My completed work remains unpaid?

[melivospain]

Hi everyone, I am a new seller so I am just getting the hang of how Fiverr works. I am a voiceover artist. This question is not focused on ‘Where is my money?’ but rather ‘What happened here?’ Some days ago a videographer created an order for $5 for me to read 120 words for use by a driving school in their website. I completed and delivered the work before the agreed deadline. Some days go by and the videographer responds ‘My client did not like your voice and found your tone too soft. He is not going to use your recording, so I cannot pay you’. OK, I understand that although I have 4 x 5-star reviews for the 4 clients I’ve worked for so far (I’m new to Fiverr), that not EVERYONE in the world will feel my voice is right for their product. But if I have completed work via a Fiverr order, shouldn’t I get paid anyhow? Please can someone explain the process? Thanks.

[visualstudios]

If the order was completed, you will get paid.

[genuineguidance]

Did this client cancel the order? Or request a cancellation? Or did Fiverr cancel it for them?

Yes, it would seem logical that if you do the work, you should be paid. Unfortunately, there are some unscrupulous buyers here who will order, then act like they hate your work and cancel. Meanwhile, it wouldn’t surprise me if they weren’t using your work anyways…

I have had that happen to me in the last week to the tune of $235. Sucks.

What is next to that order? Does it say cancelled? Does it say clearing on your stats page?

GG

[melivospain]

If the order was completed, you will get paid.

Hi, thanks for your reply and so fast too! I completed the order yes, but the videographer did not mark it ‘complete’. He has said my work will NOT be used. It’s true that the driving school is in N. London and my voice is definitely NOT N. London ‘style’. The client called my voice ‘too soft’. I am guessing I will not get paid at all. But I want to be sure I understand what’s going on, as I am confused 😦

[visualstudios]

Hi, thanks for your reply and so fast too! I completed the order yes, but the videographer did not mark it ‘complete’. He has said my work will NOT be used. It’s true that the driving school is in N. London and my voice is definitely NOT N. London ‘style’. The client called my voice ‘too soft’. I am guessing I will not get paid at all. But I want to be sure I understand what’s going on, as I am confused 😦

Unless the order is canceled, it will eventually autocomplete and you will get paid.

[melivospain]

The videographer sent me this, some days ago, before I did the VO ‘Send me $5 invoice so i can pay’. I sent him what is called a ‘Custom Offer’ in reply (I don’t know how to generate an invoice - my experience is that orders come in, already completed from clients and I did not know how to ‘send an invoice’ so I created a Custom Offer). A Custom Offer is therefore NOT the same as an order? I am glad we are only talking about $5, but I am still confused. It appears there never WAS an order right? And if so, then there cannot be any payment…???

[genuineguidance]

The videographer sent me this, some days ago, before I did the VO ‘Send me $5 invoice so i can pay’. I sent him what is called a ‘Custom Offer’ in reply (I don’t know how to generate an invoice - my experience is that orders come in, already completed from clients and I did not know how to ‘send an invoice’ so I created a Custom Offer). A Custom Offer is therefore NOT the same as an order? I am glad we are only talking about $5, but I am still confused. It appears there never WAS an order right? And if so, then there cannot be any payment…???

Did the client ACCEPT the custom offer, and did it then go into your ORDER queue? If not, no, you just did work for free and my guess is, your voice was just fine for their project. Live and learn.

GG

[visualstudios]

The videographer sent me this, some days ago, before I did the VO ‘Send me $5 invoice so i can pay’. I sent him what is called a ‘Custom Offer’ in reply (I don’t know how to generate an invoice - my experience is that orders come in, already completed from clients and I did not know how to ‘send an invoice’ so I created a Custom Offer). A Custom Offer is therefore NOT the same as an order? I am glad we are only talking about $5, but I am still confused. It appears there never WAS an order right? And if so, then there cannot be any payment…???

A custom offer is an order like any other.

