Buyer lies about delivery - I lose money and I get demoted!

[phoenixfm]

I’ve had my first bad experience with a Fiverr buyer - and Fiverr’s customer support have just made it 10 times worse.

I’ve delivered the job exactly as set out - I won’t go into too many details but the guy wasn’t happy because he didn’t get a reaction on his website. We’re not an SEO company and we don’t state that we will give people a website reaction so I wasn’t really able to understand why he thought he should be getting that.

I explained this but he asked for me to carry out the job again free of charge. I told him I’d need to put out a custom order.

He got very angry, refused delivery, told me again he wanted a freebie, and when I kept refusing he finally delivered, so he could leave me my first one star review (in 750 reviews).

THEN he complains to Fiverr, saying I gave him an empty delivery, and he gets a refund. So I’ve been robbed, and I get demoted!

So FIVERR why are you taking his word for it without checking with me to see if he’s lying to you or not? This guy has got his job for free and I’ve lost a level.

Who thinks this is fair?

[marinapomorac]

I’ve had my first bad experience with a Fiverr buyer - and Fiverr’s customer support have just made it 10 times worse.

I’ve delivered the job exactly as set out - I won’t go into too many details but the guy wasn’t happy because he didn’t get a reaction on his website. We’re not an SEO company and we don’t state that we will give people a website reaction so I wasn’t really able to understand why he thought he should be getting that.

I explained this but he asked for me to carry out the job again free of charge. I told him I’d need to put out a custom order.

He got very angry, refused delivery, told me again he wanted a freebie, and when I kept refusing he finally delivered, so he could leave me my first one star review (in 750 reviews).

THEN he complains to Fiverr, saying I gave him an empty delivery, and he gets a refund. So I’ve been robbed, and I get demoted!

So FIVERR why are you taking his word for it without checking with me to see if he’s lying to you or not? This guy has got his job for free and I’ve lost a level.

Who thinks this is fair?

Who thinks this is fair?

Hopefully no one here, me included.

I do not understand why would CS respond like this if all is clear from your order communication.

And the buyer is a little unrealistic, buying ads never means an increase in sales guaranteed.

My last company spent hundreds of dollars to attend seminars and showcases, we never got 5% back of the investment. So marketing is a full job not “buy ads on net and cross fingers”.

[phoenixfm]

Who thinks this is fair?

Hopefully no one here, me included.

I do not understand why would CS respond like this if all is clear from your order communication.

And the buyer is a little unrealistic, buying ads never means an increase in sales guaranteed.

My last company spent hundreds of dollars to attend seminars and showcases, we never got 5% back of the investment. So marketing is a full job not “buy ads on net and cross fingers”.

eans an increase in sales guaranteed.

My last company spent hundreds of dollars to attend semi

It’s amazing that Fiverr don’t even bother to check and just take his word that I didn’t deliver.

The customer got so angry because I wouldn’t give him considerable extra work for free. I’m hoping CS realise they acted in haste, but I am so angry! I’ve had an unblemished record on this site, yet they still take this crook’s word over mine!

[aaminamalfar]

Recently I have a very bad experience with a buyer, after completing most of the work he wants to cancel order. After his frequent compelltion I canceled the order. Now my Gig got demoted.

[phoenixfm]

I didn’t realise we could all get work done for free on here!!

I’d like to see what CS think about all of this. I’ve completed over 1.200 gigs on here in 18 months and have earned Fiverr thousands of dollars of commission so I thought they might look after their own customers a little better than this.

[jonbaas]

I’ve had my first bad experience with a Fiverr buyer - and Fiverr’s customer support have just made it 10 times worse.

I’ve delivered the job exactly as set out - I won’t go into too many details but the guy wasn’t happy because he didn’t get a reaction on his website. We’re not an SEO company and we don’t state that we will give people a website reaction so I wasn’t really able to understand why he thought he should be getting that.

I explained this but he asked for me to carry out the job again free of charge. I told him I’d need to put out a custom order.

He got very angry, refused delivery, told me again he wanted a freebie, and when I kept refusing he finally delivered, so he could leave me my first one star review (in 750 reviews).

