Terms of Service: Interpreting
The client (that’s you!) only engages the services of Red Tape Translation for translation and/or interpreting once payment has been transacted.
The translation and/or interpreting services may be provided by Kathleen Parker or by another translator and/or interpreter instructed by her.
Different types of appointments attract different hourly rates. In most cases, there is a minimum callout fee of one hour. If you are going to a notary office, please see point 13. Appointment types that involve complex terminology, require advance preparation or require a court-sworn interpreter will attract a higher hourly rate.
The client and Red Tape Translation must agree upon a proposed date and time for the appointment in advance.
Red Tape Translation will travel to any address within the Berlin AB Metro area, within the Frankfurt am Main city zone, and within the Münich Inner District. Extra fees may apply for appointments held outside of this area.
If the appointment takes longer than the duration mentioned in your quote, Red Tape Translation calculates additional time in blocks of 15 or 30 minutes and charges it at the same hourly rate.
The client is made aware that Red Tape Translation only offers translating/interpreting services. Red Tape Translation does not offer legal, tax or insurance advice. Red Tape Translation therefore accepts no liability for the outcome of the client appointments with German authorities or for the further progress (or lack thereof) of the client’s case.
If necessary, the client should seek his or her own legal advice.
The client must pay the minimum callout fee prior to the appointment.
Payments made to Red Tape Translation are non-refundable, except if Red Tape Translation is unable to attend and no suitable alternative appointment can be found.
Cancellation conditions vary according to the type of appointment. For general appointment types (not appointments at notaries), the following applies: if the client cannot attend an appointment or reschedules the appointment, the client has to inform Red Tape Translation at least 1 full working day before the scheduled time of the appointment. The client can then use the pre-booked payment for another appointment. If the client fails to inform Red Tape Translation at least 1 full working day before the scheduled appointment, the payment will be forfeited. Working days are Monday – Friday. This means appointments scheduled for Mondays must be cancelled or rescheduled during the day on the Friday prior, or the fee will be forfeited. Appointments at notary offices have different cancellation conditions: see point 13.
Some German authorities may request a power of attorney which authorises the interpreter/translator to be present while a case being discussed. In this case, Red Tape Translation will provide the client with a suitable power of attorney. If the client does not sign it, the case worker may refuse to allow the interpreter/translator to attend. In this case, the minimum callout payment won’t be refunded to the client.
The following only applies to appointments at notary offices: Contract read-through appointments at a notary’s office require a large amount of intensive advance preparation. Interpreters don’t just show up on the day and wing it, they have to prepare thoroughly first in advance of your appointment. Interpreters are often booked many weeks in advance. A short-notice change of date or cancellation usually means a complete loss of work for that day. For these reasons, notary appointments have stricter conditions for cancellation or postponement than appointments for everyday matters:
13a. The Deposit
50% of the fee quoted is be paid in advance and is a non-refundable deposit.
Any remaining fees are to be paid after the appointment is complete.
13b. If you have to change the date:
At least three working days in advance of the original appointment: A change of date fee of 50 EUR applies. There is no further cost to reschedule.
Fewer than three working days before the original appointment: You pay the entire cost of the original package for the new appointment date plus 250 EUR to cover loss of work on the day of the original appointment.
13c. Cancellations
More than 3 working days before the original appointment: Red Tape Translation will stop preparing your documents and retain your 50% deposit.
Fewer than 3 working days before the original appointment: Red Tape Translation will stop preparing your documents and retain your deposit. The remaining 50% is also due.
13d. Additional time
Should the appointment run longer than the quoted amount of time, additional time will be charged per additional 30-minute block at the hourly rate communicated to you in the quote we sent you. This amount will be invoiced once the appointment has finished.
Terms and Conditions: Life Admin
1. The client (that’s you!) engages the services of Kathleen Parker for telephone interpreting and/or translation help by Skype or phone.
