Response to an insistent vendor...

On the average, I receive almost one email per day out of the blue, from an agency that (a) is about to unleash incredible volumes of work, and (b) would like me to tell them all about myself (or at least my rates), leaving me to sketch the connecting lines and draw my own conclusions. It's not exactly spam, but I recognize it when I see it.

Today, I received a follow-up email from one such agency whose original email cryptically referred to "a client" (although "Airbus" appears in the subject) that "may" have a need to translate large volumes of documents, "possibly" in my (unnamed) language combination.

The follow-up asked me to reply to their query, even if it was to say I was not interested. I was happy to oblige:

Please accept my apologies for not replying to your original mail, but in my experience, responding to email vaguely hinting at future work yet soliciting my rates is bad business and a waste of time. That, and the fact that so many European agencies consistently fail to meet their own very liberal payment terms (which amount to making a long-term, interest-free loan to begin with) force me to say I'm not interested in a project so poorly defined.

Apropos of which, I am still waiting to be paid by a French translation company for work invoiced on July 7, the payment terms of which stated "60 days after the end of the invoice month" (in effect, a promise to have the money in my hands before September 30).

The amount is small enough that I am tempted to wait and see just how long the cretins will drag this out. (On the other hand, as they are cretins, it makes no sense to wait.)

Cheers...