THEN he complains to Fiverr, saying I gave him an empty delivery, and he gets a refund. So I’ve been robbed, and I get demoted!

So FIVERR why are you taking his word for it without checking with me to see if he’s lying to you or not? This guy has got his job for free and I’ve lost a level.

Who thinks this is fair?

THEN he complains to Fiverr, saying I gave him an empty delivery, and he gets a refund. So I’ve been robbed, and I get demoted!

I’m curious, what was the service, and what did you deliver? Fiverr doesn’t usually cancel orders without a good reason, and, if the buyer complained about an empty delivery, perhaps there was something about your delivery that inspired him to do so. I’m not pointing fingers, but I am curious to hear a little more about this situation. Whether we like it or not, there are always two sides to any story.

[phoenixfm]

Yeah I’m happy to share.

The gig was for playing a song on the radio and writing up an interview for our website.

Most of the value is in the website article, as we put in links to it and our website has a high DA.

I played the song, and gave him the proof. I put up the article, and gave him the proof.

Just BEFORE the article went up - it went up late because he didn’t send me the info in the requirements - he complained that he’d had no reaction. Of course not, I’d only just done the work!

I basically asked him if he could be patient, and that reaction would come. I have 750+ satisfied customers, so I have to be confident in that.

He said, no I want more radio plays. And I want you to interview my artist on the radio - audio as well as written.

Neither of these are part of our gig, so I said I’d be happy to, as long as he’s happy to order another gig.

He said no, give it to me for nothing. I delivered the gig, and he disputed it. I delivered again and he disputed it again. Bear in mind he’s already had proof of delivery.

In the end he accepted, gave me a 1* (I expected that) - but then told Fiverr I gave him an “empty delivery”, which is just patently untrue. He’s angry because I didn’t give him work for nothing outside the original scope.

Sure there’s two sides to every story - although I have the correspondence to back up all of the above.

So I’m so surprised and disappointed that CS didn’t even bother to check with me, but refunded him AND gave me violations which knocked me down from Level 2 to Level 1.

CS are usually much better than this. I’m now thinking, great - order something on Fiverr, pretend I didn’t get it and I’ll get my money back! That’s not right, is it?

[ball13]

So actually your delivery on the order page was a screenshot or something from your site?

[cyaxrex]

Yeah I’m happy to share.

The gig was for playing a song on the radio and writing up an interview for our website.

Most of the value is in the website article, as we put in links to it and our website has a high DA.

I played the song, and gave him the proof. I put up the article, and gave him the proof.

Just BEFORE the article went up - it went up late because he didn’t send me the info in the requirements - he complained that he’d had no reaction. Of course not, I’d only just done the work!

I basically asked him if he could be patient, and that reaction would come. I have 750+ satisfied customers, so I have to be confident in that.

He said, no I want more radio plays. And I want you to interview my artist on the radio - audio as well as written.

Neither of these are part of our gig, so I said I’d be happy to, as long as he’s happy to order another gig.

He said no, give it to me for nothing. I delivered the gig, and he disputed it. I delivered again and he disputed it again. Bear in mind he’s already had proof of delivery.

In the end he accepted, gave me a 1* (I expected that) - but then told Fiverr I gave him an “empty delivery”, which is just patently untrue. He’s angry because I didn’t give him work for nothing outside the original scope.

Sure there’s two sides to every story - although I have the correspondence to back up all of the above.

So I’m so surprised and disappointed that CS didn’t even bother to check with me, but refunded him AND gave me violations which knocked me down from Level 2 to Level 1.

CS are usually much better than this. I’m now thinking, great - order something on Fiverr, pretend I didn’t get it and I’ll get my money back! That’s not right, is it?

He said, no I want more radio plays. And I want you to interview my artist on the radio - audio as well as written.

Do exactly what the buyer wants. Just make sure your audience knows that their real talents lie in trying to scam people on Fiverr to get free PR.

That should get them some viral attention.

It’s not ideal. However, my own experience with this is that you only win in these situations when you fight fire with whatever nuclear weapons you happen to have at your disposal. You won’t get your money, but you will receive a heavy dose of twisted satisfaction.

