Problem with buyer, advice needed

[callyofficial]

Hi there, I’m looking for some advice on a problem with buyer. I’ll keep this short as I can…

The buyer contacted me to edit some audio. I offered to create a sample to show him the quality of my work. He responded “Very Happy with that” and placed an order. I carried out the work for him and delivered. He replied asking me to change something he’d forgotten to tell me and said everything else was fine. I made the change, then he put in a request to cancel the order for the reason “The quality of the work I received was poor”. I declined and responded asking him to elaborate and reminded him he’d already told me he was very happy with the quality of my work (the job was carried out using the same plugins and settings as the sample) and reminded him when he asked me for his revision he said everything else was fine. He ignored my comments and questions and put in another request to cancel, for the same reason.

I have messaged customer support 3 days ago but had no reply. Usually they’re great and deal with any issues quickly. But I now have less than 9 hours to decide what to do.

I’ve spent 2 hours on the work, not to mention the time and negative energy spent dealing with the situation, so I’m tempted to accept the cancellation and move on to focus on more deserving buyers. But my issue is, if he can get away without paying so easily, he will go on to do this with other sellers.

What would you do in my situation? I obviously want to avoid a bad review and a cancelled order.The buyer ignored my previous comments so he’s not open to discussing and simply wants to cancel.

All suggestions appreciated, thanks.

[zerlina84]

That is clearly a scammer trying to get the work for free.

I would keep refusing his request to cancel and wait patiently for CS to reply. Did you explain CS everything clearly with printscreens, how he was so happy, asked for something else and immediately tried to cancel?

You need to figure out if there is a way to “watermark” your audio until they accept it, like designers do with their images. Look around in the forum, I know there are many posts about that.

Good luck!

EDIT: I just looked around myself and I believe there isn’t a way to “watermark” it until they accept it…

[civilbappy]

I think cancellation is good for you at this moment. Try to do cancel from resolution center.

[callyofficial]

That is clearly a scammer trying to get the work for free.

I would keep refusing his request to cancel and wait patiently for CS to reply. Did you explain CS everything clearly with printscreens, how he was so happy, asked for something else and immediately tried to cancel?

You need to figure out if there is a way to “watermark” your audio until they accept it, like designers do with their images. Look around in the forum, I know there are many posts about that.

Good luck!

EDIT: I just looked around myself and I believe there isn’t a way to “watermark” it until they accept it…

It does seem like someone trying to scam a free job to me.

I have explained everything to CS, and they can also read his messages and see our conversations for themselves which confirms everything I’ve told them.

The watermark suggestion is a fantastic idea! I will speak to customer support to see if this is something they can consider, as this would be amazing to protect audio engineers in the same way designers are protected. Thanks for the idea!

[callyofficial]

I think cancellation is good for you at this moment. Try to do cancel from resolution center.

I am considering that but if the buyer is just trying to scam a free job, he’ll go on to do this time and time again if he knows he can get away with it.

[pixelbirds]

I think, You should wait until the CS reply. If the buyer give you bad review too you also let us know against the buyer review on review section so that all seller also can see seller feedback on that buyer profile.
Otherwise all seller will fall on his/her trap and he will be hero.

[mariashtelle1]

Personally I would’ve again decline cancellation request (and any others that he will be sending) so the order wouldn’t cancel itself automatically.

I’d rather risk a bad review than let them get away with free work. And after that write my comment under their review explaining the situation. That will also scare away in the future all other scammers as they will know that they can’t get away with free work with you.

Obviously it’s not the first time your buyer is doing that. He knows what he is doing and that you don’t have too much choice.

You definitely can wait for CS to reply but I’m sure they will come back with standard “try to resolve it with your buyer”.

[bmsurujuddin]

@callyofficial Wait For Response From Customers Support!

[callyofficial]

I think, You should wait until the CS reply. If the buyer give you bad review too you also let us know against the buyer review on review section so that all seller also can see seller feedback on that buyer profile.

Otherwise all seller will fall on his/her trap and he will be hero.

This is mainly what I want to avoid, the buyer being confident to do this to another seller.

[callyofficial]

Personally I would’ve again decline cancellation request (and any others that he will be sending) so the order wouldn’t cancel itself automatically.

I’d rather risk a bad review than let them get away with free work. And after that write my comment under their review explaining the situation. That will also scare away in the future all other scammers as they will know that they can’t get away with free work with you.

Obviously it’s not the first time your buyer is doing that. He knows what he is doing and that you don’t have too much choice.

You definitely can wait for CS to reply but I’m sure they will come back with standard “try to resolve it with your buyer”.

I think I will give CS a bit longer and then decline giving my reasons. I can put up with losing money on 1 gig, but if he gets away with this he’ll do it again and again.

[callyofficial]

@callyofficial Wait For Response From Customers Support!

I will wait longer, but only have 5 hours left or the cancellation will be automatically accepted.

[ridwansugi]

@callyofficial Wait For Response From Customers Support!

I agree with @callyofficial

Wait for CS response first.

Incase CS can’t help you, my suggestion is to cancel the project.

(Hope you didn’t send the final audio files to buyer)

I know that you have spend time and effort, but losing small money is better than having 1 star rate —> will lose your competition based on your overall rate

Forget this bad client, and start moving and focusing on the new client project to get more 🙂

Best regards,

Ridwan Sugi

[coerdelion]

Reject the cancellation and quote this clause from the TOS to the buyer:

“Orders are not eligible to be cancelled based on the quality of service/materials delivered by the Seller if the service was rendered as described in the Gig Page. Buyers may rate their experience with the Seller on the Order Page, including the overall level of service quality received.”

Make sure you also remind CS of that clause.

Remember if the buyer leaves a negative review, you can always respond to it - professionally!

[juanpost]

good luck with your case.