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How do I initiate a rating dispute?


scottcorwin

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Today I received my first sub-5 rating - a 4.7 because only 4 stars on communication. Probably not a huge deal, but it seems like it would hurt my chances of ultimately becoming a top-rated seller. I noticed the buyer was new to Fiverr (I’m somewhat new myself), and asked him why I was docked in communication. Long story short, he decided he would like to change it to a 5. To be clear, I was never rude and I didn’t beg or arm twist.

According to another forum post, the seller must initiate the review dispute, but I don’t see this anywhere on the resolution center page for that order. I do see a spot to respond to the review, which may be it. Here’s the post: How can I as a Buyer Change my Rating?

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Today I received my first sub-5 rating - a 4.7 because only 4 stars on communication. Probably not a huge deal, but it seems like it would hurt my chances of ultimately becoming a top-rated seller. I noticed the buyer was new to Fiverr (I’m somewhat new myself), and asked him why I was docked in communication. Long story short, he decided he would like to change it to a 5. To be clear, I was never rude and I didn’t beg or arm twist.

According to another forum post, the seller must initiate the review dispute, but I don’t see this anywhere on the resolution center page for that order. I do see a spot to respond to the review, which may be it. Here’s the post: How can I as a Buyer Change my Rating?

but it seems like it would hurt my chances of ultimately becoming a top-rated seller.

If you don’t mind me saying, you current mindset will hurt your chances of ever becoming a TRS.

You got a positive review. You shouldn’t obsess over it. Instead you could try and figure out how to improve your communication. You are new here and chances are, your frame work is not perfect.

Improving constantly will get you to TRS status.

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Today I received my first sub-5 rating - a 4.7 because only 4 stars on communication. Probably not a huge deal, but it seems like it would hurt my chances of ultimately becoming a top-rated seller. I noticed the buyer was new to Fiverr (I’m somewhat new myself), and asked him why I was docked in communication. Long story short, he decided he would like to change it to a 5. To be clear, I was never rude and I didn’t beg or arm twist.

According to another forum post, the seller must initiate the review dispute, but I don’t see this anywhere on the resolution center page for that order. I do see a spot to respond to the review, which may be it. Here’s the post: How can I as a Buyer Change my Rating?

Today I received my first sub-5 rating - a 4.7 because only 4 stars on communication. Probably not a huge deal, but it seems like it would hurt my chances of ultimately becoming a top-rated seller.

For what it’s worth, you’re looking at a Top Rated Seller here who had a few 4.7s, some 4s, and even a couple of 3.7s before we got nominated and then picked for TRS. They won’t stop you.

Some people don’t give 100% positive reviews. We had one guy who gave us the most glowing 4.7 review, which had a 4 on communication because (in his words), “it took a couple of hours for them to acknowledge my order”. He was based in the US. We were asleep when he ordered.

We got a 3.7 recently. The order was for a podcast intro, and the guy had sent a recording of him speaking the intro. I say this in the most respectful way possible, but the guy had both a lisp, and a slightly odd drawl to the way he spoke (elongated the ends of each sentence way more than most people would, was super nasal). Most clients send these references for tone and pace purposes, but it transpires he basically wanted me to do an impersonation of him, which isn’t something we offer. His low score was because although he acknowledged our efforts, ultimately he didn’t get what he wanted (if he’d have messaged us first, we could have told him that before he ever placed an order).

Reviews like that do sting. I was pee’d off about it for about a half hour, but so long as you’re genuinely great at what you do, they’ll pretty quickly get drowned out by lots of 5-stars and disappear into your results. Nobody at Fiverr customer support is expecting perfection from you. You’re human, and you’re dealing with humans. If anything, an account with nothing but 5 Stars would look odd after a certain point.

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but it seems like it would hurt my chances of ultimately becoming a top-rated seller.

If you don’t mind me saying, you current mindset will hurt your chances of ever becoming a TRS.

You got a positive review. You shouldn’t obsess over it. Instead you could try and figure out how to improve your communication. You are new here and chances are, your frame work is not perfect.

Improving constantly will get you to TRS status.

Instead you could try and figure out how to improve your communication.

If that app bug is still on, 4.7 and 4.3 reviews can be due to that.

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Today I received my first sub-5 rating - a 4.7 because only 4 stars on communication. Probably not a huge deal, but it seems like it would hurt my chances of ultimately becoming a top-rated seller.

For what it’s worth, you’re looking at a Top Rated Seller here who had a few 4.7s, some 4s, and even a couple of 3.7s before we got nominated and then picked for TRS. They won’t stop you.

Some people don’t give 100% positive reviews. We had one guy who gave us the most glowing 4.7 review, which had a 4 on communication because (in his words), “it took a couple of hours for them to acknowledge my order”. He was based in the US. We were asleep when he ordered.