[mariashtelle1]

Ok, you already got other advices now to the practical side:

That is totally unfair and fiverr CS known for making such mistakes. Which for me is absolutely unacceptable when we are paying 20% comission which also should include customer support as part of it.

Did you open a ticket a ticket with CS already?
I would fight for it.
I would write (of course a polite message even though I understand how frustrated you are right now), explain the situation and attach a screenshots of your delivery with the proof in it.
And ask them to lift your van and compensate you for your time and their mistake of cancelling the order.
First response might be buckshot response from them, as it happens in most cases, you just need to get through that wall on first line customer support that gives generic answers and ask them to escalate this matter. It might take some back and fourth but I think you have good chances if you indeed attached proof of delivery in your All deliveries.

[tiakovolana]

He said, no I want more radio plays. And I want you to interview my artist on the radio - audio as well as written.

Do exactly what the buyer wants. Just make sure your audience knows that their real talents lie in trying to scam people on Fiverr to get free PR.

That should get them some viral attention.

It’s not ideal. However, my own experience with this is that you only win in these situations when you fight fire with whatever nuclear weapons you happen to have at your disposal. You won’t get your money, but you will receive a heavy dose of twisted satisfaction.

that would give him what he wants, stristeind effect

@aaminamalfar out of curiosity, were any of your deliveries empty or did you keep delivering the same thing? and did you deliver anything that would have to be downloaded from fiverr, as in attached to the delivery?

if not then i’m guessing that they made a hasty decision, without really looking into it, and the thing to do would be to presistantly poke CS to look into it properly, then at least you should be compensated for the order, eventually <.<

[jonbaas]

Yeah, I can’t help feeling as if there is more to this story than we’ve been told. Again, I’m not trying to be critical or rude, I just have this feeling that there must have been something in how the order was delivered that – somehow – supports the buyer’s alleged claims of an empty delivery. Fiverr staff can see what is delivered, and I just don’t see them blindly accepting the buyer’s claims. Based on the situation expressed here, there has to be something questionable within the delivery – something that could either be spun by the buyer as “empty”, or something that truly wasn’t delivered to Fiverr’s satisfaction.

@phoenixfm, you mention that things “went up late”. Was that after the order deadline? Your gig also states that the buyer’s song will be “played to thousands of listeners”. If it went up late, and wasn’t able to be played to “thousands of listeners”, maybe that was what Fiverr chose to focus on. You do seem to make that promise in how your gig is written.

Again, I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just trying to offer suggestions for why this series of events may have happened the way it did. Trying to be helpful. 🙂

[phoenixfm]

So actually your delivery on the order page was a screenshot or something from your site?

My usual delivery - two links to the work I completed. His revision was basically a demand for further work. But apparently, if you just re-deliver without doing it, you’re in violation.

[phoenixfm]

He said, no I want more radio plays. And I want you to interview my artist on the radio - audio as well as written.

Do exactly what the buyer wants. Just make sure your audience knows that their real talents lie in trying to scam people on Fiverr to get free PR.

That should get them some viral attention.

It’s not ideal. However, my own experience with this is that you only win in these situations when you fight fire with whatever nuclear weapons you happen to have at your disposal. You won’t get your money, but you will receive a heavy dose of twisted satisfaction.

Working on it. I can’t unplay the song, and the article is still on my website, but I may add to it. It’s such a disappointing thing though to have someone scam you and then get Fiverr to take their site.

[phoenixfm]

Ok, you already got other advices now to the practical side:

That is totally unfair and fiverr CS known for making such mistakes. Which for me is absolutely unacceptable when we are paying 20% comission which also should include customer support as part of it.

Did you open a ticket a ticket with CS already?

I would fight for it.

I would write (of course a polite message even though I understand how frustrated you are right now), explain the situation and attach a screenshots of your delivery with the proof in it.

And ask them to lift your van and compensate you for your time and their mistake of cancelling the order.

First response might be buckshot response from them, as it happens in most cases, you just need to get through that wall on first line customer support that gives generic answers and ask them to escalate this matter. It might take some back and fourth but I think you have good chances if you indeed attached proof of delivery in your All deliveries.

