American Language Services Robbed Me !

I applied with American Language Services [ALS] although I'm not certified yet (I told them I wasn't in the application!) and they still gave me an assignment that lasted a whole week, 8 hours a day. Now they say they won't pay me because I'm not certified! But I already did the job abd they already knew I wasn't certified from the first day!

I found out that they lied & told the place where they sent me that I was certified. I did the job and had no problems at all with anyone and they (it was a doctor's office) were very happy with my work.

I waited for my check for 4 months and when I called ALS to see what was going on they laughed at me and said they weren't going to pay me! I can't stop crying because American Language Services tricked everyone; they tricked me and they tricked the people were I went to interpret for. I'm a single mom with 2 small boys, my home is about to go into foreclosure and I can't believe these people can get away with this. Please be very careful and avoid this agency based on Sawtelle Blvd in Los Angeles, CA. Warn all your interpreter friends about it too. I don't want other people to suffer the way they made me suffer. Please say a prayer for me and GOd bless you all.

My heart goes out to you. I had a similar problem with ALS 2 years ago and I never worked for them again. I can't even understand how they're still in business. Have you tried small claims court?

NEVER work for Amrican Language Services if you can help it. Most interpreters I know have had bad experiences with them sooner or later. Good luck!

Lol. We've heard about American Language Services' scams even all the way over here in France! That's because I have a friend who just arrived from working in California as a French-English interpreter and she tells me that she's been victimized by them twice! She owns an interpreting/translator's website and she says she's going to list ALS on her 'Do Not Work For!' list of deadbeats and troublemakers.

Sandra, I am sorry to hear you were one of their victims. I use to work for ALS (American Language Services in Los Angeles on Sawtelle street) and daily I would see their unethical business practices. They lie to their customers about interpreters being certified and they lie to their customers about their translators being ATA certified. They also like to customers about their translation process. They tell customers they edit the work when in reality they do not. They are so corrupt, they attain everything through lying ans scheming. The reason they are sill in business is "there is a sucker every day" to victimize. You should 1. Sue them in small claims court and 2. www.ripoffreport.com/ , www.consumerfraudreporting.org/reporting.php and here www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/daily/daily.asp

Good luck!

Sandra in Jamaica, New York said: I applied with American Language Services [ALS] although I'm not certified yet (I told them I wasn't in the application!) and they still gave me an assignment that lasted a whole week, 8 hours a day. Now they say they won't pay me because I'm not certified! But I already did the job abd they already knew I wasn't certified from the first day!

I found out that they lied & told the place where they sent me that I was certified. I did the job and had no problems at all with anyone and they (it was a doctor's office) were very happy with my work.

I waited for my check for 4 months and when I called ALS to see what was going on they laughed at me and said they weren't going to pay me! I can't stop crying because American Language Services tricked everyone; they tricked me and they tricked the people were I went to interpret for. I'm a single mom with 2 small boys, my home is about to go into foreclosure and I can't believe these people can get away with this. Please be very careful and avoid this agency based on Sawtelle Blvd in Los Angeles, CA. Warn all your interpreter friends about it too. I don't want other people to suffer the way they made me suffer. Please say a prayer for me and GOd bless you all.

I'm so sorry to hear of your experience. I truly understand your situation and what you are going through. I will be praying for you. God bless you.

I just accepted a big translation job with a very tight deadline from ALS. In the contract, they mentioned that if I don't meet the deadline, my work will be considered as incomplete and they won't pay any money for some parts of the translation that have been delivered. Now I don't think i could get all the works done on time, and I am worried if some translated files I just sent them wont get any paid.

please advise if I should continue to get everything done for them since I see some bad feedback from here.

Thanks

If I were you I would tell the people you worked for about what happened. Involve their management and go to the media.

I dodged the bullet by refusing to do any translation work for ALS.
Their VP of Sales was very unprofessional and resorts to name-calling when they can't find any resources to work for them. Here is the e-mail thread from their VP of Sales, Alan Weiss.

My email:

You need to get your facts straight.

You are putting words in my mouth.

I never agreed to the PO, the price or the timeline. I never signed your W9 or your PO.

BTW: Name-calling is not very professional in the business world.

-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Weiss [mailto:alan@alsglobal.net]
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2011 6:16 PM
Subject: RE: Follow up

You are really delusional, we sent you a PO, you did agree and then backed out leaving us no time to handle this for our client.

Alan Weiss
Vice President of Sales
American Language Services
ISO 9001 & ISO 13485 Certified
1849 Sawtelle Blvd. Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90025
www.alsglobal.net

Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2011 5:07 PM
To: Alan Weiss
Subject: RE: Follow up

I have never worked with your company.

I have never agreed to accept any project you offered (in writing or in kind).

You were not interested in negotiating work terms.

Other translators have complained about your management and payment history in ProZ.

Perhaps you should plan your resources better.

-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Weiss [mailto:alan@alsglobal.net]
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2011 5:44 PM
Subject: Follow up

Hi,

I am Gaia’s boss. I found out what happened with the project that was due today. How dare you put us in this terrible position with our client.

You are totally unprofessional and a moron. Your response to Gaia just now is so stupid it is embarrassing.

I do not know what your problem is. Never contact us again for anything. I suggest you find another line of work.

Alan Weiss
Vice President of Sales
American Language Services
ISO 9001 & ISO 1