My reply to the message I received this evening from Mr. Didier Hélin, Vice President of World Wide Vendor & Supply Chain Management at Lionbridge. The message, in which Lionbridge requires its partners to provide a 5% discount on all projects, was sent from a no-reply e-mail address, giving me no opportunity to reply in person.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Mr. Hélin,
As you have taken the liberty of e-mailing me without providing an e-mail address that I can reply to, I am taking the liberty of replying to you in this way. A copy of this message will be sent to my Vendor Manager in Amsterdam.
Let me reply to several points in your message.
- “industrial production in the USA fell by 0.2% in September, the first decline in more than a year”. – As it says, the first decline in more than a year. This means that for more than a year, industrial production has been rising. That is not a downturn, it’s an upturn. A 0.2% decline is a natural market fluctuation and is no indication at all of the economic situation in the translation and localization industry.
- “In October alone, the US Dollar lost 6% of its value against the Euro.” – I don’t understand this. On www.x-rates.com you will find that on September 29, 2010, 1 dollar was worth 0.7347 EUR. On October 29, 2010 (today) this had fallen to 0.721657 EUR. The difference is about 2%.
- “Most economists predict little or no growth in Europe and Japan for 2011.” – I would like to refer you to the IMF’s recent projection, dated October 6, 2010, stating, amongst others:
- “The IMF upwardly revised its projection of world output growth to 4.8%”
- “economic recovery is proceeding broadly as expected”
- “the economic growth in the United States (…) is projected to accelerate to 2.6% this year and 2.3% next year, following a decline of 2.9% in 2006”
- “the eurozone economy will grow by 1.7% this year and 1.5% in 2011”
- “in Japan, the IMF expects the output to rise by 2.8% this year and 1.5% in 2011”
- “In China, growth is projected to average 10.5% in 2010 and 9.6% in 2011”
- “In India, growth is projected to be 9.7% in 2010 and 8.4% in 2011” - “Against the backdrop of this negative economic context” – Now, I don’t think the economic context is as negative as all that after all…
- “we require all our partners to provide a 5% discount on all Lionbridge projects” – I am sorry, but this is not the way it works. Your partners may offer you a discount, but as a client you cannot require a discount, much the same as I, as a client, cannot require a discount from my supermarket.
- “Lionbridge bears the full burden and risk associated with exchange-rate fluctuations” – that is true. However, I have never seen an e-mail similar to this one requiring me to increase my rates by 5% in reverse conditions. In other words: Lionbridge also bears the full profit of exchange-rate fluctuations. This is all part of running a business.
- “as a USD denominated company this means that we have effectively seen our outsourcing costs rise by approximately 6% in the last month alone”. – As I’ve indicated above, this figure should be closer to 2%. The dollar lost 2% of its value against the euro – if your outsourcing costs rose by more than that, there must be other factors as well.
- “Lionbridge has taken extraordinary steps to reduce its fixed costs (…). We ask our partners to do the same.” – I would be very interested to hear what steps you would suggest that I take to reduce my fixed costs. I am an independent freelance translator working from a small office in my own house. Would you expect me to move to a smaller house? To stop paying my health insurance? Not to turn on central heating this winter to save on energy costs?
- “As our translation partner, your success is tightly aligned with our success.” – I would have phrased that differently. Lionbridge’s success is dependent on the quality work of its partners, and quality comes at a price.
As a freelance translator, there are no steps that I can take to make up for a 5% drop in my income other than raising my output by about 5%. That would mean that I would be spending less time translating the same amount of words (e.g. by not proofreading or spellchecking my work), which would have an unavoidable negative effect on the quality of my work. I am sure that that is not what Lionbridge would want.
However, having worked as a supplier for Lionbridge for several years, I know that there are quite a few areas where there is much room for cost reduction. I am amazed, for example, by the huge number of steps in your supply chain – each step adding unnecessary additional margins and overhead costs to the rates that I charge, all the way at the bottom of that supply chain. In addition, each step in the supply chain adds to the risk of mistakes being made somewhere along the process. Again, I’m assuming that Lionbridge is dedicated to deliver quality translations…
Another point worth mentioning is that Lionbridge has a dominant position in the translation industry. It would be good to see Lionbridge using this dominant position to change its end-clients’ view on fair translation rates, rather than to impose discounts on its suppliers. This would be beneficial for the translation industry as a whole.
