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Agency delaying payment - What can I do?
Thread poster: S_G_C
S_G_C
S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 17:55
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER
Money received Jul 4, 2017

I received the money on June 30th. By international bank transfer. In my previous discussions with the company, they insured me bank fees are not a concern. My bank does not apply cash-in commissions. However, there's 25 USD missing from the amount. I'm trying to see where they have gone. I fear it is a commission of the issuing bank. If this is the case, nobody told me such commissions are my responsibility.

 
Rita Pang
Rita Pang  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 11:55
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
+ ...

Moderator of this forum
See below Jul 4, 2017

Sorana_M. wrote:

I received the money on June 30th.


This happened to me twice where the client promised to cover the fees. I calculated the fees and added them to the invoice. Somehow, the middle man (the bank) still charged a certain fee despite my speaking to their CS sometime ago to verify the costs. My home back did confirm that it is not always 100% possible to guarantee that no fees will be charged from the other side. The same goes for “the other side”.

Honestly…while 25 USD could be a lot of money, it’s just 25 USD. At least it’s not 250 USD, and I would suggest looking on the bright side. You got paid, after all. Just let it go and work on figuring out all these fees and costs structure in the future.


 
S_G_C
S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 17:55
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER
Bank fees Jul 4, 2017

I was right, bank charges. Which bank, I don't know.

25 USD is less than 40 USD, but it's still MY money, MY work.

They keep saying they sent the full amount and paid the bank fee on their side separately.

So who the hell stole my 25 USD?


 
Rita Pang
Rita Pang  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 11:55
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
+ ...

Moderator of this forum
Why would they lie to you? Jul 4, 2017

Sorana_M. wrote:

I was right, bank charges. Which bank, I don't know.

25 USD is less than 40 USD, but it's still MY money, MY work.

They keep saying they sent the full amount and paid the bank fee on their side separately.

So who the hell stole my 25 USD?


Why would they lie to you?

Seriously…it’s 25 USD. That’s right, it’s only 25 USD. For an agency of decent reputation (which seems to be the case as you’ve mentioned before), this amount of money is a drop in the ocean. There’s no point for them to lie to a service provider over so trivial an amount. The time it takes for them to explain themselves, should a service provider ever ask, isn’t worth the USD 25.

The only way I can see something fishy happening is if they were to use PayPal, where the agency could have easily clicked on a button which transferred the fees to you. However, if the transaction fees are to be shared between the sender and the recipient, and this was agreed to in your correspondence with the agency, I would think the deduction was with the sending OR the receiving bank.

As much I am sorry to hear about your loss, I think it’s completely pointless for you to dwell on this. There’s no need to convince us here. I would think a lot of us would have experienced a similar issue where a certain sum (big, or small) was deducted from our payment despite prior agreements or amounts invoiced in black and white. You might as well channel that energy into finding more quality clients, or checking with the bank and understand where and why this happened. Sorry to be blunt but that’s what I would do if I were you. It’s not about the 25 USD, it’s the fact that my time is much more valuable going into figuring out why things are, as I can then avoid having the same happen to me in the future.

Have a nice day.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:55
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
They are probably telling the truth Jul 4, 2017

Sorana_M. wrote:
They keep saying they sent the full amount and paid the bank fee on their side separately.

So who the hell stole my 25 USD?

It will have been taken by an intermediary bank. It happens when the two banks don't have an agreement and procedures for direct transfers. In those cases the money goes via one of the big international banks, and they charge for the service. It's annoying - at the very least - but it happens.


 
S_G_C
S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 17:55
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER
Indeed Jul 4, 2017

Sheila Wilson wrote:

It will have been taken by an intermediary bank. It happens when the two banks don't have an agreement and procedures for direct transfers. In those cases the money goes via one of the big international banks, and they charge for the service. It's annoying - at the very least - but it happens.


That's what my bank said as well. They also said neither the issuing bank, nor the receiving bank can control these separate charges.


 
Clarisa Moraña
Clarisa Moraña  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:55
Member (2002)
English to Spanish
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international transaction fees! Jul 4, 2017

Sorana

I'm glad you finally received the money. Regarding the 25USD less, that's usual in every monetary translation all around the world. There is always an amount to be paid (because of taxes, or foreign currency transactions or just bank fees). I always tell young translators that when you are translating for a foreign country, a 100 USD invoice will never be 100 USD in their hands: a certain amount is lost. This is similar of a shop when accepting credit cards, while you are cha
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Sorana

I'm glad you finally received the money. Regarding the 25USD less, that's usual in every monetary translation all around the world. There is always an amount to be paid (because of taxes, or foreign currency transactions or just bank fees). I always tell young translators that when you are translating for a foreign country, a 100 USD invoice will never be 100 USD in their hands: a certain amount is lost. This is similar of a shop when accepting credit cards, while you are charged X amount, the shop will receive X - Y (bank fees). It might seen unfair for us, unfair for the shop but we are paying for banking services, which are in fact, a business.

