Poor quality of a job by freelancer. What should I do?

Sergey G · Mar 20, 2018 01:00:20 PM

I didn’t approve the work yet. Decided to check with native speaking person before closure.

Out of interest I’ve checked the translation with google translate and the text by 95% is the same. So, from my perspective it is not simple “poor translation”, it is already a fraud...

Write feedback to freelancer, waited for one day, received no answer, closed the contract without payment, waiting for reaction.

Rene K · Mar 20, 2018 01:51:24 PM

@Sergey G wrote:

Write feedback to freelancer, waited for one day, received no answer, closed the contract without payment, waiting for reaction.

Beware, if the milestone was founded, it'll auto release. You may want to dispute it. Not all of it otherwise the feedback won't display on their profile.

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light" —William Ashbless

Bill H · Mar 21, 2018 07:49:38 AM

Sergay,

I use Google Translate only when I already know the answer. That may sound strange, but in many languages there are multiple terms for the same thing, often with nuances. I'll check for other terms that I hadn't considered.

The other case is when I'm not certain of a verb's infinitive. Conjugation differs based on the infinitive. I speak French well enough to get arrested in at least eleven countries, but conjugating French verbs has been a life-long challenge.

Some percentage matfch with Google Translate is inevitable, even in an expert translation. 95% is just too much. Yes, pay something, and leave a scathing evaluation.

Jennifer R · Mar 21, 2018 09:42:51 AM

Google translations into German are full of mistakes. Often pronomes are translated wrong and the sentence structure is off. You can try to use it as a dictionary but then you only get one translation that is probably wrong.

Luce N · Mar 23, 2018 04:10:53 PM

Never had a look at Google translate. I don't expect much from it.

If I were to hire a translator, I would check the feedback he or she were given, diplomas mentioned, results of tests. I would certainly not just look for cheap work, it's probably not worth it.

Jennifer R · Mar 23, 2018 04:42:23 PM

@Luce N wrote:
Never had a look at Google translate. I don't expect much from it.

If I were to hire a translator, I would check the feedback he or she were given, diplomas mentioned, results of tests. I would certainly not just look for cheap work, it's probably not worth it.

When it is the first job with a freelancer who translates into a language you are not fluent in, I recomment to have it checked by a reliable translator. Never trust a translator you do not know.

Feedback: Many clients cannot really judge the quality of a translation and give 5* because it is so easy. You really have to search for worthy feedback.

Diplomas: My German degree (Diplom) equals a MA but is cannot be selected. I am not sure if they are checked at all.

Test results: Do you seriously trust a translator who is first place in the spelling test for THREE different languages and TWO translation test all below 20 minutes? That person is only no 1 when using google.

Luce N · Mar 23, 2018 08:10:03 PM

@Jennifer R wrote:

When it is the first job with a freelancer who translates into a language you are not fluent in, I recomment to have it checked by a reliable translator. Never trust a translator you do not know.

Feedback: Many clients cannot really judge the quality of a translation and give 5* because it is so easy. You really have to search for worthy feedback.
Diplomas: My German degree (Diplom) equals a MA but is cannot be selected. I am not sure if they are checked at all.
Test results: Do you seriously trust a translator who is first place in the spelling test for THREE different languages and TWO translation test all below 20 minutes? That person is only no 1 when using google.

I agree with you, it would be a good idea to have the first translations of a new freelancer checked.

Feedback: yes, these are not the most reliable opinions, but someone who has done many translations for different clients and has good feedback can't be too bad.

Diplomas: I have the French equivalent of a MA and say so on my profile. I don't really understand why you say it can't be selected. What I mean is that in most instances, someone who has never studied translation is not a very good translator. As anything else, translation is something you learn to do.

Test results: yes, the tests are not very reliable, and some people are stupid enough to cheat on them. Have you had a look at the videos giving the answers to the tests on YouTube? However, when someone gets a really good result for a test done in very little time, chances are that person knows what he/she is doing.

Prashant P · Mar 23, 2018 08:15:30 PM

@Luce N wrote:
Never had a look at Google translate. I don't expect much from it.

Actually, it is not that bad if i just want spend a buck or two for a 10 page translation.

Luce N · Mar 23, 2018 08:28:22 PM

@Prashant P wrote:

Actually, it is not that bad if i just want spend a buck or two for a 10 page translation.

How do you know Google translate is not that bad?

But I must admit that as I really don't like the company Google, and I try to avoid using Google products.

Prashant P · Mar 23, 2018 09:42:38 PM

@Luce N wrote:
@Prashant P wrote:

Actually, it is not that bad if i just want spend a buck or two for a 10 page translation.
How do you know Google translate is not that bad?

Well some of the non English websites i visit on Chrome. it has that thing that asks me do you want to translate this page? And does the translation for me and I can read/understand the page.