Threatened with a bad review, refund demanded

[brettstadelmann]

Dear friends,

I wasn’t sure about posting this, but I feel so awful about it that I feel I need some support, or words of advice.

Received this from a buyer:

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I’m sorry but I saw this content, and there were literally 40 pages where there were no edits. My client took a look at it and literally said that it was a piece of shit job. Thanks for embarrassing me. Kindly refund my fees otherwise I will crucify you with my ratings.

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It was a 1,000-page job; so, yes, there probably were at least 40 pages where I felt no edits were needed.

I don’t care about ratings, but this makes me feel so gross that I will probably just refund the order. Nevertheless, any words of advice or reassurance would be welcome.

Thanks,
Brett

[sue_mcl]

Brett you should send a copy of that message through to fiverr customer service, as buyers aren’t allowed to threaten you with a bad review to get a refund, not cool.

[marleen_seo]

@brettstadelmann Sorry to hear about this.
tell the Buyers that the 40 pages do not require any editing if he insist then do the required editing as per his instructions. Also, don’t refund if you have Delivered Good work.!

[jeanvictor]

Hi Brett,

I’m sorry about your bad experience with the buyer, I had couple similar situations in the past but at the end everything was sorted out, communication is key try first to offer revisions in the 40 pages and see if the buyer is flexible otherwise you can offer a partial refund put a value on the 40 pages, ex: 40 pages for 20$ your initial order was for 300$ so you can use custumers support to follow you during this process you will need to send a custom offer of 280$ (the pages you did) and cancel the 300$ order.

The negative feedback will be deleted from the completed 280$ order.

Mod Note: There are no guarantees at all that a negative review will be removed under any circumstances including partial or full refund. Support makes decisions on a case by case basis and reviews are rarely removed.

[vickiespencer]

Oh, my. What a 🍑 of a buyer. I agree on contacting customer service. You put in a lot of your time and you deserve to be paid. Fiverr ToS forbid this kind of behavior on the part of buyers. You have a chance to write a rebuttal to his review. Make it a good one that addresses the issue you mentioned.

[vickiespencer]

Hi Brett,

I’m sorry about your bad experience with the buyer, I had couple similar situations in the past but at the end everything was sorted out, communication is key try first to offer revisions in the 40 pages and see if the buyer is flexible otherwise you can offer a partial refund put a value on the 40 pages, ex: 40 pages for 20$ your initial order was for 300$ so you can use custumers support to follow you during this process you will need to send a custom offer of 280$ (the pages you did) and cancel the 300$ order.

The negative feedback will be deleted from the completed 280$ order.

Mod Note: There are no guarantees at all that a negative review will be removed under any circumstances including partial or full refund. Support makes decisions on a case by case basis and reviews are rarely removed.

The negative feedback will be deleted from the completed 280$ order.

It will? That is a surprise to me.

[vickiespencer]

Yes, he has proof that the seller is threatening to leave a negative feedback, i had similar situation and did a partial refund + feedback removal

Mod Note: There are no guarantees at all that a negative review will be removed under any circumstances including partial or full refund. Support makes decisions on a case by case basis and reviews are rarely removed.

@jeanvictor

That is very good to know.😄

[vickiespencer]

It is not right that the buyers threaten sellers in this way. I think it is intentional to get free work. They know how desperate some people are for starting their businesses and for keeping their levels. Actions of these kinds of buyers are despicable. 🤨

[brettstadelmann]

Thanks to all of you for chipping in with support.
I’ve forwarded his message on to Customer Service, so we’ll see what happens.

[misscrystal]

Let’s hope his situation is handled that way but there is no promise that it will be!

Let us wait and see what CS does about it.

[brettstadelmann]

CS has replied. Their copy-and-pasted response suggested I work with the buyer to see that his needs were met.

I suppose I should have expected that.

There’s no way I’ll continue to work with someone who has threatened me, so I’ve requested that they simply refund the order.

I’m sorry, everyone. I know I should fight this, I know that this guy will probably just keep doing this to other people, but I can’t afford this kind of stress in my life right now. Please forgive my lack of courage.

Thanks again to all of you. You’ve really helped me through quite an awful day.

[vickiespencer]

CS has replied. Their copy-and-pasted response suggested I work with the buyer to see that his needs were met.

I suppose I should have expected that.

There’s no way I’ll continue to work with someone who has threatened me, so I’ve requested that they simply refund the order.

I’m sorry, everyone. I know I should fight this, I know that this guy will probably just keep doing this to other people, but I can’t afford this kind of stress in my life right now. Please forgive my lack of courage.

Thanks again to all of you. You’ve really helped me through quite an awful day.