Regards

Clarisa

[Edited at 2017-07-04 16:56 GMT]
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S_G_C
S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 17:55
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER
Current situation Jul 21, 2017

I'm intrigued.

I received the money on June 30th, like I said. Before that, I had warned the agency that I wouldn't be accepting any other project before the matter was solved. They seemed to overlook my warning, as they sent me a new project shortly after. I declined the project and restated my decision not to accept further projects. Soon after they made the payment.

But I haven't heard from them since.

I admit that our communication got harsher from my s
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I'm intrigued.

I received the money on June 30th, like I said. Before that, I had warned the agency that I wouldn't be accepting any other project before the matter was solved. They seemed to overlook my warning, as they sent me a new project shortly after. I declined the project and restated my decision not to accept further projects. Soon after they made the payment.

But I haven't heard from them since.

I admit that our communication got harsher from my side because of the the delay issue. I didn't use inappropriate language or anything of the like, but I acted quite pushy and fear I have given them the feeling I hold them solely responsible for the entire situation. We "parted" on good terms, they said they would send suitable work when it came along, however...

At the same time, I still wonder, would they have made the payment if I hadn't taken that decision?

Now they owe me a small amount - due by July 25th. They used to pay small amounts before the final term. So I don't know what to believe now.

Is this an elegant way to discard me?
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S_G_C
S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 17:55
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER
Time lag Jul 22, 2017

I wrote the post above on July 21st, at around 5 p.m. my time. It's July 22nd, 1 p.m. my time and it hasn't been approved yet. This is frustrating. I don't understand these time lags. 4 more hours and 24 hours would have passed.

 
Maija Cirule
Maija Cirule  Identity Verified
Latvia
Local time: 17:55
German to English
+ ...
you made such a loud and public fuss Jul 22, 2017

about a temporary problem with an agency that has never delayed payments before and you believe that they are going to use your services in the future??? You are kidding, aren't you?

 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:55
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
But it was already the weekend in Chins Jul 22, 2017

Sorana_M. wrote:

I wrote the post above on July 21st, at around 5 p.m. my time. It's July 22nd, 1 p.m. my time and it hasn't been approved yet. This is frustrating. I don't understand these time lags. 4 more hours and 24 hours would have passed.

I don't suppose anything will happen until Monday. But it isn't due until Tuesday, is it? Isn't Wednesday the very first day you could reasonably send a reminder? Whatever their past habits you have no right to expect payment until the due date.


 
S_G_C
S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 17:55
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER
I don't get it Jul 22, 2017

The "Money matters" section is full of loud and public fusses. I don't get it, we aren't supposed to express such concerns, lest we might lose our clients?

 
Katalin Horváth McClure
Katalin Horváth McClure  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:55
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Sheila, you misunderstood Jul 23, 2017

Sheila Wilson wrote:

Sorana_M. wrote:

I wrote the post above on July 21st, at around 5 p.m. my time. It's July 22nd, 1 p.m. my time and it hasn't been approved yet. This is frustrating. I don't understand these time lags. 4 more hours and 24 hours would have passed.

I don't suppose anything will happen until Monday. But it isn't due until Tuesday, is it? Isn't Wednesday the very first day you could reasonably send a reminder? Whatever their past habits you have no right to expect payment until the due date.

She was talking about her own post in this forum, not any communication with that outsourcer in China.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:55
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
My mistake Jul 23, 2017

Katalin Horváth McClure wrote:
Sheila Wilson wrote:
Sorana_M. wrote:
I wrote the post above on July 21st, at around 5 p.m. my time. It's July 22nd, 1 p.m. my time and it hasn't been approved yet. This is frustrating. I don't understand these time lags. 4 more hours and 24 hours would have passed.
I don't suppose anything will happen until Monday. But it isn't due until Tuesday, is it? Isn't Wednesday the very first day you could reasonably send a reminder? Whatever their past habits you have no right to expect payment until the due date.

She was talking about her own post in this forum, not any communication with that outsourcer in China.

Thanks, Katalin. I was confused at the time, but I imagined the implication was that she'd also contacted them then. But I see now that it was just about the posting to the thread.

@ Sorana: You can verify your identity with the site, I believe. I think that's all you have to do to avoid having to wait for all your posts to be moderated, although becoming a paying member would certainly do the trick.


 
Maija Cirule
Maija Cirule  Identity Verified
Latvia
Local time: 17:55
German to English
+ ...
Such a fuss about an one week delay is something unheard of Jul 24, 2017

Sorana_M. wrote:

The "Money matters" section is full of loud and public fusses. I don't get it, we aren't supposed to express such concerns, lest we might lose our clients?


Sorry and no offense intended but your behaviour is rather strange to put it mildly and I'm almost 100 percent sure that you have lost this client and any potential clients who may come across your comprehensive ranting and accusations regarding "stealing" your money, etc.

If I were you, I would quiet down for a while and spend my time more productively. As I said, no offence meant, just a friendly advice.

[Edited at 2017-07-24 08:31 GMT]


 
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