Buyer trapped me

[shihabmahmud620]

Got this buyer from Buyer Requests. The job was to install a theme on his WordPress website and just leave it as the demo. He had no discussion with me before placing the order no casual talk. Just placed the order and shared requirements. Requirements were his Hosting access but didn’t share WordPress login he asked to install fresh WordPress. Okay, I did it (This wasn’t mentioned in his request). I installed the theme successfully but while importing the demo site there seems to be a problem with the theme provider this could be a bug. Importing stucks a 7% for 2 hours. also the memory provided by hosting wasn’t enough according to the import log. There were more errors in this theme I had to install and configure the plugins as well (not a part of his request). When I tried to describe this issue the reply from the buyer was

“Then cancel the order”
" Cancel now!!!"

I have all the error screenshots available. Now this is a problem that involves the theme developer, If I cancel this order it will affect my profile.
What do I do? :woman_shrugging:

[mariashtelle1]

Got this buyer from Buyer Requests. The job was to install a theme on his WordPress website and just leave it as the demo. He had no discussion with me before placing the order no casual talk. Just placed the order and shared requirements. Requirements were his Hosting access but didn’t share WordPress login he asked to install fresh WordPress. Okay, I did it (This wasn’t mentioned in his request). I installed the theme successfully but while importing the demo site there seems to be a problem with the theme provider this could be a bug. Importing stucks a 7% for 2 hours. also the memory provided by hosting wasn’t enough according to the import log. There were more errors in this theme I had to install and configure the plugins as well (not a part of his request). When I tried to describe this issue the reply from the buyer was

“Then cancel the order”

" Cancel now!!!"

I have all the error screenshots available. Now this is a problem that involves the theme developer, If I cancel this order it will affect my profile.

What do I do? :woman_shrugging:

I have all the error screenshots available. Now this is a problem that involves the theme developer, If I cancel this order it will affect my profile.

What do I do?

But what do you expect from the buyer? That he will pay for work that he didn’t receive? (It doesn’t matter if your fault or the developer fault)

[humanissocial]

The buyer should be equipped to deal with what he is asking for, but being in this industry you should have known that you need to tell him 2hat is required in order for you to do the work. It needs to be in your contract.

You can’t hold him to things he actually didn’t agree to.

You could have made sure he had what was required before you did the order.

And as @mariashtelle1 says, you can’t force him to pay for something he didn’t receive.

When your work depends on the resources your buyer provides, you need to put in the contract what those resources are.

Your buyer could have been reasonable but you didn’t do your due diligence as a seller. You know what would happen in this case if it was off of Fiverr? You wouldn’t get the sale. And if the buyer already paid you and sued you for that cost, there’s a good chance they’d win the suit.

As a freelancer it’s never wise to assume the buyer has everything required. It’s actually poor client service to assume a client knows all that is required. They don’t. That’s partly why they hire you.

[shihabmahmud620]

I have all the error screenshots available. Now this is a problem that involves the theme developer, If I cancel this order it will affect my profile.

What do I do?

But what do you expect from the buyer? That he will pay for work that he didn’t receive? (It doesn’t matter if your fault or the developer fault)

No I don’t want the payment. I am asking if there’s a way to cancel this order without affecting my order completion rate. Earlier I had an order where buyer didn’t submit any requirements and didn’t wanted to when I contacted. so I canceled the order choosing “Buyer didn’t submit requirements” and it affected my order completion rate this time I’m looking for a better solution.

[shihabmahmud620]

The buyer should be equipped to deal with what he is asking for, but being in this industry you should have known that you need to tell him 2hat is required in order for you to do the work. It needs to be in your contract.

You can’t hold him to things he actually didn’t agree to.

You could have made sure he had what was required before you did the order.

And as @mariashtelle1 says, you can’t force him to pay for something he didn’t receive.

When your work depends on the resources your buyer provides, you need to put in the contract what those resources are.

Your buyer could have been reasonable but you didn’t do your due diligence as a seller. You know what would happen in this case if it was off of Fiverr? You wouldn’t get the sale. And if the buyer already paid you and sued you for that cost, there’s a good chance they’d win the suit.

As a freelancer it’s never wise to assume the buyer has everything required. It’s actually poor client service to assume a client knows all that is required. They don’t. That’s partly why they hire you.

As a freelancer it’s never wise to assume the buyer has everything required. It’s actually poor client service to assume a client knows all that is required. They don’t. That’s partly why they hire you.

I am unable to explain the buyer that things are wrong here and what are requirements. Unfortunately, the buyer isn’t interested in a discussion. He won’t listen to any cause, and I don’t want him to pay me. I’m looking for a way to cancel this order that doesn’t affect my Order Completion rate.

[coerdelion]

Nothing much you can do about it now - try contacting CS about it, but be prepared to wait anything up to 10 days for a response.

For the future: make all your buyer requirements mandatory - that way the clock doesn’t start until the buyer has supplied all the information you need.

You may find Melissa’s post useful for that:

Hi Marsats- Someone else asked me for screenshots so I thought I would send these to you too. I hope this helps! Of course all of these requirements are here because I had an experience that moved me to fix the problem!!! [screen Shot 2020-07-17 at 5.03.25 PM] [screen Shot 2020-07-17 at 5.03.43 PM] [screen Shot 2020-07-17 at 5.03.52 PM] There are why I have my 4 requirements: 1.Word or PDF file so I can get the word count. JPGs will not work!2.Asking about timed audio and giving them an ea…

[humanissocial]

As a freelancer it’s never wise to assume the buyer has everything required. It’s actually poor client service to assume a client knows all that is required. They don’t. That’s partly why they hire you.

I am unable to explain the buyer that things are wrong here and what are requirements. Unfortunately, the buyer isn’t interested in a discussion. He won’t listen to any cause, and I don’t want him to pay me. I’m looking for a way to cancel this order that doesn’t affect my Order Completion rate.

I am unable to explain the buyer that things are wrong here and what are requirements. Unfortunately, the buyer isn’t interested in a discussion. He won’t listen to any cause, and I don’t want him to pay me.

You’ve misinterpreted my point.

I was saying you needed to tell you buyer all this BEFORE they ordered so they can agree to opt out. It doesn’t help you do to do it after they ordered and after you’ve delivered because they hadn’t agreed to anything. You can’t retroactively say they need something in order to work with you and then expect them to pay you even though they didn’t get the finished product.