Beware! Fiverr cancels orders without sellers consent and more

[somerandomguy83]

I am a level one seller and have dealt with over 50 customers at this point and only had to contact CS twice, but both of these times Fivers CS shows completely lack of support for people who make them money.

I worked on the order for 4 days and after I deliver the customer has a change of heart and tells me he wants to cancel, despite showing no such desires during the process.

I have offered 3 revisions on the order, but he kept requesting more. So that was the first WTF moment for me. Yes, even if you set a fixed number of revisions, Fiverr doesn’t stop at your number, you will be forced to make unlimited revisions.

I have kept my communications with Customer Service up during the whole time after the buyer shown himself to be a scammer, I have read their Terms of Sale and made sure I did not make any violations.

Yet here we are, the order is cancelled because the seller requested it. The pictures i attach will be quite telling I’m sure.

Do you want to work for free ? Go ahead, work on Fiverr.

[vickiespencer]

🙁 Sorry for your experience.

[somerandomguy83]

🙁 Sorry for your experience.

I should also note, that the order was placed on 3rd of December. It is not something that happened overnight.

And that is what makes it even worse, I should have just given up right away, but I thought I was protected and kept talking to the customer, kept supplying him revisions all while discussing things with Customer Service.

So much time wasted and it ended up in another Fiverr disappointment nevertheless.

[mariashtelle1]

😔 but why did they cancel it? Did you contact support again to ask for a reason of cancellation? (Because I see in the message that they are saying that they wouldn’t cancel the order) :thinking:

[somerandomguy83]

😔 but why did they cancel it? Did you contact support again to ask for a reason of cancellation? (Because I see in the message that they are saying that they wouldn’t cancel the order) :thinking:

I did, they did not have time to respond yet, but I am sure they will find the words to conjure up an explanation for it. I’ll post it here when they do.

[smork]

It could be the order was “cancelled” because the seller has done something to trigger it (not by asking support for it which will be denied unless there has been a violation). Commonly a charge-back or some such TOS violation (fraudulent activity on their account etc.)

It’s very unlikely support will have cancelled the order on the customers behalf, as long as you didn’t violate the TOS in any way (which is what she’s said in the response there, that they can cancel orders if a TOS violation occurs).

That Cancellation email is the generic message that is sent if an order is cancelled, be it by support or if the buyer has done something malicious. Sadly, there is little protection for chargebacks and the like on our side.

I agree it’s frustrating that the customer can keep requesting revisions beyond the advertised number. In this case you either need to be politely forceful with the customer and tell them they need to pay for more revisions or simply refuse and keep redelivering the order (as long as you’re prepared to take a negative review, which is a possible outcome if the customer is unhappy with not getting their free revisions).

As long as you’ve done 100% of what you’re advertising as doing, you have not broken the TOS in refusing more revisions but, as I say, some customers take offence by being told they can’t have any more without paying.

[mariashtelle1]

I did, they did not have time to respond yet, but I am sure they will find the words to conjure up an explanation for it. I’ll post it here when they do.

@smork might be right that client might’ve ask PayPal for charge back and nothing that fiverr can do in this case. But wait for an answer of support team, if he did indeed asked PayPal to cancel his payment then they should be restricted to buy on fiverr again.

[smork]

@smork might be right that client might’ve ask PayPal for charge back and nothing that fiverr can do in this case. But wait for an answer of support team, if he did indeed asked PayPal to cancel his payment then they should be restricted to buy on fiverr again.

@mariashtelle1 They won’t tell him if that’s happened either way - But as you said the customers account will be limited if they’ve done something naughty. If @somerandomguy83 can click the customers username to open their profile, it’ll tell you whether the account is gone or not. If it has, then their account has been banned.

[somerandomguy83]

@mariashtelle1 They won’t tell him if that’s happened either way - But as you said the customers account will be limited if they’ve done something naughty. If @somerandomguy83 can click the customers username to open their profile, it’ll tell you whether the account is gone or not. If it has, then their account has been banned.

It does not seem like his account is cancelled at the moment. I’ll update this post once I get a response from CS.

The only mistake I made when I was communicating with the buyer and the one I am a little bit uncertain about, is the one I attach.

