Check the wordcount!

[gwyneth_galvin]

Hey fellow voice-over artists, script writers, bloggers, editors, and other lovely folks working on a word-count basis!

Always copy and paste your buyer’s script into a word counter or check the word count on Microsoft Word.

I can usually eyeball the shorter scripts and see if it’s less than 150 words etc., but for anything over 200 words or so I always double check.

A few weeks back I was up to my neck in orders and got a bit overwhelmed and I guess I forgot to check this script I received from a very friendly buyer. They paid for up to 300 words, I recorded it and sent it their way, they loved it, the end.

They just ordered again yesterday… Up to 300 words again. When I opened the file it looked way too long for 300 words. I was right, it’s 660! The cheek of it!

But no, this could just be a mistake. Fiverr can be glitchy and maybe they accidentally hit “3” instead of “6” right?

So I checked the first order I did for them weeks ago. Same thing. 300 words paid for, 600+ word script.

I’ve sent them an extra for an additional 600 words because there’s no way that was an accident both times. They’ll probably decline, and I’ll probably end up cancelling because it’s not worth the grief and I have the cancellations to spare.

Does anybody know if CS would back me up on this and require the buyer to pay for what they’ve requested? I realize it’s unlikely, don’t crucify me for asking lol, just curious if anyone has a similar experience. Ta 🙂

[miiila]

I can’t tell you about an experience with support over this thing but the last 3 times in a row that the word count was so far above what was ordered that I sent an extra, it got accepted and everyone was nice about it.

I have the impression that some buyers aren’t quite aware that they could ask for a custom offer if their word count doesn’t match the gig tiers, but of course there also those who do that on purpose, so good luck with this one.

[gwyneth_galvin]

I can’t tell you about an experience with support over this thing but the last 3 times in a row that the word count was so far above what was ordered that I sent an extra, it got accepted and everyone was nice about it.

I have the impression that some buyers aren’t quite aware that they could ask for a custom offer if their word count doesn’t match the gig tiers, but of course there also those who do that on purpose, so good luck with this one.

Yeah I did send an extra for the total missed words from BOTH orders, so doubtful they will accept.

I have a hard time believing this was an accident, because they entered a word count higher than my base word count (150 words), so they knew they had to enter the exact amount for their script. So frustrating!

[miiila]

Yeah I did send an extra for the total missed words from BOTH orders, so doubtful they will accept.

I have a hard time believing this was an accident, because they entered a word count higher than my base word count (150 words), so they knew they had to enter the exact amount for their script. So frustrating!

Ah, I see, yes, if they entered the word count, that’s a different story, for my category/gigs it’s more that they order a gig that includes 500 words and send 800 rather than ordering the 1000 words gig, or they don’t have a file and say “can’t be more than x words”, and then it’s 5*x words or so. 😉

Well, I hope the buyer will react okay when called out, or that support will back you, I guess that would probably mean they’d offer to “cancel with the least possible effect on your account”, though, if you can’t work it out with the buyer.