Fiverr Community Forum

Reporting buyers: is it worth?

Welcome Fiverr FAQ
#1

So, I’ve been having some not-so-pleasant experiences with buyers recently. Unprovoked name calling (“b**ch” seems to be a favorite one these days), abusive behaviour, rudeness. I reported one of them to the Fiverr staff and they replied they would open an investigation. Last time I checked, the buyer’s profile was still active.

The other thing is that I believe this buyer was actually scamming other sellers to get free work (the standard "give me a free sample and if I like it, there’s more work coming). So, if Fiverr staff didn’t bother to investigate the matter, even though I supplied screenshots of the abusive behaviour… is it worth actually reporting buyers?

I guess, what I mean is: does reporting a buyer make a difference? I generally tend to report the scammers, but what about clients that are just plain rude or use offensive words?

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#2

Report them because they’re breaking ToS, not to mention creating an unpleasant work environment all around. That’s all you can do. It will also create a virtual paper trial should things go south between you and that buyer. There’s not much else you can do, really.

2 Likes
#3

@emmaki, Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking - they’re, after all, breaking the rules, but I don’t know if reporting them actually makes a difference. Like, it doesn’t take more than a few minutes to file a report, but if I know it’s not going to change anything and the buyer won’t get blocked or at least reprimanded, I’m not sure if it’s actually worth it.

#4

I think you should better understand how shady characters exploit Fiverr top-rated sellers for their own selfish gains. They don’t usually target newbies because they know what kind of quality you’ll get from them. They are targeting top-rated sellers because they can get the best results without spending a dime. The best approach is avoiding these scammers altogether.

1 Like
#5

I labor under the assumption that some kind of digipaper trial is kept. (e.g. any time someone makes a report about user scamlol, support can tag their file with it–kinda like unsexy CSI) and with enough complaints, scamlol will get the boot. Whether that’s the case or not, I don’t know. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t though, since it makes perfect sense.

#6

Gonna need some evidence there.

#7

There’s no need for it. The statement of the original poster is an obvious proof. Scammers only target highly-skilled but gullible and naïve sellers. They care less for Fiverr sellers with no or low rank. They think they are smart enough to handle top-rated sellers. They don’t want to waste time with small fry. The higher the quality of your services, the more likely you are being targeted by them.

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#8

Fiverr is protecting only buyers, not the sellers…

8 Likes
#9

I keep reporting such fiverr members and I suggest you do the same

#10

Hi @whitehatseo10, I hope not! I recently hired few experts on fiverr, and I am myself a healer here, but I do hire other experts too, because fiverr has many other experts with great other expertise that we all need. You see last week I got sick with the flu and I went to CVS to pick up my prescriptions, not feeling good, I left my wallet with $1200 cash in it with my ID, DL, ATM, Health Insurance card, etc, and left home. The next day when I was ready to pay my rent, I couldn’t find my wallet. I traced my steps, did self-hypnosis and contacted my spirit guide and they all pointed to the pharmacy, I called and went back there and they said it wasn’t there, I insisted they will check their cameras, and they said “it’s not there”. Any ways I had other things happening to me that week, parking ticket, etc., since when you sick it’s normal that you don’t really pay attention to much detail vs. when you feel better. I hired two experts on fiver which both had great ratings, and guess what; one of them was a total scam artist. In the meantime the first healer was great, she helped me feel better and helped me find my wallet and my cash money for my rent, and it was at CVS! what she did was the unthinkable. Few days later I received the other healer so called psychic…, and all he wrote was this: I will not find the money,and the wallet and to forget about it and about the other people who took money from me and didn’t want to pay back, to let go. In his writing he said, I am insecure, have lack of confidence, think negative, and on and on and on to why bad things are happening to me?
And that he fixed my karma and from now on I need to think positive… I thought, wow, that was a joke! I emailed him back and told him that if he didn’t want my honest review exposing him, he better refund me my money and he immediately did that with a threat of putting my negativity back on. So, I emailed him back and said he did nothing, therefore there was nothing for him to put back on and that I did find my money and wallet, etc. with the other expert help. In the meantime, he reported me to Fiverr, and blocked me. Fivver emailed me a Warning without even investigating. I said OK, I won’t do that again, because I had no option of explaining myself, and opened a report with all of our email snapshots explaining that he was the one who was wrong. So I am a seller and I was not protected, I was not even given a chance, hopefully he will be removed or he will be on a monitor to make sure that he does not do it again.