We got a 3.7 recently. The order was for a podcast intro, and the guy had sent a recording of him speaking the intro. I say this in the most respectful way possible, but the guy had both a lisp, and a slightly odd drawl to the way he spoke (elongated the ends of each sentence way more than most people would, was super nasal). Most clients send these references for tone and pace purposes, but it transpires he basically wanted me to do an impersonation of him, which isn’t something we offer. His low score was because although he acknowledged our efforts, ultimately he didn’t get what he wanted (if he’d have messaged us first, we could have told him that before he ever placed an order).

Reviews like that do sting. I was pee’d off about it for about a half hour, but so long as you’re genuinely great at what you do, they’ll pretty quickly get drowned out by lots of 5-stars and disappear into your results. Nobody at Fiverr customer support is expecting perfection from you. You’re human, and you’re dealing with humans. If anything, an account with nothing but 5 Stars would look odd after a certain point.

Thanks for your insight. I should probably start a new thread, but if you see this, what is the recommended course of action when a buyer selects a package that is in conflict with their actual request? This is actually what happened in this case, because the buyer selected my $5 gig that didn’t cover what he wanted, and short-changed me by about $20.

I didn’t say anything to him about it because, ironically, I thought it would poison the eventual review. I decided to change my basic gig fee to $25 and changed the wording to be crystal clear for future buyers. Still, it remains a possibility that someone could undercut me on the chosen package in the future. It seems like a no-win situation since the options are: 1) cancel and take a hit, 2) tell the buyer you require more money & risk a bad revenge review, 3) eat the loss.

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Thanks for your insight. I should probably start a new thread, but if you see this, what is the recommended course of action when a buyer selects a package that is in conflict with their actual request? This is actually what happened in this case, because the buyer selected my $5 gig that didn’t cover what he wanted, and short-changed me by about $20.

I didn’t say anything to him about it because, ironically, I thought it would poison the eventual review. I decided to change my basic gig fee to $25 and changed the wording to be crystal clear for future buyers. Still, it remains a possibility that someone could undercut me on the chosen package in the future. It seems like a no-win situation since the options are: 1) cancel and take a hit, 2) tell the buyer you require more money & risk a bad revenge review, 3) eat the loss.

Hey pal! Take it from me, someone who takes any criticism personally and has a hard time NOT focusing on the negatives - a 4.7 star review is NOT bad, that’s really good! It’s almost 100%!

I have quite a few 4.7 star reviews and 4.0 star reviews on my page, and it didn’t hurt my chances of getting TRS. I’ve even gotten a couple 4.0s since going TRS.

You can’t please 100% of your clients 100% of the time. If you’re going to continue selling on Fiverr long-term, it’s best to come to terms with that now and keep your chin up.

NEVER discuss ratings with clients - don’t even mention the word “review” to them. It’s a slippery slope towards a strike on your account, and something that Fiverr is very strict about.

I didn’t say anything to him about it because, ironically, I thought it would poison the eventual review.

This is why I save my cancellations for situations exactly like this. If a customer pays for less than their requirements are worth, I send them an extra for the remaining balance. I politely explain why I’m sending an extra request, let them know that I’m happy to answer any questions they have about the extra fee, and thank them for their understanding. 99% of the time they accept the extra and it ends well. As soon as I start getting some push back from them, “why do I have to pay for this,” “this should be included in the base price,” etc. - I send a cancellation request. I’m too busy to argue about my prices. This situation is SO rare that it doesn’t have a negative effect on my cancellation rate. I’m sitting at a cool 99% in that category. I think you’ll probably find similar results with this method - so something to consider! 🙂

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Thanks for your insight. I should probably start a new thread, but if you see this, what is the recommended course of action when a buyer selects a package that is in conflict with their actual request? This is actually what happened in this case, because the buyer selected my $5 gig that didn’t cover what he wanted, and short-changed me by about $20.

I didn’t say anything to him about it because, ironically, I thought it would poison the eventual review. I decided to change my basic gig fee to $25 and changed the wording to be crystal clear for future buyers. Still, it remains a possibility that someone could undercut me on the chosen package in the future. It seems like a no-win situation since the options are: 1) cancel and take a hit, 2) tell the buyer you require more money & risk a bad revenge review, 3) eat the loss.

It seems like a no-win situation since the options are: 1) cancel and take a hit, 2) tell the buyer you require more money & risk a bad revenge review, 3) eat the loss.

Well, 2) can turn into a win situation, all last 3 buyers who underpaid, did accept the gig extra I sent for the missing amount and I didn’t get a bad review. But, of course, the risk of a bad review because of asking for the correct amount does exist. Same for the risk of a bad review for telling a buyer no when they ask for additional work after you already delivered, fulfilling the scope of the order.

