Jump to content

Escalating Resolution: Do we have to litigate with Fiverr?


Recommended Posts

Hello, it’s sad that this has to be our first post in the forum, but we’re trying to gain consensus on next steps. Has anyone had to file against Fiverr? We are entering first discussions with this option and we really want to know if anyone has had to explore this option. Our case involves Fiverr not policing a revision, allowing the seller to basically just drop the gig into a time void, with the timer hung on “LATE”. Attempting to contact them has resolved nothing, while our own deadlines are coming to a close and we are left with no options. We are reviewing the TOS, but would like the system to work as expected, making this seller do their job. Thanks in advance for any stories or advice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,
did you tried contacting customer support. It is kind of weird, I mean most of the time whenever I have visited I haven seen sellers complaining about buyers who keeps on making them do overwork beyond the one asked in first place and fiverr never supports its sellers. I hope your case is different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As you have mentioned the potential of litigation, I wish to begin my response by stating that I am not Fiverr Staff and do not represent them in any way. Any advice/opinion I give is my own and not to be used for any purpose in any litigation.

The ToS does seem to be lacking in terms of “what to do when the seller does not carry out revisions” however if the seller is simply not responding and has not made their position clear then ToS does say that CS will intervene.

Buyers must use Fiverr Resolution Center to address their concerns and desired resolution related to the service provided by their seller prior to contacting Customer Support. Customer Support will not take any action against Orders where the buyers failed to inform their seller of issues related to the seller’s service and will allow sellers to provide a resolution first. This does not include non-permitted usage of Fiverr.

My reading of the above is that IF you have tried to resolve the situation with the seller to no avail then contacting CS is the next step. Your description is scarce on detail so I cannot comment any further really except to say that if you believe CS is incorrect, you could request a second CS agent to look at it - to do this, politely request the agent get a second opinion, do not create a new support ticket.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As you have mentioned the potential of litigation, I wish to begin my response by stating that I am not Fiverr Staff and do not represent them in any way. Any advice/opinion I give is my own and not to be used for any purpose in any litigation.

The ToS does seem to be lacking in terms of “what to do when the seller does not carry out revisions” however if the seller is simply not responding and has not made their position clear then ToS does say that CS will intervene.

Buyers must use Fiverr Resolution Center to address their concerns and desired resolution related to the service provided by their seller prior to contacting Customer Support. Customer Support will not take any action against Orders where the buyers failed to inform their seller of issues related to the seller’s service and will allow sellers to provide a resolution first. This does not include non-permitted usage of Fiverr.

My reading of the above is that IF you have tried to resolve the situation with the seller to no avail then contacting CS is the next step. Your description is scarce on detail so I cannot comment any further really except to say that if you believe CS is incorrect, you could request a second CS agent to look at it - to do this, politely request the agent get a second opinion, do not create a new support ticket.

@eoinfinnegan so that 3-day auto-complete thing does not apply to revisions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When a revision is requested, it does not auto complete. It needs to be delivered again and then the 3 day timer will kick in. As I understand it, the seller in this situation has not redelivered or communicating.

so how long does a seller have to deliver a revision?

Let’s say it is 10 days to do a video intro, seller made a mistake, buyer requests a revision…I never had to ask for a revision. Just curious

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

did you tried contacting customer support. It is kind of weird, I mean most of the time whenever I have visited I haven seen sellers complaining about buyers who keeps on making them do overwork beyond the one asked in first place and fiverr never supports its sellers. I hope your case is different.

Hi easyforu, and thank you for responding! We have not had to work with customer support before, and we have been buying gigs on this platform for some time. We have tried customer support, but are not really seeing any form of communication from them. We are really just trying to understand how other people have dealt with buyers/sellers regarding Fiverr and it’s operation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

eoinfinnegan = Thank you for your comment! We have to keep details to a minimum, as we feel that to call out a seller on here is inappropriate, regardless if they are being cooperative or not. If we are to escalate, giving Fiverr and the seller advanced warning only antagonize our ability to resolve this so that all parties prevail. Our question really is has anyone had to do this? We may suffer damages to a marketing campaign, simply because not only was a revision not completed, Fiverr made no attempt to do anything about it as of yet. We are in Limbo and were under the impression that the timer system was a way for us “and” Fiverr to determine next steps. All this information is very helpful, and i know doing this on the Fiverr forum is playing with Fire, but auditing every response, good or bad with Fiverr helps us understand if this system can be used for legitimate business.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the time frame for late/rejected orders:

Late

When an order is marked as Late, the seller missed the expected duration time to deliver. Buyers are entitled to cancel their order if there’s no further response from the seller. If a seller does deliver soon after the order is marked as late, the buyer will be given the chance to request revisions or complete the order and to rate their experience accordingly.

