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I am being punished for cancelling or order that was impossible to complete


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Hello. I have been selling proofreading services on Fiverr for nearly six years, I usually receive one or two orders a day, and I have maintained 100% positive feedback. However, a recent experience has resulted in my order completion rate dropping from 100% to 98%. But more importantly I haven’t received any new orders since. This in no coincidence. However, I can’t find a way to contact Fiverr support to address this issue.

This is what happened: A new client ordered my proofreading service but their document made no sense in English. There was no point in me attempting to work on it as I couldn’t understand any of the sentences. The order was cancelled by mutual consent - but now I’m left with bad stats and no new orders through something that isn’t my fault. The client set me an impossible task, and I am now being punished with no work and loss of income. I would like to resolve this with Fiverr, but how? Any suggestions please?

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Hello. I have been selling proofreading services on Fiverr for nearly six years, I usually receive one or two orders a day, and I have maintained 100% positive feedback. However, a recent experience has resulted in my order completion rate dropping from 100% to 98%. But more importantly I haven’t received any new orders since. This in no coincidence. However, I can’t find a way to contact Fiverr support to address this issue.

This is what happened: A new client ordered my proofreading service but their document made no sense in English. There was no point in me attempting to work on it as I couldn’t understand any of the sentences. The order was cancelled by mutual consent - but now I’m left with bad stats and no new orders through something that isn’t my fault. The client set me an impossible task, and I am now being punished with no work and loss of income. I would like to resolve this with Fiverr, but how? Any suggestions please?

The client set me an impossible task, and I am now being punished with no work and loss of income.

This is the biggest problem with Fiverr. We do get punished and for the most unreasonable reasons. I do everything I can to avoid cancellations. However, I refuse to be held hostage by buyers. My last 2 cancellations were due to:

  • A buyer ordering a 500-word article and asking for 35 Facebook ads.
  • A fellow Fiverr user who asked to cancel after I delivered his order because he didn’t like it, then started trying to blackmail me by photoshoping message responses and threatening to go to CS.

I know that a single cancellation results in a drop in sales. This is why I now try not to cancel to the extent that I complete work I don’t even offer. i.e, I provide copywriting, but have people assume I also do graphic design and order flyers and FB ads. I can either put in several extra hours for free creating a flyer, or cancel and potentially go a week without sales.

Sadly, there is no way around it. All I can suggest is that that you try and play the algorithm at its own game. Reduce your delivery time to 1-day, increase your prices, add packages, and only increase delivery times again when your order volume is back to normal.

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The client set me an impossible task, and I am now being punished with no work and loss of income.

This is the biggest problem with Fiverr. We do get punished and for the most unreasonable reasons. I do everything I can to avoid cancellations. However, I refuse to be held hostage by buyers. My last 2 cancellations were due to:

  • A buyer ordering a 500-word article and asking for 35 Facebook ads.
  • A fellow Fiverr user who asked to cancel after I delivered his order because he didn’t like it, then started trying to blackmail me by photoshoping message responses and threatening to go to CS.

I know that a single cancellation results in a drop in sales. This is why I now try not to cancel to the extent that I complete work I don’t even offer. i.e, I provide copywriting, but have people assume I also do graphic design and order flyers and FB ads. I can either put in several extra hours for free creating a flyer, or cancel and potentially go a week without sales.

Sadly, there is no way around it. All I can suggest is that that you try and play the algorithm at its own game. Reduce your delivery time to 1-day, increase your prices, add packages, and only increase delivery times again when your order volume is back to normal.

but have people assume I also do graphic design and order flyers and FB ads.

Hi Cyaxrex, I’m curious as to how this problem arises. I’m just trying to figure this out in my head so please don’t take offense. Does the buyer order a copy writing gig from you and then, after the fact, also ask for graphic design and Facebook ads? Could you help prevent this by offering these services as add-ons, or adding a clause to your gig descriptions that explicitly states that you do not offer any services other than what is stated in the gig?

Thanks!

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but have people assume I also do graphic design and order flyers and FB ads.

Hi Cyaxrex, I’m curious as to how this problem arises. I’m just trying to figure this out in my head so please don’t take offense. Does the buyer order a copy writing gig from you and then, after the fact, also ask for graphic design and Facebook ads? Could you help prevent this by offering these services as add-ons, or adding a clause to your gig descriptions that explicitly states that you do not offer any services other than what is stated in the gig?

Thanks!

Does the buyer order a copy writing gig from you and then, after the fact, also ask for graphic design and Facebook ads?

A few years ago, someone placed an order for my About Us Pages gig, but requested a PowerPoint presentation about something.

