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Red Tape Translation

Terms of Service


Terms of Service: Interpreting

  1. The client (that’s you!) only engages the services of Red Tape Translation for translation and/or interpreting once payment has been transacted.
  2. The translation and/or interpreting services may be provided by Kathleen Parker or by another translator and/or interpreter instructed by her.
  3. 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.
  4. The client and Red Tape Translation must agree upon a proposed date and time for the appointment in advance.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. If necessary, the client should seek his or her own legal advice.
  9. The client must pay the minimum callout fee prior to the appointment.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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 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.

14. Appointment bookings by Red Tape Translation

  • If the client asks Red Tape Translation to book an appointment on the client’s behalf, this will incur an extra fee.
  • Red Tape Translation will generally only book appointments for clients who have also booked Take a Translator for the occasion.
  • Red Tape Translation will begin searching once the appointment booking fee has been paid.
  • If Red Tape Translation has sent the client a list of documents to provide in advance of booking, we reserve the right to only begin looking once we have received the documents.
  • The client cannot determine the office location but Red Tape Translation will always choose an office at which it is possible to get the matter sorted in the client’s city. E.g. a Bürgeramt appointment to convert a driver’s license to a German one might be in Spandau or Hellersdorf, even if the client lives in Neukölln, but we won’t book it in Hellersdorf if the office doesn’t provide the right service.
  • Red Tape Translation will choose the next available appointment, keeping the client’s availability or non-availability in mind, which must be determined before we start searching for the appointment. If the client’s availability or non-availability changes, they should update it with Red Tape as soon as possible.
  • If a client’s criteria for appointment booking are too narrow for success, Red Tape Translation will offer the client a choice of either a refund or an adjustment of expectations.
  • If Red Tape Translation books an appointment successfully based on the pre-determined criteria and the client requests a change of date, a new appointment booking fee is due.

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, court-sworn interpreter.
4. The fee for Life Admin is charged per hour with a minimum purchase of one hour, paid in advance. ALGI/II recipients and registered students can use Life Admin for a discounted price.
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 other Red Tape Translation services.
7. Life Admin services are performed at a convenient time for 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. Kathleen will do her 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 business day in advance to avoid forfeiting the entire fee paid for the session booked. 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 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 long 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 and send you an email if we can’t reach you by phone.
11. Red Tape Translation UG only offers translating/interpreting services, not legal advice or any other sort of advisory services under Life Admin. Red Tape therefore accepts no liability for the outcome of client phone calls.
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 time period scheduled by the client 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 Red Tape Translation UG’s express written consent.


Terms and Conditions: Coaching

  1. The client (that’s you!) only engages the services of Red Tape Translation for coaching and/or translation once payment has been transacted.
  2. Coaching and/or translation may be provided by Kathleen Parker or by another coach instructed by her.
  3. The fee for coaching is charged per hour with a minimum purchase of one hour, paid in advance. ALGI/II recipients and registered students can use coaching at a reduced price.
  4. The client uses no fewer than 30 minutes of coaching time in one scheduled online session.
  5. The fee for coaching is non-refundable. However, clients may use coaching credit no longer needed for other Red Tape Translation services such as written translation, Take a Translator or telephone interpreting.
  6. Coaching takes place at a mutually convenient time, organised in advance by the coach and the client.
  7. To cancel or reschedule a coaching without forfeiting the fee paid, Red Tape Translation UG requires at least 1 full business day’s notice.
  8. Red Tape strives to accommodate urgent requests but cannot guarantee round-the-clock or immediate availability to coach a client. Coachings do not take place on weekends, public holidays, or outside the hours of 9am and 5pm on weekdays unless agreed upon in advance.
  9. If a client cannot be reached at the agreed time for the coaching, the coach will remain 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.
  10. Red Tape coaches only offers general information on topics related to German bureaucracy and life in Germany. They 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.
  11. Telephone, in-person or online conversations in which a Red Tape Translation coach is present must not be recorded for any purpose without Red Tape Translation UG’s express written consent in advance.


Written Translation – Terms of Service

  1. The client (that’s you!) only engages the services of Red Tape Translation for written translation once payment has been transacted.
  2. Translation may be completed by Kathleen Parker or by a translator instructed by her.
  3. Translations requiring certification will be completed by a qualified, court-sworn translator.
  4. Documents sent to Red Tape Translation for quote may only be viewed by Kathleen Parker, the translator performing the translation (if not Kathleen Parker) or a translator engaged to proofread the translation, and any employee of Kathleen Parker’s that may be responsible for part or all of its administration.
  5. Work commences only once payment has been received in full, unless otherwise agreed.
  6. Electronic copies of translations or their source documents may be stored on computer or cloud systems by Kathleen Parker or another translator. These documents can be deleted upon request once payment has been received and the client has acknowledged receipt of the translation. This means, however, that if a client requests a copy of a previous translation at a later date, the translation must be completed from scratch and paid for accordingly.