1 ) shouldn’t be an option at all, you don’t really have a reason to cancel before you haven’t given the buyer the opportunity to pay the missing amount and they said no.

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Thanks for your insight. I should probably start a new thread, but if you see this, what is the recommended course of action when a buyer selects a package that is in conflict with their actual request? This is actually what happened in this case, because the buyer selected my $5 gig that didn’t cover what he wanted, and short-changed me by about $20.

I didn’t say anything to him about it because, ironically, I thought it would poison the eventual review. I decided to change my basic gig fee to $25 and changed the wording to be crystal clear for future buyers. Still, it remains a possibility that someone could undercut me on the chosen package in the future. It seems like a no-win situation since the options are: 1) cancel and take a hit, 2) tell the buyer you require more money & risk a bad revenge review, 3) eat the loss.

what is the recommended course of action when a buyer selects a package that is in conflict with their actual request?

I can’t really add to the already excellent answer that @gwyneth_galvin has given you, other than to say that…

I send a cancellation request.

My advice would be to go to Customer Support rather than submitting a mutual cancellation, or using the Dispute service. Explain to them that you’ve had a customer under-order from you, and that you’ve sent a reasonable request for them to pay what they owe, but they’re refusing. You’d like CS to cancel the order for you. CS will usually accept and cancel the order on your behalf. We’ve done this maybe 10 times in the past 6 months, and it’s never affected our Order Completion stats. If we submit a mutual cancellation, it lowers our order completion stat, which then in-turn slows our sales down for anywhere from 3 days to a week.

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Thanks for your insight. I should probably start a new thread, but if you see this, what is the recommended course of action when a buyer selects a package that is in conflict with their actual request? This is actually what happened in this case, because the buyer selected my $5 gig that didn’t cover what he wanted, and short-changed me by about $20.

I didn’t say anything to him about it because, ironically, I thought it would poison the eventual review. I decided to change my basic gig fee to $25 and changed the wording to be crystal clear for future buyers. Still, it remains a possibility that someone could undercut me on the chosen package in the future. It seems like a no-win situation since the options are: 1) cancel and take a hit, 2) tell the buyer you require more money & risk a bad revenge review, 3) eat the loss.

I got TRS and had a couple of 1-star reviews. It’s not about having a perfect profile so don’t fret about reviews or it’s going to mess with your approach. You can’t win them all.

Still, it remains a possibility that someone could undercut me on the chosen package in the future. It seems like a no-win situation since the options are: 1) cancel and take a hit, 2) tell the buyer you require more money & risk a bad revenge review, 3) eat the loss.

The assumption here is a mistake that I see a lot of people making. For the most part in my own experience, those who place an order at a lower price don’t seem to realize that they have done anything wrong. When you tell them that the package they require is more in a clear way, with a custom extra for them to accept, most are happy enough to pay it.

Assuming that the buyer is always out to get you or doing something underhanded causes a lot of sellers a lot of problems and unnecessary worry. Similarly, wording your gig to try keep “bad buyers” away will actually put off many normal people as it can make you sound argumentative and unprofessional.

Annoying/bad buyers are part and parcel of any business. Deal with them professionally by either sticking up for yourself and not compromising, or by cancelling at the earliest opportunity. Then move on to the next.

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what is the recommended course of action when a buyer selects a package that is in conflict with their actual request?

I can’t really add to the already excellent answer that @gwyneth_galvin has given you, other than to say that…

I send a cancellation request.

My advice would be to go to Customer Support rather than submitting a mutual cancellation, or using the Dispute service. Explain to them that you’ve had a customer under-order from you, and that you’ve sent a reasonable request for them to pay what they owe, but they’re refusing. You’d like CS to cancel the order for you. CS will usually accept and cancel the order on your behalf. We’ve done this maybe 10 times in the past 6 months, and it’s never affected our Order Completion stats. If we submit a mutual cancellation, it lowers our order completion stat, which then in-turn slows our sales down for anywhere from 3 days to a week.

CS will usually accept and cancel the order on your behalf.

Actually, yeah - this is great advice. I’ll try this one next time, thanks friend!

We’ve done this maybe 10 times in the past 6 months

:o Man, you guys get some weirdos! I’d love to trade stories!

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I got TRS and had a couple of 1-star reviews. It’s not about having a perfect profile so don’t fret about reviews or it’s going to mess with your approach. You can’t win them all.

Still, it remains a possibility that someone could undercut me on the chosen package in the future. It seems like a no-win situation since the options are: 1) cancel and take a hit, 2) tell the buyer you require more money & risk a bad revenge review, 3) eat the loss.

The assumption here is a mistake that I see a lot of people making. For the most part in my own experience, those who place an order at a lower price don’t seem to realize that they have done anything wrong. When you tell them that the package they require is more in a clear way, with a custom extra for them to accept, most are happy enough to pay it.

