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Am I in the wrong?


kezarpro

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Hey,

I just had an experience with a buyer that wasn’t so great. I wanted to know that if I was in the wrong or not. The buyer requested ‘am looking for someone to color a few pages & shoot a time lapse video.’ In reference to my gig where I offer time-lapse drawings;
https://www.fiverr.com/kezarpro/make-a-time-lapse-drawing-video

So after telling what page they want to be coloured and make the order, I get to work and complete my work early so that the customer has room to make some modifications if they need. Three days pass and the order is automatically completed.

I then get a message from the buyer saying that I hadn’t done what they want. That they wanted a pencil drawing rather than a digital drawing. However my gig doesn’t offer such a thing at all. I never claimed that I will be doing such a thing and the customer never requested that specifically.
Before I could even resolve the issue I saw that the customer reviewed the gig and and now I was in no position to make things better. I explained my position to them and they were having none of it.

I am in the wrong here? I was genuinely doing my work, I wasn’t cutting corners or providing low quality service, it just so happened that the customer wasn’t clear, didn’t read the description or view the images properly and they weren’t there to communicate their issues when the gig was still active.

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It was specified already, it actually says in my description, that I only offer digital drawings.

I only offer digital drawings.

Try putting that part in bold.

Also, when potential buyers message you, you can try remanding them that you only offer digital drawings, not pencil drawings.

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Hey,

I just had an experience with a buyer that wasn’t so great. I wanted to know that if I was in the wrong or not. The buyer requested ‘am looking for someone to color a few pages & shoot a time lapse video.’ In reference to my gig where I offer time-lapse drawings;

https://www.fiverr.com/kezarpro/make-a-time-lapse-drawing-video

So after telling what page they want to be coloured and make the order, I get to work and complete my work early so that the customer has room to make some modifications if they need. Three days pass and the order is automatically completed.

I then get a message from the buyer saying that I hadn’t done what they want. That they wanted a pencil drawing rather than a digital drawing. However my gig doesn’t offer such a thing at all. I never claimed that I will be doing such a thing and the customer never requested that specifically.

Before I could even resolve the issue I saw that the customer reviewed the gig and and now I was in no position to make things better. I explained my position to them and they were having none of it.

I am in the wrong here? I was genuinely doing my work, I wasn’t cutting corners or providing low quality service, it just so happened that the customer wasn’t clear, didn’t read the description or view the images properly and they weren’t there to communicate their issues when the gig was still active.

I am in the wrong here? I was genuinely doing my work, I wasn’t cutting corners or providing low quality service, it just so happened that the customer wasn’t clear,

No, you are not really wrong here however when chatting with customers you always need to try to ask them questions to get a clear picture eg I’m always asking them to look at my portfolio and if they are happy with my style of drawings or if they can provide images pictures of the styles that they like and it is one of the mandatory questions and requirements

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You are not wrong. Some customers don’t read description properly and don’t instruct sellers about their requirement. This results a communication gap between seller and the buyer. This communication gap leads to cancellation of delivered order.

Please be careful before accepting any future orders. It seems the tasks your gig offers will vary buyer to buyer. So before accepting new orders discuss with the buyers about their requirement and scope of the gig so that this kind of situation can be avoided.

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I can see that your gig clearly states that you won’t draw in pencil - did it say that at the time of the customer placing the order (or is that something you’ve clarified since?). And what did the specific order detail say? Did that explain it was a digital drawing?

If it said it before the customer ordered, I think you’ve been unfairly penalised for a buyer not reading the most basic part of your description before ordering. If that’s the case, if I were you, I would contact Customer Support and ask if they will remove the review for you.

Note - They most likely won’t… it’s rare that they do, but it does happen from time to time, and looking at your account, you’ve nothing to lose. If they won’t help you, then honestly, I would ask them to delete your account and allow you to start again. With so few reviews, that one is going to really hurt you, and I think you’d have more success in the long-run if you started from scratch.

Good luck.

