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Jitka Trnková | Friday, 18 December 2015
“Why do I have to pay more than was agreed in the order?”
If the order for the translation or interpretation services hasn’t changed, i.e. the size of the translation, the delivery date or the scope and date for the interpretation, there is no reason to pay more for the services than was agreed in the original order.
Sometimes, however, it may be that you need to translate other texts, or you need the translation or interpretation sooner than you thought and was confirmed in the order. In this case, the change in price is justified and the translation agency, should accommodate you when negotiating new terms and conditions. If, however, there has been no change to the confirmed order, then a change in price is not allowed. The translation agency should thoroughly go through your order and calculate the price before they send you their offer. If the Agency makes a mistake in calculating the price, this is no reason for an additional increase in the cost of the translation or interpretation. Of course to err is human, and it may well be that some of the contracting parties made a mistake, but this is certainly no reason to change the price or other conditions immediately prior to the deadline for handing over the translation or other services, that is highly unprofessional. In conclusion, it can be said that if the terms and conditions have not changed compared with the original order, don’t pay more than was agreed in the order.
We don’t recognise the term “additional costs”. We invoice clients on the basis of the original order.
Jitka Trnková | Sunday, 6 December 2015
“How else can a translation agency help?”
Ask them! A translation agency can offer you lots of other services, the question is, how good will these services be. If you want to be sure of the quality of these services, don’t hesitate to ask whether the agency has experience with similar services. Try to ask the agency for references, naturally, they speak for themselves.
Apart from the usual interpretation and translation services, a professional translation agency can, for example, mediate language teaching, either courses for individuals, group courses or courses via Skype, copywriting, it can offer you the services of the graphic design studio with which it cooperates and even advertising services for your advertising campaign. It can even offer an Internet survey in Czech or a foreign language, if you so desire. It all depends on the ingenuity and willingness of the agency; if you have the right translation agency, then it can help you find even these additional services, which are not standard.
Don’t ask us what we can do, tell us what you need.
Jitka Trnková | Wednesday 25 November 2015
“I don’t want to pay for a translation in advance. Is that standard?”
What is standard for one translation agency need not necessarily be so at another. If you order a more extensive translation, count on the fact that the agency will want you to pay an advance on the translation due on the day the order is confirmed. This advance should be in the range 20 – 40 % of the total price for the translation.
There is no reason, however, to pay for translation or interpretation services in advance, even if you are a new client. The payment method for a translation is, however, an individual matter of the translation agency concerned. If you ask for a translation at more agencies, you can easily compare, which one makes you the best offer. You always have an option and if none of the offers from the translation agencies suit you, you can always ask others. Even if you aren’t satisfied with the other agencies, do not hesitate to get involved in internet discussions or ask your friends or colleagues, which translation agency they were satisfied with. Personal experience from someone in your circle is always the best solution and not just when searching for an appropriate agency. With our clients, which also include large corporations, we arrange the manner and date for paying invoices on an individual basis. We understand that large companies have a cycle of approving invoices, which can delay payment for a translation.
We issue the invoice on the day the translation is handed over. For clients who order more than 20,000 source words per month, we always invoice at the end of the month.
Jitka Trnková | Tuesday 10 November 2015
“I’ve ordered a translation of more than 200 standard pages. How about a discount?”
A discount is certainly always welcome, but we do not recommended asking the translation agency for a discount of more than 30 % of the total translation price so the translation quality doesn’t drop due to the translation being given to a less experienced translator who works at a lower rate.
We see discounts everywhere and unfortunately the sad reality is that we have learnt to make purchases according to adverts containing the expression “discount”. Nowadays a discount is seen as an obligation if you want to sell something. Good news for the customer, not so good for the vendor. We all need to get paid for our work, whether it involves translations or making bread rolls. From our point of view the only legitimate discount is a quantity discount, which is offered to the customer for the cost savings if it concerns an extensive translation. A large translation is a document containing 100 standard pages and more. The border of “large” differs for each translation agency. There is, however, a certain rule of thumb that if you ask for a translation in the range of 200 standard pages, the translation agency should take a discount into account in their price offer. The amount is, of course, an individual matter and depends on a number of factors and the options of the translation agency in question. We consider it adequate to provide a discount up to a maximum of 25 % of the total price for the translation. We offer clients other options and ideas to make savings as concerns translation or interpretation services. We won’t charge you for hidden extras, we try to be as helpful as possible to the customer.