It is indeed related to not wanting to do more revisions for the buyer because I set it at 3 and made 5 until I contacted CS in that regard and they told me that I did not have to make infinite revisions, even though their system will keep allowing them anyway. So after he requested another revision, that is the response I sent him and the buyer has promptly responded back to me that it’s against ToS to force the buyer to accept the offer and he will be reporting me for it.

However, there is nothing in Fiverrs ToS that I could find which related to that and the message i got back from Customer service was after that fact.!

[sajedulshawon1]

I am a level one seller and have dealt with over 50 customers at this point and only had to contact CS twice, but both of these times Fivers CS shows completely lack of support for people who make them money.

I worked on the order for 4 days and after I deliver the customer has a change of heart and tells me he wants to cancel, despite showing no such desires during the process.

I have offered 3 revisions on the order, but he kept requesting more. So that was the first WTF moment for me. Yes, even if you set a fixed number of revisions, Fiverr doesn’t stop at your number, you will be forced to make unlimited revisions.

I have kept my communications with Customer Service up during the whole time after the buyer shown himself to be a scammer, I have read their Terms of Sale and made sure I did not make any violations.

Yet here we are, the order is cancelled because the seller requested it. The pictures i attach will be quite telling I’m sure.

Do you want to work for free ? Go ahead, work on Fiverr.

lack of support for people who make them money.

I am here for almost 2 years and I contacted CS over 15 times and I always got a positive result they are very helpful.

Yesterday they solved my another problem.

So I am not agree with you Fiverr CS is the best in my opinion and they are very helpful.

[mariashtelle1]

It does not seem like his account is cancelled at the moment. I’ll update this post once I get a response from CS.

The only mistake I made when I was communicating with the buyer and the one I am a little bit uncertain about, is the one I attach.

x.jpg852×365 57.7 KB

It is indeed related to not wanting to do more revisions for the buyer because I set it at 3 and made 5 until I contacted CS in that regard and they told me that I did not have to make infinite revisions, even though their system will keep allowing them anyway. So after he requested another revision, that is the response I sent him and the buyer has promptly responded back to me that it’s against ToS to force the buyer to accept the offer and he will be reporting me for it.

However, there is nothing in Fiverrs ToS that I could find which related to that and the message i got back from Customer service was after that fact.!

I don’t see anything wrong with this message. Probably the only thing I would’ve added is to offer him to get extra revisions for $5-10 whatever dollars you feel comfortable with as you run out of revisions that were included in the package. So they would get at least an extra solution.

And in situations like this I already contact support straight away and report buyers like this. This can be considered blackmailing you. They are basically threatening to report you if you wouldn’t provide free revisions. This behaviour should not be tolerated in my opinion. And maybe you still should mention this to support.

[somerandomguy83]

I don’t see anything wrong with this message. Probably the only thing I would’ve added is to offer him to get extra revisions for $5-10 whatever dollars you feel comfortable with as you run out of revisions that were included in the package. So they would get at least an extra solution.

And in situations like this I already contact support straight away and report buyers like this. This can be considered blackmailing you. They are basically threatening to report you if you wouldn’t provide free revisions. This behaviour should not be tolerated in my opinion. And maybe you still should mention this to support.

He was asking for revisions which were not in line with what we agreed to when we started the order, I did tell him about it even before he started asking for revisions and I told him that the changes he is asking for can only be made for an additional price, because they would require extensive changes to what we had already done. And he kept asking for those changes in revisions anyway, hoping to get them for free. So there was no need to offer him any paid options because I knew he would only get further offended by it.

After receiving this, i wrote to CS and you know the rest of the story.

[mariashtelle1]

He was asking for revisions which were not in line with what we agreed to when we started the order, I did tell him about it even before he started asking for revisions and I told him that the changes he is asking for can only be made for an additional price, because they would require extensive changes to what we had already done. And he kept asking for those changes in revisions anyway, hoping to get them for free. So there was no need to offer him any paid options because I knew he would only get further offended by it.

After receiving this, i wrote to CS and you know the rest of the story.

Then another good tip that I’m doing in situations like this if it doesn’t fit in the modification request is: I’m making a print screen of their requirements and mark with red the bottom part that says that buyer agreed that requirements he provided are correct and they are aware that all extra changes might require additional payment”.

