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How to block a buyer


lasayinc

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Is there any way to block a buyer from the ability to contact you? I have just had the most difficult person in the world and even after the sale was over, he constantly sends me messages about doing something extra. Is there a way to block this person?

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You should be able to block buyers including if they want to order. Blocking people in real life is absolutely possible. If someone messages you on another platform you can block them. If they call you then you can block their calls. If they change users then you can block the new user. If they are calling your phone from another phone number then that is harassment and in most jurisdictions you can get a restraining order. The police at the doorstep should put an end to that annoying customer. So this notion that blocking in real life is impossible is simply ridiculous.

At the end of the day, if you don’t want to work with a buyer then don’t. Yes they can order but just don’t do the work. You do risk a non-mutual cancellation which is bad on your profile but sometimes that is a risk you have to take. If all diplomatic means fail then just tell them that you won’t be doing the work anyways so they might as well do it the easy way with a mutual cancellation.

As far as “blocking people in real life,” I meant in the scenario of something like a business storefront where you can’t keep a person from physically coming into your store unless law enforcement is involved, usually. Telling them to go away is sometimes not enough, both in person and on Fiverr. Of course you can block someone’s number, file a restraining order, etc. but there is no magic button to just erase someone. In the case of Fiverr’s online platform, however, I still believe it is very necessary to have a block feature.

It’s funny that this would come up again, as I am currently having issues. I have a repeat client who orders children’s songs, instrumental and all. They always request at least 4 or 5 modifications on each order (the limit is 1 or 2 for me) and they never express any courtesy. They have pretty good English but their messages are cold and insulting to my work although I always try to give them the best quality AND discounts.

I also have a feeling the person who reviews the work is not them, and they are simply the messenger, so I can’t actually dispute the unnecessary requests with them.

I’ve tried to tell this person that I no longer wish to work with them due to excessive/unnecessary modification requests, and they pull the “we’re friends, right?” thing and won’t get off my back. I always just go with it since their orders do bring in good revenues at times, but I am going to quietly report them after it’s said and done. $300 worth of work for $64 in revenues is ridiculous.

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I’ve had them come back with another account. I recently pleaded with one to stop sending me messages. He wasn’t a buyer just someone incredibly annoying. I was afraid if I didn’t answer he would place an order and it would be an even bigger nightmare than his messages.

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Thanks so much for your comments. Honestly, I have told him more than once there is nothing else I can do for him and he continues to contact me. I just reported the message so therefore it states that he won’t be able to contact me anymore. I just don’t want to be contacted anymore by this person and if he feels like its a slap in the face, then so be it. He needs to understand you cannot constantly ask people to change the order over and over again. I mean come on this is fiverr and most people only pay $5 it just never cease to amaze me that people want a five star meal for a happy meal price. Smh

What if he comes back with a new profile and starts with a message: “So, as I was saying…” Good one for the laughs 🙂

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I would go to support if I were you-- I had an insulting buyer whom I ended up doing 7 versions of the work for, and he kept asking for a refund in between the claims that he “liked” what I was doing.

Inappropriate buyer behavior is very frustrating, and if he is legitimately spamming you even AFTER the order is complete, I am sure that support would help you. They helped me with my concern; I think support is getting a lot better with issues like that.

I do wish there was a way to block users. It would have saved me so much trouble in the past. But in real life, you unfortunately can’t block people, so I guess that is Fiverr’s logic with seller-client relationships (also that it would keep people from buying… despite the suffering and woe of the seller.)

You should be able to block buyers including if they want to order. Blocking people in real life is absolutely possible. If someone messages you on another platform you can block them. If they call you then you can block their calls. If they change users then you can block the new user. If they are calling your phone from another phone number then that is harassment and in most jurisdictions you can get a restraining order. The police at the doorstep should put an end to that annoying customer. So this notion that blocking in real life is impossible is simply ridiculous.

At the end of the day, if you don’t want to work with a buyer then don’t. Yes they can order but just don’t do the work. You do risk a non-mutual cancellation which is bad on your profile but sometimes that is a risk you have to take. If all diplomatic means fail then just tell them that you won’t be doing the work anyways so they might as well do it the easy way with a mutual cancellation.

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On 4/12/2017 at 3:28 PM, emmaki said:

If a pre-existing blocking button exists, then Fiverr loses potential “credit” revenue (an accountant’s trick! I cannot remember the term right now, but something to do with “churn”, but don’t quote me, because I am not anywhere near being an accountant) The same goes for an unblockable buyer who repeatedly orders despite polite and not-so-polite pleas to please go away. I’ve rejected $400 orders (well, OK, one, and I did have to think about it a lot) because it was actually for around $1000 worth of work. Where do you think that ended up? No in my pockets, nor back where such a large amount should have been returned.

For this reason alone–and without access to the data that Fiverr accountancy team obviously has–this is a hopeless discussion, especially since we all agreed to this in the TOS. The only way to get your money back as a buyer is to break off the agreement (and lose your account). But how many times have you read a hopeless complaint from buyers who sign up to a cheap and cheerful service expecting expert wizard work and get pissed because–it’s a cheap and cheerful service–they didn’t expect that kind of service?

As Fiverr matures into a company that is pushing up prices (good for sellers and Fiverr, naturally! And still a good deal for buyers, especially if they want to avoid the hijinks of a bidwar with canned responses, which is what low bidding gets you), this isn’t necessarily being reflected in it’s services. Again, we have no access to the details. Maybe Fiverr has really blown up and that November investment round has been a part of that–there will be some catch-up.

