Pages in topic:   [1 2] >
Poll: How many Blue Board ratings have you made for outsourcers you've worked with?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jun 20, 2017

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many Blue Board ratings have you made for outsourcers you've worked with?".

View the poll results »



 
Angus Stewart
Angus Stewart  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:08
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
Only once Jun 20, 2017

Only once in order to alert fellow translators to a formerly good agency that had over time become a non-payer.

 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:08
Member (2006)
German to English
No idea, Jun 20, 2017

and I am not going to take a look now anyway.
I do look at the blueboard now and again, but after having made "negative" ratings for a couple of companies and ProZ told me to delete them or ProZ deleted them by themselves, I do not really bother with it any more.
Thanks ProZ, you should be there for us, and not the non / bad payers!

[Edited at 2017-06-20 09:24 GMT]


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 23:08
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
29 Jun 20, 2017

3 were negative...

 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:08
French to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Most of my clients Jun 20, 2017

I try to make an entry for all the clients I've worked for at all regularly over the years, favourable or otherwise, as a guide to others.
I find the Blue Board one of Proz's most useful features and the more entries translators make the more useful it will be for everyone - in theory, at least.


 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:08
Member (2006)
German to English
Agree Jun 20, 2017

Jenny Forbes wrote:

I try to make an entry for all the clients I've worked for at all regularly over the years, favourable or otherwise, as a guide to others.
I find the Blue Board one of Proz's most useful features and the more entries translators make the more useful it will be for everyone - in theory, at least.


But only if ProZ does not change the negative entries.


 
Ricki Farn
Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 00:08
English to German
Most of my clients Jun 20, 2017

Actually, I do it when fishing for LWA's. I give you one, you give me one. Is that bad?

I tried to make one negative entry, which resulted in the issue being solved very fast, but I think it was a genuine communication problem - a company where orphaned email exchanges remained after some employee(s) left, and the others were too overworked to complete them. Just the attempt at a "one" BlueBoard rating got people goin
... See more
Actually, I do it when fishing for LWA's. I give you one, you give me one. Is that bad?

I tried to make one negative entry, which resulted in the issue being solved very fast, but I think it was a genuine communication problem - a company where orphaned email exchanges remained after some employee(s) left, and the others were too overworked to complete them. Just the attempt at a "one" BlueBoard rating got people going.
Collapse


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
None Jun 20, 2017

Surely the whole point of working for agencies is that once you've bagged that elusive first job they are overwhelmed by your brilliance and go on to send you regular work, so you only need a handful of them as customers and only need to replace one every few years.

I couldn't face a life of endless piddling one-offs for countless random agencies dotted around the world, whatever their Blue Board ratings.


 
Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 19:08
Spanish to English
+ ...
Censorship of negative comments and combatting built-in positive bias Jun 20, 2017

Michael Harris wrote:

Jenny Forbes wrote:

I try to make an entry for all the clients I've worked for at all regularly over the years, favourable or otherwise, as a guide to others.
I find the Blue Board one of Proz's most useful features and the more entries translators make the more useful it will be for everyone - in theory, at least.


But only if ProZ does not change the negative entries.


The easiest workaround is to submit an entry of "1" or "2" without comment.

The value of the BB would also improve if translators would self-impose a rule of not submitting any entry of "4" or "5" until they have collaborated at least 5 times with the rated outsourcer.


 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:08
Member (2006)
German to English
True Jun 20, 2017

Robert Forstag wrote:

Michael Harris wrote:

Jenny Forbes wrote:

I try to make an entry for all the clients I've worked for at all regularly over the years, favourable or otherwise, as a guide to others.
I find the Blue Board one of Proz's most useful features and the more entries translators make the more useful it will be for everyone - in theory, at least.


But only if ProZ does not change the negative entries.


The easiest workaround is to submit an entry of "1" or "2" without comment.

The value of the BB would also improve if translators would self-impose a rule of not submitting any entry of "4" or "5" until they have collaborated at least 5 times with the rated outsourcer.


But in one of my cases, several translators all had the same problem with the agency as I did, with the same simple non-payer comment, and one day all of these ratings were deleted.
And why should a translator have 5 non-payments before rating a company as non-payer? And if several other translators also have the same problem then I find that we should be able to warn others?


