Impatient, Terrible First Customer. HELP

[t50kaerys]

This is the first time I’ve encountered an exceptionally nasty client. Usually if there are differences, I can always cancel the order, offer a refund, or redirect the client elsewhere. I have someone who came straight into my messages without looking or bothering to read the description and demanding that they should get my service done for a mere $5 even though what they requested was for a $15 package.

Seeing as they were my first customer I said that this time id give them the discount because they were providing me with everything they already wanted… and it was Christmas season. So they submit the order, and I figure it’s just that they don’t speak english that well? BuT NO.

They asked a million questions which is fine if they are new to the process, and I wanted to be here to clarify everything for them, but it was as if they were patronizing me. Every single day, literally, I’d get a message asking for an update. I have other clients as well but I didn’t tell them that, just that i’d try and get it done ASAP.

Then he says how he would like it done THAT NIGHT. At this point i just didn’t respond. Every day the client is on my case and makes a comment like that… perhaps he is excited and eager to get it done but my goodness! If he doesn’t trust my work then why not cancel and go elsewhere? Then when I am sleeping, he says he wants it done today. SO i put everything aside and get his gig done first. It is completed and submitted and he wont even accept it-- he insists that it will take time for him to review my work. I gave it to him 3 days early. I had 7 days to complete and he is complaining. Can I give a negative review? And will it be public? I don’t want him to come back and ruin my business, but he is making me stressed out.

[coerdelion]

This sounds awful - sorry it happened to you.

You can only block this buyer once everything is completed, unfortunately (unless someone knows better). I think you won’t get paid, otherwise.

Some clients are control freaks - I’ve had one and it was a most unpleasant experience, just like you’re having.

So. If the client comes back and wants to cancel - refuse.

It’s unfortunate you have the word “guarantee” in your second gig - take it out. It attracts the wrong kind of buyer, as you’ve discovered.

Also remove your brand name and invitations to give you a permanent job from your profile - these things are against TOS.

As to the review …it’s up to you. If he leaves you one, you will have the opportunity to leave one for him. And bear in mind if he gives you a negative one, you will have the opportunity to leave a response to it, explaining what happened.

Good luck

[t50kaerys]

This sounds awful - sorry it happened to you.

You can only block this buyer once everything is completed, unfortunately (unless someone knows better). I think you won’t get paid, otherwise.

Some clients are control freaks - I’ve had one and it was a most unpleasant experience, just like you’re having.

So. If the client comes back and wants to cancel - refuse.

It’s unfortunate you have the word “guarantee” in your second gig - take it out. It attracts the wrong kind of buyer, as you’ve discovered.

Also remove your brand name and invitations to give you a permanent job from your profile - these things are against TOS.

As to the review …it’s up to you. If he leaves you one, you will have the opportunity to leave one for him. And bear in mind if he gives you a negative one, you will have the opportunity to leave a response to it, explaining what happened.

Good luck

Thank you so much! I’ll edit everything right away!

[imagination7413]

Sounds to me like you went above and beyond.

Welcome to the forums. Definitely take some time to read further, just in case this ‘adventure’ isn’t over yet, and the buyer makes further demands. There are plenty of stories here where it goes either way: Everything’s done and you never hear from them again, or they start making unreasonable demands and you end up spending a month talking to customer support.

I hope your case goes the first way.
Edit: And if it doesn’t, feel free to come back here for more feedback.

[woody_g]

First off, DO NOT CANCEL and it they want to cancel, refuse. This will hurt your rank and stats. Keep up with this customer and remember, you control the situation.

I can’t determine if this is an impatient customer or if its someone who is pulling a new trick to get you to do more and more work by threatening to cancel/reject/change-the-order or not. There is a rash of that going around. I did find fiverr CS very helpful the last time that happened. Have you completed the work? Have you delivered?

Keep us informed!

-WoodyG

[misscrystal]

You didn’t know any better but your first mistake was allowing him to get the $15 service for only $5. He knew you were a pushover and could continue to bully and make demands after that. You should have refused his demand to get it for $5 and seen that for the red flag that it was and discouraged him from buying from you.

Really if they can’t afford to pay only $15 and demand it for $5 then that’s ridiculous. They have a real problem which is obvious at that point and only going to get worse if you actually do let them have it for $5.

As far as getting a message once a day for an update that’s acceptable and you should be fine with that and actually be the one to message them every day with the update. So that part was not out of line on his part.

As far as him saying he would like it done that night, I’m not sure how much work was involved, or what you offer but if it’s a job that only takes fifteen minutes or even half an hour that’s not really unreasonable of him either. If it is more than that or you have ten other clients ahead of him you can simply say you have ten clients who placed orders ahead of him so you will need to send the order to him in the schedule you have already made for delivering your orders.

[miiila]

This is the first time I’ve encountered an exceptionally nasty client. Usually if there are differences, I can always cancel the order, offer a refund, or redirect the client elsewhere. I have someone who came straight into my messages without looking or bothering to read the description and demanding that they should get my service done for a mere $5 even though what they requested was for a $15 package.

Seeing as they were my first customer I said that this time id give them the discount because they were providing me with everything they already wanted… and it was Christmas season. So they submit the order, and I figure it’s just that they don’t speak english that well? BuT NO.

They asked a million questions which is fine if they are new to the process, and I wanted to be here to clarify everything for them, but it was as if they were patronizing me. Every single day, literally, I’d get a message asking for an update. I have other clients as well but I didn’t tell them that, just that i’d try and get it done ASAP.

Then he says how he would like it done THAT NIGHT. At this point i just didn’t respond. Every day the client is on my case and makes a comment like that… perhaps he is excited and eager to get it done but my goodness! If he doesn’t trust my work then why not cancel and go elsewhere? Then when I am sleeping, he says he wants it done today. SO i put everything aside and get his gig done first. It is completed and submitted and he wont even accept it-- he insists that it will take time for him to review my work. I gave it to him 3 days early. I had 7 days to complete and he is complaining. Can I give a negative review? And will it be public? I don’t want him to come back and ruin my business, but he is making me stressed out.

Can I give a negative review? And will it be public?

It sounded as if it was your first client ever from the title, in which case I’d have said you might want to consider that because of your rating but then it says it’s just your first exceptionally nasty client, so, in this case, I’d say definitely don’t cancel and let him get away with completely free work that you probably not just got 1/3 less for than you usually would (that’s on you, of course) but also spent much more time on than needed/justifiable through all that messaging and pondering.

Regarding the review - unfortunately, that’s the point where the current rating system is unhinged. Buyers can review sellers no matter what (unless they cancel) but sellers can only review buyers if the buyer reviews them.

So, in case your buyer thinks it wiser to not review you (because they fear you might leave a bad review that would keep other sellers from working with them, at least via custom offer, they could obviously still place direct orders), you won’t have the option to leave a review for them.

On the bright side, if they review, you can both review them (will be public on the buyer’s profile page) and leave a response to their review (will be public below their review of you on your profile/gig page).