Why communicating through skype is not allowed?

#1

Today i have been degraded from level one seller which i had earned through very very hard work. I received 2nd warning from fiverr that i requested payment outside fiverr which i NEVER requested from any client. I am feeling like i am punished for crime that i had never committed.

It is a fact that out of total orders more than 70% orders i got were only placed by buyer when i communicated through skype to understand their project. I know that communicating through skype is only allowed if it is necessary for the order but i want to know how can someone place me an order when seller and buyer are not able to understand the project clearly?? I use skype only when i feel that things are not clear from the buyers side and also to avoid miscommunication and misunderstanding from buyer side.

In my start i had two orders from clients that were miscommunicated from buyer side. I cancelled 1 order only due to miscommunication while had to do extra work for the 2nd client only because of miscommunication. I request fiverr team to allow skype or implement some audio call system in fiverr so that the communication gets better as i think messaging is not a proper way to communicate and had leads to breakup of relationships in my case and so it can lead to miscommunication too from buyer.

I never requested any client for paying me outside fiverr as i cannot trust buyers from different regions. Fiverr is the only platform that gives me this safety that i will receive payment for my services. I always ask clients to place me order through fiverr and even my own clients that have came through my references are now part of fiverr and they place me orders through fiverr not through direct payment.

I want someone from fiverr team to reply me that issue. Also i request fiverr team to tell me in detail what have i done wrong other than that payment request from outside fiverr as i never did that and NEVER will do that in future.

I am feeling exhausted right now. I had worked very very very hard and spent my days and nights to earn that level one badge. I never want to lose it in anyway. I request fiverr team members to please, please, please review my account again. I will be very thankful.

#2

Here’s how to contact them:
https://fiverr.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

We’re all just buyers and sellers like you.

#3

I had already reported to fiverr but i felt like i should share with other members too

#4

That’s great that you wanted to share, but you wanted Fiverr to reply to you, so that’s why I gave you the contact details.

Skype communication is usually fine with CS if you ask them before you setup the gig - I assume you did this? Just using Skype without asking them first would lead to the problems you’ve had.

Hope you get it sorted! :slightly_smiling_face:

#5

I only use skype for better communication and understanding the project and i always ask my clients as well as those clients which talk to me from fiverr to place orders through fiverr. The warning i received says that i had requested payment outside fiverr which i had NEVER done and will not NEVER do as i think fiverr is the platform that gives me and the buyers safety.

#6

From here:
https://sellers.fiverr.com/en/article/communication
Keep all communications within Fiverr. This is the only way Fiverr can protect you and your rights.

Fiverr makes the rules - we’ve got to stick to them, whether we like them or not - sorry. :frowning:

If you want to use Skype (that’s the outside Fiverr bit) just ask CS before you do it - dead easy! :slightly_smiling_face:

#7

It is a fact that out of total orders more than 70% orders i got were only placed by buyer when i communicated through skype to understand their project.

#8

Can we share Skype details if buyer place oder 1st?

#9

I think fiverr should have a audio call system too (suggestion) if they don’t want to allow skype. 2ndly for every order if i continue asking CS support team, i will lose the buyers order as they don’t want to wait as well as i will disturb the fiverr team too

#10

Only if you sort it out with CS beforehand.

Yes - but that broke Fiverr’s rules - sorry.

#11

That is totally a very very very bad rule as i had faced too many miscommunications in messages. When you are face to face with somebody, you can cheat them

#12

How would being able to cheat somebody be an improvement?

#13

Let me tell you what had happened with me when i say miscommunication with buyers. A client has asked me to do SEO but as his english was not good so i was not able to understand him properly. He asked me to SEO with descriptions and titles so i thought he is asking for meta titles and meta description which is part of SEO so i asked for clarification of descriptions. He continuously used word “descriptions” and ultimately when i completed more than 1000 products and pages and delivered the order, he denied it saying that descriptions of every product is remaining but i had written every meta description of every product and page so i asked him for a skype call in which he told me that he thought the meta description are same as the product description so he placed the order. I was very puzzled as it took me more than a week to do his order so it ended up by doing extra work of again 1000 products and pages description without getting any payment as he threatened me to report to fiverr if i don’t do.

#14

Good stuff! Hope it all works out for you! :slightly_smiling_face:

#15

If I understood CS right, you only need to get them to “preapprove” your gig itself as one for which skype communication is or may be needed, and subsequently, you can use skype for all orders of that specific gig. Any communication about that, i.e. telling the user your ID etc. has to happen on the order page, not in the “normal” inbox messages.

I´d try to write up a short and precise explanation of why you need to communicate via skype and ask them if that´s okay for your gig xyz. And screenshot their reply if they say it´s okay, to have it handy whenever there´s a problem because of that.

#16

Ok now i understand where i am wrong. I will send a email to fiverr team in this case to get skype call approved for my gigs

#17

Could you help me understand how a skype chat will help you understand the project well? Will the buyer draw a map of how he or she wants things done. Isn’t what you are talking about able to be conveyed directly in the fiverr chat and make the same meaning. If the buyer tells you through skype that they want a cartoon jumping and another buyer tells you through fiverr that they want a jumping cartoon. What will be the difference.

#18

I actually do my best to keep everything on Fiverr because then all communications are in writing (i.e. that can be admissible in court or to customer service or trust & safety, etc.) on this platform. It’s part of the reason I’m willing to both take a pay cut (over customers on my own website) and share profits with Fiverr — they provide additional arbitration and protection, and hold money in escrow, etc.

All communication through Skype, even if approved by Fiverr as OK, cannot be used if there is a dispute with the customer. I sometimes have to point out to a customer something they said in the chat, to explain why I did something in a way they didn’t intend.

I send screenshots, I ask for clarification, I repeat back the details of the order in my own words, etc. and when the order is placed, I take the bare-bones specifications and put them into the order details or copy them into the order conversation and say “Putting this here for us both to be able to refer to during the order.”

During your Skype calls, make sure you write out the order specifications, and after the call, send them back to the buyer for approval. This way the details are back on the Fiverr system. “To review our verbal discussion as I understand it:” and put all the specs for your order. Also use the same copy-paste specs in the order itself. There’s an abbreviation for this out in the business world. CYA…Cover Your Assets. Or something like that.

#19

Remember there are few words restricted to use while you making conversation with buyer. Maybe you used any word mistakenly and If i figuring out Skype then maybe huge number of sellers will be disappear.

#20

Sometime a client does not give me access to their website and so i have to do a skype call with screen share to complete the order by guiding them what he needs to do