In closing, let me rephrase your requirement to a request, in assuming that you are asking me if I would be willing to provide a 5% discount on my work for Lionbridge. My reply to that request would be a polite ‘no’, bearing in mind that the rates that I charge to Lionbridge are very competitive as it is.
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Very cogently argued.
Here’s what I wrote to a representative of said company in Belgium:
Good morning,
May we kindly ask you not to send us any more “vendor related” messages?
Our last translation assignment for one of Lionbridge’s daughter companies dates back to 2005, if we’re not mistaken.
Furthermore, we are not interested at all in working with your CAT tool nor in lowering our rates as a Mr. Hélin so rudely and unilaterally tries to shove down our throats in a message he just sent us (and most probably to half the translators’ population), and especially not after reading
http://www.lionbridge.com/lionbridge/en-US/company/news/lionbridge-reports-highest-quarterly-profit-in-its-history-2010Q2-earnings.htm
Maybe Lionbridge should pay more attention to messages like:
http://workingathometranslatormum.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/discounts-required/
of which there are plenty more in the make.
Sincerely yours,
(signed)
A recent press release from Lionbridge’s own website:
“Lionbridge Reports Highest Quarterly Profit in its History
Year-on-Year Revenue and Profit Expansion Reflects Strong Sales Execution and Positive Earnings Conversion”
Here‘s the link.
Mr response to “Lionbridge Vendor Management – IMPORTANT – DO NOT REPLY ”
To: Didier.Helin@lionbridge.com; sara.buda@lionbridge.com; yvonne.cekel@lionbridge.com; Michele.Erwin@lionbridge.com;
One of the silliest e-mails I ever received. The very nature of the communication and its on anonymity (further accentuated by the e-mail heading Important-Do Not Reply) underlines a fundamental weakness of the organization it represents as it has evolved over the years to become increasingly unwieldy and disconnected from its vendors. The larger it has become, the greater the frequency and number of forms I receive from this organization that have no relation to the nature of the work I do from people that I do not know, in itself a sign that this organization has lost touch with its marketplace.
The irony is that the very consolidation trends underway in recent years and exemplified by the recent Donnelley /Bowne acquisition have also provided opportunities to smaller players to pick up business as larger organizations become increasingly unwieldy and experienced difficulty in maintaining consistent quality and value-added services based on local market knowledge. Indeed, with every example of consolidation I have seen, I have also seen the resulting companies lose business and/or margins on a net basis to smaller operators for these very reasons.
As for the content of the e-mail, first there is the issue of the facts. Currency rates have of course continued to fluctuate over the past couple of years, with the euro reaching a high approaching 1.50, followed by a sharp reversal during the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. The latter trend of the euro’s decline was met with general satisfaction here in Europe by business owners by reducing pressures on prices. In recent months the dollar has once again started to fall back though now looks ready for an upturn as concerns about European debt resurface. Before this period of currency volatility and when the euro and US dollar were closer to parity however, there were no complaints by US companies about vendor rates. And even during the Euro’s peak following the collapse of Lehman Brothers did necessarily precipitate further price negotiations or foreign exchange-driven adjustments. In fact, the low US dollar over the last two years following the financial market collapse had already given rise to considerable price concessions by vendors based in Europe.
At the same time, as yesterday’s New York Times reported the U.S. Economy Grew at 2% Rate in Third Quarter following 4.4% in second. And there is general consensus that despite the fragility of the recovery, company earnings trendshave been consistently positive over the last year.
When I started, my work originated in large part from agencies like yours in time supplemented by direct customers that I initially added almost solely as a way of staying focused and maintaining a sense of accountability for the quality of work and remaining in touch with the priorities of the end-customer.
And as agencies like yourself have continued to go through transformations through consecutive business combinations, becoming larger and in sometimes more unwieldy and bureaucratic, the era of a close relationships and camaraderie fostered by certain agencies began to give way to impersonalized management of vendors (exemplified by a multiplication of all sorts of massive e-mailing and forms) with work priced more like commodities based on simple word volume and translators pretty much treated like sweatshop textile workers of yore.
