Jump to content

Seeking advice on how to handle a client that is mean


mendesyo

Recommended Posts

Hello Everyone, I have completed 13 orders on FIVERR and got rated 5 stars for all my orders so far and I am loving the work environment on FIVERR, I am enjoying every part of the orders I receive and doing all the projects to the best of my ability and I am overjoyed to see that my clients love my work.

Unfortunately, I have come across a Buyer who recently ordered a Business Card service and like always I was more than happy to take in this order. He wanted me to do this service for $3 USD and I understand that the minimum amount for a service is $5 USD and explained the same to him after which he was insisting on 3 artworks for that rate, but when we came to a mutual decision I offered him 2 revisions on his order with the lowest budget I could go. He also said he wants it within an hour which I agreed although it was 4am where I was at and thought I’d rather stay up and complete the work rather than let down the order, so I tried my best to make sure I will complete this as soon as possible with no compromise on quality. The offer was for 2 concepts and that’s what I did making sure I followed his instructions on what he wants. He said he didn’t like both because he wanted more luxury and so I made him 4 more concepts with the revisions he asked for. He said he liked 1 of them but needed a few changes and I was glad we were getting somewhere with this order. By now it was 6am with 2 deliveries done and he mentioned he is ok with giving me more time and so I grabbed the opportunity and promised to deliver the next day. I woke up knowing what was needed and made changes and submitted the third delivery. This time he got a few more requirements and asked for revisions. As far as I knew his 2 revisions were done but I wanted to have this order completed keeping client satisfaction as my priority so I made the changes and delivered once again.

This time he didn’t say anything and waited 2.5 days after my delivery and didn’t even get back to me after me making the changes as he asked. He then replies on day 3 stating that he changed his mind and wants another revision this time contradicting what he chose in the last revision and that’s when I offered him extra’s to pay for additional revisions as I gave him 4 deliveries (including 3 revisions) in total when he was entitled to 2 revisions. He clearly stated he didn’t want to pay for any more revisions and so I offered him a refund on cancellation since that was what I was left with (although I know this will affect my scores) but kept being rude and calling me a scammer which made me actually open his profile and that shocked me because I realized he was rated 2 by 2 sellers and he probably tortured the life out of them to have them rate him bad and I also seen his reviews and he seems to have ruined their scores too.

1258756879_Screenshot(1330).thumb.png.2021cdc6a4ecb8577cd4fa5ca6722469.png
Screenshot (1330)1319×575 29.5 KB

The above screenshot is proof that 2 sellers have had a hard time with him and so rated him this way 😦

555015553_Screenshot(1329).png.11c14ee43f0e146fcd0f9dc1982d925a.png
Screenshot (1329)858×192 21 KB

The above screenshot is the review he left for another seller that is so similar to what he is taking me through right now.

I understand everyone has different preferences but people with such trends ruin the community, I have never had such a rude client and I understand what others went through with him demeaning them and rejecting them time and again and yet coming back to make more purchases to be rude and mean to someone else.

Such people spoil the community and I don’t know what to do, If he cancels this order this will ruin my scores and if he orders extras it will again ruin my scores because he is a mean man who has been taking every seller through the same process so far and so is going to end up giving me a low score ruining my stats, please advise.

Also, my intentions of writing this is not to put anyone down or speak ill about any client, I just want to understand if someone else faced a situation similar to this and what could I do at this point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, I am so sorry that this is happening to you.
I had a exactly same client who wanted a 40 minute video for $3 in 5 hours and same process asking revisons again and again. In short, we ended up cancelling the order.
As a bad review will stay on your profile forever but cancellation effect will be gone after 60 days. I will prefer to go with cancellation as he wants the whole universe in $5 and seems like he will never be happy.
Try cancelling the order and meanwhile contact CS, so they can handle this situation.
For the future, it’s a lesson for you, never accept the order from a buyer who wants in $2 or $3 or need it in 1 hour. I have learnt this from my experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, I am so sorry that this is happening to you.

I had a exactly same client who wanted a 40 minute video for $3 in 5 hours and same process asking revisons again and again. In short, we ended up cancelling the order.

As a bad review will stay on your profile forever but cancellation effect will be gone after 60 days. I will prefer to go with cancellation as he wants the whole universe in $5 and seems like he will never be happy.

Try cancelling the order and meanwhile contact CS, so they can handle this situation.

For the future, it’s a lesson for you, never accept the order from a buyer who wants in $2 or $3 or need it in 1 hour. I have learnt this from my experience.