2. The Life Admin service may be provided by Kathleen Parker or by another interpreter or translator instructed by her.
3. Life Admin is suitable for general communication by phone, email or post in German and/or English. For matters that are legal or highly technical in nature, or that involve a legal dispute, Kathleen recommends consulting a lawyer or a specialised interpreter.
4. There is a minimum purchase of one hour, paid in advance. ALGI/II recipients and registered students can use Life Admin at a reduced rate.
5. A minimum of 15 minutes will be used for each Life Admin task. If a client’s balance falls below 15 minutes, we will send a payment link to buy another hour before the service can be used again.
6. The fee is non-refundable. However, if clients have more than 15 minutes of time left over, they can allocate this Euro value to any other Red Tape Translation services.
7. Life Admin services are performed at a convenient time for both the client and the Life Admin assistant. If the client requires the work to be performed by a specific deadline, this will be agreed upon in advance.
8. Life Admin assistants will do their best to accommodate urgent requests but cannot guarantee round the clock or immediate availability to make phone calls or perform admin services. Tasks generally get done within business hours.
9. Cancellation/rescheduling: If a client has to cancel or reschedule a session booked, they should do so at least 1 full business day in advance to avoid forfeiting the entire fee paid for the session booked. A full business day means that if your appointment was supposed to take place at 11am on Thursday, you have to cancel by 11am on Wednesday, so that we have time to offer the spot to someone else. The long version: When you book Life Admin, your Life Admin assistant sets the time aside to focus on your tasks. This means they can’t take on any other work during the allotted time. If you don’t show up, your assistant still needs to be paid. For this reason, we have a strict cancellation policy for Life Admin. You can reschedule up to one full business day in advance and keep your credit, but if you simply don’t show up, you’ll forfeit your credit for the session that you booked.
10. If the client schedules an appointment with a Life Admin assistant but cannot be reached at the agreed time, the Life Admin assistant will keep him/herself available by phone or online for 30 minutes. If the client does not make contact within this time, they forfeit the Life Admin fee paid for the entire duration of the appointment. The nice version: Sometimes things go wrong or internet connections fail. Rest assured that if we can’t reach you online, we will contact you by phone on the number you gave us. Either way, we’ll be sure to stay available for you, both online and via phone (on +49 30 2089 6634), for 30 minutes after the start time of our scheduled session. But you’ll forfeit your fee for that time.
11. Red Tape Translation UG only offers translating/interpreting services under Life Admin. Red Tape Translation does not offer legal advice or any other sort of advisory services under Life Admin. Red Tape Translation therefore accepts no liability for the outcome of a client’s case.
12. Some German authorities or organisations (for example, the Agentur für Arbeit or banks) may ask identity questions while on a call. They may also request a verbal power of attorney statement from the client, authorising the interpreter to participate in the conversation. If the client does not give verbal consent, the third party may refuse to continue with the call while the interpreter is on the line. In this case, the minimum 15-minutes used for the session will not be refunded to the client.
13. Telephone or video conversations in which a Life Admin assistant is present must not be recorded for any purpose without express written consent from Red Tape Translation UG.
Terms and Conditions: Coaching
The client (that’s you!) only engages the services of Red Tape Translation for coaching and/or translation once payment has been transacted.
Coaching and/or translation may be provided by Kathleen Parker or by another coach instructed by her.
There is an hourly fee, with a minimum purchase of one hour, paid in advance. ALGI/II recipients and registered students can use coaching at a reduced price.
The client uses no fewer than 30 minutes of coaching time in one scheduled session.
The fee for coaching is non-refundable. However, clients may use the Euro value of coaching credit no longer needed towards other Red Tape Translation services such as written translation, Take a Translator or Life Admin.
The use of Coaching takes place at a mutually convenient time, organised in advance by the coach and the client.
Coaches will do their best to accommodate urgent requests but cannot guarantee round the clock or immediate availability. Coachings generally take place during business hours.
