Ex-ALS: No longer interested
16/02/12 Tribunal in Urdu, booked through ALS. This is what happened:
I am a new RPSI, I did four jobs with ALS, this was my last job. I was booked for three hours, so I took an afternoon job in London. The case did not end at lunch time, I told the judge that I had to leave. The judge was furious about this new system. The judge decided that she could not adjourn the case and would carry on without an interpreter.
Most of the hearing was complete but the client did not understand English. The judge asked his friends if they could interpret [for him]. One of them suddenly became worried when the judge asked him if he was able to understand English. He said he could understand a little English, the judge said she could not bear to see another day of wasted costs. I left after that.
I have stopped working for ALS. I was new on the Register, the fees ALS quoted me for my first assignment were different. I found out that the new rates were much less than those first quoted. They have not paid me for three and four hours of travel. I thought, I cannot let them use me to run their business on one hand and on the other hand allow myself to go through the humiliation of being part of them.
ALS has contacted me many times and I have informed them many times that I do not wish to work for them but they keep calling me. Sometimes the same person will call me two hours later. I do not understand how they cannot know that this person is not interested in working for them. I even got a text message the other day asking me to give them a quote for another job.
[Redacted from the original default report in another source]
