Fiverr Forum

Fiverr Customer doing a chargeback on a completed Gig. My balance is now -$$$

#1

I recently completed a large voice over work gig for a repeat customer. The customer said they were happy and satisfied as always, and did not even once ask for a revision of any kind. The order closed back on the 6th of last month. Flash forward to today, the week my dog of 11 years died, and I log in to see I have a huge negative balance because of a “dispute” opened on a closed order. I got an email saying that a dispute was decided against my Fiverr account. 2 hours ago, the dispute was opened. I never even got a chance to respond or review the details of the disputed order, and as of 30 minutes ago, it is closed and my balance is negative (by a large amount)… and as a result I have been forced to pause my gigs, and I may be cancelling all of my active orders at this point, depending on how this situation is handled.

This was a voice acting gig for a “commercial” and they took my work and are using it, but decided to do a chargeback anyway. Fiverr is insisting that there is nothing they can do, yet, in Fiverr’s ToS, it says Fiverr will return the full revenue back to a seller depending on the chargeback reason. Considering I delivered this work in full I don’t understand how this can happen.

The gig was an older one as well, one that has been closed over a month ago. So how can this be allowed? Why are there such cruel and sick people in this world, and what can I - and other sellers like me, do to protect ourselves? Depending on Fiverr’s course of action, I will likely be contacting the BBB at this point.

#2

I am so sorry this happened to you on the day you also lost your dog. It sounds like it was a PayPal charge back. Many sellers have come to the Forum to tell of this happening to them.

It is frustrating, but Fiverr can do nothing about it. They lost their 20% too. What is different about your experience is that it was a repeat buyer. We come to trust our repeat buyers. :confused:

I am sure if you check Fiverr has banned your buyer and you will find they no longer have an account. However, be wary because sometimes the banned buyer will somehow make a new account. So if someone contacts you that seems like they may be the buyer who cheated you, do not agree to work with them.

#3

I have never had any luck in contacting the BBB for anything. They are a weak entity.

#4

That sucks so much! I’m sorry for your loss too. I have seen many people mention here that Fiverr compensated part of the funds that were charged back, so I’m sure they will do that for you too if you press the matter. Especially if the buyer showed that they approved what you sold them.

I hope they won’t be using the work you sold them. You own it now, so it would be illegal for them to use it. If you know where they would be using it, it’s worth a look.

But don’t give up. The minus balance will go back to positive sooner than you’d expect. Just keep selling and keeping buyers happy!

#5

here is article can help you to understand more about chargebacks

#6

Can you clarify whether the user account is still active?

If it is, then Fiverr has refunded the order amount to the client. If it is not, the client has used a charge back to have funds returned via PayPal.

Also, if your client is using your work and this is indeed a commercial, you would be wise to file a complaint with BBB regarding the company in question. It is their business which has harmed you, not really Fiverr. - Even though I fully agree that charge backs like this are ridiculous.

#7

If they are actively using it in a commercial, you just contact everyone who is part of it. Agency, broadcasting medium, (youtube, TV, everyone), the company who did the complete commercial, claiming this is your work and you have not been paid for it.

Unfortunately This happened to me a few times, after 2 months a buyer initiated a chargeback on it’s credit card. What happens is Fiverr automatically returns their money (and deducts it from you, apparently the 20% cut does not cover jack) and closes their Fiverr account. That’s just terrible communication they say it was a dispute - it’s not.

Either you change Fiverr (LoL) or factor this in to your prices, that once-twice a year things like this happen.

#8

They did help me once with Comcast, but I suspect it’s because I was super harsh with them. Thank you very much for your condolences regarding my doggo. It’s just been a touch months. The chargeback thing sucks, I wish there was a way for Fiverr to protect themselves (and us, as sellers) somehow, after the order is closed and completed. Who knows.

Indeed I did trust this person. They do not have an account anymore, but I am afraid they will somehow make a new account and do this to someone else. People can be downright awful to eachother. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

#9

Thank you so much. I am going to try pressing the matter a bit more once I’m in more of a fighting mood. This month has been awful. The buyer did approve what was sent and said they were happy. I did find them using the file(s) on Youtube and filed a DMCA takedown notice.

Take care :wink:

#10

Thank you all for replying and offering advice. It seems I kind of fail at navigating these forums and keep spamming my own post with replies, so I just want to thank everyone individually who has offered me advice or replied. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

#11

We are hearing this kind of news to many other sellers too.!! So i think, Fiverr is not protecting seller and they are loosing their trust & faith on fiverr!!

#12

I think so and to ignore these we should always communicate with buyer. Tell them “if they have any question please feel free to ask” and use friendly environment as much as we can so they don’t go on that road.

#13

I would do the same thing and I have done it in the past as well. Not with Fiverr but with a different company and I got my money back. There are no guarantees, but I would not accept template answers.

The first response from Fiverr is always the basic template “we lost money too”. Just ignore that, keep calm and politely ask to escalate the matter. You need to get past the front line support. Sometimes they even offer to split the loss, but I wouldn’t accept that either.

If that doesn’t help either then file a request with BBB.

#14

There IS not way to avoid them… as you never know WHO is susceptible to abusing the system! Fiverr needs to put clear action into place to protect their SELLERS. It seems Fiverr only cares about the customer because that’s where the money comes from, but the sellers do the work and lose their time, resources, etc while the customer gets the product AND their money back because Fiverr stands by doing nothing. That’s not an ethical practice. Throwing up a blog post on how to try to avoid the situation does NOTHING to correct the situation.

#15

Fiverr can do something about it, they just choose not to. When you open a PayPal dispute, PayPal contacts the company (e.g. Fiverr) and asks them to present a case on whether the dispute is legit or not. They have at least a week to do this, but in my experience, Fiverr policy is not to respond. It takes at least two weeks to resolve a PayPal chargeback.

I had to do a chargeback on some software I purchased once because the company never sent the download. It took over two weeks to get my money back. These chargebacks are not instantaneous. We really need Fiverr to be willing to tell PayPal that the job was accepted by the client and therefore, the chargeback is not acceptable.

#16

Hey,

I’m sorry about your current situation.

I’d love to hear an update on this.

P.S

Don’t give up!

#17

I’m shocked reading the experience. :frowning_face:

I hope to hear a good news at the end. God luck!

#18

Yes, that’s the problem! When disputes open fiver just ignoring them and doesn’t send any information to PayPal. They’d rather loose that money because the only person is really harmed by this is a seller. But we don’t even have a chance to fight out chargebacks because all emails regarding that sent to fiverr, and some of charbacks really rediculois and very easy to prove.