| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] > | Geoworkz Thread poster: Ali Bayraktar
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Birgit Wilpers 
Germany
Local time: 18:41
Member (2011)
English to German
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I am very glad that I read this topic as I had a look at their website today (because of their advertising here on proZ). However, I was wondering about their "fees" because to me they seemed to be too high. (around 270 Euro for one year and you even have a word limit! of 30.000 words).
I was always in doubt of translation platforms who take money from translators just for the possibility to submit quotes or get potential jobs. Since when do you have to pay such an amount in order t... See more I am very glad that I read this topic as I had a look at their website today (because of their advertising here on proZ). However, I was wondering about their "fees" because to me they seemed to be too high. (around 270 Euro for one year and you even have a word limit! of 30.000 words).
I was always in doubt of translation platforms who take money from translators just for the possibility to submit quotes or get potential jobs. Since when do you have to pay such an amount in order to work?
Lionbridge seems to be a NoGo!
Birgit ▲ Collapse
| | | | | geoworkz tantilizing offer hides a hook | Jul 24, 2011 |
I decided to check out Translation Workplace/ geoworkz after reading a job posting here on proz.com today that required downloading their software tool.
On the website, the business model and offering, Pay per Use, appealed to me because of the ups and down of translation work loads. The price, 10€ for 5000 words, is a modest investment to access services and tools from time to time.
I spent a bit of time reading through pages of services descriptions and almost got hooked, the ... See more I decided to check out Translation Workplace/ geoworkz after reading a job posting here on proz.com today that required downloading their software tool.
On the website, the business model and offering, Pay per Use, appealed to me because of the ups and down of translation work loads. The price, 10€ for 5000 words, is a modest investment to access services and tools from time to time.
I spent a bit of time reading through pages of services descriptions and almost got hooked, the description is so alluring (séduisant), captivating for a freelance translator working for various agencies each demanding their favorite software, T memories, formats etc.
I almost spent the 10€, but, had the good reflex to GooGle them and check what users are saying.
Thankfully, I found this thread on proz.com and saved myself some grief. Thank you all for sharing and bravo for solidarity among translators!
I agree their contract for service is very obscure, nowhere in the offer, is it clearly stated that even if you sign up for a just a month, you are still obliged to a 12 month subscription under penalty of cancellation fees. Even after reading the clauses concerning cancellation, you have to deduce this yourself from several confusing texts written in the negative form. The contract duration obligation is nowhere affirmed in any sentence (at least in the french version of contract).
Regards,
Lydie ▲ Collapse
| | | | Igor Indruch
Czech Republic
Local time: 18:41
English to Czech
| Also wanted to try... | Oct 10, 2011 |
Just to see what it is... When it came to payment method, I deliberately choose PayPal, because I did not want to give them my credit card info. But it was not sufficient and the system demanded "new credit card to be added". At this point I lost any interest, but because I did not know whether they would regard me as registered, I sent them this message:
Hi, I wanted to try the free trial, but when I choose PayPal, it wanted for me a new credit card. Under this condition I lost int... See more Just to see what it is... When it came to payment method, I deliberately choose PayPal, because I did not want to give them my credit card info. But it was not sufficient and the system demanded "new credit card to be added". At this point I lost any interest, but because I did not know whether they would regard me as registered, I sent them this message:
Hi, I wanted to try the free trial, but when I choose PayPal, it wanted for me a new credit card. Under this condition I lost interest in this product because it is not trustworthy. So, just to avoid confusion - I DO NOT WANT TO BE REGISTERED AND IF YOU ALREADY CREATED AN ACCOUNT FOR ME, I WANT TO CANCEL IT. AND IN NO WAY I AM GOING TO PAY YOU ANYTHING.
With regards
Igor Indruch ▲ Collapse
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Rodion Shein
Russian Federation
Local time: 20:41
English to Russian
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| An interesting marketing approach | Oct 12, 2011 |
Igor Indruch wrote:
Today I received an unexpected phone call from Lionbridge. A representative told that they might have a job for me, but I have to register for trial use of work space to see the info about the job.  ) Really, I do not play this kind of games...
And I am quite sorry, because I worked for Lionbridge in the past and it was OK. But this current practice it something I really do not like... 
This ProZ.com Wiki article identifies similar actions as scam.
What an interesting marketing approach.
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Igor Indruch wrote:
Today I received an unexpected phone call from Lionbridge. A representative told that they might have a job for me, but I have to register for trial use of work space to see the info about the job. ) Really, I do not play this kind of games...
Me neither.
