Thursday, December 12, 2013

US$30 a page translations - is that possible?

We are quite aware that a few of of our competitors are advertising translations for US$27 and US$30 a page. Some matters should be considered before you entertain the validity of such offers.

One would assume that translations for US$30 a page mean that every page would be charged this amount, irrespective of word count. At least, one implies that from such ads. The reality is quite the other.

All such sites impose a condition - the low price applies to documents that are 250 words or less. That would mean very short documents, such as a birth certificate, a drivers license etc. That is not what their ads say, or the landing pages of some sites. Their intent is to get you on their page, and then flip flop on you.

Many birth certificates have more than 250 words, and some of then have less than 250 words, but two pages! For the 2 pager with less than 250 words, the company would then charge you US$60.00! That is, more than we charge. Not only that, some companies charge an additional US$10.00 to issue documents on paper (!), and US$10.00 for mailing. Thus, this 2-pager (advertised for US$30.00) would cost a whopping US$80.00, whereas, with our company you would be paying only US$56.00, including priority mail.

Adding insult to injury, a lot of these companies issue so-called summary translations, based on pre-prepared templates. These are often rejected by the Immigration and other entities. We prepare the full text of the translation, including any remarks, we do not use templates.

Other companies make the text run longer than 250 words, by describing stamps with very long descriptions. Others charge for notarization on the side!

As for the exclusive use of electronic translations, as opposed to paper documents, we beg to differ on the information that electronic documents are widely accepted. Most agencies, including the USCIS, insist on paper documents. And that is why the company is charging an additional US$10.00 for the paper document. That is based on our 31 years of experience in this field

You, as a consumer, must weigh your risks before doing business with any company.

At Legal Translation Systems you will get your birth certificate translated for US$50.00 (plus mail, if applicable):
- irrespective of the number of pages of the birth certificate
- irrespective of the number of words of the birth certificate
- you will get the paper document at no additional charge, and if you want, a PDF by email for free
- our price includes notarization by a Notary in good standing;
- the notary and translator are not the same person
- full text translated, not templates.

As for other one page documents, in our long experience in this business we have seen 1 page documents with as many as 1000 words, depending on the nature of the document! Powers of attorney run at least 600 words a page, and transcripts can be more than 500 words a page. Their US$30.00 or US$27.00 a page soon becomes US$72.00 a page!

However, because you have landed on their site, you might end up doing business with them!

So, be careful, weigh your options. Do not be fooled by switch and bait techniques.

http://www.legaltranslationsystems.com