@hazel_justin131 Thank you so much for your reply, I am sad you went through something similar too, I am looking forward for him to cancel, its showing 3 days late (in revision) and he is refusing to cancel it.

741459871_Screenshot(1332).thumb.png.191b12ec87057d462c13a734d378a95f.png
Screenshot (1332)1287×266 63.2 KB

Infact, the only reason why I agreed on doing this for $5 USD and still gave him additional revisions over the order agreement is because I thought maybe he cannot afford to pay more and I placed client satisfaction and customer service above everything else until the point when I seen the reviews he left other sellers which made me so sad and realized what he is doing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This sounds really horrible. Don’t cancel - the review stays on your profile whether or not you do, so it’s not worth it. Get paid - you deserve it.

Respond to the buyer’s review politely explaining that they demanded you go way over and above what your gig contains and that you don’t recommend them as a buyer. Be honest, but professional.

For the future: It’s ok to say no to buyers like this - they raise red flags by demanding very low prices and very fast turnaround. Just say no - that way your profile won’t be affected by their spite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well - the situation is a total nightmare for you. Honestly, when buyers ask to make a lot of work for 5 dollars, this is not a good sign.

Don’t underestimate your work - if someone wants a personal slave, try to stay away of this person.

And honestly, he looks like some sort of scam, so deliver your work one more time and contact CS - they should help, because you did your part of work, and he is simply torturing you now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@hazel_justin131 Thank you so much for your reply, I am sad you went through something similar too, I am looking forward for him to cancel, its showing 3 days late (in revision) and he is refusing to cancel it.

Infact, the only reason why I agreed on doing this for $5 USD and still gave him additional revisions over the order agreement is because I thought maybe he cannot afford to pay more and I placed client satisfaction and customer service above everything else until the point when I seen the reviews he left other sellers which made me so sad and realized what he is doing.

its showing 3 days late (in revision) and he is refusing to cancel it.

The order is not counted as late while in revision unless you delivered the first delivery on time. So don’t worry about that

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This sounds really horrible. Don’t cancel - the review stays on your profile whether or not you do, so it’s not worth it. Get paid - you deserve it.

Respond to the buyer’s review politely explaining that they demanded you go way over and above what your gig contains and that you don’t recommend them as a buyer. Be honest, but professional.

For the future: It’s ok to say no to buyers like this - they raise red flags by demanding very low prices and very fast turnaround. Just say no - that way your profile won’t be affected by their spite.

@coerdelion Thanks for your response, really means alot! Infact, I did tell him this professionally but he just kept being rude calling me a SCAM ARTIST which hurt coz no one has ever said this to me ever, and this is actually a harsh way to deal with someone. 😭

592467208_Screenshot(1334).png.2e9e6d86201e6308b282244e9767e593.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Mendesyo, I’m sorry to hear about your experience. Perhaps this can be a lesson for your future business conduct. Some tips:

1.) Always check a buyer’s profile for reviews just in case and trust your gut feelings when buyer is new and has no reviews yet.

2.) I generally do not accept any job that requires me to finish anything within an hour - any respectable logo designer will tell you that it is impossible to tailor a logo to fit your client’s needs in one hour, especially at 4 AM. Moreover, if a client genuinely values their business, they won’t get anything put together in such a short amount of time and haggle for the price of their logo. They sound more like a reseller.

3.) Do not be afraid to say no. If you only offer 2 revisions, stick to it. If you don’t stand your ground, scammer would see you as an easy target.

Also, I noticed that you used the vectorized version of the character from PUBG as one of your logo samples - not sure if it is ethical since you are using a copyrighted/licensed character from an established game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well - the situation is a total nightmare for you. Honestly, when buyers ask to make a lot of work for 5 dollars, this is not a good sign.

Don’t underestimate your work - if someone wants a personal slave, try to stay away of this person.

And honestly, he looks like some sort of scam, so deliver your work one more time and contact CS - they should help, because you did your part of work, and he is simply torturing you now.

@olyasr Thank You for your advise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That’s a quintessential $5 buyer at their worst for you.

You can:

  1. Contact CS and ask them to cancel the order for you. Unfortunately, it takes CS a long time to respond these days. While you wait, if the buyer messages you again, respond with a message along of the lines of: “I delivered X designs instead of one and provided Y rounds of revisions instead of two that are included for the price of $5. I believe I was overly accommodating and unfortunately, cannot assist you any further. You are welcome to pick a design of your liking from the ones you’ve already received.” (Maybe someone can correct my wording on this a bit). Don’t say anything else and don’t engage. In the meantime, maybe the buyer gets to CS first to cancel the order.

