Review kit rant
09/03/07 11:20 Journalism in practice
So I'm reviewing some IT kit for the Guardian - never
mind what it is, I wouldn't tell you before
publication anyway but it doesn't affect the story.
And I need to get this equipment to my home.
So I fax - or rather scan in and e-mail - the loan form to the hire company to which several manufacturers outsource the management of their product loans. All is going well so far. The form asks for a registered address and a company registration number.
Thing is, I'm freelance. And by that I don't mean I've set up a company to take advantage of tax, I mean I'm freelance - legally a sole trader. So I don't have a registered address.
We can't send it without a registered address, they said. Well, I don't have one, I said. Can you put the address where you receive your business mail, they said. Not really, I said, because if I put that then it's technically fraud and for the money I get for these reviews I'm not prepared to risk prosecution, even on a technicality - and anyway, why should I pretend to be a registered company when I'm a perfectly respectable freelance?
in the end the PR company signed on my behalf. I couldn't help reflect that they must get this all the time. I do hope they feed this back to their clients; I wonder how much coverage actually gets lost because freelances can't be bothered to jump through all the hoops and source competitors' equipment from elsewhere?
So I fax - or rather scan in and e-mail - the loan form to the hire company to which several manufacturers outsource the management of their product loans. All is going well so far. The form asks for a registered address and a company registration number.
Thing is, I'm freelance. And by that I don't mean I've set up a company to take advantage of tax, I mean I'm freelance - legally a sole trader. So I don't have a registered address.
We can't send it without a registered address, they said. Well, I don't have one, I said. Can you put the address where you receive your business mail, they said. Not really, I said, because if I put that then it's technically fraud and for the money I get for these reviews I'm not prepared to risk prosecution, even on a technicality - and anyway, why should I pretend to be a registered company when I'm a perfectly respectable freelance?
in the end the PR company signed on my behalf. I couldn't help reflect that they must get this all the time. I do hope they feed this back to their clients; I wonder how much coverage actually gets lost because freelances can't be bothered to jump through all the hoops and source competitors' equipment from elsewhere?
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