Canceled order or bad review? Which is preferable?

[kendal1747]

On 3/23/2020 at 8:48 PM, articulateasian said:

Like other said, it’s almost a lose/lose situation. That can happen sometimes with difficult buyers as the structure of the platform often caters to the Buyer experience over the Sellers.

That being said, when considering which would hurt less, like @mariashtelle1 stated, a negative review will stay with you much longer. You shouldn’t really feel the effects of a canceled order after 60 days, but you’d be hard pressed to recover from a 1 star review. This is mostly true as you are a relatively new Seller. If you had hundreds of reviews, one negative review wouldn’t be too big of a deal. But if you have 10 reviews, a 1 star obviously has a greater impact.

Could you please give me some guidance on this? I have a buyer that was late getting the script to me after he purchased the order. I sent the finished audio to him in under 12 hours. He never responded until 48 hours later. He sent a revision request. I have repeatedly asked what type of revision that he wanted or if something needed to be changed. He only said that he would get back to me in a couple of hours and that was yesterday at 6:04am. Since it is in revision, it says 3 days late. What should I do? Thanking you in advance.

[kendal1747]

On 9/3/2021 at 6:50 PM, gajuseidi said:

I've had a similar choice to make not too long ago. In the topic below me and other forum users had an extensive discussion about this bad review vs cancellation dilemma, you might find it useful.

What happened? Were you demoted or ? I only have about 60 jobs that I have completed. I am about to get to level two, but this would probably stop that. The Buyer paid for the job and was late sending me the script. I had to ask a couple times for this. When I did get receive it, then I completed it in under 12 hours and never heard from him until 48 hours later. He rejected it and wants a revision. I have asked him repeatedly for information as to what he wants changed and he doesn't answer me. I was told yesterday at about 6:00am that he would get back to me in a couple of hours. The job now says 3 days late? What should I do?Or more importantly what can I do to mitigate the lesser of the two evils, cancellation or a bad review? Thanking you in advance. Any suggestions?

[gajuseidi]

21 minutes ago, kendal1747 said:

What happened? Were you demoted or ? I only have about 60 jobs that I have completed. I am about to get to level two, but this would probably stop that. The Buyer paid for the job and was late sending me the script. I had to ask a couple times for this. When I did get receive it, then I completed it in under 12 hours and never heard from him until 48 hours later. He rejected it and wants a revision. I have asked him repeatedly for information as to what he wants changed and he doesn't answer me. I was told yesterday at about 6:00am that he would get back to me in a couple of hours. The job now says 3 days late? What should I do?Or more importantly what can I do to mitigate the lesser of the two evils, cancellation or a bad review? Thanking you in advance. Any suggestions?

Have you completed your initial delivery before the deadline? If so, the big red "being late" counter after the revision request does not mean anything. It is an annoying feature of the platform that fiverr just does not care to fix. It depends on the volume of orders that you have completed in the last 60 days. For me personally, order completion rate dropped to 98% and now it has recovered to 99%. It might have influenced my search standings, but what happens, happens. The buyer seems to be a hassle to deal with, so you have to decide. The ratings stay on the platform forever, while completion rate does recover over time.

[doris54]

Its better to cancel, than bad review, i have experienced this, so i always choose to cancel and after two months i get back to normal

[nickj2013]

On 3/23/2020 at 7:31 PM, mrs_write said:

Hello, fellow Fiverrers! 🙂 I searched for an answer on this topic, but, after some reading, I’m still not sure what the best option would be in my case.

Long story s̶h̶o̶r̶t̶ long (I also posted a synopsis in my first post below): I have been a seller since the end of October 2019 and have since provided work which was well received by all my previous buyers (one of them returned for a second order).

Last Friday, I received an order. At first, it all seemed normal: the buyer had provided the information in my requirements form, I reached out to them, thanked them for choosing me, assured them I would deliver the work within the deadline and asked if they had additional specifications. They said they did not.

I delivered the work 10 hours after the order was placed (out of the total 24 hours deadline). When delivering the order, I summarized the creative process, reassuring them that I had taken all their requirements into consideration.

For the next 2 days, I received no feedback/sign from the buyer, despite the order chat showing that they had repeatedly been online during this time.

Suddenly, they request a revision (I offer 1 free revision). In the message accompanying the revision request, the buyer starts having a condescending attitude, saying that the only 2 versions they liked (out of the 10 I provided, according to my gig description) are not original. They said they were already used by their competitors. I googled those specific slogans and found nothing like that. I should mention that my gig does not offer competitor research and that I am very involved in the creative process, as I am very passionate with writing. I have never used generators, nor have I plagiarized existing slogans.

I had provided 8 creative slogans, and 2 more general ones, all of them according to the buyer’s requirements.

