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Previously on "Agency offering rates they can never pay..."

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  • northernladuk
    replied
    Originally posted by pr1 View Post

    You answered your own question before you asked it
    I've seen the clients rate at every gig I've been at, either by hanging round the printer or just chatting to them once I've got my feet under the table and all was correct. Can't deny that possibility is always there though.. BIDI.

    Leave a comment:


  • pr1
    replied
    Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

    Same but I have come across a few situations where the agent admitted they won't be paying the rate on the jobserve ad. In every case they blamed the client dropping the rate. I actually took one of the roles as the rate offered was only a few 10's of pounds different and the reduced figure was still a good rate. No sniff of any underhandness going on. Just a case of the agent overstating the rate on jobserve which they admitted.

    Interestingly enough I don't think I've had the agents pulling any of the tricks that we see on here from time to time. I'd like to believe if you can convince the agent you know what you are doing from the off they'll not pull the funnies on you. I can't help feeling that some of the people that have fallen foul of agency tricks are partly responsible for giving them the opportunity to do so. Maybe not in this case as it's rather more complicated. They are salespeople and do this day in day out so will be very good and manipulating situations. I don't believe there are many 'bad eggs' that will try pull the wool over every single contractor. Surely they won't last very long if they aren't a bit smart about it? Or have I just not come across one of these... or have I met one and they've played me like a fiddle and I didn't know?
    Part of the fun of contracting.
    You answered your own question before you asked it

    Leave a comment:


  • Lance
    replied
    most agencies are fairly honest (yeah I know).
    At the end of the day they won't last long if they get a bad reputation. Clients don't like them being twats.

    And a lot of the larger agencies with larger clients are on a fixed margin anyway.

    Leave a comment:


  • krytonsheep
    replied
    I had a situation where I went for a role (wasn't advertised anywhere) with an hourly rate of £xx. Got it. The agency phoned to say there had been a mix up and the client were only willing to pay the rate I'd been quoted, to the agency itself. They asked if I'd be happy with a slightly reduced rate so the agency can take a few quid per hour commission.

    I was annoyed, but it sounded like a genuine mistake so I agreed to it on the understanding of ramping the rate up on renewal (which I managed to do several times). The client had lots of contractors off a preferred supplier list, but I believe I was the first from this particular agency who had never dealt with the client before.

    After a few months I chatted with someone in accounts at the client to double check how much the agency were invoicing/taking commission, and it was correct.


    Leave a comment:


  • northernladuk
    replied
    Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
    I've never had an agent pull the scenario the OP has described, as I've always gotten the rate I've asked for.

    I have subsequently found out that I could have gotten more money on several occasions but, as I was happy with what I was being paid, I didn't get the arse over it.
    Same but I have come across a few situations where the agent admitted they won't be paying the rate on the jobserve ad. In every case they blamed the client dropping the rate. I actually took one of the roles as the rate offered was only a few 10's of pounds different and the reduced figure was still a good rate. No sniff of any underhandness going on. Just a case of the agent overstating the rate on jobserve which they admitted.

    Interestingly enough I don't think I've had the agents pulling any of the tricks that we see on here from time to time. I'd like to believe if you can convince the agent you know what you are doing from the off they'll not pull the funnies on you. I can't help feeling that some of the people that have fallen foul of agency tricks are partly responsible for giving them the opportunity to do so. Maybe not in this case as it's rather more complicated. They are salespeople and do this day in day out so will be very good and manipulating situations. I don't believe there are many 'bad eggs' that will try pull the wool over every single contractor. Surely they won't last very long if they aren't a bit smart about it? Or have I just not come across one of these... or have I met one and they've played me like a fiddle and I didn't know?
    Part of the fun of contracting.

    Leave a comment:


  • eek
    replied
    Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
    I've never had an agent pull the scenario the OP has described, as I've always gotten the rate I've asked for.

    I have subsequently found out that I could have gotten more money on several occasions but, as I was happy with what I was being paid, I didn't get the arse over it.
    +1 - I'm sure I've got contracts as I was more profitable than other options (I was happy with the pay so it didn't matter).

    The OPs story is a strange one, I still can't work out what the agent was hoping to achieve by doing what he was doing.

    Leave a comment:


  • ladymuck
    replied
    I've never had an agent pull the scenario the OP has described, as I've always gotten the rate I've asked for.

