| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you think that the payment morale of clients has deteriorated over the last few years? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you think that the payment morale of clients has deteriorated over the last few years?".
This poll was originally submitted by Patrick John Burhorn. View the poll results »
| | | | Michael Harris 
Germany
Local time: 20:00
Member (2006)
German to English
| No, not really | Mar 14, 2016 |
Those customers of mine who always paid late in the past still pay late now (not too late, but one reminder) and those who pay on time still do - only base on my customer base.
I do not have a clue what it is like anywhere else, but ine thing was that those customers that overdid it with late payments are no longer my customers - and that also applies to direct customers.
| | | | | No/I don't know | Mar 14, 2016 |
I’m not a bank and I don’t exchange information on my clients’ morale so I can’t generalize about this from my own experience. All I can say is that all my regulars pay as agreed (some later than others, but nothing serious) and that in over 30 years I had only 4 payment problems. What has really changed is that I became more proactive checking every client upfront and trying to tackle the problem head on.
| | | | | Not sure I understand the question | Mar 14, 2016 |
Perhaps someone could explain a little what the term "payment morale" means? Is this referring to how clients feel about paying? Or is it about the ethical aspects of clients' paying on time and so on? I may be a bit dumb here, but I think the term "morality" is intended rather than "morale". Could the Asker perhaps confirm?
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I said I didn't know because I didn't understand the question.
I can say that payments are coming through faster than they used to.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 14:00
English to Spanish
+ ...
| What is payment morale? | Mar 14, 2016 |
And how did the phrase payment morale passed the strict control of the quick poll algorithm?
We hope that Patrick would offer some details and insight into his own thinking and, maybe, his morale?
| | | | | Payment behaviour? | Mar 14, 2016 |
I presume that the original poster meant "has the payment behaviour of clients deteriorated in recent years", rather than their "morale" - state of mind, loss of motivation, etc.
If so, I feel the same as Michael Harris (see above). The prompt payers continue to pay promptly, the not-so-prompt sometimes need a reminder. Like Michael, I've ceased working for persistent late payers.
| | | | Paulinho Fonseca
Brazil
Local time: 15:00
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Perhaps someone could explain a little what the term "payment morale" means? | Mar 14, 2016 |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
Perhaps someone could explain a little what the term "payment morale" means? Is this referring to how clients feel about paying? Or is it about the ethical aspects of clients' paying on time and so on? I may be a bit dumb here, but I think the term "morality" is intended rather than "morale". Could the Asker perhaps confirm?
My clients have kept their payment policies and agreements. If I understood the question correctly, what has worsened is the fact that now we have more scammers and some new 'professionals' who are not willing to pay for the service they get. It's a mindset and besides, people don't become dishonest, they are born like that.
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| I do not know | Mar 14, 2016 |
What I understand is "Have clients changed their payments practice and standards".
In this case I have voted I don't know.
What is sure is that some companies who already had a bad payment practice have tried to get more benefits from the world crisis, trying to extend payments from 30 to 60 or even 90 days, or lowering rates.
Personally I have not experienced this situation, but I know it has been quite common in the last decade.
I said I do not know, because:
1) i... See more What I understand is "Have clients changed their payments practice and standards".
In this case I have voted I don't know.
What is sure is that some companies who already had a bad payment practice have tried to get more benefits from the world crisis, trying to extend payments from 30 to 60 or even 90 days, or lowering rates.
Personally I have not experienced this situation, but I know it has been quite common in the last decade.
I said I do not know, because:
1) it has not happened to me
2) what I know relates to companies/clients who already had a "bad approach" to terms and payments (so we cannot really say something has "deteriorated"). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 03:00
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| "In general, do your customers pay on time?" | Mar 14, 2016 |
If this is the question, yes they do.
And like, Michael Harris (how are you doing?), I have shed or simply stopped doing work for late-paying miscreants.
[Edited at 2016-03-15 00:51 GMT]
| | | | | I don't know | Mar 14, 2016 |
Bad payers don't make it to my "client" status.
At best they are recorded as "one-night stands", "never again", and the current ease of spotting potentially bad payers in advance via web has enabled me to avoid all of these for several years in a row already.
| | | | Erzsébet Czopyk
Hungary
Local time: 20:00
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Since we have GIRO system, the payments would be received within an hour or two. But the payment morale of the clients went bad. You shall expect minimum 10 days of delay...
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 20:00
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| It depends on the client | Mar 14, 2016 |
Julian Holmes wrote: If this is the question, yes they do. And like, Michael Harris (how are you doing?), I have shed or simply stopped doing work for late-paying miscreants. [Edited at 2016-03-14 12:17 GMT]
The clients I am still working with are paying like clockwork. Those who didn't should have found other translators by now.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 20:00
Spanish to English
+ ...
I live and work in Spain and bad or late payers are par for the course here, and always have been since I first came here back in the 80s. For example, I have one long-standing regular direct non-agency client who paid me more than 6 months late recently.
However, for me it's just "same old, same old". Perhaps this is why I find it so annoying to see people on forums bleating about late payments when their clients haven't coughed up a mere a week or so later than their 30-day due da... See more I live and work in Spain and bad or late payers are par for the course here, and always have been since I first came here back in the 80s. For example, I have one long-standing regular direct non-agency client who paid me more than 6 months late recently.
However, for me it's just "same old, same old". Perhaps this is why I find it so annoying to see people on forums bleating about late payments when their clients haven't coughed up a mere a week or so later than their 30-day due date...
To sum up, I'd say some clients are worse offenders than others, but it's not the end of the world, as long as I get my dosh in the end. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 20:00
English to German
| "In general, do your customers pay on time?" | Mar 14, 2016 |
Yes, this is the question - "Zahlungsmoral" is German for "payment practice, payment behaviour" (my brain also converted the expression subconsciously, this just happens).
Same old, same old for me - some customers pay so fast it gets on my wick (but only near the end of the year to shift an immediate tax burden from themselves to me), others pay on time unless the accountant happens to be ill or on holidays, and others yet need one reminder. Everyone else only sees my tail feathers... See more Yes, this is the question - "Zahlungsmoral" is German for "payment practice, payment behaviour" (my brain also converted the expression subconsciously, this just happens).
Same old, same old for me - some customers pay so fast it gets on my wick (but only near the end of the year to shift an immediate tax burden from themselves to me), others pay on time unless the accountant happens to be ill or on holidays, and others yet need one reminder. Everyone else only sees my tail feathers.
[Edited at 2016-03-14 21:00 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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