But of course I’m always staying polite and never blaming them or implying that it’s their mistake. Just politely pointing out on what they signed for and offering a solution.

[hanshuber16]

lack of support for people who make them money.

I am here for almost 2 years and I contacted CS over 15 times and I always got a positive result they are very helpful.

SS.PNG630×537 26.2 KB

Yesterday they solved my another problem.

So I am not agree with you Fiverr CS is the best in my opinion and they are very helpful.

I am here for almost 2 years and I contacted CS over 15 times and I always got a positive result they are very helpful.

I am not refuting what you said but you need to understand that the CS team is made of many individuals… They have their own unique behavioral traits. Therefore, the kinda response you get might vary (to an extent) depending on the CS rep. handling your ticket. If you have had a wonderful experience with CS reps. so far, it doesn’t mean that should be the case for everyone else, too.

I am pretty sure all CS staff would’ve gone through some kinda training where they would’ve learned the concept of customer service standardization. However, no matter how much training they’ve gone through, it is inevitable for their individual traits and behavioral characteristics to influence their responses (at least, to an extent). They will have their own unique way of going about handling the tickets.

Some may be extremely helpful (some even go out of their way to help us out) while others — not so much.

My point being: It is not possible to generalize by giving such statements as:

Fiverr CS is the best in my opinion and they are very helpful.

Don’t get me wrong… all CS reps. do try and help you out to the best of their ability. However, the kind of response you get will vary (to an extent) depending on the CS rep. who is handling your ticket. It is not necessary that everyone else should’ve had a similar (very helpful/positive) experience.

[somerandomguy83]

While we were dealing with this issue, I had gone through 3 CS representatives, even though I kept responding to the same email and keeping to the same issue. All of them were almost useless and simply giving me generic advice to continue working with the customer to resolve our disagreements. I never asked for a new representative, but they kept switching anyway.

I mean seriously, if one representative says that they decided not to cancel the order and yet it still gets cancelled a few hours after that, then it means there are serious consistency issues with how your problem gets addressed. Unless of course the buyer has withdrawn his payment through paypal or payoneer, but I somehow doubt it.

[seo_maya]

I am a level one seller and have dealt with over 50 customers at this point and only had to contact CS twice, but both of these times Fivers CS shows completely lack of support for people who make them money.

I worked on the order for 4 days and after I deliver the customer has a change of heart and tells me he wants to cancel, despite showing no such desires during the process.

I have offered 3 revisions on the order, but he kept requesting more. So that was the first WTF moment for me. Yes, even if you set a fixed number of revisions, Fiverr doesn’t stop at your number, you will be forced to make unlimited revisions.

I have kept my communications with Customer Service up during the whole time after the buyer shown himself to be a scammer, I have read their Terms of Sale and made sure I did not make any violations.

Yet here we are, the order is cancelled because the seller requested it. The pictures i attach will be quite telling I’m sure.

Do you want to work for free ? Go ahead, work on Fiverr.

Do you want to work for free ? Go ahead, work on Fiverr.

Don’t give up, Stay strong!

[somerandomguy83]

I still have not heard anything from CS,

But just in case some of you guys are wondering if I was trying to take advantage of the client myself, or trying to provide poor quality work (even though it shouldn’t factor into CS decision of cancellation even if I did), i’ll throw more info in here for consideration while I have some time to spare.

Here is the order

Here is what the customer gave me to work from (I kid you not) even though we agreed that he would give me a website link so I could copy the pattern, he never did.

But because all the times I sent him a pattern style, he never once mentioned how it was not what he wanted, I never actually pursued asking him for source files and it was never an issue, because I could make him any pattern he wanted.

And here is a video of delivered product : https://view.vzaar.com/18454828/player

So what was his complaint ?

That was the main issue of all his complaints at the beginning and that was his reason for asking for the cancellation of this order (but he started adding more requests as he was failing to gain support of CS to get cancellation on these grounds alone)

So first of all his point about CPU usage was already not true and here is my proof, and my CPU is about 10 years old now, which is indeed a much older system than his own and a 23% CPU load for an interactive SVG animation with so many animated pieces is absolutely adequate .

