Poll: Has a client ever cancelled a project before the deadline but after you had finished the work?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Mar 20, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Has a client ever cancelled a project before the deadline but after you had finished the work?".

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Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:10
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other... Mar 20, 2018

I have a dim memory that that may have happened once.. On the other hand, I've had a job canceled more than once after I've started it.

[Edited at 2018-03-20 09:50 GMT]


 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:10
German to English
+ ...
How is that even possible? Mar 20, 2018

Well, I suppose that it is possible, but that project would be paid in full.

 
Angus Stewart
Angus Stewart  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:10
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
Yes, once Mar 20, 2018

It happened to me once that an end client attempted to cancel the translation of one out of two documents I had delivered to the agency well in advance of the deadline, but before the proofreader had been able to perform her task. The agency simple delivered the translated document to them, minus the proofreading of the cancelled document. The end client accepted that they were too late in attempting to cancel the project and they paid up.

 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 15:10
English to Italian
Yes, more than once Mar 20, 2018

About 4/5 times, and they have always paid the work done

 
Joeri Van Liefferinge
Joeri Van Liefferinge  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 15:10
English to Dutch
+ ...
More than once... Mar 20, 2018

...but I have always been paid for my work.

[Bijgewerkt op 2018-03-20 09:09 GMT]


 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 15:10
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
Other Mar 20, 2018

I think a couple of times in the middle of a project, but I was always paid for the work done.

 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:10
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes, once or twice Mar 20, 2018

Like Muriel I have a faint memory of this happening maybe once or twice, but in my case it was cancelled a few hours after receiving it. When I worked as a sworn translator more than once the client never returned to pick up the translation…

 
Anne Schulz
Anne Schulz
Germany
Local time: 15:10
English to German
+ ...
Yes, once, ... Mar 20, 2018

... but a tiny once: The client found out that they actually did not need the smallest out of a bunch of documents (about 150 words), and the agency informed me about it and offered to pay for it should I have done the translation already. I had, but I decided not to charge them because they are always on the generous side and never jump at opportunities (true or far-fetched) to cut down on payments. Plus, I was fairly sure that they, for their part, would not charge their important client.

 
ael
ael  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:10
English to Spanish
+ ...
But Mar 20, 2018

Like others have said: It has happened, but I've always been paid in full for whatever portions I had already completed.

 
Peter Simon
Peter Simon  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 15:10
English to Hungarian
+ ...
No but Mar 21, 2018

once in the middle of my work - for which then I was paid.

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:10
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes, more than once. Mar 23, 2018

I usually calculate a deadline a with a few extra days, and I usually deliver my jobs early. So when this kind of thing happen — and it has happened quite a few times — many times I have either finished the job or a great part of it.
In all cases, the clients have agreed to pay proportionally for whatever I had done so far. In one occasion, it was an agency, and the client cancelled the job without pay. The agency was willing to pay me proportional, but it was a good and regular client
... See more
I usually calculate a deadline a with a few extra days, and I usually deliver my jobs early. So when this kind of thing happen — and it has happened quite a few times — many times I have either finished the job or a great part of it.
In all cases, the clients have agreed to pay proportionally for whatever I had done so far. In one occasion, it was an agency, and the client cancelled the job without pay. The agency was willing to pay me proportional, but it was a good and regular client (it still is), and I told them if the client wouldn't pay them, I wouldn't charge them either. They never got paid and I never invoiced it. It wasn't a big project anyway.
The bad part is when you refuse other jobs because you have already booked your time for this cancelled project. This has also happened a few times, but it's something we are subject to and must be prepared to. We are all subject to "Force Majeure", including our clients.

[Edited at 2018-03-23 01:41 GMT]
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Poll: Has a client ever cancelled a project before the deadline but after you had finished the work?






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