How Cheap Is Cheap?
A fellow conference interpreter sent me a link some time ago, asking my advice about a website. She had clicked on one of those Google links offering extremely cheap telephone interpreting from the depths of the Amazonian jungle, or somewhere in South America.
At first sight, I felt that the author made an immoderate use of exclamation marks, something I am not particularly fond of. I know that it’s accepted practice among US marketers, but this one was overdoing it… with an exclamation mark concluding practically every sentence. Furthermore -talk about not liking static sites- this one had small pictures literally jumping all over each page, all the time, and that made my head spin after a couple of seconds. You know the type.
This person was advocating cheap interpreting rates. Why not? Everyone is entitled to setting what they consider a fair price for their work, based on the value they see in it, and their clients’ budget.
But the most inelegant part of it was that this ‘generous’ soul was piling abuse close to slander on regular conference interpreters whom he/she accused in no uncertain terms of being crooks and ripping clients off under the pretence of being professional and loaded with diplomas.
I e-mailed my colleague, telling her not to worry… Of course, such people may get some work, from time to time. But the lower the rates, the longer you have to work to achieve a reasonable standard of living. In this particular case, in order to charge such ridiculously low rates, you had to live on a shoestring, even in a developing country. To be honest, I thought this site was a little ‘too much’. I checked back recently and Google doesn’t know it any more… Mmmm. I’m not surprised.
But why pick on interpreters? Personal revenge? Just trying to make a handful of dollars on a ‘niche’ market? Who knows…
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