All done, and all appealed (see below …)

[phoenixfm]

that would give him what he wants, stristeind effect

@aaminamalfar out of curiosity, were any of your deliveries empty or did you keep delivering the same thing? and did you deliver anything that would have to be downloaded from fiverr, as in attached to the delivery?

if not then i’m guessing that they made a hasty decision, without really looking into it, and the thing to do would be to presistantly poke CS to look into it properly, then at least you should be compensated for the order, eventually <.<

The deliveries weren’t completely empty, I was just writing back saying I can’t give him extra work without a new gig. Didn’t think for one minute he’d complain AND Fiverr would take his side.

[phoenixfm]

Yeah, I can’t help feeling as if there is more to this story than we’ve been told. Again, I’m not trying to be critical or rude, I just have this feeling that there must have been something in how the order was delivered that – somehow – supports the buyer’s alleged claims of an empty delivery. Fiverr staff can see what is delivered, and I just don’t see them blindly accepting the buyer’s claims. Based on the situation expressed here, there has to be something questionable within the delivery – something that could either be spun by the buyer as “empty”, or something that truly wasn’t delivered to Fiverr’s satisfaction.

@phoenixfm, you mention that things “went up late”. Was that after the order deadline? Your gig also states that the buyer’s song will be “played to thousands of listeners”. If it went up late, and wasn’t able to be played to “thousands of listeners”, maybe that was what Fiverr chose to focus on. You do seem to make that promise in how your gig is written.

Again, I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just trying to offer suggestions for why this series of events may have happened the way it did. Trying to be helpful. 🙂

m blindly accepting the buyer’s claims. Based on the situation expressed here, there has to be something questionable within the delivery – something that could either be spun by the buyer as “empty”, or

Re the delivery: no, not at all.

He ordered the gig, I delivered it - and like I said, late, because I had additional requirements that he didn’t give me until the very end of the delivery period. But at this point he’d already started to complain he didn’t have a reaction - even though I hadn’t completed the gig which would give him that reaction!

I work in radio. He’s a (small time) music agent. Some of these guys have the worst egos on the planet - they represent acts who are truly awful and don’t understand why they don’t reach no 1 in the charts every week, when the reality is that they’re just no good. This guy’s ego has been pricked because he says he didn’t get a reaction to his airplay. I can’t make people like his music - I’m a radio station, not a magician.

[phoenixfm]

Well the bad news to all of us honest traders is that Fiverr have written back to me saying they have “reviewed the order in detail” and decided that the cancellation was justified because I made an “empty delivery”. Even though I clearly delivered the work to the correct standard which is evidenced in my order correspondence.

I’ve told Fiverr to get someone else to look at this and explain why it’s an empty delivery when I’ve actually delivered the work.

I’ve got 15 orders to fulfil this week now and I am wondering whether I am going to have to refund any of those now too because the person decides they want it for free. I’m seriously thinking about moving to another platform now because this is not the response that any decent member would expect.

[phoenixfm]

Yeah, I can’t help feeling as if there is more to this story than we’ve been told. Again, I’m not trying to be critical or rude, I just have this feeling that there must have been something in how the order was delivered that – somehow – supports the buyer’s alleged claims of an empty delivery. Fiverr staff can see what is delivered, and I just don’t see them blindly accepting the buyer’s claims. Based on the situation expressed here, there has to be something questionable within the delivery – something that could either be spun by the buyer as “empty”, or something that truly wasn’t delivered to Fiverr’s satisfaction.

@phoenixfm, you mention that things “went up late”. Was that after the order deadline? Your gig also states that the buyer’s song will be “played to thousands of listeners”. If it went up late, and wasn’t able to be played to “thousands of listeners”, maybe that was what Fiverr chose to focus on. You do seem to make that promise in how your gig is written.

Again, I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just trying to offer suggestions for why this series of events may have happened the way it did. Trying to be helpful. 🙂

Your gig also states that the buyer’s song will be “played to thousands of listeners”. If it went up late, and wasn’t able to be played to “thousands of listeners”, maybe that was what Fiverr chose to focus on. You do seem to make that promise in how your gig is written.