Very Late

24 hours have passed since the order is marked as Late. Similar to what’s mentioned above, the buyer is now able to cancel the order within the order page (also using the Resolution Center). When an order is canceled from this status by the buyer, a seller is given a negative rating.

Rejected

When an Order is Rejected, the Buyer requires the Seller to revise the Delivery to fit the Buyer’s requirements. The Seller is prompted to Deliver again and both users are encouraged to communicate in the order page to sort out any issues with the Delivery. The Seller is not timed on Delivering their revisions.

(https://support.fiverr.com/hc/en-us/articles/201733463-Order-Status)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

eoinfinnegan = Thank you for your comment! We have to keep details to a minimum, as we feel that to call out a seller on here is inappropriate, regardless if they are being cooperative or not. If we are to escalate, giving Fiverr and the seller advanced warning only antagonize our ability to resolve this so that all parties prevail. Our question really is has anyone had to do this? We may suffer damages to a marketing campaign, simply because not only was a revision not completed, Fiverr made no attempt to do anything about it as of yet. We are in Limbo and were under the impression that the timer system was a way for us “and” Fiverr to determine next steps. All this information is very helpful, and i know doing this on the Fiverr forum is playing with Fire, but auditing every response, good or bad with Fiverr helps us understand if this system can be used for legitimate business.

Well to answer your question, I have not seen any comments about actual litigation against Fiverr on the forum.

There is the occasional outburst by someone threatening it but it never seems to be followed up.

I would refer you to the last part of the ToS which does seem to suggest Fiverr does not accept liability etc. etc.

I do think you will have more success in keeping to the Fiverr system in the way I mentioned in my previous comment. I find it surprising that if you have followed the procedures that they are not helping with a solution. The thing is, Fiverr cannot force a seller to do a revision so, although I am not sure what outcome you are pursuing, it seems like a cancellation would be the only option they could achieve if the seller is not responding. If you are looking for something else then I don’t know what to tell you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the time frame for late/rejected orders:

Late

When an order is marked as Late, the seller missed the expected duration time to deliver. Buyers are entitled to cancel their order if there’s no further response from the seller. If a seller does deliver soon after the order is marked as late, the buyer will be given the chance to request revisions or complete the order and to rate their experience accordingly.

Very Late

24 hours have passed since the order is marked as Late. Similar to what’s mentioned above, the buyer is now able to cancel the order within the order page (also using the Resolution Center). When an order is canceled from this status by the buyer, a seller is given a negative rating.

Rejected

When an Order is Rejected, the Buyer requires the Seller to revise the Delivery to fit the Buyer’s requirements. The Seller is prompted to Deliver again and both users are encouraged to communicate in the order page to sort out any issues with the Delivery. The Seller is not timed on Delivering their revisions.

(https://support.fiverr.com/hc/en-us/articles/201733463-Order-Status)

Thank You miiila! We caught that researching our options earlier. We want this seller to complete their work, as we need it for a campaign, have paid for it, and have had to temp in their previous (rejected/or revision requested) content waiting for revised delivery. Hey, we get it, things come up, the sellers on here are not superheroes (well, they are, but that’s a different story) and life takes over. There has to be accountability on here though, or it will never be taken seriously. With gigs getting larger and larger, i see this as more of an issue, and something that I hope we do not have to pioneer through litigation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fiverr is not responsible for what sellers do and if you talk to a lawyer they will tell you that since sellers are not employees you can’t sue the site over what a seller does. So that option is out, aside from the logistics and venue problems.

