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Agency gave me a bad rating after I gave them a bad rating
Thread poster: Birta Hrafnhildardottir
Birta Hrafnhildardottir
Birta Hrafnhildardottir  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:22
Member (2017)
English to Icelandic
May 21, 2018

Hi everyone.

I just received a 1-star rating from a translation agency. I've worked for them three times, and for all of them I had to send reminders to get paid. I wrote a bad review after chasing a small amount of money for some weeks and edited the review after finally receiving payment.

They reached out to me last week and asked me to do a job for them and when I said I was no longer interested in working for them due to past payment issues, they gave me a bad ratin
... See more
Hi everyone.

I just received a 1-star rating from a translation agency. I've worked for them three times, and for all of them I had to send reminders to get paid. I wrote a bad review after chasing a small amount of money for some weeks and edited the review after finally receiving payment.

They reached out to me last week and asked me to do a job for them and when I said I was no longer interested in working for them due to past payment issues, they gave me a bad rating.

I'm kinda heartbroken as I work hard and have a decent amount of regular clients, and I'm afraid this might hurt future collaboration with new clients. I am also surprised that they can do this as they are banned from posting jobs on proz.com. Is there anything I can do about this rating?

[Edited at 2018-05-21 23:47 GMT]
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Dylan J Hartmann
Dylan J Hartmann  Identity Verified
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...

MODERATOR
Contact site support May 21, 2018

This is clearly something that the ProZ.com site support will be very active and willing to help you on.

See https://www.proz.com/support


 
Birta Hrafnhildardottir
Birta Hrafnhildardottir  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:22
Member (2017)
English to Icelandic
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! May 21, 2018

Dylan Jan Hartmann wrote:

This is clearly something that the ProZ.com site support will be very active and willing to help you on.

See https://www.proz.com/support




Thank you, Dylan!


 
Laura Gentili
Laura Gentili  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 17:22
Member (2003)
English to Italian
+ ...
This is really bad May 22, 2018

I was going to post a negative entry about a translation company I have been chasing for a 46.00 euro payment when I read your post. I find this issue extremely concerning. We are no longer free to give negative feedback, I am afraid. I hope ProZ will look into this issue and implement corrective measures.

Laura


Thuy Trang
 
Laura Gentili
Laura Gentili  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 17:22
Member (2003)
English to Italian
+ ...
They have been banned May 22, 2018

I think it's absurd that from one side they have been banned from posting jobs and from the other side they can still post negative entries about translators.

Laura


 
Christophe Delaunay
Christophe Delaunay  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 17:22
Spanish to French
+ ...
@Dylan Jan Hartmann May 22, 2018

Hello Dylan,
Just out of curiosity, what does it take to be completely banned from Proz? Or this possibility does not exist (yet)?
In other words, how low does a translation agency have to fall in order to be definitely excluded from Proz?


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:22
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Thanks for the warning May 22, 2018

Birta Hrafnhildardottir wrote:

Hi everyone.

I just received a 1-star rating from a translation agency. I've worked for them three times, and for all of them I had to send reminders to get paid. I wrote a bad review after chasing a small amount of money for some weeks and edited the review after finally receiving payment.

They reached out to me last week and asked me to do a job for them and when I said I was no longer interested in working for them due to past payment issues, they gave me a bad rating.

I'm kinda heartbroken as I work hard and have a decent amount of regular clients, and I'm afraid this might hurt future collaboration with new clients. I am also surprised that they can do this as they are banned from posting jobs on proz.com. Is there anything I can do about this rating?

[Edited at 2018-05-21 23:47 GMT]


Thanks for the warning. Clearly this is intended to ensure that only positive ratings are ever given on the BB.


 
Vera Schoen
Vera Schoen  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 17:22
Member (2008)
German to Swedish
+ ...
Very disturbing May 22, 2018

I find this extremely disturbing.
There is now a genuine risk translators will refrain from posting negative feedback warning their colleagues of agencies we all should steer clear of.


Andrew Zink
 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 17:22
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Something similar happened to me once. May 22, 2018

I worked with an agency for several years. At first they were OK, an OK rate, interesting projects, timely payment. Then they were becoming more and more automated and became like robots. I would get phone calls from their PMs who spoke bad English, each time from a different one. I was probably contacted by 20-30 different PMs (by phone), each next project it's a different manager. Often times several managers shifted in one single small projects.

I had enough when they froze my mo
... See more
I worked with an agency for several years. At first they were OK, an OK rate, interesting projects, timely payment. Then they were becoming more and more automated and became like robots. I would get phone calls from their PMs who spoke bad English, each time from a different one. I was probably contacted by 20-30 different PMs (by phone), each next project it's a different manager. Often times several managers shifted in one single small projects.