The song was played on time - and he was told this. In any case we’re on air every day so it doesn’t really matter which day the song gets played. It was the interview itself that went up late. I asked 8 questions and the buyer wrote several additional ones, so even that was “free work”! I didn’t complain about that though as I am happy to support artists. But BEFORE I delivered this he was already complaining that he didn’t get a reaction. Maybe in hindsight I should have requested a delivery extension but he started off being very reasonable and I haven’t had a problem with people in the past.

It IS only 1 bad experience in 1,200 for me on this platform - but I’m still so upset that I completed the work, deliver the work, the guy tells Fiverr I didn’t, and Fiverr look at it and agree with him! I’ve given them the proof, what more can I do?

[mercurianus]

The deliveries weren’t completely empty, I was just writing back saying I can’t give him extra work without a new gig. Didn’t think for one minute he’d complain AND Fiverr would take his side.

I am sorry you had to go through this.

When there is dispute going on, you should never deliver modified work as it gives buyer chance to complain and leave bad rating.

You should have taken matter to CS when he insisted on extra free work. CS would have cancelled order (which is better than this one star and demotion) or arrived at better solution.

CS parted with him only because your modification deliveries were not different from your original deliveries.

" Maybe in hindsight I should have requested a delivery extension but he started off being very reasonable ‘’ Yes when the interview was late due to his mistake , you should have requested additional time. Did you deliver late by any means?

[jonbaas]

Your gig also states that the buyer’s song will be “played to thousands of listeners”. If it went up late, and wasn’t able to be played to “thousands of listeners”, maybe that was what Fiverr chose to focus on. You do seem to make that promise in how your gig is written.

The song was played on time - and he was told this. In any case we’re on air every day so it doesn’t really matter which day the song gets played. It was the interview itself that went up late. I asked 8 questions and the buyer wrote several additional ones, so even that was “free work”! I didn’t complain about that though as I am happy to support artists. But BEFORE I delivered this he was already complaining that he didn’t get a reaction. Maybe in hindsight I should have requested a delivery extension but he started off being very reasonable and I haven’t had a problem with people in the past.

It IS only 1 bad experience in 1,200 for me on this platform - but I’m still so upset that I completed the work, deliver the work, the guy tells Fiverr I didn’t, and Fiverr look at it and agree with him! I’ve given them the proof, what more can I do?

It IS only 1 bad experience in 1,200 for me on this platform - but I’m still so upset that I completed the work, deliver the work, the guy tells Fiverr I didn’t, and Fiverr look at it and agree with him! I’ve given them the proof, what more can I do?

I agree, this is a frustrating experience, and you’re right, this is just one bad experience in over 1,000. Don’t let this color your overall view. Great sellers – even myself – have dealt with plenty of equally bad clients over the years. It’s part of being in business. Maybe you can take this experience, determine what want wrong, and tweak your gig/description even further to close the openings someone else – like this guy – might try to use to take advantage of you.

As for Fiverr’s assessment, it is not their policy to share details, however, since they originally took the buyer’s side, and, later, when they took a second look, still stuck with their original determination, something would seem to be at issue, regardless of your side of the story. This isn’t to blame you, but it is an encouragement for you to see if you can tighten things up so future bad buyers – like this guy – can’t do the same thing he did.

To this end, maybe you need to extend your order deadline to account for buyers who don’t provide info on time. Or, maybe it’s as simple as you being more steadfast and ensuring that your “no” means “no”, and you don’t offer additional work that might make bad sellers think they are entitled to even more “free generosity” on your part.

I might also suggest that you reword your promise of reaching thousands of listeners. Technically, you can’t guarantee that (since you don’t know who’s listening and when). Perhaps just saying, “could reach up to X thousand listeners” is better than what you currently say: “so if you have a track you want played to thousands of listeners”. You are, technically, currently making a guarantee that you cannot fully ensure. I’m not Fiverr, but that could be viewed as a part of your service that you didn’t “deliver” (and it’s not something you can accurately prove to a buyer).

