Fiverr Literally Stealing my Money (720$)

[hollyqui]

Heya,

I’m honestly posting this in the hope that someone qualified from the Fiverr support team sees this before I take any legal action, but for fellow sellers it’s probably still a useful warning.

So, I have a buyer who orders a machine learning model for 720$ in two milestones. I go deliver the first model, the buyer is happy but can’t pay for the second milestone yet so he asks to extend the order. Fine with me I think, Fiverr acts as an escrow so I’ll get my money eventually… I thought.

Now the buyer suddenly cancels their order & leaves the platform. Now I get an email to respond to the cancellation request within 48 hours. I think ok, this is ridiculous, I’ll just deny the cancellation and escalate it to the support. But guess what, they have (immediately after the buyer requested to cancel the order) agreed to the cancellation for me and the order is marked as cancelled.

Now I request Fiverr’s customer support to refund me my money since obviously the mistake is on their side (cancelling my order without asking me first/waiting for the 48 hour period to run out). Their response is simply that the responsible team has decided not to refund me and they, as customer support, can’t make any decisions.

I don’t plan on letting this go so easily and in the worst case will pursue legal action. This especially sucks because Fiverr has been a decent source of income and I was considering to start doing it full-time, but obviously I can’t do that if none of my orders are safe from getting cancelled any time.

If anyone from the fiverr team sees this I’d happily get some information as to how you retain the right to cancel a DELIVERED order on a whim and then not refund me.

For all other buyers please do take this as a warning that if you get a big order they’re literally not safe and can be cancelled whenever.

If anyone knows what I can do here please do let me know because it’s quite a lot of money for me!

[donnovan86]

Heya,

I’m honestly posting this in the hope that someone qualified from the Fiverr support team sees this before I take any legal action, but for fellow sellers it’s probably still a useful warning.

So, I have a buyer who orders a machine learning model for 720$ in two milestones. I go deliver the first model, the buyer is happy but can’t pay for the second milestone yet so he asks to extend the order. Fine with me I think, Fiverr acts as an escrow so I’ll get my money eventually… I thought.

Now the buyer suddenly cancels their order & leaves the platform. Now I get an email to respond to the cancellation request within 48 hours. I think ok, this is ridiculous, I’ll just deny the cancellation and escalate it to the support. But guess what, they have (immediately after the buyer requested to cancel the order) agreed to the cancellation for me and the order is marked as cancelled.

Now I request Fiverr’s customer support to refund me my money since obviously the mistake is on their side (cancelling my order without asking me first/waiting for the 48 hour period to run out). Their response is simply that the responsible team has decided not to refund me and they, as customer support, can’t make any decisions.

I don’t plan on letting this go so easily and in the worst case will pursue legal action. This especially sucks because Fiverr has been a decent source of income and I was considering to start doing it full-time, but obviously I can’t do that if none of my orders are safe from getting cancelled any time.

If anyone from the fiverr team sees this I’d happily get some information as to how you retain the right to cancel a DELIVERED order on a whim and then not refund me.

For all other buyers please do take this as a warning that if you get a big order they’re literally not safe and can be cancelled whenever.

If anyone knows what I can do here please do let me know because it’s quite a lot of money for me!

cancels their order & leaves the platform

Fiverr is not at fault here.

Based on what you said, it seems your buyer requested a refund via PayPal, and that automatically cancels all orders on Fiverr and bans that buyer. That’s what happened in your case.

[hollyqui]

cancels their order & leaves the platform

Fiverr is not at fault here.

Based on what you said, it seems your buyer requested a refund via PayPal, and that automatically cancels all orders on Fiverr and bans that buyer. That’s what happened in your case.

The refund was requested directly through fiverr. But even IF the buyer requested a refund via PayPal surely it’s fiverr’s responsibility to ensure that I get paid? I mean that’s literally the definition of seller/buyer protection.

[Alex.M]

The refund was requested directly through fiverr. But even IF the buyer requested a refund via PayPal surely it’s fiverr’s responsibility to ensure that I get paid? I mean that’s literally the definition of seller/buyer protection.

But even IF the buyer requested a refund via PayPal surely it’s fiverr’s responsibility to ensure that I get paid?

Have you checked the TOS ?

[hollyqui]

But even IF the buyer requested a refund via PayPal surely it’s fiverr’s responsibility to ensure that I get paid?

Have you checked the TOS ?

I did and I can’t find any information on the specific case. There is no mention of one-sided cancellation from the buyer’s side. If a buyer requests to cancel and order and the seller does not accept it has to be escalated to customer service. No mention of a buyer requesting a paypal refund.

[teachernita]

cancels their order & leaves the platform

Fiverr is not at fault here.

Based on what you said, it seems your buyer requested a refund via PayPal, and that automatically cancels all orders on Fiverr and bans that buyer. That’s what happened in your case.

How is it possible for a buyer to request a refund via PayPal? Can this be done? I thought Fiverr are in control of all the payments even through PayPal.

[theratypist]

How is it possible for a buyer to request a refund via PayPal? Can this be done? I thought Fiverr are in control of all the payments even through PayPal.

How is it possible for a buyer to request a refund via PayPal?

Just like a normal Paypal transaction you do with a purchase you made thru Paypal. You can do a chargeback hehe

[donnovan86]

PayPal has its own buyer protection system. If a buyer requests a chargeback via PayPal, then Fiverr will have to answer the dispute, and they automatically accept that. I assume a similar thing can be done for credit card payments. That’s the scammer paradise right there.

[teachernita]

How is it possible for a buyer to request a refund via PayPal?

Just like a normal Paypal transaction you do with a purchase you made thru Paypal. You can do a chargeback hehe

That is terrible! I hadn’t realized that can happen. There must be a way to stop it!

