Bad Experience with a Buyer

[kavindaktk]

Recently I did a IT troubleshooting work for a client and normally I check and fix issues before placing GIGs or before come to a conclusion about pricing. So exactly it was my fault and I trusted this person and after spent around 1 and half hour he didn’t pay me nothing and he was arguing me that why should we pay for the effort and he mentioned like he is new to here and why didn’t you mention the price before. He thinks that Fiverr freelancers are working for free and he doesn’t know time is money. So my suggestion is never take a project without an agreement in Fiverr. However, that is also a bit complex when we do troubleshooting things because those are more likely to be cancelled and some time we need more time to observe and research issue than providing an exact solution and sometime the final solution may be a small one. However I earned the lesson from him but not dollars 😃

And guys, is there any way we can raise such problems to Fiverr support? Does it work bad for me because I did without an agreement? I just want to do something against this buyer since he will get things done from other freelancers as well so we can stop it at least.

[Guest offlinehelpers]

Never ever do work through Fiverr messaging, always through an order.

I’d be surprised if CS could do anything to help - you did the work free, so they didn’t make anything from you I’m afraid.

The buyer took advantage of you - immoral possibly, but nothing in the ToS about it being against the rules.

[kavindaktk]

Never ever do work through Fiverr messaging, always through an order.

I’d be surprised if CS could do anything to help - you did the work free, so they didn’t make anything from you I’m afraid.

The buyer took advantage of you - immoral possibly, but nothing in the ToS about it being against the rules.

Yes I agree with your comment 100%. But nature of such troubleshooting issues are bit complex and sometime we can’t measure the time and effort for a work by just seeing it in first place. Any you are correct I am against the TOS and they will not help on this.

What we can promote is here freelancers time is not for free and only way we can do it is avoiding taking and doing jobs based on trust. Thanks

[Guest offlinehelpers]

Yes I agree with your comment 100%. But nature of such troubleshooting issues are bit complex and sometime we can’t measure the time and effort for a work by just seeing it in first place. Any you are correct I am against the TOS and they will not help on this.

What we can promote is here freelancers time is not for free and only way we can do it is avoiding taking and doing jobs based on trust. Thanks

Why not setup a troubleshooting/consultation gig specifically for that type of enquiry?

[matevzs1]

Yep, I agree with @offlinehelpers . You must have active order before you start any work and of course it must be clear what are you charging for.

In your case, if I understood right, you didn’t actually fix anything, you just was trying to, correct? You should just check if out to see how complex a problem is, give him a custom offer and then try to resolve the issue. 😉

Just my opinion. 🙂

[kavindaktk]

Why not setup a troubleshooting/consultation gig specifically for that type of enquiry?

Yes I do have but we can’t charge if we can’t resolve them. I mean sometime we could fail to resolve issue. Did you mean that charging for checking effort as well?

[Guest offlinehelpers]

Yes I do have but we can’t charge if we can’t resolve them. I mean sometime we could fail to resolve issue. Did you mean that charging for checking effort as well?

charging for checking effort

Why not - it’s your time that’s being used up! 🙂

[kavindaktk]

Yep, I agree with @offlinehelpers . You must have active order before you start any work and of course it must be clear what are you charging for.

In your case, if I understood right, you didn’t actually fix anything, you just was trying to, correct? You should just check if out to see how complex a problem is, give him a custom offer and then try to resolve the issue. 😉

Just my opinion. 🙂

No buddy, I trusted him and I fixed the issue I have given him the solution. You know troubleshooting means we have to go through every possibility and it was a windows policy issue and that is the solution for him exactly. After all he told me like for what I should I pay. Definitly he is not a buyer and probably seller who took a job from another buyer in Fiverr.

Anyway I agree that it is my fault and I earned the lesson from him. Because I have done works before and buyers appreciated works based on my effort and nature of the issue.

[kavindaktk]

charging for checking effort

Why not - it’s your time that’s being used up! 🙂

Perfect yes that’s where I am now. Its my time and knowledge and need a compensation. Hope this may be that last fault I did this way. Thanks for the comment.

[prroducer99plus]

No buddy, I trusted him and I fixed the issue I have given him the solution. You know troubleshooting means we have to go through every possibility and it was a windows policy issue and that is the solution for him exactly. After all he told me like for what I should I pay. Definitly he is not a buyer and probably seller who took a job from another buyer in Fiverr.

Anyway I agree that it is my fault and I earned the lesson from him. Because I have done works before and buyers appreciated works based on my effort and nature of the issue.

I dont think it’s really your fault. I’m always of the opinion that if you do the work you should get paid. Point. Blank. Period. However, what offline helpers suggested is your best option. Set up a consultation gig. You have to look out for yourself, because the buyer will NOT do it.

[marktreble]

This is a common problem where the nature of the real issue is unclear. I do not sell on Fiverr for many reasons I won’t list. I am a high-powered management consultant and require a conversation with the client before accepting work. On Upwork, the job was three months full time at around $100/hr, my discounted rate. I identified and solved the real issue during that one hour conversation. I was paid for an hour by an honest client…

The greatest value I provide is identifying the real issue. A perfect solution to the wrong problem is useless. Often, I have to identify the real issue before the client will hire me. There is no solution for that on the internet job brokering boards.

Suggest you consider establishing at least two new offerings, one for thirty minutes consultation, one for sixty. When the time is up, tell the client you estimate another x minutes or hours, and will resume work when the client places a new order. Clumsy, but I doubt Fiverr will invest in creating the ability to order or deliver anything except commodities.

[lucycodex]

I agree with the rest, don’t lift a finger until the order is placed.

