beware ‘steve in taiwan’.
i did a tv commercial thru him and never got paid.
Did you at least get some peanuts?
bobepine
[quote=“bobepine”]Did you at least get some peanuts?
bobepine[/quote]
Hmmmmmm… Peanuts… :homer:
Most Taiwanese I know are called Andy. So it should be easy to distinguish this one from the others…
[quote=“maestro sinistra”]beware ‘steve in taiwan’.
I did a tv commercial through him and never got paid.[/quote]
How long has it been? Sometimes it takes a couple months to get paid from commercials. The agent is the last person to be paid. While some agencies have investors who help the agency to promptly pay the talents, some agencies don’t. And these have to wait for their pay before you can get yours.
If you went though Steve (directly through) and not through an agency, then you likely need to wait for him to be paid. Which can take months.
[quote=“SuchAFob”][quote=“maestro sinistra”]beware ‘steve in taiwan’.
I did a tv commercial through him and never got paid.[/quote]
How long has it been? Sometimes it takes a couple months to get paid from commercials. The agent is the last person to be paid. While some agencies have investors who help the agency to promptly pay the talents, some agencies don’t. And these have to wait for their pay before you can get yours.
If you went though Steve (directly through) and not through an agency, then you likely need to wait for him to be paid. Which can take months.[/quote]
And it’s exactly this type of sloppy, slovenly BS that’s going to hold Taiwan back as an economy. The concept of paying on time is not grasped by too many Taiwanese. Back home in modern, developed countries, if someone says they’re going to pay on the 5th, they’re going to pay on the 5th - not this, “Oh! I forgot to go to the bank today!” ?! Imagine if back home at some business the boss just “forgets” to pay his employees on payday. He’d have to quell a riot. But here, people just meekly accept it as normal. Not even the Taiwan government can get its act together and pay employees on time - I’m working for a public high school now, and they say, “We don’t know exactly when we’ll get your pay to you. It depends on the effeciency of cutting through the red tape. Maybe one or two months from now, you will get paid.” Again - it is crazy to expect people to wait two months overdue just to get paid the money owed them. It creates a vicious cycle of late payments - y’know, if I don’t get my salary, I have to tell my landlord I can’t pay my rent until two months from now, which pisses him off. All because the sloppy, slovenly morons who typically run Taiwanese businesses can’t be bothered to do their proper paperwork - y’know, do their job - and pay me when I’m supposed to be paid. This kind of crap would be totally unacceptable in most developed economies, and if Taiwanese continue to take such a devil may care attitude towards punctuality, then Taiwan will never become a truly developed economy. The careless, “chabuduo, mei guanxi,” unprofessional, slacker attitude towards their work, and everything else in life - “mei guanxi”, which I suspect translates as “who cares?” is their philosophy of life.
gee, you must have been lucky
i know plenty (and have worked for a few) Australian and US companies that havent paid on time, have forgotten to do the banking etc etc. Its an SME issue. If their clients dont pay on time then often they cant pay on time. Its sloppy business practice, not sloppy Taiwan only business practice.
e.g. one former boss owes US$100’s of 1000’s to former employees in back salary, expenses etc.
often, no, actually, VERY often clients dont pay on time (the 5th as you put it). Suppliers push for extensions to pay etc etc.
currently i am working for a company full of driven, inspired individuals both foreign and taiwanese alike. mod lang, your generalisations about taiwanese work practices are a little over the top.
Then …
[quote=“AWOL”]gee, you must have been lucky
I know plenty (and have worked for a few) Australian and US companies that havent paid on time, have forgotten to do the banking etc etc. Its an SME issue. If their clients dont pay on time then often they can’t pay on time. Its sloppy business practice, not sloppy Taiwan only business practice.
e.g. one former boss owes US$100’s of 1000’s to former employees in back salary, expenses etc.
often, no, actually, VERY often clients dont pay on time (the 5th as you put it). Suppliers push for extensions to pay etc etc.
currently I am working for a company full of driven, inspired individuals both foreign and Taiwanese alike. mod lang, your generalisations about Taiwanese work practices are a little over the top.[/quote]
Sir, step out of the vee-hick-el. License and registration please.
Huh?
Mr. AWOL, do you know why I’ve stopped you today? Well, your message exceeded the PC limit. Yep, that’s right.
:s Is that right? Well, I had no idea.
Sir, you know that companies in western countries pay their employees on time as a rule, that everyone expects it, and some of those same countries even set the practical standard for global punctuality. Furthermore, you know that as a rule, this does not occur in Taiwan.
Well, officer, now that you put it that way …
Ok, Sir, have a nice day. Drive safely.
I’m not talking about clients and suppliers in the business trade chain. That is expected in that industry. I’m talking about normal, salaried (or hourly) employees at companies.
If you work for the government, is it standard practice for them to say that they don’t know when they’re going to pay you? The Australian government is regularly two months late with its pay to employees?