I am disappointed in CS’s lack of support after you were threatened. However, I understand about not wanting to take the hit to your stats. It is not worth the stress to even deal with a person like that. Good luck on future orders.

[misscrystal]

CS has replied. Their copy-and-pasted response suggested I work with the buyer to see that his needs were met.

I suppose I should have expected that.

There’s no way I’ll continue to work with someone who has threatened me, so I’ve requested that they simply refund the order.

I’m sorry, everyone. I know I should fight this, I know that this guy will probably just keep doing this to other people, but I can’t afford this kind of stress in my life right now. Please forgive my lack of courage.

Thanks again to all of you. You’ve really helped me through quite an awful day.

I don’t see any gigs for you. Did you pause them? Please do not let this discourage you from continuing on fiverr. I’m so sorry this happened to you.

[cyaxrex]

CS has replied. Their copy-and-pasted response suggested I work with the buyer to see that his needs were met.

I suppose I should have expected that.

There’s no way I’ll continue to work with someone who has threatened me, so I’ve requested that they simply refund the order.

I’m sorry, everyone. I know I should fight this, I know that this guy will probably just keep doing this to other people, but I can’t afford this kind of stress in my life right now. Please forgive my lack of courage.

Thanks again to all of you. You’ve really helped me through quite an awful day.

I’m sorry but you can’t let this buyer get away with this. If this order has been cancelled, you need to remember that you own the rights to the work you have created.

In this case, you now have every right (if your work is published/used) to find this online or find the real company making use of it and demand that they cease using it immediately.

I have said this repeatedly on the forum. Buyers like this are resellers. Their end clients have no idea that you have not been paid. Make this matter known to them and they will reign hellfire on what is likely a pretend translation company charging megabucks for your material.

Good luck and I’m so sorry this has happened. As far as CS is concerned, there simply isn’t an excuse for sending robotic replies like this every time.

[brettstadelmann]

I am disappointed in CS’s lack of support after you were threatened. However, I understand about not wanting to take the hit to your stats. It is not worth the stress to even deal with a person like that. Good luck on future orders.

Thanks, Vickie 🙂

[brettstadelmann]

I don’t see any gigs for you. Did you pause them? Please do not let this discourage you from continuing on fiverr. I’m so sorry this happened to you.

I did pause them, but only because I’m currently moving house. Fear not, this won’t discourage me 🙂

[brettstadelmann]

I’m sorry but you can’t let this buyer get away with this. If this order has been cancelled, you need to remember that you own the rights to the work you have created.

In this case, you now have every right (if your work is published/used) to find this online or find the real company making use of it and demand that they cease using it immediately.

I have said this repeatedly on the forum. Buyers like this are resellers. Their end clients have no idea that you have not been paid. Make this matter known to them and they will reign hellfire on what is likely a pretend translation company charging megabucks for your material.

Good luck and I’m so sorry this has happened. As far as CS is concerned, there simply isn’t an excuse for sending robotic replies like this every time.

Thanks, this is actually a great idea. It was obvious whom he was selling it on to–the author’s page was at the front of the book–so I’ll keep an eye out for published work in case it contains any of my words. Excellent.

[catwriter]

Thanks, this is actually a great idea. It was obvious whom he was selling it on to–the author’s page was at the front of the book–so I’ll keep an eye out for published work in case it contains any of my words. Excellent.

I’ve already figured out whom he’s selling it on to, so I’ll keep an eye out for published work in case it contains any of my words.

Just be very, very careful with this, because of the confidentiality rule, and no-contact-outside-of-Fiverr rule.

[cyaxrex]

Thanks, this is actually a great idea. It was obvious whom he was selling it on to–the author’s page was at the front of the book–so I’ll keep an eye out for published work in case it contains any of my words. Excellent.

Yeah, what has happened to you is exactly why I don’t accept large orders on Fiverr. Monthly demotions or not, if a buyer orders $50-$100 of work from an account which was just created, 9 times out of 10 I cancel.

Also, be warned that sellers who are forced to cancel or who have orders canceled repeatedly after delivery because of Paypal chargebacks, often have the same problem happen over and over. This is because once a buyer knows they can get away with it with you, they will order again from a different account. This is why I have a scorched Earth policy when it comes to miscreants like this.

I had one buyer who was placing repeat orders with me every day prior to the new year. Lots of red flags then started to pop up and I know (because of comments on the website I was writing for) that at least one Fiverr seller ended up working for free because of a chargeback.

In the end, I made it clear what would happen if payment was reversed on any of my own orders and the buyer did a runner.

Trust your gut and never let yourself be walked over.

[brettstadelmann]

I’ve already figured out whom he’s selling it on to, so I’ll keep an eye out for published work in case it contains any of my words.