  2. Redeliver ALL of the designs you’ve already made with a similar delivery comment. Possibly multiple times as they probably will request more revisions. Maybe not, if you putting your foot down surprises them enough.

PS Oh, I can see you’ve already gone with 1.

PPS I think I had someone like this back when I was offering $5 gigs. They wanted 2 designs instead of one, would refuse to cancel and told me that they’ll only accept the cancellation request if I find them someone to do the job instead of me. I told them that I’ll be reaching out to CS to handle the situation. They’ve accepted the cancellation 2 minutes after that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I think for future reference check the buyers profile beforehand, make sure to leave a review about what you experienced with this buyer after it’s done, and next time if you have a buyer insisting you go below Fiverrs minimum price and demands that you have the work done in an hour, they probably aren’t going to be great customers, not sure why you’d take on this job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Mendesyo, I’m sorry to hear about your experience. Perhaps this can be a lesson for your future business conduct. Some tips:

1.) Always check a buyer’s profile for reviews just in case and trust your gut feelings when buyer is new and has no reviews yet.

2.) I generally do not accept any job that requires me to finish anything within an hour - any respectable logo designer will tell you that it is impossible to tailor a logo to fit your client’s needs in one hour, especially at 4 AM. Moreover, if a client genuinely values their business, they won’t get anything put together in such a short amount of time and haggle for the price of their logo. They sound more like a reseller.

3.) Do not be afraid to say no. If you only offer 2 revisions, stick to it. If you don’t stand your ground, scammer would see you as an easy target.

Also, I noticed that you used the vectorized version of the character from PUBG as one of your logo samples - not sure if it is ethical since you are using a copyrighted/licensed character from an established game.

@ignareint Thank You for your advice.

It wasnt a logo project (was a business card design) and only reason why I accepted the order was because he said he needed it urgent and I only tried to help even if it were to go that extra mile when I knew I was able to deliver which I did, managed to deliver once + another revision as requested, no matter what the time exceeded to, just focused on completing it but unfortunately he wanted more revisions.

I try not to say no to orders. For me, if the work is under my ability and skills I have no reason to reject it, thats why I am here, to provide service. I am happy to take on the order as long as I know I am able to do it with the skills I have and the budget isnt below the lowest I can offer (especially considering the market rates)

Also, I noticed that you used the vectorized version of the character from PUBG as one of your logo samples - not sure if it is ethical since you are using a copyrighted/licensed character from an established game.

About the vectorized version of the character from PUBG as one of my logo samples, it is ethical since this was made for a client exactly as he requested with a few changes as he wanted and doesnt go against any rules, so there is nothing wrong with it.

Thank you again for all the tips 🙂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That’s a quintessential $5 buyer at their worst for you.

You can:

  1. Contact CS and ask them to cancel the order for you. Unfortunately, it takes CS a long time to respond these days. While you wait, if the buyer messages you again, respond with a message along of the lines of: “I delivered X designs instead of one and provided Y rounds of revisions instead of two that are included for the price of $5. I believe I was overly accommodating and unfortunately, cannot assist you any further. You are welcome to pick a design of your liking from the ones you’ve already received.” (Maybe someone can correct my wording on this a bit). Don’t say anything else and don’t engage. In the meantime, maybe the buyer gets to CS first to cancel the order.

  2. Redeliver ALL of the designs you’ve already made with a similar delivery comment. Possibly multiple times as they probably will request more revisions. Maybe not, if you putting your foot down surprises them enough.

PS Oh, I can see you’ve already gone with 1.

PPS I think I had someone like this back when I was offering $5 gigs. They wanted 2 designs instead of one, would refuse to cancel and told me that they’ll only accept the cancellation request if I find them someone to do the job instead of me. I told them that I’ll be reaching out to CS to handle the situation. They’ve accepted the cancellation 2 minutes after that.

@lenasemenkova Wow thats actually something I am considering, everyone says write in to CS so I am definitely considering this, I am just hoping this wont go against my profile, because honestly when I read articles of people going through what I am it looks like they all had their scores affected for 60 days or something similar (seen them mentioning this) so I am scared since my journey with FIVERR was awesome so far and now, I am a bit shaken after this experience and just dont know what would be best at this stage. But, thanks again for all ur lovely inputs, going to write to CS soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I think for future reference check the buyers profile beforehand, make sure to leave a review about what you experienced with this buyer after it’s done, and next time if you have a buyer insisting you go below Fiverrs minimum price and demands that you have the work done in an hour, they probably aren’t going to be great customers, not sure why you’d take on this job.

