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BLACKMAILING - Do not accept it under any circumstances!


anamariaedan

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Lately, I’ve been complaining about having my first two 4 - star reviews left ‘‘accidentally’’ by buyers. Guess what? Now I have 3. Same gig, the newly Featured one. All 3 from repeated buyers. One after another. Asking them to modify their review is such a pain in the *** so I decided to leave them there, knowing they are beyond satisfied with my delivery and ordered again.

Today I had to experience the worst thing that ever happened to me since joying Fiverr. And no, not a negative review. Blackmailing. I received an order a few days ago with no instructions, no information, just a document attached and ‘‘please write it in bullets’’. As usual, I wrote the summary as I’ve been doing for the last year, even added a few extra words to make sure the buyer will be happy and possibly come back in the future. Not long after submitting my delivery, I see the big red REJECTED. Guess what? My buyer ‘‘loved it’’, it was a ‘‘nice narrative’’ but it lacked some really important information - and continued with adding what was not included. Everything he/she mentioned suggested that what was needed had nothing to do with a summary, but it was an analysis of how the article was written (very detailed). When I received the message I said to myself that it would be just easier to avoid a cancellation and rewrite everything. At the end of the day, there was nothing he/she could possibly find wrong this time. Even more, I nicely suggested that in the future, he/she should add the information before a seller starts working on the order, in this way avoiding any misunderstandings.

Redelivered the order while explaining that I offer unlimited revisions and a cancellation option if he/she considers that my work does not align with his/her expectations. Today I get this message: (I hope it does not violate any rules as it does not involve personal information, I even removed my username)

blackmail.png.2fdfb5e6093b0d7f162f78adb311eee2.png

The reason why I am posting this is to raise awareness among any seller who might be going through anything similar. Stand up for yourself! Contact customer support and explain the situation with screenshots. Never let a buyer manipulate you into compromising your business for positive ratings. I did not ask for a 5-star review, but it seems like this buyer knew exactly what he/she was doing. Actually, he/she was giving me two options: either agree to his/her offer and be paid unfairly $5 for a 5 - star review, or cancel the order and receive no revenue. He/She placed the order for a 24h delivery knowing that the money would go back to him/her, therefore winning in every case, because who would want a 3 - stars review?

Please be careful. As I’ve already written to customer support, something has to be done to avoid this behaviour. Do not accept being blackmailed thinking there’s no way out because there is. You might loose the revenue from the order, but it’s up to you to make sure that buyer does not do the same to others and even to yourself in the future. I am saying this because I hope Customer Support will verify this buyer and take measures, as I am sure that he/she has experience using this strategy.

I know it has been discussed previously on the Forum but still, I think there are sellers who are either too scared of a negative review or unaware of how it can be resolved.

If you find yourself in this situation, here’s the Customer Support page: https://support.fiverr.com/.

(Sorry if it feels like a duplicated post.)

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This reminded me of the fisrt episode of the third season of black mirror… Sometimes I believe we are turning into horrible creatures us humans then my darker side remembers me that we already are… I really HOPE this never happens again… But I know it will maybe not to you but to someone else…

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This reminded me of the fisrt episode of the third season of black mirror… Sometimes I believe we are turning into horrible creatures us humans then my darker side remembers me that we already are… I really HOPE this never happens again… But I know it will maybe not to you but to someone else…

I completely agree. That’s why I think it was important to create a post about it, although it has been brought up before. If there is one seller experiencing this in the future and remembers/applies my advice, that makes a difference.

As sellers, I think we should help and encourage each other to succeed. :hugging:

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I completely agree. That’s why I think it was important to create a post about it, although it has been brought up before. If there is one seller experiencing this in the future and remembers/applies my advice, that makes a difference.

As sellers, I think we should help and encourage each other to succeed. :hugging:

Indeed, I agree.