Could you help prevent this by adding a clause to your gig descriptions that explicitly states that you do not offer any services other than what is stated in the gig?

This helps a bit, but sometimes buyers still place orders and ask for something I clearly state I don’t offer. It doesn’t happens as often after I’ve raised my prices; I guess that higher prices motivate people to read before buying.

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Does the buyer order a copy writing gig from you and then, after the fact, also ask for graphic design and Facebook ads?

A few years ago, someone placed an order for my About Us Pages gig, but requested a PowerPoint presentation about something.

Could you help prevent this by adding a clause to your gig descriptions that explicitly states that you do not offer any services other than what is stated in the gig?

This helps a bit, but sometimes buyers still place orders and ask for something I clearly state I don’t offer. It doesn’t happens as often after I’ve raised my prices; I guess that higher prices motivate people to read before buying.

ask for something I clearly state I don’t offer

Thanks for the example catwriter. I wonder if you could contact CS when something like this happens? It doesn’t seem fair to you or other sellers.

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but have people assume I also do graphic design and order flyers and FB ads.

Hi Cyaxrex, I’m curious as to how this problem arises. I’m just trying to figure this out in my head so please don’t take offense. Does the buyer order a copy writing gig from you and then, after the fact, also ask for graphic design and Facebook ads? Could you help prevent this by offering these services as add-ons, or adding a clause to your gig descriptions that explicitly states that you do not offer any services other than what is stated in the gig?

Thanks!

I’m curious as to how this problem arises.

Trust me, I am too. 😉

Some people are just manic weirdos. Whenever this happens, I get the impression someone is so fixated on a business idea they have, they assume anyone they hire can do anything they ask. They also assume that you will be just as excited about their business as they are and will be focusing on nothing but their order for the time it takes to complete.

I’ve had:

  • Someone ask me to copyright protect the word ‘trousers’ to make sure no one else in the world can ever use it.
  • People assume I’m going to design their website for them.
  • People assume I’m going to post their aticle somewhere or can post it anywhere they like. i.e. “We need you to post this on Fox news.”

There’s no way to stop things like this from happening. They’re not common. They get less common as you raise your prices. However, I could spend a day revamping my gig description to say I do not offer graphic design, only to get someone order a 50,0000-word ebook. Why? Because I don’t say I don’t do that.

Orders like this simply need to be canceled as there is no way to work around them. That is unless Fiverr makes basic sanity tests obligatory for all new buyers.

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ask for something I clearly state I don’t offer

Thanks for the example catwriter. I wonder if you could contact CS when something like this happens? It doesn’t seem fair to you or other sellers.

I wonder if you could contact CS when something like this happens?

That’s what I plan to do if it happens again.

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Thanks for your supportive comments. I ended up contacting customer support and although they’ve not confirmed that they amended my completion rate, I’ve noticed that it is back to 100% - so something has happened. I’m sort of happy about this, but it doesn’t change the basic fact that one buyer should not be able to adversely affect a seller’s rating / ranking / order rate so much. On Fiverr, the scales of justice are very much tipped in the buyer’s favour and not the sellers. This is so wrong. In my case, I have 100% positive feedback from hundreds of sales over six years. Then one buyer comes along, presents me with an impossible task - and I’m left with no choice but to cancel the order, and then I suffer the consequences with a massive drop in orders and reputation, while the buyer who caused the problem walks away. This aspect of Fiverr is wrong and I know others feel the same way.

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  • 2 years later...

Just looked up this topic because I'm experiencing the same thing. Buyer had to cancel their order because Fiverr banned them after they made it. It was circumstances completely out of both our control. The buyer had my contact info because it was a novel coaching gig and informed me that he wasn't even allowed to log on anymore. After the order was cancelled, I've seen the biggest decline in orders when I was averaging at least two-three a week. I haven't had any in fourteen days. Despite, like yourself, five-star ratings across the board. I'm no longer on the first or second page, despite paying for gig promotions, and everything has slowed down to a truly dreadful pace. 

I'm trying to stay positive, but it's not fair at all. 

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  • 1 month later...

Fiverr needs to allow buyers to cancel order without affecting the sellers' stats because things as you describe happen more often than we'd like to and it's not a good sign. Over the two years that I have been working with Fiverr, I have had buyers place orders for services that I do not provide, orders for work in another language, orders that go against my policies that I've described in my gig descriptions, and so on. A few times I have gotten the CS team to cancel such orders and I think they can do that without affecting the stats, but it's such a pain to go through CS every time something like this happens, not to mention the long wait times for a CS response once you've raised an issue.

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