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Project Cancellation Scam


alexisfortin

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Hi there,

I am quite disappointed with Fiverr at this time. I have recently received an order from a client. Before sending an offer, I cleared all of the expectations for this project and the client confirmed that the expectations I listed were correct.

Now, after delivering the project, the client claims that this is not at all what they paid for. I worked as per the requirements they provided. If the client does not make their expectations public, I cannot know what they want. As you may have guessed, I am not a mindreader. I have offered this client a revision if they can provide guidance on what they do not like about my work. Instead of providing edit requests for the revision as they should, the buyer decided he wants to cancel the project. I am not willing to accept this cancellation request since I know that I am not to blame for this. My job as a seller on Fiverr is to respect the requirements provided in the order, not try to figure out what the client wants secretly in his/her head. The client is being extremely stubborn and wants nothing but a project cancellation, not a revision or anything else. I do not agree with this.

I contacted Customer Support already, so please do not suggest this. Customer Support was more or less useless by saying “You need to come to an agreement with the buyer”. How helpful is that when the buyer is not willing to come to an agreement with me? This response from Customer Support tells me that any buyer on this site can get free services as long as they request a cancellation and refuse to come to an agreement with the buyer. What kind of system is this?

Unless this Customer Support agent is completely wrong, Fiverr offers absolutely no protection to sellers on this site since I am being forced to provide free work to a buyer who is not being reasonable about their expectations. I offered revisions, I tried to communicate with the buyer and they will not change anything to mark the project as completed. All they want is a project cancellation.

At this point, I do not care about my money. I care about the project completion score. By cancelling this order, my percentage of completed projects will be lowered and this is not fair to me, a seller who provided high-quality work in accordance with the project requirements.

Can somebody please tell me if they have any idea how to sort this problem since Customer Support doesn’t want to help? If you have a suggestion, you would be very helpful!

Thanks so much, everyone!

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Just a tip for future reference, don’t send the completed project before delivering. Deliver with the completed work, then it is up to the buyer to ask for a revision.

Delivering the work before you deliver the order allows the buyer to take the completed work and then cancel the order, before you have time to deliver. (Did this happen?)

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He refuses to do so and Customer Support doesn’t care, quite frankly. They told me that all I can do is give the client what he wants (a cancellation) or keep begging him to come to an agreement. I have been trying for hours to offer a revision and he continues spamming me with “Cancel this project, I am not paying.”

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He refuses to do so and Customer Support doesn’t care, quite frankly. They told me that all I can do is give the client what he wants (a cancellation) or keep begging him to come to an agreement. I have been trying for hours to offer a revision and he continues spamming me with “Cancel this project, I am not paying.”

Is he asking you to cancel the order?

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The client requested a cancellation only after I marked the project as “Delivered”. He refuses to accept a revision which I have offered countless times now.

He refuses to accept a revision which I have offered countless times now.

It is true that fiverr can’t pressure clients to accept orders. No business in the world will do that.

You don’t have to agree for cancellation. You can keep cancelling all cancellation requests that come from your client.

It’s enough to send a last message along the lines “unfortunately your order is not eligible to be cancelled as I delivered everything as promised in my gig and according to your gig requirements. However I’m happy to work on the revision for you”.

And just keep declining their cancellation request until they get tired.

(That message above is important to show fiverr that you tried to resolve it and your client is still have an option of revision so fiverr CS wouldn’t cancel your order in case if your client contacts them)

Edit: you can also attach a screenshot of the part under the requirements in light grey colour that client agreed that all information they provided is correct.

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Yes, about 20 times now (no joke). I really don’t want to do this since I know I did the work properly and I don’t deserve this from a buyer. I do not want to see my project completion score drop because of a client that just doesn’t want to pay for my work even though it meets the requirements he shared with me at the start.

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Yes, about 20 times now (no joke). I really don’t want to do this since I know I did the work properly and I don’t deserve this from a buyer. I do not want to see my project completion score drop because of a client that just doesn’t want to pay for my work even though it meets the requirements he shared with me at the start.

Just carry on doing it.

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He refuses to accept a revision which I have offered countless times now.

It is true that fiverr can’t pressure clients to accept orders. No business in the world will do that.

You don’t have to agree for cancellation. You can keep cancelling all cancellation requests that come from your client.

It’s enough to send a last message along the lines “unfortunately your order is not eligible to be cancelled as I delivered everything as promised in my gig and according to your gig requirements. However I’m happy to work on the revision for you”.

And just keep declining their cancellation request until they get tired.

(That message above is important to show fiverr that you tried to resolve it and your client is still have an option of revision so fiverr CS wouldn’t cancel your order in case if your client contacts them)

Edit: you can also attach a screenshot of the part under the requirements in light grey colour that client agreed that all information they provided is correct.

This is the only thing I can do? Keep refusing the project cancellation? I did this 20 times so far. Why can buyers get away with free work simply because they continue requesting a cancellation?

Also, I will then be penalised for a late delivery in the end, right? Each time the client requests a cancellation, the project timer resumes and it will soon hit 0 minutes because of the time he is wasting with these project cancellations. So either way, the buyer loses.

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This is the only thing I can do? Keep refusing the project cancellation? I did this 20 times so far. Why can buyers get away with free work simply because they continue requesting a cancellation?

Also, I will then be penalised for a late delivery in the end, right? Each time the client requests a cancellation, the project timer resumes and it will soon hit 0 minutes because of the time he is wasting with these project cancellations. So either way, the buyer loses.