Although in my FAQ, as well as when I deliver my orders, I clearly specify that, for my gig, a revision means slightly modifying/adapting the initial work, not doing the work differently from scratch, I pondered whether risking a bad review would be worth it, and I decided to make an exception and provide 10 new slogans, following the direction of those 2 slogans that the buyer had indicated they liked. I made sure to inform the customer about this, in a friendly and professional manner, focusing on the fact that I will re-do the work in order to have an efficient and fruitful collaboration.

I provided the second batch within hours. Again, the buyer kept silent for almost 24 hours, after which they requested another revision (although I only offer 1 for free, and they did not buy the extra for this), simply saying “I do not like any of the revisions. The slogans provided are not original as advertised.” Shortly after, they requested me to cancel the order.

In the Terms of Service, it is stated that: Orders are not eligible to be cancelled based on the quality of service/materials delivered by the Seller if the service was rendered as described in the Gig Page. Buyers may rate their experience with the Seller on the Order Page, including the overall level of service quality received.

The situation this buyer has put me in is not fair at all. If I cancel, this would basically mean that I did a double amount of work for free (not to mention the stress and the efforts I made in order to provide a timely delivery). I am much convinced that this buyer only wanted work for free. I delivered them 20 slogans and now they want their money back.

On the other hand, if I do not cancel, I am convinced they will leave a negative review (judging by their attitude, I would not be surprised if they left a 1 star review). My gig has a general 5-star review, based on 10 reviews and I am very close to becoming a Level 1 seller.

What would you advice me to do? Cancel the order and lose money/time/energy but maintain my good rating? Would this cancelling affect my statistics, being that this would be my first ever canceling? Or address CS and, if the order does not get canceled, risking a 1 or 2 stars review, which could mess up my Level 1 upgrade and possibly influence future buyers into not ordering from me?

Thank you in advance and sorry for this long post! I felt that painting the whole picture would be necessary when seeking advice.

In this scenario, you always swallow the bad review. It’s a bitter pill sure, but you did a robust amount of work to fill the clients order. I’ve dealt with situations like this in the past, and you always take the hard earned money. 

[donnovan86]

2 hours ago, nickj2013 said:

In this scenario, you always swallow the bad review. It’s a bitter pill sure, but you did a robust amount of work to fill the clients order. I’ve dealt with situations like this in the past, and you always take the hard earned money. 

If you have lots of reviews yes, you take the bad review since it's not making a difference. But if you just have a few reviews, you cancel. It will cause a lot of damage to have a bad review if you're just starting and you have 4, 10 reviews  for example.

[anisocialmarket]

Talk with customer support, sometimes it is better to cancel the order and they can make sure that it doesn't affect your order completition rate. Show them proof that the buyer has an abusive behaviour and he is not professional at all. Usually in cases like this they are very understanding. 

Good luck 🙂

[nickj2013]

4 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

If you have lots of reviews yes, you take the bad review since it's not making a difference. But if you just have a few reviews, you cancel. It will cause a lot of damage to have a bad review if you're just starting and you have 4, 10 reviews  for example.

I disagree. It’s about setting a certain precedent. If you let dishonest clients know early in the game that you fold under pressure and are willing to ‘work for free,’ they’ll keep pulling the same stunt over and over again. 
 

The only way, imo, you ever initiate a cancellation after filling the order, is if your work wasn’t sufficient due to an error or bad effort on your end. In this case, the client told her they were satisfied with their order. Then returned later to ‘claim’ they weren’t, with an abusive attitude to boot. Always a red flag. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by nickj2013

[donnovan86]

Do whatever you want man. There are cases when people are unhappy after they browse the delivery in more detail. Anyway, you can block these people and report them to Fiverr.  

I still believe that as a newcomer canceling is still the right thing to do. If you want to build up your profile, a negative review hurts you. I saw a competitor with less than 100 reviews on the first page. He received a negative review, he's nowhere to be found in search. So that also affects your ranking and stuff. So in this case, just canceling and move on is the best idea.

Of course you shouldn't always cancel. But as I said, as a newcomer, things are tricky.

[imran_hosssain]

It's depends on situations.

 

[kendal1747]

8 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

If you have lots of reviews yes, you take the bad review since it's not making a difference. But if you just have a few reviews, you cancel. It will cause a lot of damage to have a bad review if you're just starting and you have 4, 10 reviews  for example.

Hi,

I only have 40 reviews and a 5 star rating. I have finished 60 jobs. I work full time and hope one day to be able to quit my job and do this full time. Which is best for me? Cancelling the job or taking a bad review? Can you give me a scenario? Thanks in advance. 

[donnovan86]

3 hours ago, kendal1747 said:

I work full time and hope one day to be able to quit my job and do this full time.

Can you describe your situation with more details? What did the buyer do, etc? 