Second, we never discussed CPU usage of this animation and we never set any targets even in our discussions and certainly not in the order.

Third, I offered him some paid options to improve performance, but it also meant that there had to be compromises with regards to how his pattern is animated, but he refused all my compromises, took offence at my offer and simply started sending me this in revisions:

Keep in mind that he still never sent me his website even though i explicitly asked for it in the order and kept asking for it afterwards, he never supplied it and refused to do so. And yet here he was trying to get an exact match of the pattern while not providing me with requirements and even though the order offer itself never mentioned that I was supposed to deliver him an exact pattern.

So since I already gave up trying to please this guy at this point (i provided 8 versions during development) and made 4 revisions at this point) I start explaining to him how its not possible to get this done etc and that’s when I start contacting CS and you heard the rest of the story.

Could I have done something better ? I really don’t think so. I kept him updated with the development of the animation and kept sending him live web previews and he was fine with all of them requesting changes which I considered normal (changing the speed of the animation, color etc). We had some difficulties along the path (I had a major problem with one of his particular requests and asked if he wanted to cancel if I didn’t manage to do it), but he acted absolutely normal and we pushed through this and I managed to get everything as he wanted, so if he had any doubts about me and the quality of the end product then he could have asked for a cancellation much sooner, but he never did. Then I deliver the final product and this happened.

CPU usage is an important point, but why he only started to get so hung up on it and lying about it only after I gave him all the source files, I have no idea, but regardless, it was never discussed that it had to be whatever he was insisting that it should be and the fact of the matter is, it couldn’t. I would have to completely rewrite the animation and use a completely different approach to reduce the CPU usage, and even then it would not have a guaranteed outcome.So the work was done, it was done completely in line with what was offered, but he did not like a particular aspect of the delivered work (which we never discussed nor agreed to) and now the order is cancelled. Take from it what you will.

[djwaruna]

same problem here 😣

[arrumi96]

really horrible experience man 😶

[somerandomguy83]

Another thing he sent me and he kept referring to, saying that CS told him that he should expect certain level of CPU performance. Which is absolutely baffling to me. First of all, the response he gets from the CS is absolutely amazing, it’s obvious that the guy has read through all our messages and tries to understand the situation he is in and I personally have never had such long answers from CS when I write to them as a seller.

And second (I have highlighted the issues), how can Oscar make any judgement about what CPU usage can be expected from the the project I delivered ? Has he checked what the actual CPU usage was ? No, he makes assumptions based on what the buyer has told him

What is infuriating to me is that this response that my buyer got, is absolutely over-empowering and has given him further desire to keep pushing on this issue. What he should have told him is that “CPU usage was never discussed in the order and you should try to come to an agreement with the buyer”.

So to say that I am angry at Fiverr is an understatement.

[miiila]

It does not seem like his account is cancelled at the moment. I’ll update this post once I get a response from CS.

The only mistake I made when I was communicating with the buyer and the one I am a little bit uncertain about, is the one I attach.

x.jpg852×365 57.7 KB

It is indeed related to not wanting to do more revisions for the buyer because I set it at 3 and made 5 until I contacted CS in that regard and they told me that I did not have to make infinite revisions, even though their system will keep allowing them anyway. So after he requested another revision, that is the response I sent him and the buyer has promptly responded back to me that it’s against ToS to force the buyer to accept the offer and he will be reporting me for it.

However, there is nothing in Fiverrs ToS that I could find which related to that and the message i got back from Customer service was after that fact.!

I fear the “… but only after you mark the order as complete” wasn’t a good idea.

It can be interpreted as ushering the buyer to mark an order complete while they still think the order isn’t completed as agreed and there are still revisions to make (whether rightly or wrongly, we can’t tell, as we hear only one side and don’t know the specifics). Of course, he might be in the wrong and should not ask for any more revisions, but either way sellers aren’t supposed to talk buyers into marking an order as complete.

I don’t have a relevant quote from ToS or other guidelines handy but I’m pretty sure it’s mentioned somewhere.