A toast to success then! 🍻

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Lately, I’ve been complaining about having my first two 4 - star reviews left ‘‘accidentally’’ by buyers. Guess what? Now I have 3. Same gig, the newly Featured one. All 3 from repeated buyers. One after another. Asking them to modify their review is such a pain in the *** so I decided to leave them there, knowing they are beyond satisfied with my delivery and ordered again.

Today I had to experience the worst thing that ever happened to me since joying Fiverr. And no, not a negative review. Blackmailing. I received an order a few days ago with no instructions, no information, just a document attached and ‘‘please write it in bullets’’. As usual, I wrote the summary as I’ve been doing for the last year, even added a few extra words to make sure the buyer will be happy and possibly come back in the future. Not long after submitting my delivery, I see the big red REJECTED. Guess what? My buyer ‘‘loved it’’, it was a ‘‘nice narrative’’ but it lacked some really important information - and continued with adding what was not included. Everything he/she mentioned suggested that what was needed had nothing to do with a summary, but it was an analysis of how the article was written (very detailed). When I received the message I said to myself that it would be just easier to avoid a cancellation and rewrite everything. At the end of the day, there was nothing he/she could possibly find wrong this time. Even more, I nicely suggested that in the future, he/she should add the information before a seller starts working on the order, in this way avoiding any misunderstandings.

Redelivered the order while explaining that I offer unlimited revisions and a cancellation option if he/she considers that my work does not align with his/her expectations. Today I get this message: (I hope it does not violate any rules as it does not involve personal information, I even removed my username)

The reason why I am posting this is to raise awareness among any seller who might be going through anything similar. Stand up for yourself! Contact customer support and explain the situation with screenshots. Never let a buyer manipulate you into compromising your business for positive ratings. I did not ask for a 5-star review, but it seems like this buyer knew exactly what he/she was doing. Actually, he/she was giving me two options: either agree to his/her offer and be paid unfairly $5 for a 5 - star review, or cancel the order and receive no revenue. He/She placed the order for a 24h delivery knowing that the money would go back to him/her, therefore winning in every case, because who would want a 3 - stars review?

Please be careful. As I’ve already written to customer support, something has to be done to avoid this behaviour. Do not accept being blackmailed thinking there’s no way out because there is. You might loose the revenue from the order, but it’s up to you to make sure that buyer does not do the same to others and even to yourself in the future. I am saying this because I hope Customer Support will verify this buyer and take measures, as I am sure that he/she has experience using this strategy.

I know it has been discussed previously on the Forum but still, I think there are sellers who are either too scared of a negative review or unaware of how it can be resolved.

If you find yourself in this situation, here’s the Customer Support page: https://support.fiverr.com/.

(Sorry if it feels like a duplicated post.)

Wow… You’re so lucky…

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This is disgusting, and this seller went too far, seriously?? I am glad you shared this and I hope the customer service will punish this buyers severely, unbelievable, it seems he or she have done this before and succeeded to be this blunt… Woow… I hope no one falls for this… well done dealing with this.

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This is disgusting, and this seller went too far, seriously?? I am glad you shared this and I hope the customer service will punish this buyers severely, unbelievable, it seems he or she have done this before and succeeded to be this blunt… Woow… I hope no one falls for this… well done dealing with this.

unbelievable, it seems he or she have done this before and succeeded to be this blunt… Woow… I hope no one falls for this

Exactly. The moment I saw his/her message I realised that he/she took a really calculated risk and it did not seem as if that was a first. Everything was clearly premeditated, especially when he/she asked for the revision, assuming that I would provide it as I said that I offer unlimited revisions. That’s why none of the information was included in the first place. Now I am purely annoyed that I wasted my time doing a job two times just to be left with disappointment and a higher cancellation rate. (if the buyer or customer support do decide to cancel)

However, it is a lesson that I had to learn in order to act more carefully in the future and not jump to do work that is not included in my services. As sellers, we often ignore red flags because we want everything to go smoothly and get more sales. Well, that ain’t always the case. 😄

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I wouldn’t be so confident that CS will remove a review for blackmail. While blackmail is a violation of the TOS, it may not be a violation of the feedback policy, which does not exist. If the feedback does not violate feedback policy, the review stands. The TOS violation is a “separate issue” for the Trust and Safety team to look at.