If a client cannot be reached at the agreed time for the coaching, the coach will keep themselves available by phone or online for 30 minutes. If the client does not make contact during this time, they forfeit the entire fee paid for the entire scheduled duration.
Cancellation/rescheduling: If a client has to cancel or reschedule a coaching session booked, they should do so at least 1 full business day in advance to avoid forfeiting the entire fee paid for the session booked. A full business day means that if your appointment was supposed to take place at 11am on Thursday, you have to cancel by 11am on Wednesday, so that we have time to offer the spot to someone else. The long version: When you book coaching, your coach sets the time aside to focus on your tasks. This means they can’t take on any other work during the allotted time. For this reason, we have a strict cancellation policy for coaching. You can reschedule up to one full business day in advance and keep your credit, but if you simply don’t show up or leave it too late to cancel or reschedule, you’ll forfeit your credit for the duration of the session that you booked (either 30 minutes or 60 minutes).
Coaching consists of general information on topics related to German bureaucracy and life in Germany. Coaches cannot and do not offer legal advice, tax advice, insurance advice or any other sort of advisory service governed by § 2 Abs. 1 RDG (Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz). Red Tape Translation UG therefore accepts no liability for the outcome of client appointments with government authorities or for the further progress (or lack thereof) of a client’s case.
Telephone, in-person or online conversations in which a Red Tape Translation coach is present must not be recorded for any purpose without express written consent from Red Tape Translation UG.
Written Translation – Terms of Service
The client (that’s you!) only engages the services of Red Tape Translation for written translation once payment has been transacted.
Work commences only once payment has been received in full, unless otherwise agreed in writing in advance.
Translations requiring certification will be completed by a qualified, court-sworn translator.
Red Tape Translation UG will deliver an electronic scan of certified translations to the client for approval before posting as registered mail.
Red Tape Translation UG may require the client’s cooperation in deciphering handwritten entries, stamps, codes and other intricacies. If we have questions about translations, we generally ask them by email. A belated response by the client may influence the delivery time of the translation. E.g. Your mother’s middle name on your birth certificate is handwritten and hard for us to decipher, so we ask you to confirm it. If it takes you five days to respond, we can’t complete your translation until we hear back from you.
Certified translations will generally be posted by registered mail at the client’s expense.
Certified translations may only be picked up in person in Berlin. The option to pick up in person must be confirmed by Red Tape Translation UG before the quote is finalised.
The client nominates the postal address for delivery when making payment and has a chance to confirm it once more before the translations are posted as registered mail.
If the translations are not deliverable to the address nominated by the client, the client must pay a second postage fee (5 EUR) to have it sent out again as registered mail.
Documents sent to Red Tape Translation are processed in accordance with Federal and European data protection laws.
Terms of Service: Appointment bookings
If you choose to pay a nominal extra appointment booking fee when you book Take a Translator, we will contact the office on your behalf to find you the next available appointment for your service.
We only offer this appointment booking service in conjunction with Take a Translator.
You must give us the information we need to book your appointment with your initial request. E.g. if you absolutely cannot attend an appointment after 4pm on Thursdays, we must know this when you book.
If we book an appointment that matches your availability and you do not accept it and ask us to find an alternative, you must pay the appointment booking fee again.
We cannot guarantee a particular location for your appointment unless the matter requires it. E.g. if you want to register your address, we may find you an appointment anywhere in your city. But if you ask us to book a paternity declaration and you must visit a particular Standesamt in your district, we will of course book the appointment only there.
We will make every effort to find you an appointment within a reasonable time frame while taking your availability and the urgency of the matter into consideration. Sometimes circumstances in public offices will make this impossible. If it becomes impossible for us to book any appointment at all for you, we will refund your booking fee. However, if we do manage to book the next available appointment and it is further in the future than you had hoped but still matches your availability, we will not refund your booking fee.
Last updated 11.05.2021