You should be able to figure out a way to take what work you have gotten so far and find someone who will revise it for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank You miiila! We caught that researching our options earlier. We want this seller to complete their work, as we need it for a campaign, have paid for it, and have had to temp in their previous (rejected/or revision requested) content waiting for revised delivery. Hey, we get it, things come up, the sellers on here are not superheroes (well, they are, but that’s a different story) and life takes over. There has to be accountability on here though, or it will never be taken seriously. With gigs getting larger and larger, i see this as more of an issue, and something that I hope we do not have to pioneer through litigation.

miroslavglavic = Thank you for your feedback! We have several lines of redundancy in this process, but I appreciate your insight. In our situation, we actually paid more for “faster delivery”, so time was not only acknowledged by the seller, but was accepted with a price. I hope to clear this up, as now we have to limit our engagements (which was scheduled for at least twice a week) with gigs on here, or work outside the system so we can issue 1099’s to sellers, and track them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

misscrystal = I appreciate your response, but would have to politely disagree. Not only is there merit for our reasonable expectation of product/service delivery, but there is a consequence to any online entity that engages in commerce when they infringe on buyer protections. I could understand if this was a trade site, or bartering. The minute you start charging money for any service, or product, the legality of service level can be argued. I don’t make this stuff up, I pay a lawyer just like any other business does, to know our options. I do appreciate your frankness in this matter though as this information from “everyone” helps us understand what people have heard or read about regarding these situations. I’m not as focused on the $20 gig we got dumped with, but making Fiverr account for what happened, and forcing a change process to correct that for everyone in the future. I want to use the site and be protected, that’s all.

We have looked into revising this outside the system as that is about our only option we control at the moment. I will circle back to the forum later, but really appreciate everyone’s input as this has helped me understand some of the mechanics and logic here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

misscrystal = I appreciate your response, but would have to politely disagree. Not only is there merit for our reasonable expectation of product/service delivery, but there is a consequence to any online entity that engages in commerce when they infringe on buyer protections. I could understand if this was a trade site, or bartering. The minute you start charging money for any service, or product, the legality of service level can be argued. I don’t make this stuff up, I pay a lawyer just like any other business does, to know our options. I do appreciate your frankness in this matter though as this information from “everyone” helps us understand what people have heard or read about regarding these situations. I’m not as focused on the $20 gig we got dumped with, but making Fiverr account for what happened, and forcing a change process to correct that for everyone in the future. I want to use the site and be protected, that’s all.

We have looked into revising this outside the system as that is about our only option we control at the moment. I will circle back to the forum later, but really appreciate everyone’s input as this has helped me understand some of the mechanics and logic here.

I think any legal case you try to mount will cost you more than the $20 you paid for the gig.

Would it not be easier, and cheaper, just to cancel the gig, get a refund, and find another seller?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

offlinehelpers - i know, right? it’s coming down to principle now really. How can anyone take Fiverr seriously if any seller can just say “eh, scr$% it” and not deliver?(especially if they are revising something, meaning they have communicated that they would do so) Cancel/refund ins’t really an answer, and public shaming sellers isn’t one either. How do you protect yourself, beyond doing 2 gigs for redundancy, or using an outside system and taking the money away from the Fiverr community? We have the time and resources, we just want some answers on how to keep that $ here supporting a community that has never let us down before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

offlinehelpers - i know, right? it’s coming down to principle now really. How can anyone take Fiverr seriously if any seller can just say “eh, scr$% it” and not deliver?(especially if they are revising something, meaning they have communicated that they would do so) Cancel/refund ins’t really an answer, and public shaming sellers isn’t one either. How do you protect yourself, beyond doing 2 gigs for redundancy, or using an outside system and taking the money away from the Fiverr community? We have the time and resources, we just want some answers on how to keep that $ here supporting a community that has never let us down before.

Fair dos, but if you cancel, the seller won’t get paid, so it may teach him/her a lesson.

I agree that the revision and time question seems to need tightening up, as it all seems to go a bit ‘unknown’ there.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do! 🙂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

misscrystal = I appreciate your response, but would have to politely disagree. Not only is there merit for our reasonable expectation of product/service delivery, but there is a consequence to any online entity that engages in commerce when they infringe on buyer protections. I could understand if this was a trade site, or bartering. The minute you start charging money for any service, or product, the legality of service level can be argued. I don’t make this stuff up, I pay a lawyer just like any other business does, to know our options. I do appreciate your frankness in this matter though as this information from “everyone” helps us understand what people have heard or read about regarding these situations. I’m not as focused on the $20 gig we got dumped with, but making Fiverr account for what happened, and forcing a change process to correct that for everyone in the future. I want to use the site and be protected, that’s all.