My most recent 1-star review isn’t blackmail, but threatening a bad review, which is a violation of TOS, but not the feedback policy, despite…

Look, I didn’t make the stupid rules that don’t even exist anywhere on the site! If they don’t remove it, just copy what I did with my imgur review. Throw 'em to the dogs.

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This is really disturbing as I read! I am new on Fiverr learned many things from your post. I won’t accept any order without clear instructions it is better to go for cancellation from the start as if we feel the buyer is up to something wrong. Once again Thank you for sharing your experience.

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unbelievable, it seems he or she have done this before and succeeded to be this blunt… Woow… I hope no one falls for this

Exactly. The moment I saw his/her message I realised that he/she took a really calculated risk and it did not seem as if that was a first. Everything was clearly premeditated, especially when he/she asked for the revision, assuming that I would provide it as I said that I offer unlimited revisions. That’s why none of the information was included in the first place. Now I am purely annoyed that I wasted my time doing a job two times just to be left with disappointment and a higher cancellation rate. (if the buyer or customer support do decide to cancel)

However, it is a lesson that I had to learn in order to act more carefully in the future and not jump to do work that is not included in my services. As sellers, we often ignore red flags because we want everything to go smoothly and get more sales. Well, that ain’t always the case. 😄

Yep, it is a lesson, you have wasted your time, you have learn from it and shared your experiences with others, that also is something… I am really sorry you went through this, it is something I would never expect would happen in my wildest dream… I too sometimes just add few things that clients did not add in the initial request and avoid arguments that it wasn’t part of the original request, I mean minor things, and my clients ask it politely so I just do it, but this one tried to fish you slowly and test your level of patience and boom hit you with his/her true intentions… We could only try to do our best to smooth things up, but I guess in business this can of thing is unavoidable, and some people seem to take advantages on restrictions on sellers and the importance of reviews for their business,

but you have dealt with it nicely and professionally, thanks for sharing… C’est la vie…

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I wouldn’t be so confident that CS will remove a review for blackmail. While blackmail is a violation of the TOS, it may not be a violation of the feedback policy, which does not exist. If the feedback does not violate feedback policy, the review stands. The TOS violation is a “separate issue” for the Trust and Safety team to look at.

My most recent 1-star review isn’t blackmail, but threatening a bad review, which is a violation of TOS, but not the feedback policy, despite…

Look, I didn’t make the stupid rules that don’t even exist anywhere on the site! If they don’t remove it, just copy what I did with my imgur review. Throw 'em to the dogs.

Oh, I am aware they do not remove reviews! I had my experiences with that too. The funniest thing is that Customer Support suggested that I should go to the Resolution Center and Select ‘‘Ask buyer to modify feedback’’ (something like that, I don’t remember the exact words). After doing it, what I see on the order page is ‘‘You asked to modify your feedback’’ ([…] the buyer has 48 hours to agree […]) I was like ‘‘what??’’ This happened with two orders, so I just gave up on requesting them to modify anything as it appears as if I am requesting to modify my own feedback. (Which was not even given yet, ironically) I’m not sure how it works and explaining to buyers to do it it’s too complicated. Or is it just not formulated right after opening the dispute? I would really appreciate someone helping me understand that.