Our translation agency provides discounts up to 25 % of the total price of the translation, that being for documents that are over 30 standard pages.
Jitka Trnková | Saturday, 31 October 2015
“The translation seems expensive, how do I negotiate with the agency about the price for the translation?”
You should know the price of the translation prior to ordering it. If you don’t, then we certainly do not recommended ordering a translation from such an agency because it may mean you end up paying a much higher price than you would have expected.
If, however, you do get into such a situation, a professional translation agency should explain exactly what the price includes and why it is set at this amount. Over the years that we have been active in the business we meet with more and more clients whose first reaction to our offer is that we are expensive. What does expensive actually mean? It is a relative concept. For some a T-shirt for CZK 2,000 is expensive, for others a T-shirt for CZK 200. We tell our clients that we are as expensive as the quality of our translations. And because we too are people, then the price can always be negotiated. If a client enquires about an extensive translation, then they automatically get a discount. In more than 80 % of the cases we don’t charge our long-standing clients a surcharge for express translations, if the situation does not require it. Don’t be afraid to ask a translation agency for a discount if you have a good reason. A translation agency, where everything is running as it should, will take up your query. Most translation agencies, however, won’t get back to you. Even this response to such an inquiry should be an impulse for you to ponder whether you have chosen the right translation agency for long-term cooperation.
We don’t sell discounts, we sell translations. We always try to find a common solution with the client, to the satisfaction of both parties.
Jitka Trnková | Wednesday, 21 October 2015
“I did not receive the translation by the deadline in the order.”
Step number 1. Ask the translation agency for its general terms and conditions!
The order becomes binding if it is confirmed by both parties. If there was a violation of certain provisions of the order, the procedure should follow the general terms and conditions of the agency concerned. For this reason the general terms and conditions are an integral part of the order. If you do not read these terms and conditions beforehand, or the translation agency doesn’t even have them written down, then you run the risk of your complaints not being addressed by anyone at all in the event that there is a problem due to the agency not complying with the order. If such a violation of the conditions by the translation agency then incurs some further damages that you want to address through the courts, you are in a very disadvantageous position. Even if the general provisions of the Commercial Code apply when concluding the contract (order), it may not always be specific enough to directly help you solve your problem. So, if the arranged deadline for delivering the translation was not met by the agency, you have the right to make a complaint about the translation. Once again, the procedure for such a case should be described in detail in the general terms and conditions of the given agency. If the delivery date for the translation has passed and you still don’t have your translation, contact the translation agency and find out why this situation occurred. Ideally, the agency will communicate with you, explain the reasons why this has occurred and negotiate a settlement. In this case the settlement should be a discount on the translation that was not delivered by the deadline arranged in the order, and in the event that you have incurred any more damage, the translation agency should willingly cooperate with you in seeking a solution for the damage incurred. In the less ideal case the agency will not communicate with you at all. In this case you should send your complaint to the agency in writing, and if there is still no response from the agency, then the only thing to do is to deal with this unpleasant matter through the courts.
In the 9 years of our existence we have dealt with just two complaints about the translation and interpretation services we provided, which, upon examination, were found to be baseless.
Jitka Trnková | Sunday 11 October 2015
“I’m not satisfied with the quality of the translation. What are my rights?”
Quality is important. It is even more important than the price. If you bear this in mind when ordering a translation, the translation costs that you will save are incalculable.