    I have subsequently found out that I could have gotten more money on several occasions but, as I was happy with what I was being paid, I didn't get the arse over it.

    Leave a comment:


  • northernladuk
    replied
    Originally posted by NotAllThere View Post
    When agents tried this on me, I would email the hiring manager and explain that the agency had explain the rate had been lowered due to budgetry concerns, and as a result, reluctantly, I would be unable to accept the rate, but hoped they'd still consider me for future contacts. Amazing how quickly you get your rate restored.

    Seriously. 20 years? Because this is a newbie mistake. NEVER believe the agent.
    Absolutely this. We do get the odd one of these from time to time and it's very eye opening. Either they've had a perfect ride in all those years or they've been absolutely reamed without ever knowing it. Just been carrying on in plain ignorance convinced they are the top of the game.

    Leave a comment:


  • NotAllThere
    replied
    When agents tried this on me, I would email the hiring manager and explain that the agency had explain the rate had been lowered due to budgetry concerns, and as a result, reluctantly, I would be unable to accept the rate, but hoped they'd still consider me for future contacts. Amazing how quickly you get your rate restored.

    Seriously. 20 years? Because this is a newbie mistake. NEVER believe the agent.

    Leave a comment:


  • jmo21
    replied
    Originally posted by Elrosso View Post
    So i have been contracting for the best part of 20 years and have mainly had good experiences with agencies and thankfully only a handful of issues but, I have found out that the current agency has spun me a total yarn around rates - which I am sure won’t come as a surprise to many but this 'scam' is a new on to me (as far as I a aware!).

    Essentially the agency contacted me about a role and I was submitted at the rate I wanted, was interviewed at that rate and subsequently got the role. What happened from then to me starting was apparently the client had amended their budget and the rate I was being offered was a lot lower... I wasn't chuffed and explained this to the agent but was convinced it was all down to the client and their budgets.

    I have since found out that the agency never put me over at the rate I asked for and as such could never have paid me what I wanted and that no such conversations ever took place with the client around budgets... apart from telling the agency to shove it and letting the client down is there anything I can do as I also know the agency is actually still taking a sizeable 19% margin - but I am not supposed to know about that.
    Apologies if this topic has raised is head here before but I couldn't find any similar content. I would be keen to get opinions if this has happened to others and how they dealt with it... much appreciated.
    If I were to ever find myself in this position AFTER interview, I would state "That's a shame, I can't progress at that rate. I'll email/LinkedIn message Jim Interviewer and let him know it's a shame we can't move forward due to their budget issues".

    Leave a comment:


  • eek
    replied
    There is a difficult middle ground you need to hit where the agency knows you have other options but those options aren't enough to justify the agency to put a different candidate forward rather than you.

    Leave a comment:


  • BlasterBates
    replied
    Originally posted by Lance View Post

    correction: If the agency know you're only following one lead, you have a weak hand.[
    Sure you can bluff but you still have a weak hand.

    Leave a comment:


  • Lance
    replied
    Originally posted by BlasterBates View Post
    At the end of the day you've been made an offer. You can accept or decline. If you have no other alternatives then you need to consider how long it will take you to get a contract at the higher rate. If you end up for one or two months more without a contract, you're probably still better off accepting the contract at the current rate.

    In order to ensure you get a high rate you need multiple leads. If you're only following one lead, you have a weak hand.
    correction: If the agency know you're only following one lead, you have a weak hand.[

    Leave a comment:


  • BlasterBates
    replied
    At the end of the day you've been made an offer. You can accept or decline. If you have no other alternatives then you need to consider how long it will take you to get a contract at the higher rate. If you end up for one or two months more without a contract, you're probably still better off accepting the contract at the current rate.

    In order to ensure you get a high rate you need multiple leads. If you're only following one lead, you have a weak hand.

    Leave a comment:


  • zonkkk
    replied
    Regardless of whether they put you forward at your asking rate or not I have found more often than not, the agents would try and push your rate down.
    Happened to me this week after a great interview with a client.

    Agent calls the next day, says he received great feedback and he feels the client would go for me if I went for a 10% lower rate. That was definitely not an offer from the client, as they told me during the interview that they would let me know either way after midweek. I said not interested.

    One day later agent calls and says the client offered me the contract... surprise, surprise I got my asking rate.

    Leave a comment:

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