In response to these developments, my business mix has inevitably shifted to close to 90% direct customers and 10% agencies. while in part driven by personal inclination, this shift also reflects the disconnect of the large agencies following the wave of mergers and acquisitions in the sector with their market. While it is true that pricing has remained an issue, the de-personalized nature of the resulting organizations exemplified by this letter have also contributed to this trend. The result is that more and more of the market has been snapped up by individuals or small operations like myself able to offer something that your organization can no longer provide. This represents the reverse side of the coin of the delocalization of the market as new technologies allow smaller players to provide higher quality services than large organizations in a more cost-efficient manner while maintaining better margins. Paradoxically, when I do myself have recourse to outside vendors, my policy is to pay them as much as possible for reasons of motivation, ensuring their commitment to the project, availability and quality.
Tom
Former head of corporate communication’s for AIG’s European operations, editor of a major US publishing house and translator in the financial and investor relations sector for the last 15 years.
Hi Ellen,
Big applause, great reply, you are absolutely right. I think any translator with some self-esteem shouldn’t give in to their blackmail (especially if you take into account that since some time now this very same company wants to make translators to pay a monthly fee for the honor of working for them). I have quite some clients who have asked me if I can grant them some discount. But nobody ever had the nerve to “require” a discount. What kind of a business attitude is this?
Kind regards,
Klaus
HI,
ourtageous. Have you guys seen this?
http://www.lionbridge.com/lionbridge/en-US/company/news/lionbridge-reports-highest-quarterly-profit-in-its-history-2010Q2-earnings.htm
My suggestion: everyone spread the message about this in forums etc. Also let those people at Lionbridge know how you feel about this bs.
And here’s what I wrote Mr. Hélin via the local vendor manager here in Germany:
Dear Mr Hélin,
This is to let you know that I have received your email dated 29/10/10. Honestly, I have to tell you I find your attitude quite strange, to _require_ from your vendors to grant you a discount. I’ve had several clients that have _asked_ me for a discount, but so far no-one tried to impose a discount on me without my consent. Let me tell you politely but frankly that I am not ready to grant Lionbridge such a discount, particularly considering that your company has achieved record profits in 2010 according to your own website (http://www.lionbridge.com/lionbridge/en-US/company/news/lionbridge-reports-highest-quarterly-profit-in-its-history-2010Q2-earnings.htmI), and that your company has been trying to make me and all of your vendors pay for the honor of working for them via the Translation Workspace license fees.
Regards,
Klaus Lauble
Thanks for this great analysis and for the comments, I have posted the link to your blog entry on TranslatorsCafé.
Lucky me had no but one contact with LB, and that was enough to put me off.
For information, you can also contact the management Board including the signatory of the letter directly at the e-mail addresses included in my own e-mail response above
[...] This post was Twitted by jvdepaulo [...]
Full support for all of you. Let’s spread the word.
I’m a Lionx vendor, working as a translator for 13 years now and I am ASHAMED and embarrassed by all this.
I will NOT work for them while this ridiculous “quarantine” lasts. I don’t give discounts. Giving discounts is a private issue and no one should be REQUIRED to do so. This is oppressive. I wish I never had to work for them again when the prices go back to normal.
Regards from Rio/Brazil!
1288490866
Good rendition exemplifying Lionbridge negotiating tactics with translators on YouTube
I have become a Liox vendor recently, doing some small jobs (without using their “praised” CAT tool) for them, and I see no reason to continue now when I have read what people say in translators’ forums.
I got the same email in my spam box and I think this is the word that describes the whole thing quite perfectly. I am really upset and annoyed as none of my clients has ever come to this form of seeing a partnership.
At the same time I wonder how many translators would accept this humiliating behavior. With all of our upheaval and protests wee are just a drop in the bucket full of translators who are avaliable for any agreements, any terms, any rates, any time, ever.
Regards from Russia
Very interesting read, I will be posting this link on Twitter/Facebook. I have informed the local vendor manager I will not be working with Lionbridge under these ridiculous conditions.
[...] Although it is a little more than that. The content of your email, as another unfortunate recipient of your flaming bag of dog refuse has very calmly explained, is just as flawed (see the response here). [...]
Nice work, people
Way to go!
