OCE Translations, Eddy Elshout, serial scammer
USA: Fake office and Belgium,
non-payer
Email: 18/02/2014
"Hello,
Thanks for the compiled list. Very useful indeed. I would like to name
another translation company which would fit nicely in the list.
OCE TRANSLATION, owner Eddy Elshout
They have one office in Belgium and a fake one in the US.
They owe me approximately €2000.
They start paying initially -to gain your trust- and then add up a few
important project -mostly institutional and legal- and then they vanish.
I have sent them a recorded letter in Belgium but it bounced.
I have made some enquiries in the US and was told by the Chamber of
Commerce where they are supposed to be that they have a bogus account.
Thank you;
Should you need any more details, I can dig that out. About 4 years ago but
I have go the documents.
Nathalie M
Their online profile on
Translation Directory:
"OCE Translations was found since 1997 with head
office in Belgium. Since 1997 till now we have generated a vast amount of
experience in translating scientific, technical, legal documents, marketing and
business etc. We have worked with over 350 different companies and government
organizations and are looking forward to building a business relationship with
you. We provide professional translation services in over 120 languages."
Profile on Proz: VERY BAD Blue
Board rating since 2005
Profile on MC :
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/OCE.Translations.LLC.336-218-8846/review/read?cid=699703
Eddy Elshout is apparently a
long-lasting SCAMMER:
Report: "I wanted to give minus 10 stars! I have also been robbed of
almost 300X worth of work by this person in 2007; sent emails, have sent
collection agency letters, but no one responded yet he has the guts to keep on
sending translation requests! Just received one today (...) How can some people
get away with so much fraud?! Thanks! E. Melo (june 2009)"
Report: "Eddy owes me 192 euros for a translation I did for him 6
months ago...where the hell are you eddy?? he better has a good reason for this
long silence..."
Report: "Eddy simply does not pay and after the work is done he stops communicating, I jumped on this as well, once got paid and second time for big big work nothing. I just wondering how his company get such big clients to work for. NON PAYER EDDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Eddy Elshout owes me 548.21 euros for a translation done 3
months ago. After reading these reviews I too have my doubts about whether he
will ever pay. The phone number he gives in the USA is phoney by the
way."
Ode Magazine
Beware Ode Magazine/The
Intelligent Optimist
One Hour Translation, Israel
Insulting rates and poor quality, unselective
platform, employ literally anyone
"Missing an 8-hour target by 38 hours is one thing. But not
communicating, not explaining and not apologizing is a total FAIL.
And it seems, they will not give your money back, which I guess - after failing to to deliver - is stealing. If they do that to their customers, you have to wonder what they do to their employees and translators.
Follow-up: In recognition of the issue, they have just offered us a fleeting one sentence semi-apology and a coupon for 50 free words the next time we use their services...which will be N-E-V-E-R.
And it seems, they will not give your money back, which I guess - after failing to to deliver - is stealing. If they do that to their customers, you have to wonder what they do to their employees and translators.
Follow-up: In recognition of the issue, they have just offered us a fleeting one sentence semi-apology and a coupon for 50 free words the next time we use their services...which will be N-E-V-E-R.
Other unhappy client:
"Was trying to get a news article translated from German to English
and used this service based on a quick online search. While they have an
easy to use online interface, I've now been waiting for 5 hours for someone
to start my project.
On top of this, their customer service representatives are not available. The only form of communication that they use is email. I believe this service is a scam."
On top of this, their customer service representatives are not available. The only form of communication that they use is email. I believe this service is a scam."
One Sky (and ONE cent! Run!!)
Read this thread
Orbe translations/Manta Translations, Romania
Low payer, fishy, deceitful,
still appearing regularly on Proz
"Orbe Translations and Manta Translations are, to begin with, one and the same company. Both
are registered to Javier Bergero at Lautaro 642, Córdoba, Argentina
(543514616764, javier@gb-software.com.ar and marcelojavierbergero@hotmail.com).
The agencies,
however, send messages from an IP in Romania. They also claim to have had an
office in Turin, Italy since 2002, though they do not appear in the Turin
yellow pages and their phone number (02.36311200)"
"Interestingly,
Orbe/Manta also profess to provide translations exclusively using teams of
in-house translators which is, first, a fairly obvious lie for the volume
of business they claim and the geographic area they say they cover. But they
only adopted that model because of their concern about the terrible
"suffering" of freelancers, which they aim to remedy:"
4 comments:
Hello
Thank you for this invaluable blog.
I read one of the clients wrote above:
"... If they do that to their customers, you have to wonder what they do to their employees and translators..."
Well, no need to wonder anymore. You can learn more about these fake online translation agencies at:
http://www.cembekis.com/blog/
(please look for "Fake Translation Agencies")
or
http://www.ingilizce-tercuman.com
Thank you
Re: OHT
Dear Sirs or Madams,
I'm a freelance translator working with OHT since July 2015, and as far as I can tell, it is most definitely not a scam. There are lots of very good translators there, although some of them are amateurs ...
OHT lately introduced a very effective peer-review system, which weeds out the bad translators real quick. And if you still get a bad translation, you can complain at OHT and you will get a refund and/or a thorough proofreading to correct the mistakes.
Regarding the time required for a translation: OHT guarantees that a project will be delivered within XX hours, once a translator has taken it. For customers it's important to understand, that if their word count is too low, or if they chose a regular translation fee where an expert translation is required, no translator will be willing to take their project. So you will be waiting for days and nothing will happen. The same holds true for complicated formatting, exotic file formats, projects which require the use of the work bench (xliff files), etc.
Best regards,
Alexander B. Teichmann.
Onehourtranslation is not a recommendable translation agency for translators in my opinion. They will not pay you in the end. They just let you work and never reach the limit (credits) for being paid. They also ask you to pay in into their paypal account some money (o, 15) that will never be given back to you even if you ask them to do so. They keep the money and you are left unpaid.
Onehourtranslation is not a recommendable translation agency for translators in my opinion. They will not pay you in the end. They just let you work and never reach the limit (credits) for being paid. They also ask you to pay in into their paypal account some money (o, 15) that will never be given back to you even if you ask them to do so. They keep the money and you are left unpaid.
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