You need to be extra careful with how you word some things online, without speaking to a person “eye to eye”; of course, I understand that’s not that easy always, especially when you think a buyer is taking advantage of you, but you need to make sure to be always up to date about the ToS and other guidelines and adhere to them.

If you think the buyer has no business asking for more revisions, you can either make them anyway, or “put your foot down” and explain to them that they need to order a gig extra or a new gig for the desired revisions and live with the consequences (perhaps a bad review - which you can leave a response for, though, or perhaps the buyer agreeing to your explanation and ordering an extra or making another order or just leaving it be).

As long as you’re sure you’re in the right, I’m all for being insistent, but still, be careful that you’re not doing things that aren’t okay yourself. Support may not understand all “technical issues” in any kind of order, but they most probably will check the conversation and catch such things.

[somerandomguy83]

I fear the “… but only after you mark the order as complete” wasn’t a good idea.

It can be interpreted as ushering the buyer to mark an order complete while they still think the order isn’t completed as agreed and there are still revisions to make (whether rightly or wrongly, we can’t tell, as we hear only one side and don’t know the specifics). Of course, he might be in the wrong and should not ask for any more revisions, but either way sellers aren’t supposed to talk buyers into marking an order as complete.

I don’t have a relevant quote from ToS or other guidelines handy but I’m pretty sure it’s mentioned somewhere.

You need to be extra careful with how you word some things online, without speaking to a person “eye to eye”; of course, I understand that’s not that easy always, especially when you think a buyer is taking advantage of you, but you need to make sure to be always up to date about the ToS and other guidelines and adhere to them.

If you think the buyer has no business asking for more revisions, you can either make them anyway, or “put your foot down” and explain to them that they need to order a gig extra or a new gig for the desired revisions and live with the consequences (perhaps a bad review - which you can leave a response for, though, or perhaps the buyer agreeing to your explanation and ordering an extra or making another order or just leaving it be).

As long as you’re sure you’re in the right, I’m all for being insistent, but still, be careful that you’re not doing things that aren’t okay yourself. Support may not understand all “technical issues” in any kind of order, but they most probably will check the conversation and catch such things.

I was worried about that too and it does have me worried still, but I have re-read ToS multiple times and there is nothing about this in there. And on top of it, I have contacted CS right after the fact and made it known that I have done that and after a few hours she tells me that they decided not to cancel the order at this time. Yet another few hours pass and the order gets cancelled.

Maybe someone else can weigh in, on whether telling your buyer to mark the order as complete can be considered as a violation.

[cyaxrex]

I was worried about that too and it does have me worried still, but I have re-read ToS multiple times and there is nothing about this in there. And on top of it, I have contacted CS right after the fact and made it known that I have done that and after a few hours she tells me that they decided not to cancel the order at this time. Yet another few hours pass and the order gets cancelled.

Maybe someone else can weigh in, on whether telling your buyer to mark the order as complete can be considered as a violation.

Maybe someone else can weigh in, on whether telling your buyer to mark the order as complete can be considered as a violation.

If they want to, Fiverr can consider anything a TOS violation.

To be honest, this entire situation boils down to one thing. Your buyer did not want to provide you with a link to their website, as they had no intention of paying. Likely, they have had experiences in the past where a freelancer has chased down non-paid for content and raised complaints with their end clients, Either this, or they are aware that this can happen.

Next time, just cancel asap. I just cancelled an order the second it came in. A buyer ordered 500-words of content and in their brief, asked me to curate content for every page of their website. (8+ 500-word pages in total, not including their blog). From experience, it is pointless ever trying to negotiate with people like this. Every order is eventually either cancelled by CS or via a chargeback.

It sucks that you still have to take a hit with a cancellation penalty when you cancel preemptively. However, this is by far the easiest way to avoid situations like your present one.

The CS reply to your buyer is very interesting. Few sellers get such detailed feedback. Buyers on the other hand, seem to get sycophant essays about how loved they are. Next time just cut CS out of the equation. Watermark your work somehow, cancel at the first sign of trouble, and never take on orders where buyers refuse to provide full details.

A lot of people will disagree with my advice to cancel. However, I tried to not cancel any orders for the past year and it got me nothing but two 1-star reviews left by buyers who later cancelled orders via chargebacks, a high level of work stress, and potentially reduced service quality concerning work delivered to legitimate clients. (Due to stress and extra time spent trying to appease buyers etc.)