[hollyqui]

Yeah - I mean it is ridiculous that it’s even possible but I mean clearly that’s a risk on fiverr’s side if they automatically accept the paypal refund request. You can easily order on fiverr without showing an ID so nothing stops anyone from buying orders over multiple thousand dollars and just requesting refunds…

I mean that’s clearly a flawed system but the responsibility can’t be on my shoulders, especially AFTER I already submitted the work…

[letsgodigital]

Yeah - I mean it is ridiculous that it’s even possible but I mean clearly that’s a risk on fiverr’s side if they automatically accept the paypal refund request. You can easily order on fiverr without showing an ID so nothing stops anyone from buying orders over multiple thousand dollars and just requesting refunds…

I mean that’s clearly a flawed system but the responsibility can’t be on my shoulders, especially AFTER I already submitted the work…

that really frustrating, i have read stories like that in past and sometimes fiverr do reverse their decision. Arrange all proof properly and tell them properly about the work how much you did provided to buyer.

Ask them to file a appeal. Be polite no point of getting worked up.

[psykkopatte]

Yeah - I mean it is ridiculous that it’s even possible but I mean clearly that’s a risk on fiverr’s side if they automatically accept the paypal refund request. You can easily order on fiverr without showing an ID so nothing stops anyone from buying orders over multiple thousand dollars and just requesting refunds…

I mean that’s clearly a flawed system but the responsibility can’t be on my shoulders, especially AFTER I already submitted the work…

You can easily order on fiverr without showing an ID so nothing stops anyone from buying orders over multiple thousand dollars and just requesting refunds…

Welcome to the evil part of fiverr…

[naikoosuhaib]

How is it possible for a buyer to request a refund via PayPal? Can this be done? I thought Fiverr are in control of all the payments even through PayPal.

It does happen because PAYPAL allows

Dispute of payment for 6 months.

Same happened with me. I had already withdraw funds and almost after 3 months after order completion I got a message saying, " My order was cancelled."

The buyer had even left a tip LOL

My account then was showing balance in minus (-)

[strategist_ceo]

Fiverr might not be holding the money. If the buyer is a ■■■■■■■, he might have reported his credit card stolen… the bank (not Fiverr) would have been the one taking the money back to the buyer.

If I am Fiverr. I will call your bluff. The company is in Israel, the cost of going through the legal process will far exceed $750.

I’m not upsetting you here. I’m saying, let’s do something practical instead. Do you have his identity? It might be easy to contact the buyer directly.

This can happen to anyone. 😱

[enunciator]

Unfortunately, in your case, it seems this buyer never intended to pay you from the beginning.

This is another reason as to why a number of sellers specifically cater to smaller scale orders. Having a charge back committed against a smaller order is a lot less damaging than to possibly have it done to an expensive order that takes most of a month to complete.

[lloydsolutions]

Heya,

I’m honestly posting this in the hope that someone qualified from the Fiverr support team sees this before I take any legal action, but for fellow sellers it’s probably still a useful warning.

So, I have a buyer who orders a machine learning model for 720$ in two milestones. I go deliver the first model, the buyer is happy but can’t pay for the second milestone yet so he asks to extend the order. Fine with me I think, Fiverr acts as an escrow so I’ll get my money eventually… I thought.

Now the buyer suddenly cancels their order & leaves the platform. Now I get an email to respond to the cancellation request within 48 hours. I think ok, this is ridiculous, I’ll just deny the cancellation and escalate it to the support. But guess what, they have (immediately after the buyer requested to cancel the order) agreed to the cancellation for me and the order is marked as cancelled.

Now I request Fiverr’s customer support to refund me my money since obviously the mistake is on their side (cancelling my order without asking me first/waiting for the 48 hour period to run out). Their response is simply that the responsible team has decided not to refund me and they, as customer support, can’t make any decisions.

I don’t plan on letting this go so easily and in the worst case will pursue legal action. This especially sucks because Fiverr has been a decent source of income and I was considering to start doing it full-time, but obviously I can’t do that if none of my orders are safe from getting cancelled any time.

If anyone from the fiverr team sees this I’d happily get some information as to how you retain the right to cancel a DELIVERED order on a whim and then not refund me.

For all other buyers please do take this as a warning that if you get a big order they’re literally not safe and can be cancelled whenever.

If anyone knows what I can do here please do let me know because it’s quite a lot of money for me!

If anyone knows what I can do here please do let me know because it’s quite a lot of money for me!

Check this out: https://www.fiverr.com/support/articles/360010978618-Chargebacks-and-seller-protection

[devilpig]

I understand you’re upset about this and rightfully so. But YOU are the seller, not Fiverr… You are independent. This situation is a typical service economy situation. Before this I was the chef of a kitchen for 4 years. When we prepped and cooked hundreds of dollars worth of food and had last minute cancelations guess who ate the bill?

This gig thing isn’t going to be any different… People want free/stolen things… And they find ways to get it… You are just one of the many first steps in setting up the policies to protect against these kinds of situations… I was burgled just the other day for food deliveries… Then got a message from “Bonnie and Clyde '21” :rofl:

It’s all a part of the game my friend… And you wouldn’t last one round in conflict with an opponent like Fiverr… Be real…

The early days mean flaws… Then will come a period of calm… Then mass oversaturation… Then it will become a depleted, burning, heaping pile of trash… Like all things in the modern world…

I would let it be known!!! And then hang back… It’s not worth getting wrecked over… It all comes down to one thing in the end… Is Fiverr as a stream of income worth the risk of using it? If you say yes then suck it up… If you say no, cancel your account and hop to the next lily pad…