@kometbeats Thank You for your advice.

Like I said, the way he put it was that he had just $5 USD to spend for this so I was only trying to help, but I completely agree that I shouldnt have taken this up and infact will make it a point to check profiles for reviews for all my future orders, thanks again 🙂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In addition to what @coerdelion said, make sure to point out in your response to his review that, his page is full of poor reviews from other sellers. That will surely help in portraying to a potential buyer that this review isn’t a true reflection of who you are. Good luck.

@carloskay Thank You and yes I will keep this in mind for sure, will make sure I mention this if I get to add a review if this order is completed. I dont think I can tell him this on the order page because its more like me judging him rather than focusing on talking about the order and I dont want CS thinking I have spoken rude to him or tried to demean him because of his rudeness towards previous sellers however I understand that this guy is running a trend with all sellers and so would actually like to tell him that this isnt a nice thing to do at all but I dunno how to do that, I would if I could, without sounding harsh or unprofessional.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@carloskay Thank You and yes I will keep this in mind for sure, will make sure I mention this if I get to add a review if this order is completed. I dont think I can tell him this on the order page because its more like me judging him rather than focusing on talking about the order and I dont want CS thinking I have spoken rude to him or tried to demean him because of his rudeness towards previous sellers however I understand that this guy is running a trend with all sellers and so would actually like to tell him that this isnt a nice thing to do at all but I dunno how to do that, I would if I could, without sounding harsh or unprofessional.

No don’t tell him. I’m talking about a response to a review if you end up not cancelling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ignareint Thank You for your advice.

It wasnt a logo project (was a business card design) and only reason why I accepted the order was because he said he needed it urgent and I only tried to help even if it were to go that extra mile when I knew I was able to deliver which I did, managed to deliver once + another revision as requested, no matter what the time exceeded to, just focused on completing it but unfortunately he wanted more revisions.

I try not to say no to orders. For me, if the work is under my ability and skills I have no reason to reject it, thats why I am here, to provide service. I am happy to take on the order as long as I know I am able to do it with the skills I have and the budget isnt below the lowest I can offer (especially considering the market rates)

Also, I noticed that you used the vectorized version of the character from PUBG as one of your logo samples - not sure if it is ethical since you are using a copyrighted/licensed character from an established game.

About the vectorized version of the character from PUBG as one of my logo samples, it is ethical since this was made for a client exactly as he requested with a few changes as he wanted and doesnt go against any rules, so there is nothing wrong with it.

Thank you again for all the tips 🙂

Hello, my apologies for the oversight for thinking that it is a logo design instead of a business card design. That was my bad.

It is very noble of you to want to help someone, but I can’t help but think that it is the wrong mindset for a business person. Fiverr is a business platform, and the conduct of their buyers and sellers should reflect the professionalism of the trade. If your buyer is not being professional in their attitude, it will be wise to reject them. The result of not rejecting such buyers is an unfortunate incident such as this: you jeopardized your health from lack of sleep, called a scam artist, and not even getting paid for the hours of work you spent because you wished to just cancel the order out of frustration.

P.S. I would beg to differ regarding the logo. I would wager your client isn’t the copyright owner of said character. If you create an illustration and I asked someone else to trace that by vectorizing it as a logo and tweaking the colors a bit, that doesn’t make it okay. I am not the owner of your illustration. Then again, this is just my opinion from an ethical standpoint. You are free to interpret it your way.

P.S.S. I apologize if my replies aren’t what you are looking for. I know how distressing this experience must be for you and I do feel sorry that you have to meet such a difficult buyer. I hope CS would be able to assist you on this matter. Take care.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello, my apologies for the oversight for thinking that it is a logo design instead of a business card design. That was my bad.

It is very noble of you to want to help someone, but I can’t help but think that it is the wrong mindset for a business person. Fiverr is a business platform, and the conduct of their buyers and sellers should reflect the professionalism of the trade. If your buyer is not being professional in their attitude, it will be wise to reject them. The result of not rejecting such buyers is an unfortunate incident such as this: you jeopardized your health from lack of sleep, called a scam artist, and not even getting paid for the hours of work you spent because you wished to just cancel the order out of frustration.

P.S. I would beg to differ regarding the logo. I would wager your client isn’t the copyright owner of said character. If you create an illustration and I asked someone else to trace that by vectorizing it as a logo and tweaking the colors a bit, that doesn’t make it okay. I am not the owner of your illustration. Then again, this is just my opinion from an ethical standpoint. You are free to interpret it your way.