Anyways, I'd like to see some numbers as to how many people have actually fallen for this trap.
| | | | | maybe I should get paid membership to Proz - after reading this | Oct 20, 2011 |
I also get these emails although I've never created an account with them. I just clicked their booth at last year's virtual conference. They seem to promise lots of job but when I checked out their job listings, there was nothing suitable for my language pairs (FR_EN, NL_EN). I agree, giving payment credentials just to test something sounds 'fishy'. Strange that Lionbridge is behind this, a company that's profiling itself as a major translator vendor. I wonder if their clients know what they are... See more I also get these emails although I've never created an account with them. I just clicked their booth at last year's virtual conference. They seem to promise lots of job but when I checked out their job listings, there was nothing suitable for my language pairs (FR_EN, NL_EN). I agree, giving payment credentials just to test something sounds 'fishy'. Strange that Lionbridge is behind this, a company that's profiling itself as a major translator vendor. I wonder if their clients know what they are up to.
Thanks for posting your reactions and warning other translators. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jenn Mercer
United States
Local time: 12:41
Member (2009)
French to English
| Save your money | Oct 20, 2011 |
You know what the worst part is? Geoworkz is not a particularly good translation environment. I wouldn't mind paying a _reasonable and fully disclosed_ fee IF it was worth the money. It just isn't. Compared to the other CAT tools I have used (Trados 2007, Studio, WordFast Classic & Pro), GeoWorkz is slow and lacking in basic features. We could have an entire discussion based solely on the merits of the program itself without touching on the unsavory business practices to determine that it is wor... See more You know what the worst part is? Geoworkz is not a particularly good translation environment. I wouldn't mind paying a _reasonable and fully disclosed_ fee IF it was worth the money. It just isn't. Compared to the other CAT tools I have used (Trados 2007, Studio, WordFast Classic & Pro), GeoWorkz is slow and lacking in basic features. We could have an entire discussion based solely on the merits of the program itself without touching on the unsavory business practices to determine that it is worthless. ▲ Collapse
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Gerry Vickers
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:41
Member (2007)
Czech to English
+ ...
| Just cancelled | Oct 25, 2011 |
I have recently been contacted by Lionbridge with quite an interesting job which seemingly involved quite a large amount of work. However, now it is all starting to come through the enormous amount of instructions which accompany each e-mail, involving endless extra steps - seemingly if a step is missed out then the job will not be paid - is making me wonder whether it is worth it. Life is just too short, and I am just playing with them now as I was getting answers to simple queries in the form... See more I have recently been contacted by Lionbridge with quite an interesting job which seemingly involved quite a large amount of work. However, now it is all starting to come through the enormous amount of instructions which accompany each e-mail, involving endless extra steps - seemingly if a step is missed out then the job will not be paid - is making me wonder whether it is worth it. Life is just too short, and I am just playing with them now as I was getting answers to simple queries in the form of 'you can find that information on page 47 of the translator's manual', which is only accessible on an ftp connection which requires a password and an extra username. I really can't be bothered with that sort of thing.
On top of this there is this 'geoworkz' business - I was led to believe that it is a pre-requisite of working with them that I use their translation tool, which I was reluctant to do, as it has taken me about 5 years to come to grips with Wordfast, and even though I probably only use about 5% of its functionality I am relatively happy with it - learning how to use a new tool would be a bit much for me; after all, I am a translator and not an IT specialist.
I was then called by a very nice man from India the other day who talked me through the process and I was a bit disconcerted when it came to the page where I had to enter my credit card details as this hadn't been mentioned before - naively I entered the information, having been assured that I could cancel at any time. No mention was made of any cancellation fee.
However, after having done a bit of research on this and other boards, I have decided to take him up on his offer to cancel - it is an easy enough transaction involving the pressing of one button, and I am glad I didn't wait until the cancellation fee kicks in. I probably wouldn't have used it anyway.
In 18 years of working in this business I have to say that I have never worked with an agency quite like this - after only about a week I have about 100 e-mails, each containing several pages of information as to how to name files/re-name them, use of various ftps, portals, passwords, user-names, etc ad nauseam. Whether this is on purpose or not, I don't know - I just wonder whether anybody else has a similar experience, or am I just thick ? 
[Edited at 2011-10-25 17:17 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Aviram Gang
Germany
Local time: 19:41
English to Hebrew
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| Does anyone have positive experience with this tool? | Nov 1, 2011 |
I got the same phone call today, and was even offered a discount of 50% for the first month. Sounds great – when you remember that the basic monthly payment is 10 Euros...
What should motivate a translator to work under such terms?
I am OK with agencies taking percentage on my work, but paying a fixed monthly fee for having the option to bid seems essentially unjust to me (in my case, a quick Marketplace search even showed that there aren't any jobs in my language pair on of... See more I got the same phone call today, and was even offered a discount of 50% for the first month. Sounds great – when you remember that the basic monthly payment is 10 Euros...
What should motivate a translator to work under such terms?