I am equally amazed by the request itself as well as the apparent belief that sending out such a “request” in the manner chosen somehow makes sound business sense, as a form of unidirectional communication, via email. If this isn’t a request for a face omelet, I don’t know what is. I suppose gratitude is in order as it wasn’t tweeted out or posted on their Facebook page…
The thing is, while I may understand the obvious motivation driving the request, I have trouble reconciling its chosen delivery with the equally obvious and generally available information that easily puts the “request” in its proper context. Especially among practicing linguists, aptitude for sensible and contextually appropriate interpretation is readily available. The intent of reducing production pipeline inefficiencies may well be served by offering language services directly to the (end) Client; as it happens, working against the cloud cuts both ways.
For such a large company, operating worldwide in a tightly interconnected environment of generally quite net-savvy language professionals, it appears as a puzzling negation of the qualifications it fundamentally requires of its partners. Kudos to the author for setting the record straight in this manner, on a world-readable blog.
I agree with you all. I just send them an e-mail saying I wouldn’t have worked with them anymore. I know that I will have to pay a penalty for the software that will cost me more than the 5% discount required, but it has now really become a question of principle.. Moreover, what will happen in January??? I prefer to continue working with serious companies. Greetings from Italy. Roberta
What a good surprise to open the week indeed! I am glad I had already left for the day when this email arrived, it would have spoiled my weekend.
Truly, I think this is a scam. Mr Hélin is advised by a witty PR agency to create a buzz and enter the race for French President in 2012. Or maybe he is starting his own business and hopes to hit his soon to be former employer with the mother of all blows when all their providers stand up and walk. Or better still, there is no Didier Hélin. This is a conspiracy by a 3-letter competitor trying to discredit a fine LSP with record earnings in Q2.
Go figure. The truth is out there, isn’t it?
Briljante mail!
Bravo Ellen, couldn’t agree more.
For good measure, you may wish to read this, pure PR style:
http://www.gala-global.org/articles/interview-didier-heacutelin
Excellent response, well written! I’m glad I never entered a business relationship with LB. This whole thing is just plain outrageous and disrespectful. Shame on them!
Hi!
Do you mind if I quote your excellent response in my email to my vendor managers? I’m refusing this “discount” of course, but really you’ve put everything so well and said exactly what I think, so it would be easier to keep my mail as brief as possible and just direct them here! I hope that’s ok?
Regards,
Lucy
No, not at all. Feel free!
Thanks fot the clarifying message you’ve sent to Liox. It will help me to write my own answer to this ridiculous “request” of a 5% discount. I am already preparing my message to Liox Brazil…
Best regards,
Claudia
[...] planets/were not drinking the same Kool-Aid/were addicted to different hallucinogens.”), Discounts Required [...]
It has just arrived:
“On October 29, 2010, we sent a message to all vendors. In this message, the sender name contained “DO NOT REPLY.”
This was unintended. In fact, we welcome your response to Lionbridge. You can reply to any of our emails or contact us directly at Lionbridge_VendorManagement@lionbridge.com.
We apologize for any misunderstanding caused by this error.
Regards,
Didier”
I believe all the complaints have reached their sorry ears during the weekend and today. Let’s spread the word, let’s NOT accept any discount.
Cheers everybody! Together we are strong!
Daniela
Rio/Brazil
Didier Hélin *is* a real person. You can share your thoughts with him directly at
Name: Didier Hélin
E-mail: Didier.Helin@lionbridge.com
Telephone: 1 781 434 6000
Website: http://www.lionbridge.com
I’ve forwarded my message on to him, but haven’t received a reply to date… Not surprising, really. Some local PMs and vendor managers have been more responsive, though.
No doubt having sent an e-mail to Hélin’s personal address with his entire board in copy also contributed, albeit his mea culpa was only a modest concession with respect to the form and not the substance of his original mail…
Well said, Ellen!
Here is another great response
http://koti.kapsi.fi/~watchman/journal/?p=810
Hi, it’s great to see so much exposure on the Web and it’s been a real pleasure to read your post, Ellen.
Here’s my reply to Lionbridge, FYI. Said as an aside, I’m still in their database but I don’t work with them any longer. No need to tell you why!
Dear Mr Didier Hélin,
Thank you for giving me the chance to reply to your email. I absolutely accept your apology, although I’m sorry to hear it comes after a peak of Web exposure by outraged and disillusioned freelance translators like myself, who got the chance to express their feelings publicly as the only way to deal with your all-uppercase DO NOT REPLY warning.
That said, your email imposing a 5% discount is a total disgrace.