P.S.S. I apologize if my replies aren’t what you are looking for. I know how distressing this experience must be for you and I do feel sorry that you have to meet such a difficult buyer. I hope CS would be able to assist you on this matter. Take care.

@ignareint Thanks for understanding, I highly appreciate the tips you mentioned and yes I have learnt that going out of my way to help someone misfired me into such an unfortunate incident. We all learn, I am taking this bad experience as a learning edge and will look forward to working with more professional buyers in the near future.

About that PUBG vectored character logo, this was just a requested art from one of my clients (THIS IMAGE IS AVAILABLE ON A 3RD PARTY LOGO DESIGNING APP IN THE GOOGLE PLAYSTORE AS WELL and it states ✓ Free for commercial use ✓ No attribution required) I make sure all logos made by me and my team are copyright free and also make sure its tailored to the clients requirements according to what they need.

I thank you again for ur reply, just like the other replies, this means the world to me and I am glad for all the support you guys give me! 👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t understand why a buyer has option to decline cancellation if that is the last resort a sellers has.

If a seller feels in the middle of the order that he doesn’t want to work anymore with the buyer, there is option " due to personal/technical reasons, I cannot complete the work." I don’t understand why buyer has to accept cancellation request. If seller has no option after multiple revisions, there is no need for buyer acceptance. I have had same issue few months back and I had to contact CS finally to cancel. The buyer neither accepted delivery , kept requesting revisions, and didn’t accept cancellation either.

The option to buyer should be " The seller has chosen to cancel this order. You can accept it failing which it would be automatically cancelled in a day."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t understand why a buyer has option to decline cancellation if that is the last resort a sellers has.

If a seller feels in the middle of the order that he doesn’t want to work anymore with the buyer, there is option " due to personal/technical reasons, I cannot complete the work." I don’t understand why buyer has to accept cancellation request. If seller has no option after multiple revisions, there is no need for buyer acceptance. I have had same issue few months back and I had to contact CS finally to cancel. The buyer neither accepted delivery , kept requesting revisions, and didn’t accept cancellation either.

The option to buyer should be " The seller has chosen to cancel this order. You can accept it failing which it would be automatically cancelled in a day."

@mercurianus so sorry to hear you went through a similar situation a few months ago. Yes, I agree with your point and I hope someday this will be an option. Thanks again for your views.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi @mendesyo.
Thanks so much for sharing your story. And really sorry about that.
I had 18 orders completed and luckily I haven’t met this kind of client before.
But what you share here just set me to turn on the high alert of something/someone like this.
I would definitely try to aware scammer before placing a work next time.
In my experiences, when a client text to me. The first action I took was a click to see their profile, their performance, etc.
And I keep them in messaging box to understand more about. When I feel safe and trust enough, I will send a custom offer or my gig link.
Then I will do my job which follows my gig’s info and discussion with them before.
During and after that, if something went wrong. I will send a text to CS for help.
I hope this helps and hope you grow well on Fiverr career.
And of course, no more mean client.
Have a good time

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi @mendesyo.

Thanks so much for sharing your story. And really sorry about that.

I had 18 orders completed and luckily I haven’t met this kind of client before.

But what you share here just set me to turn on the high alert of something/someone like this.

I would definitely try to aware scammer before placing a work next time.

In my experiences, when a client text to me. The first action I took was a click to see their profile, their performance, etc.

And I keep them in messaging box to understand more about. When I feel safe and trust enough, I will send a custom offer or my gig link.

Then I will do my job which follows my gig’s info and discussion with them before.

During and after that, if something went wrong. I will send a text to CS for help.

I hope this helps and hope you grow well on Fiverr career.

And of course, no more mean client.

Have a good time

@huykieu92 Thank You for your advice 🙂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@mendesyo - females are often brought up to “be nice”, “don’t rock the boat”, “be kind and helpful” … and the result is we all have issues with boundaries.

In business, you need boundaries: say “no” to buyers who tell you they only have $x to spend - what they’re really saying is “are you a soft touch … let’s try it with presenting as a victim”.

Say “no” to buyers who treat you badly - be honest with your response to that person’s review: polite and professional, certainly, but honest.

Don’t be afraid to hurt someone’s feelings - they aren’t afraid of hurting your feelings so say “no” before they start.

Some buyers on Fiverr are scummy. They prey on new sellers. They take advantage of sellers who want to help. Learn to recognise them - and say “no”.

Far better to say “no” than have a lot of cancellations on your profile …

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...