Help! What will happen if I don't pay him?

[Scot19000 3]

I needed a page of document translated. I contacted this translator A on the phone. He told me to send a scanned copy of the document via email. He would look at it and give me a quote. I sent it to him. I also sent several emails asking him about the method of payment because we didn't live in the same state, and many other questions. He never responded to any of my emails. I didn't even know if he got the messages or not.

Frustrated, I contacted another translator and asked her to do the job for me. She did. I paid her.

Now all of a sudden, translator A sent me the translation with the invoice.

I told him as he didn't respond to any of my emails, I had to hire someone else.

He has been threatening me.

I'm new in this country and don't know anyone to ask for advice.

Please tell me what to do! What will happen to me if I don't pay?

Thank you.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

The worst he could do is take you to civil court, but he wouldn't have much of a case if the agreement was that he would give you an estimate, but then turned around later and did it anyways without your permission past "May I have an estimate" and billed you for it.

Now, if he had given you a quote, and you agree'd to it and then he billed you, he'd have a case. But since you sent him the document to get an estimate and NOT to complete, you ONLY wanted an estimate, he took the liberty to do the job himself which you shouldn't have to pay for since you wanted an estimate, first and then after agreeing, a translated copy.

Chances are he's a scammer and does this to a lot of people new to the country, but if you have proof that you asked for an estimate, and sent multiple emails with no response, then he can't expect payment for a job he took upon himself to do with no input from you.

There's two things he can do if you don't pay him:

He could eventually give up and move onto the next person he wants to get money from

or

he can take you to court.

If he takes you to court (which he probably wouldn't as it could cost him more money and he may know he's in the wrong) just have proof's of the multiple sent emails with no responses, and that after he said he would give you an estimate, you didn't hear from him again until he sent you a translated copy out of no where along with a bill.

The last option is to simply pay him, what ever is easier for you.


If it helps you, you can draft an email stating that you did not ask the job to be done, you only wanted an estimate and not the translated documents UNTIL you gave the estimate your approval, you never received the estimate so you considered the job a loss and moved on and found another translate. You had sent him multiple emails inquiring about this that he did not respond too, and that he did the job on his own accord, without your permission or agreement to do so. You would ask him to stop calling, as this will be the last time you respond to anything he says. Any business you had with him was over when you never got an estimate back on how much a translation would cost, and any further communication by him to you, will be considered harassment. Thank him for his time.

And then block his phone number, or add it to a ring tone that doesn't play a song. If he does go to civil court, showing how many times he calls can possibly get him on the hook for harassment, as he's harassing you for a job that you didn't even want him to do, he just did it on his own.

Next time, for anything you do make sure to try to do it local so you can meet the people handling your documents, you don't want it falling into the wrong hands.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Ash.1101

[heo luoi 206]

How much was it?

What documents?

Translations shouldn't have costed too much.

Depending on how much I guess I'd weigh how much hassle this was worth to me and my personal wellness and stress level. If it was important documents w/ private data, I dont know if I want to piss off someone I gave that to over $25. How much is going away worth?

[Scot19000 3]

It's $50. It's a high school diploma, which needed to be translated into English for my college admission. I could translate it myself but a member of American Translators Association was required. That's also why I couldn't get it done by someone local. I don't think he's a scammer, though. He was just not very professional.

Of course, I could pay $50 but the only reason I used an independent translator instead of paying the evaluation company to do the translation is it's about $50 cheaper.

And there's his attitude.

Thank you very much, Ash, for your detailed response.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Scot19000

[Ash.1101 1,756]

That stinks.

If you want him to go away, then pay the 50$, granted there's the whole standing on principle thing, but if you just want the issue to solve itself, pay the 50$. I -really- doubt he would be able to successfully take any legal action against you, a court loss would cost him MUCH more than 50$, but he could still annoy you until you pay or until you block his phone numbers and email addresses.

Best of luck and hopefully you get rid of him soon!

[aaron2020 11,651]

You asked for a quote. You did not authorize the work. Under the law, you have the right to refuse payment.

He lives in another state. Doubtful that he will physically come after you for $50.

If he has your email and phone number, then you can block him on both.

Put him on ignore.

[VOL 425]

For $50 it a waste of his time to try to collect, and then you are in another state, he probably screwed.

In Texas if you win a judgement in court, there is really no way to make someone pay.

I wouldn't worry about it and tell him to pack sand, sound like he did unauthorized work..........

[Scot19000 3]

Thank you, everyone, for your input. I thought a lot about it and I've decided that I will pay him.

Lesson learned.

I hope wish you all a great night.

[VOL 425]

Thank you, everyone, for your input. I thought a lot about it and I've decided that I will pay him.

Lesson learned.

I hope wish you all a great night.

I wouldn't pay him, Nothing he can do to you.

He basically is stealing from you, and if you pay him it will only lead him to prey on other new immigrants.

This is USA, don't let con artists like this win......

[Scot19000 3]

Yes, I know. But I'm easy to be intimidated. Never want to have a brush with the law.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Yes, I know. But I'm easy to be intimidated. Never want to have a brush with the law.

Why would you have a brush with the law when the law is on your side?

[NikLR 13,232]

Lesson number one for a new immigrant, people will bully you to get what they want. Dont give in.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Yes, I know. But I'm easy to be intimidated. Never want to have a brush with the law.

You didn't do anything wrong.

As these posters say:

Why would you have a brush with the law when the law is on your side?

Lesson number one for a new immigrant, people will bully you to get what they want. Dont give in.

And I agree, the more this guy gets away with it, the more he will try it on others. There is nothing he can do that puts you in any risk of having "a brush with the law".

[Scot19000 3]

Oh, people have been bullying me since I was a child. That's one of the the reasons why I left my home country. But here, the bullying seems worse, especially by those who came from the same country as mine.

In this particular case, I knew I didn't do anything wrong but I felt lonely and tired, and just wanted to put all this behind so I could move on with my college dream and get away from lowlifes.

Thank you so much for your advice and support.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Scot19000

[Ortolan 381]

Keep the email chain. Then send him a long letter in your native language explaining why you feel he sort of missed the mark with his translation services, and suggest ways he could be more professional in his business. Then if he responds, he might have earned a bit of the $50.....

[Joking...]

Edited November 19, 2015 by Ortolan