I’m writing to assure you that the global economic downturn of 2008 and 2009 didn’t affect my freelance business at all. The agencies and direct clients in my portfolio are doing fine, and none of them, including a few well-known competitors of yours, have asked/required/imposed me to lower my fees. For this reason – and many other reasons which would be too long to list here – I’m not willing to provide a 5% discount on my work for Lionbridge.
Best regards, etc etc.
Outstanding response, I tip my hat to you.
How many of you got a rate rise in the past years? Because in the English into Spanish language combination I am earning now less that I was earning 10 years ago.
I think it is time for all translators to join forces and push for a general strike against Lionbridge. After all, “thanks” to them our rates have gone pretty much down the drain in the past few years. It is time to take revenge.
Come on translators, we can!!
Actually, we decreased our rates for Lionbridge last year quite dramatically. Then came the Translation Workspace. Now this. Ouch ouch ouch…
I have raised my rates a few times over the past ten years. The last time was 2 years ago, and despite the financial crisis, half of my clients agreed. I’ve lost a few clients because they thought my rates were too high (mind you, these were usually the worst-paying clients), but also won a few new clients that are paying much better rates than average.
But yes, I agree that all translators should be paid decent rates, That’s only going to happen if all translators refuse to work for rates that are far too low.
How *Not* to Discuss Rates w/ a Translator http://ow.ly/329Z6
In homage to Lionbridge
Three words: skip the bonuses.
Well put, Ellen. I stopped working for LB when we were told that we had to pay for the tool they forced on us. I thought that was outrageous enough and now this 5% discount on top of that… mind-boggling really.
That was too polite.
I’m happy to have never worked with LB.
One other item I might add to the excellent discussion already in progress…If a large company dealing internationally doesn’t have the sense to watch the futures markets on currencies and make appropriate hedges as insurance, then they are really….not too bright.
What, did they think currency rates never change? My brother as a ten-year-old figured out how to hedge his allowance when we lived in North Africa! (albeit by cannily convincing our father to bank his allowance until we left the country and then pay him in whatever currency he wanted. He did quite well over the year, by perusing the International Herald Tribune and comparing currency values. And my father was so impressed with his financial acumen that he paid up without complaint.)
So if a 10-year-old can figure it out…what’s Lionbridge’s problem?
Best regards, Teri
Great response to an aitragious e mail, and even greater reactions.
If the large agencies have the guts to do this, we free-lancers should have the guts to say no to all of them, we do have that power, if we are willing to sit out a flux of Indian and Chinese translations, whose bad quality is already known. The market is there, so are the clients, if they cannot go to LB anymore, because no translators will work for them, let them come to you, me and all of us.
[...] Dutch blog (in [...]
[...] week the translation world has been busy tearing apart Lionbridge for its crimes against humanity, this time in the form of an attempt to fool freelancers [...]
[...] Une collègue néerlandaise, Translator Mum, [...]
A very good reply indeed! Well done Ellen. I already let LB know that I am not going to work at discounted prices for them.
Dank je!
Excellent posts everyone. The best thing to do is to avoid working with them if you’ve other opportunities. They lower our rates, want us to buy their tool, that’s to pay in order to work with them. Together, we’re stronger.
So far, I’ve kept working for LB, but I’m obviously not ‘offering’ the discount. Some PMs don’t seem to mind and send work anyway, others do mind and don’t send work. It seems to depend on the offices I’m working with.
You ought to really think about working on developing this blog into a major authority in this market. You clearly have a grasp handle of the subjects everybody is looking for on this blog anyways and you could without a doubt even earn a dollar or two off of some advertisements. I would explore following recent topics and raising the amount of write ups you put up and I guarantee you’d begin seeing some awesome traffic in the near future. Just a thought, good luck in whatever you do!
This reply is so excellent!
Do feel free to join the Facebook group Dear Lionbridge, I’d rather give my 5 % too….
Anette
And here is the link to it http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_116776718384355
What a good response to this distasteful communication from Lionbridge. Well done, hope it leads to bigger things for you, and a rapid demise for them and other agencies that treat their freelancers that way!
Elise
Fantastic. I don’t work directly for Lionbridge but they are clients of some of my clients. (Long supply chain). So I just wrote to my clients that I will not be doing any jobs in Translation Workspace anymore as this was the easiest way to avoid jobs coming from Lionbridge. I hope this goes all around the world. I already sent this link to fellow translators and advise everybody to do the same. This just has to stop.