Translation quality is constantly discussed. Nowadays it is not entirely surprising. We are constantly bombarded by adverts of the ‘cheap and quality’ kind. Personally, I think that whatever is cheap, can’t be good-quality. Quality means that the goods we purchase have a certain guarantee of the characteristics that are specific for these goods. If, however, the goods are significantly cheaper than the price that the competition sells for, it’s an indication that during the manufacture of the product something was “slimmed down”, some components were replaced by other, less expensive ones, so we can hardly talk about quality. It works just the same in the case of translation quality. A few years ago the ISO certification was introduced and it was a step in the right direction. Today, however, the importance of these certificates is dubious if one knows what lies behind the certification process and the subsequent quality control. Of course we don’t want to claim that certification is unnecessary. It is an indication of the quality of a product or service, this, however, is not always the case everywhere. So, how can you recognise that the translation agency you’re planning to cooperate with will provide a good-quality translation? The basis is communication. We have already mentioned several times that the speed of the response to your demand or the subsequent speed of communication is the agency’s calling card, and it should also be the first indication that everything in the translation agency is working as it should. If you order a translation of a manual, instructions, brochures, or any technical translation, the translation agency should automatically offer you a translation using CAT tools. These are programs the translator uses to translate in order to guarantee uniform terminology and thus translation quality. Moreover the translator saves the terms translated and creates a ‘translation memory’ for further use; so if you order a translation of a similar manual or instructions, the terminology will be the same. Another sign of translation quality is the price. If the translation agency offers a price significantly lower than that made by the competition, there’s something wrong. There are many reasons why an agency will offer you the cheapest translation. Perhaps the most serious is the fact that the price they offer you is so low because the translators for this agency translate for very low prices. A good-quality translator, however, has no reason to under-price themselves. Therefore, it is entirely up to you as to whether you prefer a low-cost translation over a good-quality one, because, in my opinion, you can’t get both at the same time. If you order a cheap translation and you are not satisfied with its quality, once again the basic rules to follow are the translation agency’s general terms and conditions. These should show you how to proceed in the event of a complaint about the translation. If the agency does not have such terms and conditions, you need to inform it of the procedure that will follow when exercising your rights. The agency has the translation checked by an independent translator, and, if it is confirmed that the translation was really of poor quality, the standard should be re-translating the translation at the expense of the translation agency. However, after your experiences with a poor-quality translation, it is entirely up to you, whether or not you want to let the same agency correct the translation or arrange a significant discount and get it translated elsewhere. This, of course, is the best solution if you want to avoid further problems with translation quality.
Our general terms and conditions contain more than 12 pages of detailed information. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.
Jitka Trnková | Thursday 1 October 2015
“I’m looking for a court interpreter. Who should I turn to?”
If you inquire about an interpreter at an agency, they will always ask whether you need a court interpreter or not. This way you can save up to 60 % of the total price for interpreting.
There are several types of interpretation, as a general rule, however, there are 2 types of interpretation, those being ordinary and court interpretation. You can use the services of an interpreter without certification for trade negotiations with foreign partners. Court interpretation, i.e., interpretation by an interpreter appointed by the court (see point 9.), is necessary when dealing with the authorities. The most frequent example of this kind of interpretation is interpreting when recognising the paternity of a foreign father at the registry office. Interpretation can be carried out in the CR or abroad, which has a direct effect on the rates for the interpretation services. An interpreter interpreting in the CR will invoice you for transport to and from the place of interpretation, meals, or accommodation, if the interpreting takes place over several days. If you need an interpreter for a trip abroad, you should pay for the interpreter’s transport, accommodation, meals and the compulsory work breaks. You can find a list of certified court interpreters at www.justice.cz, where you can choose the interpreter according to the district that best suits you. It is recommended, however, that this service also be ordered through a translation agency, because it will have tried and tested interpreters who always do good-quality work. If you are not satisfied with the quality of the interpretation, the translation Agency’s general terms and conditions will give you precise instructions on how to make a complaint. If you are not sure what kind of interpretation you need, don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll explain everything.
We have been working with certified interpreters for several years now and they are all professionals in their own fields.
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