I am OK with agencies taking percentage on my work, but paying a fixed monthly fee for having the option to bid seems essentially unjust to me (in my case, a quick Marketplace search even showed that there aren't any jobs in my language pair on offer).
Is the basic concept wrong (from a translator's point of view) or did I miss something? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 18:41
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Jenn Mercer wrote:
You know what the worst part is? Geoworkz is not a particularly good translation environment. ... GeoWorkz is slow and lacking in basic features.
For how long have you used Geoworkz, Jenn?
| | | | | thank goodness that I read this! | Feb 14, 2012 |
Thanks for all contributions, as I was evaluating this service.
Indeed, a service it is not!
From the start I got the idea that these guys were just passing around translation assignments and were nothing more than a magnet for unknowing subscribers.
What I read here confirmed my ideas, and what a shame.
I tend to be weary of these "businesses" as the core designers seem to have no care about the actual translations themselves.
Reading about the poor s... See more Thanks for all contributions, as I was evaluating this service.
Indeed, a service it is not!
From the start I got the idea that these guys were just passing around translation assignments and were nothing more than a magnet for unknowing subscribers.
What I read here confirmed my ideas, and what a shame.
I tend to be weary of these "businesses" as the core designers seem to have no care about the actual translations themselves.
Reading about the poor stability of the tools, the shark-like policies and the simply ludicrous management of TMs really went over the top for me.
I stronly recommend ProZ to stop promoting this site.
Cheers.
Vincent ▲ Collapse
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| Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: User request. | | I am still awaiting the answer | Apr 20, 2012 |
It is almost a year since I posed the question and yet there is no answer!!!!!!!!
Perplexed,
N. Raghavan
Narasimhan Raghavan wrote:
It is more than a few months since your posting on this subject. Did you get any clarifications from the offending advertiser?
If not, is it not time that you ban them?
To read anything connected with Lionbridge leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
A bunch of cheaters, they seem to be.
Regards,
N. Raghavan
Henry Dotterer wrote:
imatahan wrote:
I wrote them complaining that I've entered for a trial and they told me they wouldn't make it again but that they had no mechanisms for sending my money back!
I don't even remember having used it.
And they took off from Paypal 14 USD twice.
I've put a call in to Lionbridge, since they are an advertiser and it would appear that there has been some confusion in this promotion of theirs. I will see if I can have them clarify.
| | | | Viola Vilde
Local time: 19:41
Member (2011)
English to Latvian
+ ...
| Lionbridge scam victim | May 2, 2012 |
Dear colleagues!
I just wanted to share my negative experience which, of course, have arisen from my own credulity, but still can be very enlightening to others:)
I'm officially another victim of the Lionbridge scam business-marketing approach.
A two months ago I received a phone call from a very persuasive representative of Lionbridge, most likely, from India with a name "Satish Sivarajan". I was offered 50% discount of two month subscription fee and promi... See more Dear colleagues!
I just wanted to share my negative experience which, of course, have arisen from my own credulity, but still can be very enlightening to others:)
I'm officially another victim of the Lionbridge scam business-marketing approach.
A two months ago I received a phone call from a very persuasive representative of Lionbridge, most likely, from India with a name "Satish Sivarajan". I was offered 50% discount of two month subscription fee and promised a tonnes of work that just are waiting for me to subscribe.
I counted a little and decided that I can try, maybe I can get some benefit of it.
In two weeks of silence after payment withdrawal I became suspicious and decided to cancel the subscription while I can. But it was too late. I received information, that my subscription would be cancelled in two weeks and a cancellation fee of 30 EUR would be taken on the cancellation day. I was really angry, but the main thing was to get rid of them as soon as possible. Meanwhile I never received any job offer and even if I did find some on Marketplace, another procedure was launched taking another two weeks while the relevant project I was trying to apply was already closed.
A week before cancellation became in force I received another phone call from the Lionbridge representative, who was really disappointed about my decision to cancel the subscription. He persuaded me to stay another month to let them find a work for me and if I wouldn't be happy then, he would arrange a cancellation without a fee.
And yes - I was stupid enough to listen to this bull***t. I stayed.
Geoworkz Marketplace worked slowly with frequent interruptions. No work for me appeared. No answer from the persuasive representative. And today finally a cancellation fee was withdrawn from my PayPal account.
My total loss - 5+5 EUR subscription fee for two months + VAT = 14 EUR + cancellation fee 30 EUR = 44 EUR in total. To gain 44 EUR I have to work at least one working day, about 8 hours, in language pair EN-LV. So, I feel a little bit robbed.
My fault. I believe too much what people say, obviously. But not a nice way to rule a business.
Be aware and careful with Lionbridge - very strange and unreliable company! ▲ Collapse
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