Beyond this… don’t give up Fiverr just because of one bad buyer. Bad buyers happen. The better you get at saying no – and sticking to that “no” – the less likely it will be that other bad buyers, like this one, will be able to take advantage of you.

[muztre]

THEN he complains to Fiverr, saying I gave him an empty delivery, and he gets a refund. So I’ve been robbed, and I get demoted!

I’m curious, what was the service, and what did you deliver? Fiverr doesn’t usually cancel orders without a good reason, and, if the buyer complained about an empty delivery, perhaps there was something about your delivery that inspired him to do so. I’m not pointing fingers, but I am curious to hear a little more about this situation. Whether we like it or not, there are always two sides to any story.

I’m curious, what was the service, and what did you deliver?

same here I also curious. why would Fiverr believe when the buyer said empty delivery? does the delivery really empty? does the buyer delete the website? :roll_eyes:

[muztre]

Yeah I’m happy to share.

The gig was for playing a song on the radio and writing up an interview for our website.

Most of the value is in the website article, as we put in links to it and our website has a high DA.

I played the song, and gave him the proof. I put up the article, and gave him the proof.

Just BEFORE the article went up - it went up late because he didn’t send me the info in the requirements - he complained that he’d had no reaction. Of course not, I’d only just done the work!

I basically asked him if he could be patient, and that reaction would come. I have 750+ satisfied customers, so I have to be confident in that.

He said, no I want more radio plays. And I want you to interview my artist on the radio - audio as well as written.

Neither of these are part of our gig, so I said I’d be happy to, as long as he’s happy to order another gig.

He said no, give it to me for nothing. I delivered the gig, and he disputed it. I delivered again and he disputed it again. Bear in mind he’s already had proof of delivery.

In the end he accepted, gave me a 1* (I expected that) - but then told Fiverr I gave him an “empty delivery”, which is just patently untrue. He’s angry because I didn’t give him work for nothing outside the original scope.

Sure there’s two sides to every story - although I have the correspondence to back up all of the above.

So I’m so surprised and disappointed that CS didn’t even bother to check with me, but refunded him AND gave me violations which knocked me down from Level 2 to Level 1.

CS are usually much better than this. I’m now thinking, great - order something on Fiverr, pretend I didn’t get it and I’ll get my money back! That’s not right, is it?

sorry , I have just read this. it is devastating when someone don’t know or pretend to don’t know about what is their right and what is not. 😒

when I read your story. you said that you shouldn’t re-deliver the first delivery. so what you should did back then? reject the buyer’s dispute?

[razu55]

Many people say that if a buyer reports in Fiverr CS, whether the seller has any fault in the report or not, the seller has to face problems and suffer difficulties. 😐
I also do not know why Fiverr CS gives more priority to buyers? Will the market place become obsolete without a buyer because of this? :roll_eyes:
Fiverr should check carefully whether the mistake is from the seller or the buyer.
Then the decision should be made to at least get rid of the suffering that the sellers have to suffer without blaming it.
This is my personal opinion. Please don’t take the words personally. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
Thanks. ❤️

[bishalbarua]

I’ve had my first bad experience with a Fiverr buyer - and Fiverr’s customer support have just made it 10 times worse.

I’ve delivered the job exactly as set out - I won’t go into too many details but the guy wasn’t happy because he didn’t get a reaction on his website. We’re not an SEO company and we don’t state that we will give people a website reaction so I wasn’t really able to understand why he thought he should be getting that.

I explained this but he asked for me to carry out the job again free of charge. I told him I’d need to put out a custom order.

He got very angry, refused delivery, told me again he wanted a freebie, and when I kept refusing he finally delivered, so he could leave me my first one star review (in 750 reviews).

THEN he complains to Fiverr, saying I gave him an empty delivery, and he gets a refund. So I’ve been robbed, and I get demoted!

So FIVERR why are you taking his word for it without checking with me to see if he’s lying to you or not? This guy has got his job for free and I’ve lost a level.

Who thinks this is fair?

Who thinks this is fair?

It’s not fair. I don’t know why most of the times we sellers suffer the most. Please Fiverr do some justice to us.