Unresponsive buyer

[boundless]

So I just really got started on fiverr this week (been signed up for a couple of years) and have a couple of gigs up there, and the one that’s really taking off is the voice-over. So far, it’s been a great experience, but I do have a seller who bought the gig, and gave me a script with several non-English words in it.



I immediately requested clarification - then again a couple of days later - and now the gig is 12 hours late, and I’ve still gotten NO response, but clearly also can’t deliver the gig until I know how to pronounce some of these words.



I’ve initiated a cancellation request because so far, my rating is still 100% positive and I’d like to keep it that way…but what IS the best way to deal with a non-responsive buyer?



Is it common for people to buy gigs and then just vanish?

[atechkid]

Only faced it once, The buyer and I had a deal of 12 Gigs for a new website module. AS agreed she initially bought 6 gigs as 50% milestone. I completed half the work and delivered the gigs as agreed. I did not hear from her for 5 months. I even forgot what I was working on. I just woke up and found 6 positive reviews and 6 new orders. :O)



Edit: Actually there is one more, this buyer was a frequent one and i had worked on several of his projects. The last projects for which he bought gigs is still not completed as I never heard from him again. The projects required some video reviews which he said he’ll provide from some seller who offered such service. Never got a reply.

[voiceoverwork]

@boundless



Hi,



I wouldn’t say its common for folks to vanish, but with buyers half a world away, or leading busy lives, some don’t respond timely.



In your gig instructions do you clearly state that scripts must have pronunciations?



I would not wait “a couple of days later” to follow up on clarification. Also would not wait until 12 hours late to request cancellation.



Last week I had an unresponsive buyer on the other side of the planet. I needed pronunciation of two words. I went ahead and did the script with my pronunciations and delivered well within the time frame.



At that point he got back to me immediately and said one of my pronunciations was wrong and then gave me proper pronunciation. Then it was a simple matter of inserting the proper pronunciation and redeliver, all well within the time frame.



Good luck!

🙂

[Guest mcromano]

Eh, it happens. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.



Life gets in the way, sometimes. I’ve had a buyer that was sick for two weeks on end and thus couldn’t reply. I’ve had another that had a death in the family and didn’t reply for a span of time, another who forgot and I had to re-message them…so and forth. Some people don’t check their email for weeks, some don’t know how to use the site and figure it out a bit too late. There could be a million reasons. It’s just human nature.



Sooner or later they’ll respond - it’s their money in the end. If they wanted to take advantage of you, they’d use clever methods than not answering.

[ellenwright]

Reply to @kjblynx: I’ve only been here 22 days and have had 3 of these. One of them did finally come through days later to complete the order, the second one showed up after several days requesting a cancellation and the clock is ticking on one right now as I type.