPE, but such a rate is calculated by reference to your translation rate, taking into account TM-related discounts too. In other words, the rate they offer for MTPE where there are no TM matches is 70% of your translation rate, which is not b... See more I think that the confusion here stems from the fact that probably, in the past, you have always done (human) translation jobs for them, but at a certain point they started to send you MTPE jobs. Using the new grid, you don't need to set a specific rate for MTPE, but such a rate is calculated by reference to your translation rate, taking into account TM-related discounts too. In other words, the rate they offer for MTPE where there are no TM matches is 70% of your translation rate, which is not bad at all based on my experience. ▲ Collapse
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