I need some advice.

[Karen Goldstein]

Hi all --

I sent a 300 plus page file to a scopist that she agreed to have done on 3/23. I followed up with her numerous times to see how it was going and she didn't respond to my emails or phone calls. On 3/25, she sent back the file with the message "file not done. have terrible migraine. can't lift my head." Two days after the job was due she left me with 127 pages to scope myself.

Now she wants to be paid in full. I want to do the right thing, but I don't think this is fair. What would you do?

Karen

[Cathryn Bauer]

Pay her only for what she's done, and let that be the last of your interactions with her. She'll do this to you again and also to others unless you stand up to her.

If she calls to harass you about getting more money, say firmly, "That's how it goes, and we're all done." Then hang up the phone. If she threatens you with a lawyer or collection agency, a tactic popular with the ignorant, just say calmly, "Bring them on." Nothing defuses a bully better than standing up to them. And is it ever fun to watch them fizzle out.

That's the right thing, not to let her getting away with extorting money she didn't earn.

[Karen Goldstein]

Thanks for responding. Actually, she's only billing for the pages she did. But what gets me is that she promised the entire job by a certain date. I was working under a time constraint. It was a two-day job that went all day each day and I was busy with the other day.

And I can even accept the fact that someone's having a hard time and it's going to take longer. But at least be a person and communicate that so that I can tell my client when to expect the job.

She just totally buried her head in the sand and didn't bother to tell me anything until she sent back the incomplete file and a note saying she has a migraine and can't finish it.

Should I pay her the full page rate?

[Karen Goldstein]

Thanks for responding, Kelli. My situation is a bit different. My job was not super clean and it was very long. It was the first day of two full days and I was busy working on the second day.

I can accept the fact that someone's having a hard time and it's going to take longer. But at least be a person and communicate that so that I can tell my client when to expect the job.

She just totally buried her head in the sand and didn't bother to tell me anything until she sent back the incomplete file and a note saying she has a migraine and can't finish it.

Should I pay her the full page rate? And if not, by how much should it be reduced?

Thanks,
Karen

[Kathleen Iuzzolino]

Hi, Karen,

This sure was a nightmare for you.

Should you stop using her services? Well, most reporters would. How long have you been working with her? Can you chalk this up to an abhorrent, horrible, horrible week for this scopist? Do you feel that the two of you can communicate about the seriousness of this situation and work together to find a solution to ensure that this doesn't happen again?

If not and if you anticipate that you'll feel insecure about sending work to her in the future, then, yes, it's time to look for a replacement.

If communication is so sparse and so pull-out-your-hair difficult, then, yes, that's another reason to look for a replacement.

IMO, though, you should pay her for the work that was actually completed.

Kathleen

[Karen Goldstein]

Hi Kathleen --

It's not even a question that I'm never going to use her again. I have two scopists that I work with regularly that I'm very pleased with. I was in a desperate situation so I tried her without really checking her out. That was her first and last job from me.

Karen

[Kathleen Iuzzolino]

Karen,

I feel for you, really. This is an awful situation to be in, especially if one is not particularly comfortable with confrontation.

I guess experience is a good teacher here. Have you read Sheena's advice on finding a new scopist over in the "What do you expect from scopists?" thread? There's lots of sage advice there.

Sometimes it's the desperation that leads us into unwise business practices. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have a backup "overflow-only" scopist on hand and all vetted so that you won't find yourself in a position to send your work to just any old place, especially on such a large and -- your words -- "not super clean" job.

For your reputation and sake, though, I would still recommend doing what Cathryn advised above -- just pay for what she actually did and then move on.

Kathleen

[Kathleen Iuzzolino]

Kelli,

Six years is a long time. Have you had a discussion with her about your feelings? If she is having difficulty of some sort that can be resolved, it seems a shame to lose six years of a working relationship.

Kathleen

[Kathleen Iuzzolino]

Kelli,

Yes, it does sound very frustrating. That is clear. Is it possible that she thought the terms were perhaps generic? Were the terms difficult to global and just change them in one swoop? Not that that is what you should be doing, of course. It's just that it seems more than sort of sad to break off a long-term relationship.

Will this be something you will regret when you're not quite so upset? I think everyone here agrees that finding a new scopist has its challenges, too.

Kathleen

[Cathryn Bauer]

Kelli, when I was an office manager and someone who worked for me was not doing what was needed, I would bend over backwards to help them if it was clear to me that they cared about doing a good job. However, once I got the message that they didn't care, I didn't have any problem at all in firing them.

[Kathleen Iuzzolino]

Kelli,

Has there ever been a time when you were very happy or satisfied with her work? If not, I'm just wondering why you would use her for six years. Your situation is a good learning opportunity for other reporters out there.

Is this just a temporary issue for this scopist? Have you been "settling" with her work? I thought I read somewhere that you had a couple of excellent scopists. Is she one of them?

Do you think a better alternative is to burn bridges and then perhaps be stuck short-handed?

I'm sure you'll make the best decision for your own business.


Kathleen

[Kathleen Iuzzolino]

Kelli,

Another thought I had was that the scopist's eyes are not expected to be the last set of eyes on a transcript. It is imperative for all reporters to proofread their transcripts. It's their name and reputation on the cert page. Scopists are human and will, from time to time, make mistakes. This is not unusual nor a sign of incompetency.

Also, about the capping situation -- many, many times reporters will not have spellings of proper names or something unusual. They'll just tell me to job global it any way I wish, and when they find out how to spell it, they'll just global it once and override my spelling. As long as I make my spelling consistent throughout the job, it is a ten-second fix for the reporter.

I think a good discussion between you and your long-time scopist would be that you need to be able to tell her your concerns and she needs to understand that it's not personal. It's just business. Maybe that would keep her from being offended or having her feelings hurt.

Kathleen

[Kathleen Iuzzolino]

Kelli,

I hear you. You'll have to make a decision that best supports your business in the long run.

I think you're a bit torn about it or else you just would have gone ahead and fired her. Have you sent the final version to her so that she can see all of the corrections you needed to make and so that she can better understand your frustration?

After six years, IMHO, this deserves discussing directly with the scopist. Perhaps parting ways at this point will serve everyone's best interests. Or maybe not.

Kathleen