[nickj2013]

6 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

Do whatever you want man. There are cases when people are unhappy after they browse the delivery in more detail. Anyway, you can block these people and report them to Fiverr.  

I still believe that as a newcomer canceling is still the right thing to do. If you want to build up your profile, a negative review hurts you. I saw a competitor with less than 100 reviews on the first page. He received a negative review, he's nowhere to be found in search. So that also affects your ranking and stuff. So in this case, just canceling and move on is the best idea.

Of course you shouldn't always cancel. But as I said, as a newcomer, things are tricky.

I can somewhat see your point, but only if it's a small, non-time-consuming order you're filling like an instagram post/shoutout or something.

[kendal1747]

1 hour ago, donnovan86 said:

Can you describe your situation with more details? What did the buyer do, etc? 

When he placed the order, there was no script. I had to send a reminder and then a text. He finally sent the script but was very vague about how he wanted the audio delivered. I have questions that are required to be answered. He would only say that it was for a fundraiser. Would not specify if he wanted it delivered with urgency, powerful, friendly, etc. I repeatedly asked for more information as to how he wanted the audio to sound and other important audio questions. He never would answer.  I delivered in less than 12 hours. and did not hear from him until 48 hours later. He rejected the job and when I asked what the revisions were, he told me he would let me know in a couple of hours. I have texted him several times and no answer from him. The order started on the 17th and I delivered in less than 12 hours. He waited until the 20th to reject it. But has never given me any revisions. Will not talk to me. This morning I got an offer from someone in Nigeria, and again no script. I have sent a reminder and still no response. I am just wondering if this is a bad joke or is someone grinding an axe? Then again maybe I am being paranoid. At 3:49 am this morning I told the first problem child that I was going to hand this over to Customer Service. He quickly answered and said that he still had to talk to his customer and had to pay $3 to get more information. Which doesn't make sense. What to do? The job now says 4 days late, which doesn't mean anything, but I would love to get this off my back and just move on. Thanking you in advance for any advice.

[donnovan86]

1 hour ago, nickj2013 said:

I can somewhat see your point, but only if it's a small, non-time-consuming order you're filling like an instagram post/shoutout or something.

I only work on small orders, don't take large orders because I was scammed with PayPal disputes randomly filed weeks or months after the delivery. And I saw this happen to people with $1000+ orders too, so it's pretty much an issue for everyone. I decided to limit my word count (I am a writer), and if I lose $$, it's an insignificant amount. 

Regardless, I still believe that protecting your account is more improtant. Then again, I process hundreds of orders a month. I can see how people with a few, but expensive orders might think differently. As I said, to each his own. In my case, I made adjustments and now I don't really end up with scammers anymore. If they appear, they are rare.

[donnovan86]

36 minutes ago, kendal1747 said:

When he placed the order, there was no script. I had to send a reminder and then a text. He finally sent the script but was very vague about how he wanted the audio delivered. I have questions that are required to be answered. He would only say that it was for a fundraiser. Would not specify if he wanted it delivered with urgency, powerful, friendly, etc. I repeatedly asked for more information as to how he wanted the audio to sound and other important audio questions. He never would answer.  I delivered in less than 12 hours. and did not hear from him until 48 hours later. He rejected the job and when I asked what the revisions were, he told me he would let me know in a couple of hours. I have texted him several times and no answer from him. The order started on the 17th and I delivered in less than 12 hours. He waited until the 20th to reject it. But has never given me any revisions. Will not talk to me. This morning I got an offer from someone in Nigeria, and again no script. I have sent a reminder and still no response. I am just wondering if this is a bad joke or is someone grinding an axe? Then again maybe I am being paranoid. At 3:49 am this morning I told the first problem child that I was going to hand this over to Customer Service. He quickly answered and said that he still had to talk to his customer and had to pay $3 to get more information. Which doesn't make sense. What to do? The job now says 4 days late, which doesn't mean anything, but I would love to get this off my back and just move on. Thanking you in advance for any advice.

Seems like a reseller, an impossible client and I would cancel, for one. But in the end it's up to you.

You didn't share the order value, but if it's insignificant, this leads to more trouble than it's worth. 

Feel free to do what you think is ok. In my case, I would just cancel and move on. I had scammers like these that kept my gig in revision for months, only to do a PayPal refund. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by donnovan86

[kendal1747]

13 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

Seems like a reseller, an impossible client and I would cancel, for one. But in the end it's up to you.

You didn't share the order value, but if it's insignificant, this leads to more trouble than it's worth. 

Feel free to do what you think is ok. In my case, I would just cancel and move on. I had scammers like these that kept my gig in revision for months, only to do a PayPal refund. 

