Alpha CRC Ltd., England Reviews

I have worked for Alpha as a translator and they owe me over 5k €. I have been waiting for payment for almost a year now and they won't pay. Avoid working for them as freelancers or hiring them.

They do not pay freelancers
Just like several other fellows translators here, I am still waiting for payments from ALPHA CRC for invoices overdue by more than 6 months.
They keep ignoring most of the emails I am sending, and do not communicate nor provide any information on when the payment should be settled.
For a company considered one of the best LSP, this is really a shameful way of doing business.

Same as other freelancers here, I am awaiting payment. Bad practice!!

They have never paid me on time. still have several invoices outstanding, but the account team never follows up

Very efficient organization and very good company to work with since they always look for increasing the good mood of their employees.
I work with them as a french Tech Editor for a card game, and very happy to do so.
They are the only compagny I work with, so I am not able to clearly indicate what would be the differences between them and another company ; however, I could recommand it to some friends, since my experience with them always been good.

Good company, although they give to employees a contract that involves to work extra hours (they don't say how many and how frequently) for free... Which sound so weird. But maybe all the translation companies behave like that?

I started at Alpha CRC as an intern in 2018 and am now the Marketing Manager. The company has a unique selling point, fantastic staff, including exceptionally talented writers, linguists and SMEs, and our clients are very pleased with our results. We cover a huge range of languages and industries, striving localization excellence and creative solutions.

Do not pay your bills, respond to any mail or tell lies stories. Stay away, very bad shop!

The worst type of scammers - they offer jobs to freelancers without any intention to pay and will pay only through legal action. The people writing positive reviews here are all working for Alpha CRC. For instance Vladimir who gave 5 stars is one of their project managers, that I had to threaten with a law suit because they owed me over 20.000 EUR and were not paying.

I am a freelance translator, and I have done four jobs for Alpha CRC. The project managers with whom I have worked have been professional and competent people. However, the company is terrible about payment. Even with a payment period of 60 days, all four payments have been late.

The company did pay me for the first two jobs I did, though both payments were made weeks later than what was agreed. However, I submitted the third project - of over $3500 - almost four months ago, and I have not yet been paid. All of my queries at this point are either ignored or deflected with a cut-and-paste response in which I am told how much my patience is appreciated. This is particularly disconcerting as I think back about how I nearly killed myself getting it done on time. I am in a full-time graduate program at the moment, which meant that I had several nights in which I got fewer than three hours of sleep because I was doing work for Alpha CRC on top of my studies. My classmates told me that I was crazy, but I just responded that I needed the money. The sleep deprivation ended up having a recognizable effect on my grades. That is not Alpha CRC's fault, of course, but it makes their inability to pay even more painful.

Payment for my fourth project just became overdue a few days ago. Meanwhile, I am broke.

I realize that most folks come here as buyers, not suppliers. However, consider the risks of dealing with a company that is so terrible about fulfilling its financial obligations. This speaks volumes about what goes on behind the curtains: trust someone else with your projects.

If you are a buyer seeking translation services please, please, please DO NOT use the Cambridge branch of this company. Given their appalling payment practices (i.e. refusing to pay their freelancers), it is extremely unlikely that self-respecting, professional, experienced translators will work for them. Or if they do, it will be once only and never again, resulting in poor continuity and little understanding of your business. In buying their services, you will be supporting highly unethical and immoral business practices. I have been awaiting payment since 2015.

DO NOT work for Alpha CRC as a freelancer. They do not pay.
I have worked for them 3 times over the past 10 years and always had the same problem.
They are totally unreliable and not to be trusted.
If I could give them zero stars, I would.
STAY AWAY!!!

I have been working as a freelance translator with Alpha for almost 10 years, and our collaboration in the area of games and videogames is satisfying. The project manager are very responsive and supporting.
There had been a period (2017-2018) with issues with payments, which have been solved and all has been very smooth afterwards.

Very professional and easy to use, had no issues with any of their service:)

Just like everyone else, I finished two jobs for this company at the end of April, inquired about payment in July, and am still waiting for my money now in August. It's been almost a month since I heard from the payment supervisor I was referred to, and I've sent 4 emails which have all gone unanswered.

I was naive enough to think that when a company seems to have such a large global presence that means they're professional and treat their translators with respect. Definitely never working for this company again, and I'll do more research in the future before applying to new agencies. Currently looking into my options for legal action to get the money I'm owed.

The only way I could get paid was to threaten them with a "legal advice" and even an e-mail with my lawyer in cc.
If this trick may help other free-lance translators who have encountered similar problems...
STAY AWAY FROM ALPHA!

I'm senior member of the technical staff for a company that builds and operates a secure enterprise messaging and collaboration solution. A big part of our solution is a set of apps that run on all major mobile and desktop platforms. Since we have key markets in North America, Europe and Asia, we use Alpha on a regular basis to localize our apps for multiple languages. Our experience has been excellent. Alpha provides fast and accurate translation at a competitive price. Their translators are also meticulous about following the special instructions we provide with every job. This is a great company to work with. Highly recommended.

Still waiting for the payment of a job invoiced in July. No answer from the accounts-department concerning this matter.

If you're a freelancer, NEVER work for Alpha CRC unless you are happy to work for free. I should have listened to what people said about payment issue before accepting any projects.

As a freelancer who worked for this company I have had a very bad experience which is a still ongoing nightmare. Submitted invoice on 16 March which was logged on their system, with a payment term of 60 days. Then realising I still had not been paid by 26 May, I looked up my payment on the system only to find it as 'open' and not 'approved'. I chased this up and was told that it would be looked into. Then nothing until 12 June when I am contacted with another job. I decline the job and remind once again about my unsettled and overdue payment. This time I am met with deafening silence. On 19 June I am contacted once again about another job, which I also decline as my first ever payment is still to be received. Would certainly dissuade any freelancer or any clients to engage with this company as you cannot get good quality work done by treating freelancers this way.

I used to do freelance work for a translation agency that these Alpha jokers took over - everything was fine until the take-over. Ever since then I have had immense trouble getting payment out of them and have decided I will never work for them again. My advice - steer clear of them.