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Maybe he thought it would be done more like in the gig info video where the lines are drawn first in a pencil-like style (or at least not the same style as his image’s lines), though if he only specified that he wanted it coloured then he didn’t specify it correctly.

In future you could clarify it with them or put a menu or something in the requirements section asking how they want it done (eg. “lines drawn [and you could specify what sort of style, like pencil-like], then filled in with colour” or “all lines shown from the start, then filled in with colour”).

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You are right, but being right doesn’t matter. The platform doesn’t care.

Examples:

  1. Gig offers one revision. Client keeps opening multiple revisions. You can’t force it to close, even though that should be your right - 1 free revision delivered, order automatically closes is how it should work. CS will never side with you. They don’t care. “Oh, we can’t force a client to close an order”. False, you absolutely can. You don’t want to.

  2. Client orders cheap gig and asks for way more work than is expected. CS and the platform don’t care, you have 3 options - cancel and get screwed on stats, deliver what the gig specifies and have the client refusing to close the order or leave a 1 star review, or work extra for free. You can try to offer an extra, but a client that picks the cheapest option on purpose will not purchase any extras, good luck with that.

  3. Client decides he doesn’t like what you delivered. Even though the rules clearly state quality of deliverable is not a factor on cancelations, if the client wants and pushes CS he can get it canceled.

You have to work around a lot of factors. The platform is definitely not fair or sensible. You need to take that into account and do things in a way that protects you. Sometimes that means getting creative - just be sure to never explicitly break any rules while bending them for your protection. If the platform was fair and CS worked like it should, those orders would be automatically completed upon delivery, and the client would get a message saying “You agreed to this and accepted it when placing the order, here’s proof. Now, gtfo, order is done”.

And this doesn’t mean writing a more descriptive gig, or being clear, etc. - none of that matters, the client can choose to ignore whatever. Clients must check a box saying “all the information is true and complete, etc.” when placing an order. That doesn’t matter, they change their mind all the time and there’s nothing you can do that won’t harm your account (cancelation/bad review etc.).

What you must do is try to have systems in place that force the client to play the way you want to play. Words will get you nowhere if he’s out to get you.

The only way I’ve found so far is to

a) jack up prices to get rid of most trash buyers
b) “contact me first, all orders without prior contact will be canceled”
c) Carefully veto all the contacts, have a good talk with them before starting any order.

Red flags? Pushy? They think they know more than me? Demanding? I’m way too expensive? Broken English? Etc.? “Sorry, we are not a good fit for this project, good luck!”.

Still not perfect, and I still much rather work with clients outside platforms (I get paid BEFORE I start, and if they start creating problems afterward, it’s their problem. I’ll deliver what was agreed, get paid, and if they don’t like it, just don’t buy from me again, thanks - no bad reviews harming my account, no stats, levels, etc.), but it’s the best we can get here.

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I am in the wrong here? I was genuinely doing my work, I wasn’t cutting corners or providing low quality service, it just so happened that the customer wasn’t clear,

No, you are not really wrong here however when chatting with customers you always need to try to ask them questions to get a clear picture eg I’m always asking them to look at my portfolio and if they are happy with my style of drawings or if they can provide images pictures of the styles that they like and it is one of the mandatory questions and requirements

I guess you learn these things as you go, I wish I had the chance to even balance the situation out but the customer reviewed the gig then sent me an unhappy message. This is one day after the gig completed and 3 days after I submitted the work to him. But I see that I wasn’t as diligent with my questioning as I should have been. It really sucks that one bad review could tarnish the whole account though. But I guess Fiverr takes on the ‘customer is always right’ a little too far.

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I can see that your gig clearly states that you won’t draw in pencil - did it say that at the time of the customer placing the order (or is that something you’ve clarified since?). And what did the specific order detail say? Did that explain it was a digital drawing?

If it said it before the customer ordered, I think you’ve been unfairly penalised for a buyer not reading the most basic part of your description before ordering. If that’s the case, if I were you, I would contact Customer Support and ask if they will remove the review for you.

