Breaking up with a buyer

[solwonder]

I got myself into a hairy scenario. A client requested a VO for his project. He briefly mentioned the format it would be used for and we did sample gig to see if it worked for him. I didn’t realize I would be doing more than one character voice…it then turned from 3 characters (and I was still willing)…he went on to place 3 orders and by the 3rd script he had 6 voices! I attempted to do them but it didn’t work out great. I explained the situation and he removed 3 of them.

This process has been painful revision after revision due to character consistency. Because the script is not conversational English I helped with that as well (no charge). I want to finish these successfully to his satisfaction but after this do not want to do multiple voices anymore as it’s way too time consuming and simply don’t offer that as a service. I have a feeling he’s going to have a MAJOR issue with this and not sure how to handle it. Has anyone had a similar issue?

[Anna]

I am afraid you should have cancelled it right away when you realized you couldn’t do it. If he didn’t mention anything about future work maybe you don’t have to bring it up just yet. If he ends up contacting you in the future for a similar project tell him you are not comfortable with this type of project and that you won’t be taking any orders with multiple voices.

[solwonder]

I am afraid you should have cancelled it right away when you realized you couldn’t do it. If he didn’t mention anything about future work maybe you don’t have to bring it up just yet. If he ends up contacting you in the future for a similar project tell him you are not comfortable with this type of project and that you won’t be taking any orders with multiple voices.

Thanks for the insight @annai80 . I honestly wouldn’t have accepted it had he informed me there would be so many…which was interesting because when I saw the 3rd character I mentioned there would be an additional charge but he placed the order himself (VS a custom order). I guess I wanted to avoid a bad review and a impact to my rating since I’m so new by cancelling. He mentioned scripts in the future so this is my concern that he’s going to have issues with my no longer offering this service. Do you recommend I complete this current order before mentioning this?

[djgodknows]

Thanks for the insight @annai80 . I honestly wouldn’t have accepted it had he informed me there would be so many…which was interesting because when I saw the 3rd character I mentioned there would be an additional charge but he placed the order himself (VS a custom order). I guess I wanted to avoid a bad review and a impact to my rating since I’m so new by cancelling. He mentioned scripts in the future so this is my concern that he’s going to have issues with my no longer offering this service. Do you recommend I complete this current order before mentioning this?

In this instance, cancellation would have been the lesser evil vs having a potential to receive a negative review.

You would know better how to interact with your client since you’ve had the most exposure to his behavioral expressions.

While remaining professional, try to converse with him as diplomatically as possible.

If he talks about future work, just don’t respond with any confirmation of your agreement to do it just yet.

If you will your delivery may be received as a lackluster one from your buyer, then you should act accordingly.

Good Luck. 👍

p.s

Are you aware that you have Vacation Mode turned on?

If so, were you aware that Vacation Mode drops your gig from search and you have to work everything over again once you return?

[solwonder]

In this instance, cancellation would have been the lesser evil vs having a potential to receive a negative review.

You would know better how to interact with your client since you’ve had the most exposure to his behavioral expressions.

While remaining professional, try to converse with him as diplomatically as possible.

If he talks about future work, just don’t respond with any confirmation of your agreement to do it just yet.

If you will your delivery may be received as a lackluster one from your buyer, then you should act accordingly.

Good Luck. 👍

p.s

Are you aware that you have Vacation Mode turned on?

If so, were you aware that Vacation Mode drops your gig from search and you have to work everything over again once you return?

@djgodknows ugh I know…and the reason for it is to catch up with this project that’s been zapping my time…I couldn’t take on more until I get this one completed so I can just be done with it.

thanks for the advice…so praying he doesn’t freak out! Do you think I should wait to mention this after I’ve completed his current orders?

[djgodknows]

@djgodknows ugh I know…and the reason for it is to catch up with this project that’s been zapping my time…I couldn’t take on more until I get this one completed so I can just be done with it.

thanks for the advice…so praying he doesn’t freak out! Do you think I should wait to mention this after I’ve completed his current orders?

Mention what exactly? Sorry a bit lost.

Next time, you should either:

a. Increase your delivery times on your gigs, (maybe like 30 days), this will deter buyers from ordering your gig, but the gig will still retain ranking.

or

b. Turn on “Limit Orders” (this effects ranking, but still controls your gig queue)

[solwonder]

Mention what exactly? Sorry a bit lost.

Next time, you should either:

a. Increase your delivery times on your gigs, (maybe like 30 days), this will deter buyers from ordering your gig, but the gig will still retain ranking.

or

b. Turn on “Limit Orders” (this effects ranking, but still controls your gig queue)

Mention I won’t be offering this service…since he has already mentioned bringing more of these scripts with multiple voices to me…

[solwonder]

Mention what exactly? Sorry a bit lost.

Next time, you should either:

a. Increase your delivery times on your gigs, (maybe like 30 days), this will deter buyers from ordering your gig, but the gig will still retain ranking.

or

b. Turn on “Limit Orders” (this effects ranking, but still controls your gig queue)

a. Increase your delivery times on your gigs, (maybe like 30 days), this will deter buyers from ordering your gig, but the gig will still retain ranking.

great idea! never crossed my mind! thanks

Thanks for all your help!!

[djgodknows]

Mention I won’t be offering this service…since he has already mentioned bringing more of these scripts with multiple voices to me…

Always think twice before volunteering information.

That’s what I personally follow.

So i think you should conclude current business in hand before notifying of future obligations.

My 2 cents.

[Anna]

Always think twice before volunteering information.

That’s what I personally follow.

So i think you should conclude current business in hand before notifying of future obligations.

My 2 cents.

So i think you should conclude current business in hand before notifying of future obligations.

Yes, I agree. I would finish this first and then go from there. Good luck with this, it surely sounds like a pain. I commend you for at least trying and not giving up. 🍻

[nikavoice]

DJ and Anna offered great advice. 👍

To prevent other issues down the line, involving multiple character voices. Add a disclaimer to your gig description or FAQ section outlining your character voices gig terms. For e.g., Ask buyers to request a custom order for said services etc… Six character voices are very challenging, time-consuming and you should be paid accordingly.

[solwonder]

DJ and Anna offered great advice. 👍

To prevent other issues down the line, involving multiple character voices. Add a disclaimer to your gig description or FAQ section outlining your character voices gig terms. For e.g., Ask buyers to request a custom order for said services etc… Six character voices are very challenging, time-consuming and you should be paid accordingly.

Thanks Nika! I updated it out of sheer frustration this week! 😂 Funny part is when I first started off on Fiverr I saw many other VO artists also had this disclaimer and I wondered why…now I know!

@annai80 thank you I will definitely wait it out.

I appreciate the responses !