I did something wrong... what to do now?

[quietschie]

Hi, I feel I really did something wrong in a gig and I am not sure how to proceed.



I was requested to translate 2 articles which were paid with 2 separate gigs. I was shown the articles before translating and I thought that everything was clear. But afterwards, while translating, I realized that I really could not grasp 2 of the sentences of the second article. Since the second article is very short, I felt I could not honestly charge for it without translating these two sentences. I wrote about this to the buyer asking for clarifications. As the buyer did not get back to me, I eventually delivered the first article and started a mutual cancellation for the second, saying that if he gets back to me and clarifies the sentences I can finalize the translation for free to compensate for the disservice.



I did not hear back so far, and I am really afraid this will be a negative reference.



Perhaps there is no real advice you can give (I hope still you can recommend something) but I would like to know what you do when you make a mistake… wrong judgement or similar… I mean, even those of you who have 100% for a large number of gigs probably make some mistakes, right? How do you handle them?

[anacristina89]

You are right, anyone could make mistakes!



First of all, be polite with your client no matter what, be polite without showing fear 😃

even if you are worried…



You could send another message to him and say that you really want to help, but there is a problem and if he/she cant do anything about it, you will refund very quick.<br /> <br /> I think it is important to be polite and clear.<br /> <br /> I am sure that you already are, but just in case ...I give you this advice.<br /> <br /> I also had this kind of situations and even if the clients were less polite and I was very angry, I never showed this to them.<br /> <br /> Even if you will end up with a negative review you dont have to be upset, disappointed etc, just write back a review explaining the situation in a relaxed manner.



At least…this is what I would do. A serious and a responsible buyer will understand this problem, everyone can make mistakes.



If he won`t understand this, it means that he is not a very good buyer, but considering that you are a great seller, just be relaxed and concised 🙂



Sory if my english is not great, but I think you got the idea.



Cheers and GOOD LUCK! And be confident no matter what!

@};- %%-

[jtengle]

Whenever I have an order that I’m not able to deliver, I do the same thing you did. A mutual cancellation will give them their money back. Just be sure to explain why it was necessary.



I’ve had orders where the buyer’s instructions are unclear or non-existent. I’ll ask for clarification, but they sometimes they either can’t or won’t give you what you need.



In the case of a mistake, I just fix the problem. Although that’s easier with graphics than other types of gigs.

[quietschie]

Hi you two!

Thank you so much for answering back then! I don´t know why I got the notification about your reply just now! In the end it was a thumbs up with some mildly disappointed comments, I guess now with the ARS would have been much worse! 😉