[zerlina84]

The videographer sent me this, some days ago, before I did the VO ‘Send me $5 invoice so i can pay’. I sent him what is called a ‘Custom Offer’ in reply (I don’t know how to generate an invoice - my experience is that orders come in, already completed from clients and I did not know how to ‘send an invoice’ so I created a Custom Offer). A Custom Offer is therefore NOT the same as an order? I am glad we are only talking about $5, but I am still confused. It appears there never WAS an order right? And if so, then there cannot be any payment…???

They need to accept the custom offer so that the order can start. You then deliver the voiceover through the “deliver now” button.

[genuineguidance]

A custom offer is an order like any other.

Only if the client ACCEPTS it - and it moves over into your order queue. If she delivered this order through the messaging system and not on an ORDER page, it is NOT an order and she will not be paid. Go look at your Revenue page - is the order there? Is the payment clearing?

GG

[melivospain]

Did the client ACCEPT the custom offer, and did it then go into your ORDER queue? If not, no, you just did work for free and my guess is, your voice was just fine for their project. Live and learn.

GG

Hi genuineguidance, thank you very much for that. No, there is nothing on that correspondence to indicate that the Custom Offer was accepted or not accepted. It appears it did not go into my Order Queue. So in the future I have to make sure that a Custom Offer IS accepted, before I proceed? I appreciate your input. I will be keeping an eye on the website of the business that I did the ‘rejected’ work for to see if my voice does indeed appear on their site! However, my gut feeling is that the videographer is telling the truth. My voice is more ‘private schooling’ than ‘North London’ which is where the driving school is.

[genuineguidance]

Hi genuineguidance, thank you very much for that. No, there is nothing on that correspondence to indicate that the Custom Offer was accepted or not accepted. It appears it did not go into my Order Queue. So in the future I have to make sure that a Custom Offer IS accepted, before I proceed? I appreciate your input. I will be keeping an eye on the website of the business that I did the ‘rejected’ work for to see if my voice does indeed appear on their site! However, my gut feeling is that the videographer is telling the truth. My voice is more ‘private schooling’ than ‘North London’ which is where the driving school is.

Yeah, sounds like it was never accepted and they got you to do the work free.

Yes, in the future when sending a Custom Offer, be sure that it is in your ORDER queue NOT in the MESSAGE queue - if it is in the message queue, it is not an order yet.

GG

[nyamutumbu]

When you create a custom offer you should wait until the client accepts the offer. From there you will see on your dashboard that there is an order created. You will also receive a notification saying you have an order from “Bla bla bla”.

Discuss with your client from the order page and work only if there is an active order.

Once you are done with the order you can then deliver the order and wait for the client to mark your order as complete.

screenshot_41086×469 51.6 KB

There are no questions about when you will get paid if you did use the order page. My guess is that your buyer noticed that you are new and used you.

[zerlina84]

Hi genuineguidance, thank you very much for that. No, there is nothing on that correspondence to indicate that the Custom Offer was accepted or not accepted. It appears it did not go into my Order Queue. So in the future I have to make sure that a Custom Offer IS accepted, before I proceed? I appreciate your input. I will be keeping an eye on the website of the business that I did the ‘rejected’ work for to see if my voice does indeed appear on their site! However, my gut feeling is that the videographer is telling the truth. My voice is more ‘private schooling’ than ‘North London’ which is where the driving school is.

I’m sorry but I’m also a voiceover artist and I don’t get this. If he wanted a specific accent, why didn’t he tell you first?

[visualstudios]

Hi genuineguidance, thank you very much for that. No, there is nothing on that correspondence to indicate that the Custom Offer was accepted or not accepted. It appears it did not go into my Order Queue. So in the future I have to make sure that a Custom Offer IS accepted, before I proceed? I appreciate your input. I will be keeping an eye on the website of the business that I did the ‘rejected’ work for to see if my voice does indeed appear on their site! However, my gut feeling is that the videographer is telling the truth. My voice is more ‘private schooling’ than ‘North London’ which is where the driving school is.

Why did you deliver work (or started working, for that matter) without an active order being placed?

[melivospain]

I’m sorry but I’m also a voiceover artist and I don’t get this. If he wanted a specific accent, why didn’t he tell you first?

