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

[Kimberly Baltunis]

This is a great discussion for me as I'm hoping to be scoping in about 5 weeks:)

As a rookie student I really can't offer advice, only pass along the lesson I learned VERY young working for the family businesses: You almost do the job, you almost get paid. I would lean towards not paying her and sending a message in writing as to why, but again I'm not "int the biz" yet so really can't say for sure. Sorry you are going through this.

[Karen Goldstein]

Hi, Kimberly,

Thanks for your kind words. I feel better that somebody understands. I probably will pay her and never use her again.

Karen

[Patricia Babits]

How horrible! I think you should get at least some discount for two days late. I would probably just pay her and move on, though.
When I was a baby reporter I used a scopist on a 300-something page job. When she got close to when she said she would turn it in and wasn't finished, she contacted me and asked what I wanted to do, if I wanted her to keep going or finish it myself. That's the least they can do.

I just got an e-mail from a proofer the night my job was due back to me. She said she was too tired to finished. She is such an awesome proofer I still use her.

I think people need to turn away work if they feel that can't give 100% due to being too busy.

[LISA]

I'm on the paying end in most situations. I pay other reporters, scopists and proofers.
I don't agree with the majority here. I do not think paying her is the answer. Unfortunately,
many of us end up doing it which permits this unprofessionalism to continue in our field. It has a trickle effect and hurts us as reporters and agency owners. We can only command the money and respect we deserve if we DESERVE it. Unprofessional behavior is our downfall.
The scopist was contracted to do a job. She failed to do it, failed to communicate with you about a potential problem which prevented you from keeping your commitment. When one person doesn't do their job it prevents others from doing theirs. If it was a job you were covering for my client and I had to discount the bill to my client as just one way of securing my relationship with them, why would I pay you full price for a failed job and the headache and potential future income loss?
For those any many, many more reasons, I would NOT pay her in full. Unfortunately, that means you will have to burn that bridge (actually, this is another example of our wrong thinking -- she burned the bridge) and spend the time to find another scopist and a back-up scopist as well. If we don't break the cycle we as reporters and agency owners pay in the long run.
Okay, I'm done ranting!

[LISA]

One more thing....The fact that she would even bill you is ridiculous. Just another example of the unprofessional and irrational business practices engaged in by too many.

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

RIGHT ON!!! beautifully said. I agree with every syllable you uttered about this!!!

[Sheena Stobaugh]

Karen,

When the scopist didn't send back the file on 3/23 and you called and left a message that was ignored, you should have left another message that since she isn't responding and you haven't received the job back, you'll now have to do it yourself, letting her know in the same message that she'll be receiving no further work from you. Now, at that point, I guess anything was possible. She could have been involved in an accident or had a family emergency, etc. But when she contacted you two days later with a migraine and sent back only part of the job, that was unacceptable. A good scopist has sick days just like anyone else, but if you're feeling under the weather and can't complete a job, you ALWAYS call the reporter and let them know what's going on. A scopist has to understand that they are supposed to be your right-hand man.

This is yet another example of why I say it's never, ever a good idea to send an expedite for a first job with a new scopist. I understand you were under the gun, but it just almost never turns out well. Kathleen's advice is excellent, to find a backup scopist to whom you can send work to when you're in a jam. Keep an ongoing relationship with this person, periodically sending jobs so that when you need him/her, they will be there for you in a crunch. I say you can never have too many scopists. You never know when one will become ill or have family issues. I would say three is the minimum number of scopists that a full-time reporter needs.

Now, as for the invoice, I would call or write the scopist and explain that the job was late because of her illness, you had to end up finishing the job yourself, which put you in more of a bind than you were already in. I would let her know that you expect a discount under these circumstances. See what you can negotiate with her. After what's happened, she should give you a discount.

I could be wrong, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say what I think really happened. You admitted that the job was messy. I'm willing to bet that this scopist took on more than she could chew and couldn't get the job completed on time. It happens with messy files. They take longer to scope. What she should have done was pick up the phone the first day she started working on the file, call you and let you know that because of the condition of the file, she probably couldn't get it finished in the time frame the two of you had previously discussed. She had the option at that time to refuse the job altogether or come to some sort of agreement with you about exactly how much she felt she could get completed. Unfortunately, some scopists don't feel comfortable with any sort of exchange like that, especially when it's the very first job.

You've learned a lot from this experience, I'm sure. Now make it a point to find a great backup scopist and get a relationship started so that you don't have to go through this again. Maybe one of your current scopists can refer you to another scopist.

[Karen Goldstein]

Sheena,

You're absolutely right. The file was a mess. I emailed the scopist half a day after I sent it to her to see how it was going. Her reply was "Hello! Moving right along here - almost 65 pages completed." She certainly knew the nature of the job at that point.

My mistake was, as you say, continuing to count on her when I received no response from her. I was already overwhelmed by the second day of deposition and just couldn't face the fact that I might have to do the whole thing myself.

This certainly has been a learning experience. I am going to work on getting an overflow scopist prepped, while I don't need one, so that this won't happen again.

Karen

[Judy]

Kelli,

I don't edit any of my own work, but I think I am going to start and then maybe use a proofer. I need to get faster. When you don't edit your own work, you tend to be a little slower. I need to be able to count on the fact if I don't have anyone to help me, I can do it myself if I have to.

You sound like an excellent writer. I consider myself a very good writer. But your above quote is exactly where I have ended: Being able to edit your own work faster than it would take to "proof" what a "scopist" has turned back to you because, in the end of the day, it's faster. Not to mention, fewer headaches, no $$ out of my pocket when somebody does a substandard job, etc.

By the sounds of your writing ability, all you really need is a great proofreader.

Judy

[Judy]

Kelli,

I've always thought that hiring a "scoofer" would be a good option. We'd go through our entire tripts (not slow enought to consider it a "scoped" job that we'd send off to the proofer, but not super fast either) fixing any untrans, globaling in proper names, etc. (for me, pretty much making it a rough that I could -- I'm an anal perfectionist -- send to a client). Then send it on to the scoofer for heavy proofreading. I mean putting in all the proper punctuation, one word/two words/hyphenated, read word for word for context... giving the tript a "spit shine." Then when we get it back, we'd only have to go to the places they have marked for our perusal and it's out the door.

Trouble is, I can't find somebody that'll do that. I think the going rate for something like that would be half way between a proofer and a scopist. Which, by the way, .50/pp is high for a proofer. You might be able to find some for .25/pp, but most are .35/pp to .40/pp. Mine's bogged down with a huge trial right now, or I'd give you her name.

Judy

[Kathleen Iuzzolino]

Judy,

Your definition of "scoofing" is what I consider "scoping." That's probably why you can't find someone to do it at your imaginary rate.

Most of my reporters are sending me jobs that have already been sent out as roughs. I can't remember the last time I saw an untranslate. I only mention this because these are the reporters with whom you're competing for the attention of the "best" scopists. Well, not you personally -- reporters in general.

Kathleen

[Judy]

Well, then you're an overpaid proofreader.

Keep talking, you'll talk yourself right out of a job.

Judy