Hello everyone,
First time posting in the forums, as I’m getting a bit of a headache here and may be in need of a good advice from another seller’s perspective. I found topics similar to this one already, but I thought it would be best to explain my own (ongoing) experience due to some details being slightly different from what I’ve read so far. Be warned, it’s going to be a long one.
To summarize:
I’ve been a Fiverr seller for a year now, providing 3D content like video game assets and rendered concepts. I’m about to reach my Level 2 badge (on the 15th next month) and the received feedbacks so far have always been positive with 5 stars each which also led to returning customers.
However, I recently got a new one who is currently making me pull a bunch of hair off and I want to be sure I’ll handle this the correct way without risking to be negatively affected.
The buyer in question didn’t exactly start in the greatest of ways; didn’t know how things work on the platform and clicked the wrong buttons around (I didn’t even see it like a huge problem in the beginning though), didn’t provide the right feedbacks when they were due, requested constant changes, etc.
The order began with this guy sending me a clear explanation of what he wanted with some references attached to the first post, after discussing the whole ordeal privately to be sure I had a clear grasp of what he was looking for ( although I did say I could do what he wanted more than once and that didn’t seem to go through, because he asked me the same question twice). The only doubts we had were for a couple undefined details that he wanted to clarify along the way upon deciding, so I felt confident about the entire project because everything else was set and fully understandable.
I started to work on his request and provided a few screenshots to show him what I was doing. He pointed some things out that I immediatly edited or changed, but in the end I found myself forced to ask him what he wanted regarding the missing details without getting a real answer to that. He never really told me what to do on that regard and time was running out.
So, I showed the buyer what I was creating based on his references, asking him to let me know if he wanted it differently or not. He didn’t have anything to say and basically allowed me to proceed with the final step of the project.
The moment I delivered the completed work, he started to point out the many wrong things and told me to change a lot of stuff that could be seen in my previous attachments and he never even mentioned before. He also asked me to replace a significant element into the scene after the second delivery, because once again he didn’t properly check what I sent with the needed attention.
He simply justified himself saying that he works all day and thus he was evidently too tired to properly see from his phone, He just relaxes as soon as he gets home. Now, he did say he was sorry for not giving me the correct informations, but still found this sentence quite unprofessional and uncalled for, because I am working as well and he’s been incredibly picky about something he didn’t even care to inspect and that he would use as marketing/mascot for his product. I let him know that being 3D some details just must be clarified ahead of time and this is exactly why I provide drafts to all my clients without sending the files blindly.
I accepted to do the required modifications anyway as my gig has 2 revisions set and he got 3.
Apparently, he was actually finally satisfied with what I sent him yesterday, but today he came back asking for a FOURTH revision (so double compared to what the gig offers) notifying me that he showed the project to his team only now and everyone was unhappy about the colors and pose he picked for the 3D model used. This means that he now wants me to redo the whole thing from the second step onward although his initial request has been technically fullfilled.
I explained to him that at this point I no longer offer revisions for free, since he already consumed all the available ones and I allowed him an additional modification without additional costs. The guy didn’t even consult with his team beforehand and I already had to drastically alter the project a couple times due to his late realizations before and also after delivery. It seems like he didn’t care about what I told him at all.
At this point, I forwarded him an extra payment request for the rework, which would cover the remake of half project I previously delivered. He seemed unsure of what to do and didn’t even notice it, using yet another revision request just to answer my comment.
My gig states that additional revisions generally cost $15, but this would definitely be way more than a simple edit and thus, it’s going to be a lot more expensive. My question is, what am I supposed to do if he refuses to pay what this unplanned amount of work is truly worth? Cancelling the order would affect me greatly, making me lose the money after the hard work I did on his request (giving him the work for free) and potentially ruining my profile upgrade after a year on the platform.
However, should he accept the extra payment I am afraid that he will just continue with the same attitude over and over again, constantly asking for last minute changes or remakes whenever he pleases and keeping the order running without finishing it off properly for much longer. I suppose that the only solution may be to charge additional fees whenever he wants the work to be edited or remade, this will most likely discourage him to continue. Maybe.
I never experienced such a backlash from an accepted order before. As a seller I always do my best to provide quality work and be as respectful and professional as I can be. The Customer Support, as we all know, isn’t exactly quick with their answers and in the past I more often than not had the impression they were just brushing me off without explaining much and didn’t hesitate to close the ticket despite telling me to let them know if I needed further assistance on that specific matter.
Any suggestion?