I am part time on here. I only have 60 jobs completed and 40 reviews with a 5 star rating. Can you tell me what will happen with this? I am close to becoming a level 2 seller. Will this totally stop that?

[donnovan86]

11 minutes ago, kendal1747 said:

I am part time on here. I only have 60 jobs completed and 40 reviews with a 5 star rating. Can you tell me what will happen with this? I am close to becoming a level 2 seller. Will this totally stop that?

Keep in mind I am not a Fiverr employee or anything, just another seller. So don't follow what I say, it's your choice and you choose what to do. Since you are working so hard to grow your account, a bad review can have a negative impact on your account. So I would definitely cancel. Sure, a cancellation will derank you a bit, but it's taken into account for 2 months. A negative review on the other hand is there for life. And since it seems the person is just a reseller that doesn't care about you or your account, might as well protect yourself from any issues.

Working with resellers is tough because they only care about using you to make a profit. So.. whenever I have any issues with them, I cancel. I clearly state I don't work with resellers, yet they still buy my gig. At the end if the day, it all comes down to what you care the most about, getting paid for the work you did or just protecting your account. 

 

[kendal1747]

45 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

Keep in mind I am not a Fiverr employee or anything, just another seller. So don't follow what I say, it's your choice and you choose what to do. Since you are working so hard to grow your account, a bad review can have a negative impact on your account. So I would definitely cancel. Sure, a cancellation will derank you a bit, but it's taken into account for 2 months. A negative review on the other hand is there for life. And since it seems the person is just a reseller that doesn't care about you or your account, might as well protect yourself from any issues.

Working with resellers is tough because they only care about using you to make a profit. So.. whenever I have any issues with them, I cancel. I clearly state I don't work with resellers, yet they still buy my gig. At the end if the day, it all comes down to what you care the most about, getting paid for the work you did or just protecting your account. 

 

I went back on my orders and I encountered this guy before. He could be the second order and just under another name. I will have to cancel two orders which will really affect my account, but probably better than getting a bad review. I do know that you are an independent here. I just wanted to get some insight into what my options were. You have been around for awhile and probably know more about what happens. Thank you and I appreciate it. 

[donnovan86]

7 hours ago, kendal1747 said:

You have been around for awhile and probably know more about what happens. Thank you and I appreciate it. 

Yes, I have been here for quite some time, I will have 8 years in January. I encountered a lot of scammers, for example I had a 1-day delivery only for 500 words. They manipulated the system to order 2000 words with a $5 1-day delivery, and the next day once I delivered they said the content is plagiarized, they will go to customer support to close my account unless I cancel. 

I went to customer support, reported them, and I also canceled the order. Since then, I had this happen 2 more times, those scammers were removed, and I canceled the order before actually sending anything. It was a similar username and it was ordered the same way. One of the scammers also had a 1-star review from a seller. So it pays off to check the buyer pages.

[kendal1747]

46 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

Yes, I have been here for quite some time, I will have 8 years in January. I encountered a lot of scammers, for example I had a 1-day delivery only for 500 words. They manipulated the system to order 2000 words with a $5 1-day delivery, and the next day once I delivered they said the content is plagiarized, they will go to customer support to close my account unless I cancel. 

I went to customer support, reported them, and I also canceled the order. Since then, I had this happen 2 more times, those scammers were removed, and I canceled the order before actually sending anything. It was a similar username and it was ordered the same way. One of the scammers also had a 1-star review from a seller. So it pays off to check the buyer pages.

The problem is that you don't know a lot of these people on BR until they have already ordered. They should have to list their name like it is on Fiverr.

[donnovan86]

1 minute ago, kendal1747 said:

these people on BR until they have already ordered

Generally, buyer requests is a cesspool of scammers or people that want underpaid work. I never found an offer that would pay my low rates, let alone something that would offer a better pay. So I just ignore BR. But again that's just me. 

[shohaib8956]

 

If there is a bad review, it is better to cancel the order

[kendal1747]

On 9/23/2021 at 3:40 PM, donnovan86 said:

Generally, buyer requests is a cesspool of scammers or people that want underpaid work. I never found an offer that would pay my low rates, let alone something that would offer a better pay. So I just ignore BR. But again that's just me. 

I have gotten some good jobs on BR and some were high paying jobs. The work was very good. I don't apply to all of them, just ones that I feel fit me and my delivery style. Which is why I probably don't have as many reviews as other people here full time. I have a job and I am a caregiver. I am so busy sometimes. I just hope I can hold on till this job gets better. 

[newsmike]

On 9/22/2021 at 8:08 AM, donnovan86 said:

If you want to build up your profile, a negative review hurts you.

So you dishonestly give the impression that you are offering a 5 star service because you are sanitizing your reviews, essentially buying off bad reviews with a refund. How is that fair to buyers who think they are actually getting a 5 star service?