I’m sorry this happened to you, however, it is Christmas. Just keep your fingers crossed that your buyer has a run in with a rabid flying reindeer before they can use the work you delivered. 🙂

Merry Christmas!

[somerandomguy83]

Maybe someone else can weigh in, on whether telling your buyer to mark the order as complete can be considered as a violation.

If they want to, Fiverr can consider anything a TOS violation.

To be honest, this entire situation boils down to one thing. Your buyer did not want to provide you with a link to their website, as they had no intention of paying. Likely, they have had experiences in the past where a freelancer has chased down non-paid for content and raised complaints with their end clients, Either this, or they are aware that this can happen.

Next time, just cancel asap. I just cancelled an order the second it came in. A buyer ordered 500-words of content and in their brief, asked me to curate content for every page of their website. (8+ 500-word pages in total, not including their blog). From experience, it is pointless ever trying to negotiate with people like this. Every order is eventually either cancelled by CS or via a chargeback.

It sucks that you still have to take a hit with a cancellation penalty when you cancel preemptively. However, this is by far the easiest way to avoid situations like your present one.

The CS reply to your buyer is very interesting. Few sellers get such detailed feedback. Buyers on the other hand, seem to get sycophant essays about how loved they are. Next time just cut CS out of the equation. Watermark your work somehow, cancel at the first sign of trouble, and never take on orders where buyers refuse to provide full details.

A lot of people will disagree with my advice to cancel. However, I tried to not cancel any orders for the past year and it got me nothing but two 1-star reviews left by buyers who later cancelled orders via chargebacks, a high level of work stress, and potentially reduced service quality concerning work delivered to legitimate clients. (Due to stress and extra time spent trying to appease buyers etc.)

I’m sorry this happened to you, however, it is Christmas. Just keep your fingers crossed that your buyer has a run in with a rabid flying reindeer before they can use the work you delivered. 🙂

Merry Christmas!

Thanks Cyaxrex, the problem is - I am already extra careful with buyers I select, that is why I have so few orders. On most of my gigs I ask buyers to contact me first and when they talk to me, I don’t take orders from people who cannot articulate their needs well enough. If someone orders without talking to me first, I am already 100% on full alert.

This guy, I could never take for a scammer, he did seem genuine, maybe a bit too laid back, but when was that a crime ?

I kind of disagree with you about your ToS violation position, because it’s either specified in ToS that asking your buyer to mark the order as complete is a violation or it’s not. I honestly do not think that they could do something if it wasn’t. And if it is, then this should be known all over, that Fiverr just flat out conspires with scammers . Who would want to work on a website run by people who make up rules just to do as they please ?

I will be absolutely fine if the buyer has made a chargeback, that’s going to be on him and he will have his account banned, i know its not much, but it will be fair. What’s not fair is him getting his way when there was absolutely no grounds for it.

[miiila]

I was worried about that too and it does have me worried still, but I have re-read ToS multiple times and there is nothing about this in there. And on top of it, I have contacted CS right after the fact and made it known that I have done that and after a few hours she tells me that they decided not to cancel the order at this time. Yet another few hours pass and the order gets cancelled.

Maybe someone else can weigh in, on whether telling your buyer to mark the order as complete can be considered as a violation.

I’ve looked through the ToS now, I think this here may be relevant:

• Fiverr Customer Support will review cases of Order delivery manipulation that prevents Buyers and Sellers from fully utilizing our Resolution Center that enabled the order to be marked as complete.

I have the feeling there’s something missing between “… Center” and “that …” somehow, that sentence is a bit weird, but ‘talking buyers into marking an order as complete’ as they then can’t ask for a revision could probably be seen as “order delivery manipulation”.

Then, there are many references in the ToS about not delivering incomplete deliveries, so I guess if the buyer can convince support that the delivery sent was not the completed order, that might be a point too.

Of course, Cy has a point as well, though I wouldn’t say it quite like that, but that they might judge according to the spirit of some term and not just to the exact letters.

Well, anyhow, I hope it will end reasonably well for you, and your next buyers won’t be quite as “revisionary”.