Customer Service Level Agreement

Our Customer Service Commitment

We’re passionate about delivering excellent service and committed to the following level of service. All we ask in return are a few simple things.

STAR Commits to Providing …

• translation by qualified and experienced translators that are native speakers and based in their own country.
• the same translators working on all your projects; where your schedule allows, so a consistent tone is maintained.
• best practice process recommendations and we’ll seek to anticipate your needs, so we can help make your life easier.
• a quick review of the content received for translation. If we find any issues, we will report them to you before commencing translation.
• translations delivered on time and with timely progress updates.

Here’s What We Need

Original Source Files

We need correct and complete source files for translation. This includes any related assets such as fonts and pictures. We need your pictures so we can see your products and diagrams correctly during translation. It also means we can do the final file layout.  If we have everything we can produce final print ready files in every language. It’s important to get it right at the start to make the process easy. This avoids any extra costs during translation if files change.

Clear Instructions Before Translation Starts

Please tell us “all of your requirements” before we start translating to avoid any rework or extra costs. Tell us if you are going to have the translation checked by someone in your company.  If you send us translation feedback after the DTP work has been completed, implementing these changes is a lot of extra work. We charge this type of rework at the STAR hourly rates.

Terminology Clarification before we start

If you have any specific terminology that you want to use, let us know before we start. We can then share this with our translators. If you don’t give us terminology then STAR will translate using our best professional judgement and experience. On occasion your preferred terminology may not match the terms we choose.  This may show up during your review. If you modify terms after final delivery then these changes will be charged at an hourly rate by STAR as we have to do extra work to deliver this.

Quality Reviews and Acceptance of Changes and Differences

There is often more than one way to say certain things in some languages. Translation has many correct preferential choices and you need to accept that while STAR’s preferential choices may differ from yours this does not mean that the original translation is wrong or in error.  STAR will build a translation memory for your projects and from this your preferred styles will be reflected in all future projects. We welcome your feedback during the review stage of your project. We recommend using WebCheck to do reviews where possible.

All feedback to STAR should be precise and in an easy-to-read and usable digital format. When providing feedback, give examples of at least some of the issues to be addressed. Statements like, it is a “poor translation” or it is a “machine translation” contain insufficient information to provide a satisfactory resolution.

If your reviews / changes contain spelling mistakes, new content, use unapproved terminology or add new content from the original text then,  this will mean additional extra work for STAR as we will have to fix these issues. In this case these changes will be charged at an hourly rate by STAR.

Client Internal Review

Documents

If you are doing desktop publishing in your own company, or with another design agency, we recommend that this is done in a timely manner, preferably within two weeks.

Websites

If you are importing your text into a content management system, and doing reviews online, again we recommend that this is done in the same timely manner.

After a project is completed STAR will archive it in our backup systems. If we subsequently have to reopen a project for late feedback, these changes will be charged at an hourly rate by STAR.

Translation / Local Preferences

Document any special local requirements you have and let us know before we start translation (for example – this is where the translation message is adapted to a specific local market or need.)

If you have specific message, brand or style requirements, the customer must give us very specific instructions and translation guidelines. Sometimes for marketing text there may be a language style or message that the client wants in their translations.

For Example

Translation

Do you want us to rigidly keep to the original text, translating and keeping the same content as the original.

Transcreation

Do you want us to move away from the original source to translate a specific message.

If no instructions are given, then the translator will use their best professional judgement in completing your translation. If the quality does not match the required level, because of an inaccurate client specification, then changes will be charged at an hourly rate by STAR.

Timely Feedback

Please answer any project questions quickly and in a timely manner. From time to time STAR will request clarification on the source text by either email or questions on the STAR Translation Cloud.

Translators will be waiting on the answers to complete the translation. When timely clarifications are not possible STAR will use its best professional judgement so that the translation can be completed in a timely fashion. We will tell you this when we deliver your translation. If changes are subsequently made to the translations, this will be charged at an hourly rate by STAR.

Modifications After Final Delivery

If the customer wants changes after the final project delivery, then these modifications must be typed, consistent within the project and with previous projects. It must have correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and be faithful to the original source text. These updates will be charged at an hourly rate by STAR because all of the review steps should have been done during the project as outlined above. We do not advise modifying documents after final delivery.

If errors have to be fixed in your feedback, STAR will fix them, update the translation and also update our translation memory storage so that quality is maintained. These updates will be charged at an hourly rate by STAR.