You won’t be penalised for not accepting the cancellation. If it get to the actual delivery date, fiverr only allows 3 days after that and the order goes through. Just carry on refusing to cancel.

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So, I can let the timer run out next time he requests a cancellation? There is only 2 hours left on the clock.

Then once it runs out, I will reject the cancellation over and over. After 3 days, I will get the payment automatically? Even if we keep arguing with the project cancellation system?

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This is the only thing I can do? Keep refusing the project cancellation? I did this 20 times so far. Why can buyers get away with free work simply because they continue requesting a cancellation?

Also, I will then be penalised for a late delivery in the end, right? Each time the client requests a cancellation, the project timer resumes and it will soon hit 0 minutes because of the time he is wasting with these project cancellations. So either way, the buyer loses.

Also, I will then be penalised for a late delivery in the end, right?

No you wouldn’t. Late delivery counts only if you miss to deliver your first delivery on times

This is the only thing I can do? Keep refusing the project cancellation?

Yep. I don’t see any other way. And I don’t see what actions fiverr would’ve been able to take in this situation. They can’t tell the client that he has to complete the project when they are unhappy and they can’t complete that project on clients behalf when client wants to cancel. :woman_shrugging:

There is no easy way out of that situation not on fiverr neither in real work were you would’ve been running your own business.

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So, I can let the timer run out next time he requests a cancellation? There is only 2 hours left on the clock.

Then once it runs out, I will reject the cancellation over and over. After 3 days, I will get the payment automatically? Even if we keep arguing with the project cancellation system?

After 3 days, I will get the payment automatically?

No, after 3 days of rejecting the last cancellation request.

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So, I can let the timer run out next time he requests a cancellation? There is only 2 hours left on the clock.

Then once it runs out, I will reject the cancellation over and over. After 3 days, I will get the payment automatically? Even if we keep arguing with the project cancellation system?

Yes, it will go in your favor. After 3 days from now, the order will automatically go through, but one thing just remember he can give you a bad rating in spite. A cancellation can be mutual, between the two of you which will not affect your rating. It is a toss up situation. I have had it myself.

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I am trying to become a Level One seller on this site, and if I cancel this project, I will no longer meet the requirements. Would you say a negative review is better than a lower project completion rate?

I would prefer to mutually agree to cancel, rather than get a bad rating. It only affects your levels over a period. So if you don’t complete all orders, it is taken over a 60 day period. I have had to cancel 4 orders, one order the customer ordered but had not read my gig properly and asked me to please cancel. The other time I wasn’t able to complete the work it was way too difficult and I asked the client if he would be happy if I canceled the order. All these did not go against my rating, I am now Level 2, in the long run it doesn’t, but you cannot do it to many times. Your rating is important as new customers look at this to see if your work is good. One bad rating puts your gig further back in the fiverr searches, and makes people afraid to order. I got a 4.3 on one gig and it is still not any longer on the front pages (where it was before), and it has been months.

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Hi Alexis,

When the client said this was not at all what they paid for, did they give more detail? In what way do they claim your delivery differs from what they paid for and agreed at the start?

My advice would be to see if the client cancels (do not accept a cancellation–but customer support might arrange this directly with the buyer, which is outside your control).

If the client cancels, write again to customer support. The fact is that different CS agents see things slightly differently and you may get one who does understand. When you write to CS, apologize that you are referring this matter back to them but say clearly:

  • what I have provided is per the specification agreed;
  • please take a look at my delivery and I am sure you will confirm that I have met/exceeded the specification in this case;
  • the buyer refuses to receive a revision;
  • I consider the buyer is seeking to obtain free work and as such, is exploiting Fiverr as well as myself as the seller.

Attach screenshots of any messages that may help between you and the buyer (as CS personnel say they cannot see all messages).

State what the project scope was and make clear that you have met the scope that was agreed; if the buyer has or had additional needs, they refuse to let you know what these are, thus leaving you unable to make revisions (which they unreasonably refuse anyway), and that you feel they will use the work and not remunerate.

If the buyer instigates a cancellation, stick to your position of asking customer support for ‘compensation’ as sellers are often paid in full by Fiverr where a customer cancels and yet the project was delivered in full to a high standard.

The key is you must cordially and unemotionally demonstrate to Fiverr that you met or exceeded the agreed specifications, so be as succinct and clear as possible and provide your evidence comprehensively and clearly.

Finally, write to the buyer (do this anyway) emphasizing that they must not use any element of your work and that this will be monitored by Fiverr and yourself if they cancel.

^^EDITED to add: I see you don’t care about the funds so much as being affected adversely by a cancellation. I would not worry about this as long as you are completing a few projects. You have only been a member since September last year and have 21 reviews; that is a healthy rate of job completion.

Therefore, although one cancellation is annoying and looks bad to you on your score, as long as you have other jobs in the pipeline or completed recently, it won’t stop you becoming a Level 1 seller and it will disappear in 60 days. I think this buyer will cancel one way or another so what you need to do is simply calculate how many orders (if any at all) you need to win so that you still meet Level One criteria at the next evaluation.

If you need a couple more orders, spend your valuable time on this instead of wasting more energy on the negativity of that one buyer. The more jobs you can win, the less that one cancellation can affect your cancellation rate (the % for completion rate will be better).

Best,

Annie

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