Agency check: Epic Translations
Carl Freire
Has anyone ever done business with Epic Translations and
Transcriptions of Detroit?
http://www.epictranslations.com/
I'd like to get your impressions of what they're like to work with, please.
Many thanks.
Carl
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**********
Carl Freire
carlpfreire /[@]* ybb.ne.jp
cfreire /[@]* ix.netcom.com
Tokyo, Japan
Nora Stevens Heath
> Has anyone ever done business with Epic Translations and
> Transcriptions of Detroit?
Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I have not. In fact--and this may be a
red flag for you--I haven't even heard of them, despite having lived in
metro Detroit all my life.
Nora
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Nora Stevens Heath <no...@fumizuki.com>
J-E translations: http://www.fumizuki.com/
Samuel Spiteri
heard of Epic.
-Sam Spiteri
Karen Sandness
International, headquartered in the outer suburbs of Minneapolis until
they asked to me work on some discovery documents, but they turned out
to be dependable and professional.
They may simply be a startup.
Karen Sandness
sandnes...@gmail.com
Joel
I have not worked with Epic but actually used to follow them on
Twitter.
That being said, I still cannot answer your question, but perhaps
something in the twitter feed can clue you in.
Joel Dechant
Andy Lausberg
I responded in some detail, providing a rates offering that I normally offer as a rate-negotiating starting point. I was quite surprised and dismayed to read the 'President's' comeback offer was the equivalent of around 5 ~ 6 cents per word English. (He said their budget is USD 0.03 per Korean character.) So at least I can say that my initial impression of this company (person) is not favorable in any sense. Granted, this impression is not base on any work relationship, just the rates offering.
Having a look at feedback on a translation directory website I am member to, there was feedback offered from around 12 translators, about 50% of which was quite negative, citing non-payment issues, delays in payment for 60, 90 days, feeble excuses, and non-payment at all in some cases. The other 50% was positive, paid on time and in full, reasonable deadlines, etc, etc.
Hope this helps.
Andrew Lausberg, B.A., Grad. Dip.
Korean, Japanese and English Translation
laus...@oceanreach.org
61-4-6656-9621 (Australia)
Carl Freire
>I just yesterday corresponded with the 'President' of Epic, in
>response to an unsolicited email calling for Korean to English
>translators.
Interesting note. I actually sent an e-mail to them yesterday asking
them for more details about their business model. Their website
leaves me a little cold; moreover, given that they found my name in a
database and apparently just added the basics from there to their own
database (with an invitation to flesh it out), I'm left to wonder
about the quality of their relationships with both contractors and
clients. Especially since they claim to be able to connect with
*20,000* translators--simply harvesting a name from a database and
adding it to your own does not a connection make.
Smells like a startup with some young staff (read the blog--I hear
the voice of someone who's sincerely trying to sound experienced and
thoughtful, the key word being "trying") who may have some
translation biz experience but really haven't sorted out how this
business thing works, particularly when it comes to knowing what you
need to do to build up a good reputation for yourself.
Cheers,
Peter Tuffley
Sounds like just the sort of outfit not to have any dealings with unless and until they are able to have, as Carl puts it, "sorted out how this business thing works, particularly when it comes to knowing what you need to do to build up a good reputation for yourself" -- and to have actually survived that process and achieved the building up of such a reputation. What one above all does not wish is to become one of the bumps and glitches on their learning curve, as it were...
I would opt for a tactful way of declining any work from them.
FWIW
Peter