By the way: I believe fiverr does their best to protect everyone, not just the sellers, since I am the seller too, and in this case I was the buyer, which I end up getting the warning, while another seller tried to scam me. OUCHi

#11

Hi there,

the question is: what happens AFTER a seller has reported “bad behaviour” of users?

I have reported
buyers insulting me,
buyers using several Fiverr accounts (with fraud intention),
buyers with highly criminal webpages,
buyers that made copyright infringement to their “business model”,
buyers asking me to contact them outside Fiverr,
buyers asking me to write Amazon (yes :wink: reviews,
buyers sending cancelation requests and blackmailing me with a bad rating (I sell a service, easy to cancel that any time after a full delivery, when menacing with a bad rating)
and so on…

… and sadly I have to say that most of these people are still “alive”.

My motivation to report these users was to protect other sellers in the Fiverr community from these people…but at some point you just feel helpless…

6 Likes
#12

Absolutely correct! Basically, i can tell you my experience with some of them. They always read the sellers’ reputation and try to bargain with the best. They might sound real, but down there they want to hit you and run.

1 Like
#13

Pathetic! Fake sellers everywhere. I think the seller is not aware of the implication of what he/she said about you in the report, when in reality he/she did nothing. In my own believe, everyone has limitations, and when you reach your limit, no need to meander or trick the buyer - be plain.

#14

It’s worth reporting them because others may be having the same experience.

Was this something that happened before you became a TSR?

#15

Yeah, but what’s the point, if it doesn’t change anything? I’m not saying the Fiverr staff doesn’t do their job, but it’s so easy for buyers to just create a new account, if the old one gets banned (this is an entirely different topic, though).

I suppose I was just wondering whether reporting them actually results in an action being taken. Since I know about a few buyers with terrible communication and people skills (calling me a "b**ch was the least of their problems), which are still active and still placing orders.

And, actually no, I didn’t have these problems, until I became a TSR. Lately, I’ve been dealing with terrible buyers, who start with the name-calling and abuse the minute you try to explain they can’t get work for free.

1 Like
#16

I only reported one buyer, for declining my refund request continuously. He wanted to leave a bad review, and he was rude. One of those buyers that treats sellers like slaves, he basically told me that if I didn’t make the revision, he would leave a bad review. I don’t put up with threats.

Other than that, I haven’t reported anyone else.

#17

I also reported a buyer few months ago after threatening to order my gig from multiple accounts just to leave bad reviews. He was was over demanding and not ready to pay extra for the project, and i offer him a refund instead of me wasting my time. Unfortunately, he got mad, and started ranting abusive words. I took the screenshots and presented them as evidence, but all i got was “We’re sorry this is happening to you, we’ll investigate the matter, but we may not communicate the outcome to you”.

1 Like
#18

Yes you can report your buyer !!! if you have screen shorts and everything . If the buyer behave not well with you and or use bad words . Yes reporting to fiverr.com is compulsory because you save your side in that case .

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#19

Just yesterday a young “lady” threatened me with a bad review on Fiverr, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook (none of which I use, as it were) if I didn’t give her a refund three weeks after I turned in the order. Because she insinuated that she’d used other writers and they couldn’t “get it right, either” then this is one of those times I’ll relish in a bad review simply because justice should be served to this buyer.

Oh, and she said that I can’t “speak to her like that” because I said, and I quote, “Sorry, best of luck” in a completely non-demeaning or demoralizing way.

Buyers. LOL.

1 Like
#20

Yes you should report it always. Customer support is very good at discerning the situations that arise. They have heard it all.