Note - They most likely won’t… it’s rare that they do, but it does happen from time to time, and looking at your account, you’ve nothing to lose. If they won’t help you, then honestly, I would ask them to delete your account and allow you to start again. With so few reviews, that one is going to really hurt you, and I think you’d have more success in the long-run if you started from scratch.

Good luck.

Yeah I haven’t modified my description for a few months now, I was clear with what I was offering. I specified that it wouldn’t be a pencil drawing because I knew I don’t have the set up in place and I travel a lot so it was just to make sure this exact situation doesn’t happen. How ironic is that? I guess I might have to end up deleting the account, but it does mean it will take another few months before I see any orders or I’s have to invest a lot of time finding and offering to buyer requests. Thank you for the advice.

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Maybe he thought it would be done more like in the gig info video where the lines are drawn first in a pencil-like style (or at least not the same style as his image’s lines), though if he only specified that he wanted it coloured then he didn’t specify it correctly.

In future you could clarify it with them or put a menu or something in the requirements section asking how they want it done (eg. “lines drawn [and you could specify what sort of style, like pencil-like], then filled in with colour” or “all lines shown from the start, then filled in with colour”).

Yeah I guess it safer to get the customer to specify in full detail what they want regardless of what you’re offering. Lesson learned.

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You are right, but being right doesn’t matter. The platform doesn’t care.

Examples:

  1. Gig offers one revision. Client keeps opening multiple revisions. You can’t force it to close, even though that should be your right - 1 free revision delivered, order automatically closes is how it should work. CS will never side with you. They don’t care. “Oh, we can’t force a client to close an order”. False, you absolutely can. You don’t want to.

  2. Client orders cheap gig and asks for way more work than is expected. CS and the platform don’t care, you have 3 options - cancel and get screwed on stats, deliver what the gig specifies and have the client refusing to close the order or leave a 1 star review, or work extra for free. You can try to offer an extra, but a client that picks the cheapest option on purpose will not purchase any extras, good luck with that.

  3. Client decides he doesn’t like what you delivered. Even though the rules clearly state quality of deliverable is not a factor on cancelations, if the client wants and pushes CS he can get it canceled.

You have to work around a lot of factors. The platform is definitely not fair or sensible. You need to take that into account and do things in a way that protects you. Sometimes that means getting creative - just be sure to never explicitly break any rules while bending them for your protection. If the platform was fair and CS worked like it should, those orders would be automatically completed upon delivery, and the client would get a message saying “You agreed to this and accepted it when placing the order, here’s proof. Now, gtfo, order is done”.

And this doesn’t mean writing a more descriptive gig, or being clear, etc. - none of that matters, the client can choose to ignore whatever. Clients must check a box saying “all the information is true and complete, etc.” when placing an order. That doesn’t matter, they change their mind all the time and there’s nothing you can do that won’t harm your account (cancelation/bad review etc.).

What you must do is try to have systems in place that force the client to play the way you want to play. Words will get you nowhere if he’s out to get you.

The only way I’ve found so far is to

a) jack up prices to get rid of most trash buyers

b) “contact me first, all orders without prior contact will be canceled”

c) Carefully veto all the contacts, have a good talk with them before starting any order.

Red flags? Pushy? They think they know more than me? Demanding? I’m way too expensive? Broken English? Etc.? “Sorry, we are not a good fit for this project, good luck!”.

Still not perfect, and I still much rather work with clients outside platforms (I get paid BEFORE I start, and if they start creating problems afterward, it’s their problem. I’ll deliver what was agreed, get paid, and if they don’t like it, just don’t buy from me again, thanks - no bad reviews harming my account, no stats, levels, etc.), but it’s the best we can get here.

I completely agree on your outlook and I honestly believe Fiverr would become a lot more successful if it catered. little to the sellers too. However I realise that the customers are the ones paying the Fiverr bills, regardless of our skill sets.

The platform also allows you to grow within a few months which is something I didn’t see on most other freelance websites. I just hope I can either get this review removed to find some middle ground solution that allows the account to continue to grow.

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