What a relief, this unagitated, well-informed, straight-to-the-point response! I have stopped working for Lionbridge directly – and, given their prices, also for any of their subcontractors -, not least because of all the constraints involved and their communication strategy (if there is any).
What always bothered me was the impression that everybody complained about new tool requirements, discounts and price pressure, but finally caved in, in hurrying obedience. (I’d rather work less for good money than work harder for poor money, but some people just don’t seem to see it simply does not pay. That is if you are not keen on RSI…)
Good to see that there is a fair amount of resistance in our profession!
Anja
Check this out on Facebook as well.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_116776718384355&ap=1
Sometimes I just think that people write and dont really have much to say. Not so here
Superior blog, I believe it is nice when people specific their positions as vehemently as you have. Method to present your faculty pride! Make us proud!
Thanks!
wow, awesome post, I was wondering the same thing. and found your site by google, many userful stuff here, now i have got some idea. bookmarked and also signed up your rss. keep us updated.
This is wonderful. I am just chilling in my hotel room in Killarney analyzing all these comments. Many are fantastic whilst some don’t try to make much sense in the slightest. We are on a break but nevertheless , I cannot help myself from having a look around this site in spite of my hotel room right here in Killarney charges online usage on an hourly basis.hotels in killarney with swimming pool,5 star hotels killarney ireland
So the question is WHY would anyone work for Lionbridge?! I prefer to work for small, friendly agencies who in comparison to these lumbering translation dinosaurs:
a) send more work
b) have more responsive PMs
c) pay better
I never really gave signing up with LB any serious thought, but now my mind is quite made up.
Well, to be honest, I’ve never had any problems regarding a) and b). I’m drowning in work and the PM’s I work with are, on the whole, very professional. The pay could certainly be better, but I’m making up for that with speed. After 18 years in localization, I don’t have to think about it all that much; my fingers do the work. And I have other, better paying clients that send me work that’s more interesting but takes longer to translate.
Thanks for sharing, I like this blog!
[...] The busiest day of the year was November 2nd with 1 views. The most popular post that day was Discounts required. [...]
As a former PM (not for Lionbridge!) of a translation and localisation company that regularly features in the top 10 lists for profit, expansion, etc, I’d like to express my full support for this blogger’s response to an insulting and extortionate demand.
Whilst I can’t reveal my former employer’s name, I can tell you that they have freelance sourcing practices that are so mercenary they have provoked a storm of backlash from many freelancers. Mostly the reactions were to the “lower your rates or we won’t work with you ever ever again” demands the company made.
How many of you freelancers received a similar mail and then contacted a PM from the company to complain about the requirement to lower the rates? I was, many times, and I felt ashamed that I had to spout the company line about “more for less”, “increasingly competitive market”, “more demanding clients” and other associated nonsense. The whole attitude displayed in an effort to wring every last penny of profit from freelance translators made me deeply uncomfortable and extraordinarily cynical. I’m also a linguist, and a voluntary translator for Cafe Babel, and whilst I can’t claim the skills of a pro, I am aware of how skilled one needs to be in order to be a truly effective translator. I don’t miss working for that company.
I’m happy to say that when given this ultimatum, most of the translators simply said “push off” – or words to that effect. It’s a justifiable anger and it’s a cynical and unethical attempt by larger companies to attempt to be the ones who control market prices. But that’s not up to them – it’s up to each individual freelancer to state what they’re worth. Some of the highest quality work I’ve managed has come from freelancers who set themselves a fair working wage and who I think are worth far more than what we pay them due to their flexibility, professionalism and reliability.
Just wanted to let you all know that there are many PMs out there who feel the same way you do, and are growing increasingly resentful of bigger business’ aggressive profit-wringing.
@pipedreamer57
Right on! And Thanks for your support, it’s up to us translators to show our value and to refuse such disguting deals. But this has already gone around the world, and it will backfire on LB, anyway all of my colleagues don’t want to work for them anymore, and some of their customers are beginning to have serious doubts about the quality they deliver. Quality has a price, it’s our business and future that is at stake, so I don’t see why we should lower our rates that are already rather low. Would you ask your baker for a discount, or lower the price of their bread? NO. So it’s the same for us. And finally thanks to this blogger for this space.