[kavindaktk]

I dont think it’s really your fault. I’m always of the opinion that if you do the work you should get paid. Point. Blank. Period. However, what offline helpers suggested is your best option. Set up a consultation gig. You have to look out for yourself, because the buyer will NOT do it.

Thanks for the comment and yes only way I can overcome this is to make another GIG where charge for my time for checking the issue.

[kavindaktk]

This is a common problem where the nature of the real issue is unclear. I do not sell on Fiverr for many reasons I won’t list. I am a high-powered management consultant and require a conversation with the client before accepting work. On Upwork, the job was three months full time at around $100/hr, my discounted rate. I identified and solved the real issue during that one hour conversation. I was paid for an hour by an honest client…

The greatest value I provide is identifying the real issue. A perfect solution to the wrong problem is useless. Often, I have to identify the real issue before the client will hire me. There is no solution for that on the internet job brokering boards.

Suggest you consider establishing at least two new offerings, one for thirty minutes consultation, one for sixty. When the time is up, tell the client you estimate another x minutes or hours, and will resume work when the client places a new order. Clumsy, but I doubt Fiverr will invest in creating the ability to order or deliver anything except commodities.

one for thirty minutes consultation, one for sixty. When the time is up, tell the client you estimate another x minutes or hours

I really agree with this answer. However, it is bit difficult to convince buyers to buy in such situations if they don’t have awareness about what we are really doing. Previously I had also worked with honest customers and they paid me for my time and effort.

In this specific scenario, buyer doesn’t want to accept that I worked for this and given a solution to him. That is because, he doesn’t want to accept time I spent to research the issue and but he only believe the final answer is very simple.

Yes I think the better way is to charge them and continue work. So I thought to break down it as you mentioned with an agreement and it will save Fiverr TOS policies as well and I do have a point to raise for resolution in such bad situations.

Thank you very much for the comment.

[kavindaktk]

I agree with the rest, don’t lift a finger until the order is placed.

Yes that should be the way it works. Thanks for the comment.

[marktreble]

one for thirty minutes consultation, one for sixty. When the time is up, tell the client you estimate another x minutes or hours

I really agree with this answer. However, it is bit difficult to convince buyers to buy in such situations if they don’t have awareness about what we are really doing. Previously I had also worked with honest customers and they paid me for my time and effort.

In this specific scenario, buyer doesn’t want to accept that I worked for this and given a solution to him. That is because, he doesn’t want to accept time I spent to research the issue and but he only believe the final answer is very simple.

Yes I think the better way is to charge them and continue work. So I thought to break down it as you mentioned with an agreement and it will save Fiverr TOS policies as well and I do have a point to raise for resolution in such bad situations.

Thank you very much for the comment.

I have found that many people believe “What I do is difficult and complex, what you o is easy.” Prospective clients who tell me it is simple and easy and shouldn’t take more than half an hour, get this response. “You’re right, it’s simple and easy, so take half an hour and do it.”

[kavindaktk]

I have found that many people believe “What I do is difficult and complex, what you o is easy.” Prospective clients who tell me it is simple and easy and shouldn’t take more than half an hour, get this response. “You’re right, it’s simple and easy, so take half an hour and do it.”

Yes you are right. Thanks.

[sherkhanshani]

Never ever do work through Fiverr messaging, always through an order.

I’d be surprised if CS could do anything to help - you did the work free, so they didn’t make anything from you I’m afraid.

The buyer took advantage of you - immoral possibly, but nothing in the ToS about it being against the rules.

Never ever do work through Fiverr messaging, always through an order.

Absolutely correct but sometime you will still get problem after order cause client send you new updates or he doesn’t want to pay. These things happens when client already got what he want or maybe some other reason so there is that.

[priya786]

Never ever do work through Fiverr messaging, always through an order.

Absolutely correct but sometime you will still get problem after order cause client send you new updates or he doesn’t want to pay. These things happens when client already got what he want or maybe some other reason so there is that.

I had the same thing today.

After 2 days of work on a gig as it was about to be finalized. buyer started to get upset for no reason.

all of rubbish reason

like you did not send me high resolution file (the files sent was 1024x768 and after that I sent here 3000x3000)

after she was upset bec I called her sir (I did not knew about he or she earlier and she got upset)

later I foud out that she is a seller and wanted to damage my rating

[kavindaktk]

Never ever do work through Fiverr messaging, always through an order.

Absolutely correct but sometime you will still get problem after order cause client send you new updates or he doesn’t want to pay. These things happens when client already got what he want or maybe some other reason so there is that.

Yes it is like two sides of the same coin , we have to think about order cancellation as well since this way we have to take that risk.

[kavindaktk]

I had the same thing today.

After 2 days of work on a gig as it was about to be finalized. buyer started to get upset for no reason.

all of rubbish reason

like you did not send me high resolution file (the files sent was 1024x768 and after that I sent here 3000x3000)

after she was upset bec I called her sir (I did not knew about he or she earlier and she got upset)

later I foud out that she is a seller and wanted to damage my rating

Really bad to hear that you faced that. Now it is a kind of trick those who do this to get things done free of charge because they know clearly that sellers are not much protected by Fiverr TOS and sellers always try to play safely in any situation. So they use it properly. Yes most of them are sellers and try to waste others time.

[realexpart]

Yes I do have but we can’t charge if we can’t resolve them. I mean sometime we could fail to resolve issue. Did you mean that charging for checking effort as well?

Yes, you should be paid, you have devoted time and resources .

[kavindaktk]

Yes, you should be paid, you have devoted time and resources .

Yes you are correct. My concern was also same, but as per others’ opinions, I was outside Fiverr agreement since I didn’t create an order before start. So, I think the better way is to go for an order before work or check an issue. However in such cases, what we can risk is we may have a negative rating or a cancellation at the end because that same customer will review the work with same mind set.