 
Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 19:08
Spanish to English
+ ...
@Michael Jun 20, 2017

I hope that someone from this site can give you a satisfactory answer to your questions.

My understanding is that even one instance of non-payment is grounds for a complaint to proz.com staff, and that two instances of verified non-payment constitute grounds for being prohibited from posting jobs on proz.com.

In the meantime, given the high probability that any rating accompanied by substantive negative comments will be deleted, the most practical workaround is to submi
... See more
I hope that someone from this site can give you a satisfactory answer to your questions.

My understanding is that even one instance of non-payment is grounds for a complaint to proz.com staff, and that two instances of verified non-payment constitute grounds for being prohibited from posting jobs on proz.com.

In the meantime, given the high probability that any rating accompanied by substantive negative comments will be deleted, the most practical workaround is to submit a negative rating without comment.

Such ratings should constitute a red flag for any translator contemplating work with the agency in question, and they can always contact the rater for the gory details.

The glaring inconsistency in the Blue Board is that while many negative comments are not permitted, no translators wishing to post high ratings accompanied by the most lavish of encomiums are prevented from doing so - even when such evaluations are based on completion of a single small project.
Collapse


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:08
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
17 Jun 20, 2017

Out of those 17 entries, 4 were negative, e. g. 1. To my knowledge, they're still there.

The only time I make entries is after at least half a dozen projects and when everything went smoothly. Personally, I don't believe in the "back scratching policy". Since I do look at the BB before I accept a job from an unknown customer, I'd like to think that (most of) the entries are honest and based on solid facts, that is, (to a certain degree) being genuine information that helps translato
... See more
Out of those 17 entries, 4 were negative, e. g. 1. To my knowledge, they're still there.

The only time I make entries is after at least half a dozen projects and when everything went smoothly. Personally, I don't believe in the "back scratching policy". Since I do look at the BB before I accept a job from an unknown customer, I'd like to think that (most of) the entries are honest and based on solid facts, that is, (to a certain degree) being genuine information that helps translators to "evaluate" the customer a little better.

I know that this might be a little blue-eyed, at least when it comes to certain agencies that produce some 10 "5" ratings out of the blue after a couple "1" ratings, but as professionals only true entries should be made after a longer collaboration with that customer.

[Edited at 2017-06-20 15:24 GMT]
Collapse


 
Anne Bohy
Anne Bohy  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 00:08
English to French
Proz should have these data Jun 20, 2017

Thinking about it, I gave the wrong answer, but Proz should have the correct one.
HENCE: what's the use of such a poll?


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:08
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
:D Jun 20, 2017

bohy wrote:

HENCE: what's the use of such a poll?


Or of several other polls.


 
Alejandro Cavalitto
Alejandro Cavalitto  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 20:08
Member (2008)
English to Spanish
+ ...
LWA entries sometimes need to be updated to remain accurate Jun 20, 2017

Hello,

I just wanted to step in to clarify the issues raised here.

Michael Harris wrote:

and I am not going to take a look now anyway.
I do look at the blueboard now and again, but after having made "negative" ratings for a couple of companies and ProZ told me to delete them or ProZ deleted them by themselves, I do not really bother with it any more.
Thanks ProZ, you should be there for us, and not the non / bad payers!

[Edited at 2017-06-20 09:24 GMT]


I looked into this and found that one of your negative LWA ratings was removed after payment was received. Since you stated in your entry that payment had not been made, it was no longer accurate. You were invited to make a new entry describing the current state of affairs when the entry was removed.

Other negative LWA entries you made were not removed or altered in any way, because they were in line with site rules and need not be modified.

If I missed any case where you think action was wrongfully taken by a member of site staff, please let me know and I will look into it. Note that mentioning outsourcers by name in the forums is not permitted, but please submit a support request to contact me. Thank you.

Best regards,
Alejandro


 
Pages in topic:   [1 2] >


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Jared Tabor[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Poll: How many Blue Board ratings have you made for outsourcers you've worked with?






CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »
TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »