Cofounder of $400 million dollar translation agency seeks restraining order Thread poster: Jeff Whittaker
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Jeff Whittaker 
United States
Local time: 01:34
Spanish to English
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| Jean Lachaud
United States
Local time: 01:34
English to French
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| 3000 employees | Jul 10, 2014 |
Aaaahhhh: journalism by the NY Daily News
3000 employees? Since are freelancers considered employes?
| | | | | Maybe they do mean employees? | Jul 10, 2014 |
After all, this company is a colossus - their project managers try to lure me with a promise of exotic riches at least twice a week. Sadly, my name is not Undisclosed Recipient.
Either way, this is great news. No matter who ends up the winner, their reputation has suffered a - hopefully - fatal blow.
[Edited at 2014-07-10 15:09 GMT]
| | | | | It's not fair | Jul 10, 2014 |
Michal Fabian wrote:
Sadly, my name is not Undisclosed Recipient.
I know, right? That guy and some other clown named "Translator" always seem to get all the offers.
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Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 01:34
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | According to the article: | Jul 11, 2014 |
"Shawe also reportedly has a suit pending against Elting in Delaware, accusing her of using more than $21 million in corporate cash on herself."
Think about that next time they want you to translate something and claim they can't pay more than .08 a word.
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 01:34
German to English
| Expect a price drop | Jul 11, 2014 |
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
"Shawe also reportedly has a suit pending against Elting in Delaware, accusing her of using more than $21 million in corporate cash on herself."
Think about that next time they want you to translate something and claim they can't pay more than .08 a word.
With a settlement like that, the price will drop 20%.
| | | | | very revealing | Jul 11, 2014 |
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
"Shawe also reportedly has a suit pending against Elting in Delaware, accusing her of using more than $21 million in corporate cash on herself."
Think about that next time they want you to translate something and claim they can't pay more than .08 a word.
Oh, no they can't. They are busy busy making money.
I found this part hilarious:
"But in her own lawsuit against Shawe, which was filed last month, Elting said she wanted him booted from their company’s Park Avenue offices because of his “increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior.” That included deciding unilaterally to issue bonuses and raises to some company employees"
Giving raises and bonuses to employees apparently constitutes "erratic and dangerous behavior" Ha!
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... next we will have a new reality TV show called “The Real Translators’ Bosses of New York”…
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| I can vouch for their having 3,000 employees... | Jul 11, 2014 |
... because the first (and last) time I did a job for them - maybe 600 words - every single one of them contacted me at some stage before, during or afterwards.
| | | | | 3000 employees is true | Jul 12, 2014 |
philgoddard wrote:
... because the first (and last) time I did a job for them - maybe 600 words - every single one of them contacted me at some stage before, during or afterwards.
They not only have a office in NYC, but in various countries. I've worked with several overseas offices including the one in NY, and the funniest thing is that they like to change PMs in the middle of the project.
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 01:34
Spanish to English
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| The good, the bad, and the ugly | Jul 15, 2014 |
I have had good and bad experiences with the company in question. Lately, I have been getting a lot of (well-paid) work from them, so I certainly hope that the legal settlement does *not* result in a drop in the rates they offer qualified translators (or, at least, to *this* qualified translator).
When I can earn between $60 and $110 an hour for my work, I call that good, and the company that pays me this kind of money merits my most sincere respect. Also worthy of such respect are... See more I have had good and bad experiences with the company in question. Lately, I have been getting a lot of (well-paid) work from them, so I certainly hope that the legal settlement does *not* result in a drop in the rates they offer qualified translators (or, at least, to *this* qualified translator).
When I can earn between $60 and $110 an hour for my work, I call that good, and the company that pays me this kind of money merits my most sincere respect. Also worthy of such respect are those PMs working for said company who repeatedly offer me such work, are highly responsive to my concerns, and who take great pains to avoid giving me the runaround.
Then of course, there is the other side of the coin: the lowball and insulting offers; exchanges over "potential projects" that go nowhere; non-responsiveness to e-mails; haggling over fees; ditzy PMs whose scant mental energies seem to be absorbed with everything other than facilitating the labor of serious translators; and childish faux-friendly e-mails with silly messages that offer ridiculous rates.
So, while I agree with nearly all of the criticism offered here and in other threads, I do feel compelled to object that the agency doesn't deserve to be smeared with such a broad brush. I am sure that many other translators feel the same way....
[Edited at 2014-07-15 15:57 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Robert Forstag wrote:
I have had good and bad experiences with the company in question. Lately, I have been getting a lot of (well-paid) work from them, so I certainly hope that the legal settlement does *not* result in a drop in the rates they offer qualified translators (or, at least, to *this* qualified translator).
When I can earn between $60 and $110 an hour for my work, I call that good, and the company that pays me this kind of money merits my most sincere respect. Also worthy of such respect are those PMs working for said company who repeatedly offer me such work, are highly responsive to my concerns, and who take great pains to avoid giving me the runaround.
Then of course, there is the other side of the coin: the lowball and insulting offers; exchanges over "potential projects" that go nowhere; non-responsiveness to e-mails; haggling over fees; ditzy PMs whose scant mental energies seem to be absorbed with everything other than facilitating the labor of serious translators; and childish faux-friendly e-mails with silly messages that offer ridiculous rates.
So, while I agree with nearly all of the criticism offered here and in other threads, I do feel compelled to object that the agency doesn't deserve to be smeared with such a broad brush. I am sure that many other translators feel the same way....
[Edited at 2014-07-15 15:57 GMT]
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, though. And speaking for me personally, the kind of inconsistency you mention would be enough to abandon ship. But perhaps I just have a low tolerance for bullshit.
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| It is a company with many small units | Jul 15, 2014 |
The reason for the inconsistency in operations is that this company grew explosively through a series of acquisitions during the past few years. In my experience, some of the companies that they acquired were and still are very good, they are working in a specific market area and more or less kept their operations as it was before the acquisition. The parent company has a lot of issues, and I am crossing my fingers that those issues would not have a ripple effect on the specialized units that ar... See more The reason for the inconsistency in operations is that this company grew explosively through a series of acquisitions during the past few years. In my experience, some of the companies that they acquired were and still are very good, they are working in a specific market area and more or less kept their operations as it was before the acquisition. The parent company has a lot of issues, and I am crossing my fingers that those issues would not have a ripple effect on the specialized units that are doing excellent work. ▲ Collapse
| | | | John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 01:34
Member (2008)
French to English
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| Tax problems | Jul 15, 2014 |
I have also had rather unusual experiences with this company and can't accept work from them any more. They have a local office and would issue POs from their local office to me (with their local office address on the PO), for jobs for local end clients.
Under local laws, this means that I am obliged to collect sales tax, since the transaction is entirely local.
However, the payment is sent from their New York office and they adamantly refuse to pay the local sales ta... See more I have also had rather unusual experiences with this company and can't accept work from them any more. They have a local office and would issue POs from their local office to me (with their local office address on the PO), for jobs for local end clients.
Under local laws, this means that I am obliged to collect sales tax, since the transaction is entirely local.
However, the payment is sent from their New York office and they adamantly refuse to pay the local sales tax, claiming (wrongly) that the transaction is an "export" and therefore exempt from sales tax. I checked with the tax department and they are clear that I must collect sales tax from them and remit it to my provincial government. Even if this company doesn't pay sales tax I am still liable for it.
So, since the client refuses to pay the sales tax they are legally obliged to pay, I can't do business with them. One of these days the tax department is going to knock on their door (and the doors of their local translators).
Somehow, this news report isn't all that surprising.
[Edited at 2014-07-15 22:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rita Pang
Canada
Local time: 01:34
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
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Moderator of this forum
JL01 wrote:
Aaaahhhh: journalism by the NY Daily News
3000 employees? Since are freelancers considered employes?
But what do you mean "not employees"? Heck, we even have to draft "motivation letters" in order to "apply" and be a part of the "team"!
And I should add, this company has contacted me, on several occasions, to translate something from English into Fulani. I had to go on Google as I first thought it was a Chinese dialect...no it was not, it's a language used in West Africa. Needless to say, I sent a bemused reply back to the PM(s) who reached out to me offering a whooping rate of $0.08 USD for working with English/Fulani.
[Edited at 2014-07-18 19:41 GMT]
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