Translation agency in Poland won't pay me

Hello,

I have done a few weeks ago a translation for a translation agency and delivered the work already.
They asked me to send rachunek by post, so I have done that... after 2 weeks I received no payment
so I mailed them and asked: When can I expect the payment? They said: Please send us also digital so
that we don't have to search for it and the money will be transferred today (really professional). One week
later I received still no money.

What can I do, or would you advise to do?

Larissa.

Is it the first time you have done work for them? How much money is involved? Is it a well-known agency? Do you know whether they received either invoice?

Did they sign off the job as being accepted in full?

Is it in Poznan, by the way?

If they asked her to send an invoice and promised to pay that day, I guess that implies acceptance.

Yes, I accepted the offer and they confirmed. They agreed to pay for the works within 14 days from delivery of the translation.
We are now in the 4th week after I delivered the translation. The company is located in the south of Poland is a small city.

Just called them again and they said that the person who do bank transfers isn't available today, tomorrow again and that they
gonna do it tomorrow... I am not sure if I need to believe it.

The oldest excuse in the book. It sounds like they're putting you off. Most probably they'll pay when their client has paid them. If they continue to delay, you have a right to add interest to the bill as a late penalty.

Keep pestering them. They've accepted that they owe you money, which is better than just avoiding the issue. My guess is that you'll get paid eventually. Some of these small agencies have cash flow problems; they themselves often have to wait months for payment from clients. Hang in there and phone every day.

I doubt this transaction is seen as offer and acceptance...

The OP should start by reading the terms and conditions of the company, if she was asked to send an invoice by mail to a Polish company it should have been registered or faxed to their designated number, she could also have placed the invoice in dropbox and asked them to download trapping their IP. Most outsource translation companies will pay 7-30 days after the job has been sign off and accepted by the client. Small Polish companies will wait to get the money in from the job before they payout to the service provider.

My wife and I have been working regularly with half a dozen translation agencies, as service providers, for over ten years, and we have individual agreements with each of them concerning payment deadlines. We usually receive payment 15 days to a month after invoicing the agencies. It is important to agree terms before taking on jobs. We've had only a few problems over the years, mainly with smaller firms being shafted by big clients and not being able to meet payment obligations. The OP will, I hope, learn from this experience.