Just remember that you are on a platform that is growing massively and is likely to continue to do so, especially with a major competitor (who I cannot mention as per Fiverr rules) is closing up shop shortly due to a merger–where the prices are really on a par with here, just there you have to waste more time with bids or commissions or whatever they call them. If fails to adapt to the rigors of a bigger market by implementing features that seem to be everywhere else, its still got it’s cheap and cheerful, plus the 20%. So not really, is it? But as a coattail ride, consider that working with successful agents in most creative industries ask 20% or thereabouts (I could be corrected here, I pulled that stat out my arse).

Look, Fiverr’s a great, flawed idea right now. The blocking is the least of your worries. I usually suck up the order and do it, but if the difference is something like $600, go take a long walk off a short pier–and you know what, I kept that client for other jobs. With my custom quotes. Business is the art of working while not knowing half the facts or the future. You work with that. The block button isn’t your issue, it’s Fiverr’s. Work around it.

I would like a block button, too, but pipe dreams mate.

The idea of blocking a customer came to my mind today …

Quote

If a pre-existing blocking button exists, then Fiverr loses potential “credit” revenue

That feature seems unavailable, so the seller has to handle the buyer instead, though there is that kind of trouble making buyer who can cause me a headache even before placing an order. Yesterday a customer contacted me after I’ve sent him a custom offer via Buyer’s Requests section, contacted me about 5 or 6 times and each time he comes up with another idea just came to his mind. Furthermore, he started negotiating about the price, so I told him to be MORE confident about what he really needs. Then he placed an order with NO REQUIREMENT and no info, he just wrote; check the inbox! so I cancelled the order for not providing ANY information from the buyer. So I hope CS warns the buyer for being careless about his unclear order because he expects me to do magic to make him satisfied OF COURSE NOT! Although I do offer 1 : 2 revisions per order, I expect a very clear information about what the seller needs.

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I just had another one. Started an order with me via custom offer, then all of a sudden is requesting to cancel because he “had somebody else do it faster” … I accepted the cancellation but politely explained that it is a poor way to use Fiverr, as I had already spent time on the work and would now get no money for it.

To make the best of it, days later he mistakenly sent me a message of a similar nature, but unrelated to my gig. I guess he meant to tell somebody else the same thing, that “somebody else had done it quicker” … These are time wasters and another great example of why blocking people would be a great idea.

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I really think there should be a block feature. I sometimes get pestered with messages even after telling them to stop they even managed to find me off Fiverr and started ringing my home phone. Sometimes you have to block people it’s needed. I have been ignoring the person but unfortunately it effects my response rate.

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Putting in another vote for this feature. Hate to be negative, but occasionally I encounter buyers whom I would like to not work with again.

The one that has me searching for this feature now has worked with me before, never seems to be able to download the files from Fiverr, or Dropbox, or Google Drive (all which methods I happily provide) and then knocks points off my review because of it. Then he’ll come back, order again, and do the same thing. Frustrating!

It’s a lot of wasted time over the $5 gig, considering every other buyer is always able to download files (and every other Fiverr user I reckon)

I have no way of stopping him from ordering from me again, but I would like to.

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A buyer pestered and pestered me for a quote so I eventually gave him one for $750 (which is actually what I realistically thought it would be). Then he pestered and pestered me for an explanation as to why I gave him such a high quote and others were lower. Telling him to just go with one of the others and leave me alone seemed to be too subtle. I ignored 10 of his subsequent messages before he finally got the hint. 🙂 

I have a quick response telling them I’m reporting them for spam. Then I report. Takes 2 seconds per message.

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I just found this thread after dealing with a rude and arrogant buyer. He demanded an additional solution (I fix problem files for Storyline 2) that wasn’t agreed upon in the offer. I explained the second and not-discussed solution was firstly forbidden by how the software works (for free), which he wouldn’t accept as true, and secondly he wanted me to provide that second fix for free. He’s tried this before on a previous request where I went above and beyond the ask anyway. Then he accuses me of being lazy.

The nerve! I hit Report which blocked him it looks.

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I agree with that. Sometimes when you start off with somebody on a wrong foot it’s better to let that person go to another seller. As a matter of fact most sellers send a message prior to ordering a gig. Therefore, it is possible to come up with a reason why not to do the gig in case some buyer in fact is “difficult”.

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I just finished with a difficult Buyer. Prior to placing his order he sent me multiple messages asking for a custom order for work I don’t normally do. I politely told him I don’t do this work and directed his business to another reliable Seller. He ignored my plea and placed his order wrong, and actually owed me $80, not the $40 he paid. I let it slide and did the work just to get rid of him. After the work was completed, he hadn’t accepted the work and he badgered me for something we hadn’t agreed to, posting to his Facebook page! So, I agreed to do it just so I could be done with the order.

There it was on his Facebook page! A tribute page to his teenaged daughter who was killed in a car accident. NOTHING I could do would ever make this hurting soul happy!

I explained that he still owed me $40, but rather than pay me, please put it towards her memorial scholarship fund. Lemons into lemonade.

Suddenly, he realized I was a human being too. He tipped me well and gave me an excellent review, but he ripped Fiverr a new one for having a lousy messaging system!!!

Very easy for Sellers and Buyers to forget there are human beings behind the monikers.

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That’s good to hear, because the last 3 days have been crazy. I got up to 8 sellers only today sending me custom offers. I keep explaining to them that it’s not how they get sales, but it takes so much of my time to do this with every single one of them. And I’m also worried about my response rate if I don’t reply.

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