We have looked into revising this outside the system as that is about our only option we control at the moment. I will circle back to the forum later, but really appreciate everyone’s input as this has helped me understand some of the mechanics and logic here.

I’m not as focused on the $20 gig we got dumped with, but making Fiverr account for what happened, and forcing a change process to correct that for everyone in the future. I want to use the site and be protected, that’s all.

Wait, seriously?

This is about $20?

I cannot even imagine what could have happened to make you decide that this was your best course of action. Cancel, move on, get the job done, don’t suffer damages to your marketing campaign, no need for litigation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

contact CS and ask them to cancel order, wait 24-48 hours for a reply. Upon you receiving $20 in Fiverr credit…order from someone else.

All those mumbo jumbo long paragraphs for just $20?

No serious lawyer will take you serious. According to your profile you are in the USA, Fiverr is in Israel, the seller is where ever. So it could be an international trial? all that for $20?

A judge will dismiss it on the spot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

misscrystal = I appreciate your response, but would have to politely disagree. Not only is there merit for our reasonable expectation of product/service delivery, but there is a consequence to any online entity that engages in commerce when they infringe on buyer protections. I could understand if this was a trade site, or bartering. The minute you start charging money for any service, or product, the legality of service level can be argued. I don’t make this stuff up, I pay a lawyer just like any other business does, to know our options. I do appreciate your frankness in this matter though as this information from “everyone” helps us understand what people have heard or read about regarding these situations. I’m not as focused on the $20 gig we got dumped with, but making Fiverr account for what happened, and forcing a change process to correct that for everyone in the future. I want to use the site and be protected, that’s all.

We have looked into revising this outside the system as that is about our only option we control at the moment. I will circle back to the forum later, but really appreciate everyone’s input as this has helped me understand some of the mechanics and logic here.

The minute you start charging money for any service, or product, the legality of service level can be argued.

The subject of “agency” is a fascinating branch of U.S. law and there are a million books explaining this basic legal concept. Are sellers on fiverr an agent of the employer? Or are they independent contractors? I am not an agent of fiverr.

Simply paying this website for the hire of a seller does not make fiverr the employer of all the sellers here.

I doubt a lawyer would tell anyone they are able to sue fiverr for what a seller does.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The minute you start charging money for any service, or product, the legality of service level can be argued.

The subject of “agency” is a fascinating branch of U.S. law and there are a million books explaining this basic legal concept. Are sellers on fiverr an agent of the employer? Or are they independent contractors? I am not an agent of fiverr.

Simply paying this website for the hire of a seller does not make fiverr the employer of all the sellers here.

I doubt a lawyer would tell anyone they are able to sue fiverr for what a seller does.

I doubt a lawyer would tell anyone they are able to sue fiverr for what a seller does.

If a lawyer told me to pursue a case like this I would be hitting the lawyer’s equivalent of the resolution center and cancelling any connections with them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I doubt a lawyer would tell anyone they are able to sue fiverr for what a seller does.

If a lawyer told me to pursue a case like this I would be hitting the lawyer’s equivalent of the resolution center and cancelling any connections with them.

It would be like saying that since you used a VISA credit card to pay a seller you can sue VISA for the seller’s misconduct.

want to use the site and be protected, that’s all.

You are protected by getting a refund either from fiverr or from Paypal. I assume you read the Terms of Service of fiverr before you hired a seller. The fact that you went ahead and hired a seller means that you agreed to those terms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marketing today can bring big profits with little effort. For example, a social media post that can cost as low as $5 to make can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit. So, clearly, the ramifications of a late delivery CAN be much more significant than the initial investment. Therefore, I believe, the sum paid for the service would not be a huge factor in court (NOTE: I’m not a law expert)

I think a way to resolve this is to actually make the timer work after agreeing to a revision. The time extension can be agreed upon beforehand between the buyer and the seller or be a fixed number for all orders.

As it currently is, it creates space for abuse by sellers. Instead of asking for an extension, we can simply deliver a half-assed product and expect the buyer to hit the “request a revision” button, which they will inevitably do most of the time, and then we can put off the final delivery until the end of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...