I have been working in the entertainment industry for 20 years. And no matter which country my ass has been unfortunate to land in, payments were late.
In this case it is not a matter of a busted ass country, it is a matter of a busted ass industry.
Don’t get me wrong, it is a busted ass industry that I LOVE. But damned if it isn’t one hell of a busted ass industry.
So that is why I say, in this case don’t blame the Steve. And don’t blame the Taiwan. Blame the job.
Hmmm… I must have been lucky… I have worked for the government in Taiwan and at various local businesses. I have always been paid on time. Occassionally, I have had people pay me early. Still, I know many other people who have to wait for pay, or never get it.
Yep, I’ve been lucky here, too. Worked in government and private sector in Taiwan, but only large organizations. Haven’t had to worry about getting paid on-time.
My brother once did voice work for a TV commercial down in Manila. My buddy was on the creative team, and needed people with North American accents. My friend warned me to tell my brother that it would be probably take 3 to 6 months for him to get the cash. “Nature of the business,” he explained. It stinks, but that’s the way it is until there’s enough motivation to change it. 
There won’t be a need to change it as long as there are a billion starving actors who don’t get enough TV work to pay the bills.
[quote=“mod lang”]
If you work for the government, is it standard practice for them to say that they don’t know when they’re going to pay you? The Australian government is regularly two months late with its pay to employees?[/quote]
I think the poster dost protest too much…2 months? Having worked for them here and there I’ve never been paid late - sometimes early to cover christmas holidays etc.
OTH I went to my pay section at my new Taipei employer yesterday to see about last month’s pay. “We don’t pay till tomorrow” - yes I know but you also know I’m a freelancer and won’t be around again till next month. This resulted in the dirtiest of looks, crashing desk drawers and muttered curses and “Come back later”. Later the company secretary tells me that my cheque is ready, I go and ask for it and the accounts clerk purposely goes about doing other things for 10 minutes before getting the cheque out of a drawer! Gosh I’m so inconsiderate for asking for pay covering work done 4 weeks ago :raspberry:
[quote=“seeker4”]
Then …
[quote=“AWOL”]gee, you must have been lucky
I know plenty (and have worked for a few) Australian and US companies that havent paid on time, have forgotten to do the banking etc etc. Its an SME issue. If their clients dont pay on time then often they can’t pay on time. Its sloppy business practice, not sloppy Taiwan only business practice.
e.g. one former boss owes US$100’s of 1000’s to former employees in back salary, expenses etc.
often, no, actually, VERY often clients dont pay on time (the 5th as you put it). Suppliers push for extensions to pay etc etc.
currently I am working for a company full of driven, inspired individuals both foreign and Taiwanese alike. mod lang, your generalisations about Taiwanese work practices are a little over the top.[/quote]
Sir, step out of the vee-hick-el. License and registration please.
Huh?
Mr. AWOL, do you know why I’ve stopped you today? Well, your message exceeded the PC limit. Yep, that’s right.
:s Is that right? Well, I had no idea.
Sir, you know that companies in western countries pay their employees on time as a rule, that everyone expects it, and some of those same countries even set the practical standard for global punctuality. Furthermore, you know that as a rule, this does not occur in Taiwan.
Well, officer, now that you put it that way …
Ok, Sir, have a nice day. Drive safely.[/quote]
I’ll pass on your smart ass attitude to my 10 former colleagues still waiting to be paid (by a US co based on Australia)… hang on ALL western companies pay people on time… silly me.
Misplaced our sense of humor, have we? 
no… i just have a series of really good friends that have been ripped off because an employer didnt pay. this runs counter to the OP’s arguement that the west is perfect. you made fun of their situation.
Not really. I was making fun of the idea that Taiwanese businesses are, as a rule, as punctual, precise, and well-intentioned with their payroll payments as most Western businesses. Clearly there are unethical and otherwise un-whatever Western companies. I think the OP was talking in generalities; that is the way it struck me at least. That was also the intent of my reply to you.
Now I’m curious. Are you truly saying that you have no awareness of this general difference in attitudes about payment to employees, in Taiwan vs. most Western countries?
Hmmm… … anyway.
I thought that the “Steve” in question was a Forumosan.
Steve, are you there?
Not really. I was making fun of the idea that Taiwanese businesses are, as a rule, as punctual, precise, and well-intentioned with their payroll payments as most Western businesses. Clearly there are unethical and otherwise un-whatever Western companies. I think the OP was talking in generalities; that is the way it struck me at least. That was also the intent of my reply to you.
Now I’m curious. Are you truly saying that you have no awareness of this general difference in attitudes about payment to employees, in Taiwan vs. most Western countries?[/quote]
no. i have worked for several taiwan firms and all have been punctual. as for the western co’s i have worked at… well i have more issues there.
are you talking about the same thing here?
and thx for the clarification. i thought you were taking the piss