Thank you, zerlina84 - yes, it’s all very confusing. I spent some of my birthday(!) recording this work for him and it took a while. I am disappointed, but as I said, given it was only $5 at least I am not ‘down’ very much financially. This is a learning curve!

[melivospain]

Why did you deliver work (or started working, for that matter) without an active order being placed?

Hi, thank you for your input. Because I am very new to Fiverr and I do not know how the system works. I created a Custom Offer and since it does not say anywhere on there ‘Client has not yet accepted your offer’ I assumed it WAS accepted.

[melivospain]

When you create a custom offer you should wait until the client accepts the offer. From there you will see on your dashboard that there is an order created. You will also receive a notification saying you have an order from “Bla bla bla”.

Discuss with your client from the order page and work only if there is an active order.

Once you are done with the order you can then deliver the order and wait for the client to mark your order as complete.

screenshot_41086×469 51.6 KB

There are no questions about when you will get paid if you did use the order page. My guess is that your buyer noticed that you are new and used you.

Thank you very much for being so explanatory here, now I understand very well. All the best to you! Melissa

[visualstudios]

Hi, thank you for your input. Because I am very new to Fiverr and I do not know how the system works. I created a Custom Offer and since it does not say anywhere on there ‘Client has not yet accepted your offer’ I assumed it WAS accepted.

What? You need to read TOS and familiarize yourself with how the platform works when creating an account. When you get an order you get notified, it appears in the order page, etc. Everyone must know how the system works before starting contact with anyone.

[melivospain]

Yeah, sounds like it was never accepted and they got you to do the work free.

Yes, in the future when sending a Custom Offer, be sure that it is in your ORDER queue NOT in the MESSAGE queue - if it is in the message queue, it is not an order yet.

GG

RIGHT! Yep, I did not realise that the Custom Offer had not been accepted. Good points and I will make sure to check in the future! All the best. Melissa

[zerlina84]

Thank you, zerlina84 - yes, it’s all very confusing. I spent some of my birthday(!) recording this work for him and it took a while. I am disappointed, but as I said, given it was only $5 at least I am not ‘down’ very much financially. This is a learning curve!

That sucks… but if something like this happens again, you can always offer them a revision. But it’s strange that they heard your samples and afterwards say it’s not the kind of accent they wanted. Sounds to me like a scam 😦

[sujanisewwandi]

Hi, thanks for your reply and so fast too! I completed the order yes, but the videographer did not mark it ‘complete’. He has said my work will NOT be used. It’s true that the driving school is in N. London and my voice is definitely NOT N. London ‘style’. The client called my voice ‘too soft’. I am guessing I will not get paid at all. But I want to be sure I understand what’s going on, as I am confused 😦

Don’t worry. It’ll automatically marked as a “completed” after 3 days from your submission if buyer not canceled the order.

[melivospain]

That sucks… but if something like this happens again, you can always offer them a revision. But it’s strange that they heard your samples and afterwards say it’s not the kind of accent they wanted. Sounds to me like a scam 😦

Yes I did indeed offer a revision to speed up or slow down the VO that I did or alter it in another way, but the videographer took a screen shot of their client’s message and it said ‘Nah, her voice is too soft’.

[melivospain]

What? You need to read TOS and familiarize yourself with how the platform works when creating an account. When you get an order you get notified, it appears in the order page, etc. Everyone must know how the system works before starting contact with anyone.

The videographer started contact with ME, not the other way around. I am used to having done work for just 3 clients (I am very new) and all orders arrived as a proper order. That is fine and I am used to working like that. But this videographer said ‘Send me an invoice for $5’. I did NOT KNOW HOW TO DO THAT. So I sent him a ‘Custom Offer’ for $5. Was that wrong? Once I had done that, there was nothing on that to indicate ‘Client has accepted’ or ‘Client has NOT accepted’ so I did not know what to do and continued working.

[nyamutumbu]

Personally I prefer to work directly with the client. There are just too many problems working as a third party.