Should I respond to this review?

[creative_ed]

Hey everyone, I recently got a pretty unfairly bad review from a buyer on my gig. It really disapointed and frustrated me.

There was this buyer that contacted me asking for quote for his order. I said what was the price (55$) but the buyer said the price was to high for him. I understand, I haven’t had money for a long time, I want for people that have less money or live in countries where the coin value is much lower value to still be able to have access to my work. As long as it doesn’t become a norm I don’t mind dropping the price a little. So I did, after some discussion I agreed to do the work for 30$. After the order was active the buyer than started asking for extra stuff that I don’t offer, like send separate layers of the image and stuff like that. And, although I don’t offer that, I honestly don’t mind, it’s not that much more work anyway. But of course it was already making me frustrated because, for someone who is knowingly paying way less than the standard price, he sure is making some demands. But alright, I’ll do it.

Overall the order went smoothly enough, I did everything I promised and with good quality. At some point I even re-did the character he wanted because he just changed his mind about the design. He was always with a very demanding attitude as well, but I didn’t let it affect me and kept responding with a positive attitude.
Then I delivered, on time, buyer did not ask for revisions, just accepted it. I write my 5 star review “Nice experience” which most of the time means, “I didn’t like it that much but it wasn’t too bad either”.

…

And I get a 3.3 review… Wow, thanks, really glad I helped you out now. And the most absurd thing is that he doesn’t even complain about a single thing on his written review, just gives me a bad review because he’s in a bad mood or something. Who knows.

I don’t know if I should respond to this review or not. In one side I think it’s a pretty unfair review and I feel like I should defend myself, in the other side, I don’t want to look like I’m whining about it.

What do you think?

[langahsahiib]

I’m sorry this happened to you.Don’t ask the buyer about the review change etc.
You can still respond to his feedback on order page.
Clarify the situation and move on

[coerdelion]

Clarify the position - professionally - then block the buyer.

I never negotiate. Buyers who want discounts are generally a lot of work.

[parradesigns]

The way I would deal with it is to respond to the review with something like:

‘I would never want a client to review unless they are completely satisfied, please let me know during the order in future rather than reviewing so that I can amend it and provide a service you love. Thank you.’

I think that’s a good message both for this buyer and for clients reading the review, shows that you have acknowledged it and were trying to do your part / were not entirely at fault for the review.

[zerlina84]

You were really nice… unfortunately, asking for discounts is a big red flag, especially when you’ve never worked for them before, so you have no idea about the type of person you are dealing with.

Next time, just politely decline it, say thanks and block the person. That’s my advice.

Regarding the review, because it’s just a less good rating but not a bad written review, I can’t think of anything you could say to make it better. Just forget it and move on, I guess. Sorry this happened to you.

[j6nyc6]

You were being a push-over from the start. Once they asked for a discount you should’ve declined, instead you fell right into their trap. Once they got away with the discount they decided to try their luck even further by asking for things that weren’t part of the deal. Once again you failed to stand your ground and instead caved in to their demands.

I understand you are trying to be professional and deliver an all-around 5 star experience, but a professional sets guidelines to follow and you failed to stick to them.

Reply to the review, it’s your right as a seller to do so.

“I tried my best to accommodate the buyer, even offered to do work not included in the original agreement. All though they weren’t completely satisfied, I feel like I delivered way beyond what was asked of me.”

[alyonagrapie]

I’m not an expert on the matter, but whenever I am in the shoes of a buyer/client I like to read seller’s responses to negative feedback. As long as it is civilised, doesn’t come out as passive aggressive, addresses the issues buyer brought up and sheds some light on the whole situation.

[creative_ed]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond and for your advice, it was very insightful, I really apretiate it. Thank you for the help on what I should write as a response as well, I was struggling to find the correct words, what you wrote is very very helpful.

Thank you!

[nicolaevici1]

Raise your prices and never negociate.

[humanissocial]

A review is your opportunity to tell your side of the story, so I would do that politely, but without a grievance about the rating.

A rating is subjective, so you can’t really argue that part without looking petty.

[gwyneth_galvin]

You learned a great lesson with this order, regardless of the review. Anyone who wants to negotiate $50 (which is NOT expensive for a custom design) has started off by not respecting your boundaries/prices. That person is not going to he any fun to work with.