Assuming that the buyer is always out to get you or doing something underhanded causes a lot of sellers a lot of problems and unnecessary worry. Similarly, wording your gig to try keep “bad buyers” away will actually put off many normal people as it can make you sound argumentative and unprofessional.

Annoying/bad buyers are part and parcel of any business. Deal with them professionally by either sticking up for yourself and not compromising, or by cancelling at the earliest opportunity. Then move on to the next.

Similarly, wording your gig to try keep “bad buyers” away will actually put off many normal people as it can make you sound argumentative and unprofessional.

I can’t really second this enough. Our gig description at one point, read like a legal document. I remember looking at it one day with fresh eyes, and wondering how the hell more people weren’t scared off by us listing all the things we wouldn’t do, rather than the things we would.

We rewrote everything and saw such a positive up-take from new customers. And like you say, most people who order incorrectly do so through ignorance, not malice. That small number of people who do try to take us for a ride would probably do so whether our gig description warned against it or not, and we just deal with each one as it comes along.

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CS will usually accept and cancel the order on your behalf.

Actually, yeah - this is great advice. I’ll try this one next time, thanks friend!

We’ve done this maybe 10 times in the past 6 months

:o Man, you guys get some weirdos! I’d love to trade stories!

Man, you guys get some weirdos!

I was literally just sitting here thinking “we don’t get tooooo many weirdos”, and then I remembered the guy who messages yesterday saying something along the lines of “You guys are a couple right, can you record yourself making ___ noises?”

(as for the ___ … let’s say it was a valentines themed request) 😂

Needless to say, we sent an “absolutely no way” response, then blocked, then reported.

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Similarly, wording your gig to try keep “bad buyers” away will actually put off many normal people as it can make you sound argumentative and unprofessional.

I can’t really second this enough. Our gig description at one point, read like a legal document. I remember looking at it one day with fresh eyes, and wondering how the hell more people weren’t scared off by us listing all the things we wouldn’t do, rather than the things we would.

We rewrote everything and saw such a positive up-take from new customers. And like you say, most people who order incorrectly do so through ignorance, not malice. That small number of people who do try to take us for a ride would probably do so whether our gig description warned against it or not, and we just deal with each one as it comes along.

most people who order incorrectly do so through ignorance, not malice

I’ve had to send custom extras where the order went from $5 to $195 and the buyer has apologised for their error. If I’d cancelled I’d have lost that.

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Man, you guys get some weirdos!

I was literally just sitting here thinking “we don’t get tooooo many weirdos”, and then I remembered the guy who messages yesterday saying something along the lines of “You guys are a couple right, can you record yourself making ___ noises?”

(as for the ___ … let’s say it was a valentines themed request) 😂

Needless to say, we sent an “absolutely no way” response, then blocked, then reported.

I’d have done a quick YouTube search for tortoise mating videos and sent them a link. Probably.

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Man, you guys get some weirdos!

I was literally just sitting here thinking “we don’t get tooooo many weirdos”, and then I remembered the guy who messages yesterday saying something along the lines of “You guys are a couple right, can you record yourself making ___ noises?”

(as for the ___ … let’s say it was a valentines themed request) 😂

Needless to say, we sent an “absolutely no way” response, then blocked, then reported.

“You guys are a couple right, can you record yourself making ___ noises?”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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I’d have done a quick YouTube search for tortoise mating videos and sent them a link. Probably.

I’d have done a quick YouTube search for tortoise mating videos and sent them a link.

Love this. Banking that for the inevitable next time this happens.

Also, last I was aware, the one thing the internet wasn’t short of was THAT kind of audio. Maybe he wanted something more ‘custom’? 😬

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I’d have done a quick YouTube search for tortoise mating videos and sent them a link.

Love this. Banking that for the inevitable next time this happens.

Also, last I was aware, the one thing the internet wasn’t short of was THAT kind of audio. Maybe he wanted something more ‘custom’? 😬

Maybe he wanted something more ‘custom’?

This, and these kinds of people also get off on making strangers uncomfortable. It’s why I had a guy pester me for months about making custom audio for him. I knew he loved making me uncomfortable. He could have gotten that kind of audio anywhere.

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Man, you guys get some weirdos!

I was literally just sitting here thinking “we don’t get tooooo many weirdos”, and then I remembered the guy who messages yesterday saying something along the lines of “You guys are a couple right, can you record yourself making ___ noises?”

(as for the ___ … let’s say it was a valentines themed request) 😂

Needless to say, we sent an “absolutely no way” response, then blocked, then reported.

“You guys are a couple right, can you record yourself making ___ noises?”

😲 OMG. I think the guy understands “voice over” service too literally 🙂

Maybe he wanted something more ‘custom’?

He is worried about the copyright licenses 😀

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