With this order, the buyer did not leave his 3 - star review yet, the dispute is still awaiting his/her response. But if he/she declines and customer support do not cancel it themselves, I will definitely follow your imgur example! 😉

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Oh, I am aware they do not remove reviews! I had my experiences with that too. The funniest thing is that Customer Support suggested that I should go to the Resolution Center and Select ‘‘Ask buyer to modify feedback’’ (something like that, I don’t remember the exact words). After doing it, what I see on the order page is ‘‘You asked to modify your feedback’’ ([…] the buyer has 48 hours to agree […]) I was like ‘‘what??’’ This happened with two orders, so I just gave up on requesting them to modify anything as it appears as if I am requesting to modify my own feedback. (Which was not even given yet, ironically) I’m not sure how it works and explaining to buyers to do it it’s too complicated. Or is it just not formulated right after opening the dispute? I would really appreciate someone helping me understand that.

With this order, the buyer did not leave his 3 - star review yet, the dispute is still awaiting his/her response. But if he/she declines and customer support do not cancel it themselves, I will definitely follow your imgur example! 😉

Ah yes, I got that too. I pointed out that the buyer was unlikely to change his review if I asked him nicely as the threat was to… you know, give me a shit review if I don’t refund?

Then they said issue a partial discount by cancelling the order and sending an invoice for $whatever so that the buyer could voluntarily pay that and everything would be right. The partial discount was based on the buyer’s erroneous claim that I had not delivered in full. When I pointed out that I had, they basically said, “oh!”.

It was a pretty pathetic attempt at support, really.

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Ah yes, I got that too. I pointed out that the buyer was unlikely to change his review if I asked him nicely as the threat was to… you know, give me a shit review if I don’t refund?

Then they said issue a partial discount by cancelling the order and sending an invoice for $whatever so that the buyer could voluntarily pay that and everything would be right. The partial discount was based on the buyer’s erroneous claim that I had not delivered in full. When I pointed out that I had, they basically said, “oh!”.

It was a pretty pathetic attempt at support, really.

If customer support suggested issuing a discount in the case of a buyer threatening with a negative review … then I am speechless. 😶

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If customer support suggested issuing a discount in the case of a buyer threatening with a negative review … then I am speechless. 😶

You only need to see my last 1-star review and response to see exactly how inadequate support was with this guy. I hope they offer you better support… but 😕

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You only need to see my last 1-star review and response to see exactly how inadequate support was with this guy. I hope they offer you better support… but 😕

I just checked that. Couldn’t stop laughing when he/she insisted that the words were counted. As if he/she couldn’t select the words to have the number automatically showing up. Even more, money represent no issue to him/her, but in his public feedback, it suddenly becomes an issue. 😂 You just made my day.

I’m sorry for your review, but the buyer embarrassed himself/herself and that clearly shows who you’ve been dealing with. Everyone will see that. 😄

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I just checked that. Couldn’t stop laughing when he/she insisted that the words were counted. As if he/she couldn’t select the words to have the number automatically showing up. Even more, money represent no issue to him/her, but in his public feedback, it suddenly becomes an issue. 😂 You just made my day.

I’m sorry for your review, but the buyer embarrassed himself/herself and that clearly shows who you’ve been dealing with. Everyone will see that. 😄

Well, that’s the point really. You can’t review the buyer so that other sellers can see it on their profile, but you can limit damages by showing prospective buyers what a twatwaffle a buyer has been. As a bonus, I guess it also warns of scammers and blackmailers. After all, everyone wants an easy mark with a low risk profile…

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This is really disturbing as I read! I am new on Fiverr learned many things from your post. I won’t accept any order without clear instructions it is better to go for cancellation from the start as if we feel the buyer is up to something wrong. Once again Thank you for sharing your experience.

Making sure you receive clear instructions from the beginning will also ensure there are no misunderstandings. Or at least it will decrease that chance of having to offer revision after revision because the buyer did not express his wishes clearly from the beginning.

Good luck with your sales and welcome to Fiverr! 😊

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Making sure you receive clear instructions from the beginning will also ensure there are no misunderstandings. Or at least it will decrease that chance of having to offer revision after revision because the buyer did not express his wishes clearly from the beginning.

Good luck with your sales and welcome to Fiverr! 😊 (20 Characters)

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