I had enough when they froze my money in their system (still owe me to this day, not a big amount though) and said they couldn't pay me because I didn't reach the payment threshold. They simply stopped sending projects so there was no way I would ever reach that threshold.

Things built up and I posted 1 BB rating, about the money owed, about the numerous PMs and chaotic project management.

I got a public feedback back from them about me how their PMs had issues with me during work processes (there was never a single issue at all, I call them to provide evidence). I realized it would be too complicated to report all this to ProZ and just let it be. I had evidence about what they did, they couldn't provide any evidence to their claims.

After this bad report, they contacted me about ten (10) times by 10 different PMs for new projects. That's how disorganized and chaotic they are. They are so disorganized they can't even remember or coordinate what they lied about on public boards. Why would they keep contacting me for new projects 10 times after my bad report about them and theirs about me?

I just checked their BB record now, three consecutive 1s in the past several months.



[Edited at 2018-05-22 09:52 GMT]
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Adam, MA Trans
 
Daniel Frisano
Daniel Frisano  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 17:22
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
Anyone at ProZ? May 22, 2018

Two questions:

1) If a provider can't leave any kind of comment or rating without an actual job doing involved, then how is an outsourcer allowed to do so, i.e., rating the provider for NOT wishing to accept an assignment?

2) If an outsourcer is banned from posting jobs, how are they allowed to rate providers?

Anybody reading this at ProZ staff?


 
Birta Hrafnhildardottir
Birta Hrafnhildardottir  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:22
Member (2017)
English to Icelandic
TOPIC STARTER
Issue solved May 22, 2018

Just a quick update. After sending a message to the proz.com site support, they removed the review from my site. According to the rules on WWA ratings, banned outsources or those with open non-payment reports are not permitted to leave WWA ratings.... See more
Just a quick update. After sending a message to the proz.com site support, they removed the review from my site. According to the rules on WWA ratings, banned outsources or those with open non-payment reports are not permitted to leave WWA ratings.

See here:
https://www.proz.com/forum/prozcom_translator_coop/319753-new_wwa_rating_service.html

Thank you all for your support, it means a lot.
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:22
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
@Birta May 22, 2018

I must say that every time I’ve submitted a support ticket Proz staff has been very helpful and quick to respond (weekends being the exception). You should give them as much proof as possible…

 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:22
Danish to English
+ ...
Lack of symmetry May 22, 2018

There is a lack of symmetry:

"In order for WWA ratings to be shared with service providers they must be entered when a verifiable work order has been assigned and there no pending non-payment issues. "

Blue Board rule:
"Entries concerning the Likelihood of Working Again (LWA) with given outsourcers are allowed only when (1) commissioned work has been completed in full and delivered on time, and (2) there have not been complaints related to quality shortly after de
... See more
There is a lack of symmetry:

"In order for WWA ratings to be shared with service providers they must be entered when a verifiable work order has been assigned and there no pending non-payment issues. "

Blue Board rule:
"Entries concerning the Likelihood of Working Again (LWA) with given outsourcers are allowed only when (1) commissioned work has been completed in full and delivered on time, and (2) there have not been complaints related to quality shortly after delivery."

The Blue Board rule is much stricter than the WWA rule. If translators cannot leave BB feedback in case of late delivery or complaints, then outsourcers should not be able to leave WWA ratings at all in case of late payment, not just "pending non-payment issues", or in case of complaints about late payment shortly after the agreed deadline for payment.
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Elif Baykara Narbay
Elif Baykara Narbay  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 19:22
German to Turkish
+ ...
+1 May 22, 2018

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

There is a lack of symmetry:

"In order for WWA ratings to be shared with service providers they must be entered when a verifiable work order has been assigned and there no pending non-payment issues. "

Blue Board rule:
"Entries concerning the Likelihood of Working Again (LWA) with given outsourcers are allowed only when (1) commissioned work has been completed in full and delivered on time, and (2) there have not been complaints related to quality shortly after delivery."

The Blue Board rule is much stricter than the WWA rule. If translators cannot leave BB feedback in case of late delivery or complaints, then outsourcers should not be able to leave WWA ratings at all in case of late payment, not just "pending non-payment issues", or in case of complaints about late payment shortly after the agreed deadline for payment.


 
Birta Hrafnhildardottir
Birta Hrafnhildardottir  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:22
Member (2017)
English to Icelandic
TOPIC STARTER
I agree May 22, 2018

Teresa Borges wrote:

I must say that every time I’ve submitted a support ticket Proz staff has been very helpful and quick to respond (weekends being the exception). You should give them as much proof as possible…


I meant that the proz.com team removed the review. I agree that they have always been very helpful and quick to respond.


 
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