"Once bitten, twice shy"

I had a conversation with a prospective client, with whom I talked at length, about his experiences of using an online transcription company. Frankly it made my blood boil.

Here at Audiosec Limited we know we are in competition with other transcription companies advertising on the Internet. In some ways it’s a mine field out there; how do you know that what you are reading online is the truth in the real world? The answer is, you can’t always know for sure.

It is for this reason that I am so very careful about who works as part of our team. I receive applications regularly from people who ‘have a fast typing speed’ and ‘have done some audio typing in my job’. Typing speed is great but having real experience of transcribing complicated speech-data is something completely different.  

The chap I was talking to had used an online service. Their price included a discount for student transcription which meant this chap thought it wasn’t a bad deal. It worked out at about 90p per audio minute. He went for it and got bitten, badly. The transcriptionist didn’t really understand how to transcribe verbatim and despite several patient attempts by the client to get her to understand his requirement, her attitude became arrogant and uncooperative. Her version of verbatim didn’t make any sense at all and several attempts at explaining himself left him feeling his work would never result in anything on paper that would be of any use, other than to start a bonfire with at the end of the day.  

I wish I could vet all the companies on the Internet for you, get rid of the businesses out there who purport to produce verbatim interview transcripts, and that clients would walk away delighted with a discount service that produced quality work. It does happen, but rarely.

We are NOT the most expensive service on the Internet, I do try to be flexible with clients whose budgets are tight, but I won’t pay a meagre fee to my team because they really are the crème de la crème of transcribers available to you. If you find a better quote please read here first. Hand on my heart, you won’t get bitten here, other than with the bug to come back for more and more help from us with all your future projects.

You WILL find companies who are cheaper than us, it’s inevitable in life if you shop around you will get a bargain, and you WILL certainly find companies charging a lot more than us. Our prices are fair not exorbitant. Our quality is superb. Our commitment to quality assured.

Please, with as much emphasis as I can put in words on a website, don’t get bitten by a dog that barks sweetly but ends up biting you badly. Choose someone who can provide you with references from clients who have had interviews transcribed brilliantly. Don’t take a website owner’s word for it – check them out thoroughly first; we welcome it!  

Dee Briston

Owner of DeeWP Transcription Services (www.deewp.co.uk)

Director and project manager for Audiosec Limited (www.audiosec.co.uk)

You can read a few of our references by following this link. Please feel free to contact us if you’ve been bitten and are a bit nervous of trusting another transcription company. We will change your mind about the service that is available on the Internet.