Just be very, very careful with this, because of the confidentiality rule, and no-contact-outside-of-Fiverr rule.

Excellent point. I would never contact the final buyer directly. Thanks, catwriter.

[newsmike]

I’ve already figured out whom he’s selling it on to, so I’ll keep an eye out for published work in case it contains any of my words.

Just be very, very careful with this, because of the confidentiality rule, and no-contact-outside-of-Fiverr rule.

Just be very, very careful with this, because of the confidentiality rule, and no-contact-outside-of-Fiverr rule.

That got me wondering, the TOS prevents you from having off site communications with a buyer/seller (meaning a member of fiverr.) I just took a quick look and can’t see how TOS could possibly prevent you from firing off an email from a private account to the end user (who is not anyone you have any fiverr relationship with) and say something along the lines of.

Hi Mr. third party,

I just wanted to let you know that I was contracted on a freelancing website called fiverr by a Mr. Crappy buyer who hired me to edit text for your book. Just to let you know, that seller has taken my work and cancelled the order, so I thought you might appreciate knowing that the work is not licensed to be used in your project. Further, while acting as your agent Mr. Crappy buyer also threatened me by saying " Kindly refund my fees otherwise I will crucify you with my ratings."

I am advising just in case they claim that they paid me and attempt to collect the fees associated with the job from you.

Sincerely… etc etc.

[cyaxrex]

Just be very, very careful with this, because of the confidentiality rule, and no-contact-outside-of-Fiverr rule.

That got me wondering, the TOS prevents you from having off site communications with a buyer/seller (meaning a member of fiverr.) I just took a quick look and can’t see how TOS could possibly prevent you from firing off an email from a private account to the end user (who is not anyone you have any fiverr relationship with) and say something along the lines of.

Hi Mr. third party,

I just wanted to let you know that I was contracted on a freelancing website called fiverr by a Mr. Crappy buyer who hired me to edit text for your book. Just to let you know, that seller has taken my work and cancelled the order, so I thought you might appreciate knowing that the work is not licensed to be used in your project. Further, while acting as your agent Mr. Crappy buyer also threatened me by saying " Kindly refund my fees otherwise I will crucify you with my ratings."

I am advising just in case they claim that they paid me and attempt to collect the fees associated with the job from you.

Sincerely… etc etc.

I just took a quick look and can’t see how TOS could possibly prevent you from firing off an email from a private account to the end user (who is not anyone you have any fiverr relationship with) and say something along the lines of.

I did first did this on Elance when in my freelance early days, a buyer refused to pay for a 60,000 diet book but published it anyway. They complained to Elance due to the fact that I had decided that if the buyer wasn’t paying up, the book was mine and mine to publish on Amazon. I not only won but also won in regard to having the clients version of the book removed from Amazon.

As far as I am concerned there is no freelance website policy anywhere which can argue against my right to prohibit use of material I have created if that material has not been paid for.

In this particular case, the buyer has gone to CS, they have refused to help and with the order now having been canceled, the seller has no obligation to the buyer to allow them to use their work. It’s that simple.

[newsmike]

I just took a quick look and can’t see how TOS could possibly prevent you from firing off an email from a private account to the end user (who is not anyone you have any fiverr relationship with) and say something along the lines of.

I did first did this on Elance when in my freelance early days, a buyer refused to pay for a 60,000 diet book but published it anyway. They complained to Elance due to the fact that I had decided that if the buyer wasn’t paying up, the book was mine and mine to publish on Amazon. I not only won but also won in regard to having the clients version of the book removed from Amazon.

As far as I am concerned there is no freelance website policy anywhere which can argue against my right to prohibit use of material I have created if that material has not been paid for.

In this particular case, the buyer has gone to CS, they have refused to help and with the order now having been canceled, the seller has no obligation to the buyer to allow them to use their work. It’s that simple.

Agree. 20 characters

[misscrystal]

Agree. 20 characters

@newsmike You’ve probably given at least 3 people an idea.

[fastcopywriter]

Strange, how come you don’t have any gigs? I went to your profile and it says
"brettstadelmann doesn’t have any Gigs to display"

I’m also surprised at the lenght. Very few books are 1,000 pages, most are 300 to 500. Was it a legal document? I hear some of those can be very long.

Your client is horrible, you have the following options.

A. Refund and avoid the bad review
B. Report the buyer to customer service, and still get a bad review
C. Deliver and have the buyer do a PayPal chargeback
D. Deliver and nothing happens

How much did you get paid to do this? How long did it took you?

Your experience is exactly why I refuse large jobs. I don’t want one client paying me $200 or even $500. I want several clients paying $10, $20, $30.