Buyer leaving low rating randomly?

[mjaninea]

I’ve just completed an order for a buyer and everything was fine. I followed every instruction, he asked for few revisions and I did all of them, even if the order was for just 5$ (I still have a basic package for T-shirt design for 5$ dollars). I gave him 5stars as a buyer, because we had no misunderstandings and everything was okay. Then I received the notification from Fiverr informing me that the buyer gave me a 3.7 review. I was shocked and went to see what he had to say. Nothing bad. He said “This seller has good design quality and very good timing at completing the work! Communication was very good.”

As you can imagine, I was confused and so I messaged him asking why he had nothing bad to say and yet left an only 3.7 stars review. This is his reply "your work is really good and i like your work… will save the 5 for my next order! 😉 from you"

Seriously???

[mjaninea]

Could be a “smart abuse trick”. He keeps you a review hostage for his next order in an old fashioned way.

How should I handle this? Should I block him right away to avoid any possible work with him again?

[mjaninea]

Since you asked me. I have a zero block policy. Blocking looks unprofessional to me for few reasons. Ignore is much more powerful. If he keeps messaging you without your will and spamming you, you can report him and have him banned or getting a warning. If you block him, he goes to next seller.

So act responsibly for the common interest as well.

Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. But what if he directly places another order? I have no control on that…

[zreine]

If you don’t want to work with him I don’t think there is anything wrong with blocking the seller. Seller with bad intentions could order from one of your packages and you would have to cancel the order, which will affect your gig. And if you still don’t block him after that, he could order again and again. The block option is there for a reason.

Even in real life people can get “blocked”. Steal from a store or behave inappropriately and you’ll get ban from the said store. Nothing unprofessional about that.

[enunciator]

So much to address in this thread, yet I lack the mental fortitude to do so… Sometimes I feel the forum is it’s own miniature encapsulation of “Groundhog Day.”

[Alex.M]

How should I handle this? Should I block him right away to avoid any possible work with him again?

Should I block him right away to avoid any possible work with him again?

Yes you should do that if you don’t want to work with him . Imagine a buyer like that placing 3-4 orders at once …

[Alex.M]

So you advised her to block a client for accidentally giving her a bad review based on stars only? Because his written review reflects 5 star. So you advise her to block a potential long term returning client over a bad review especially when he clarified that he will save the 5 for his next order? That’s professional to you?

So you advised her to block a client for accidentally giving her a bad review based on stars only?

there’s no way of accidentally giving a specific rating… the same as there’s no such thing as ’ placing an order by mistake ’ …

especially when he clarified that he will save the 5 for his next order?

is it worth it to get low reviews for 5$ in your opinion ? ( or for any amount)

[zreine]

So you advised her to block a client for accidentally giving her a bad review based on stars only? Because his written review reflects 5 star. So you advise her to block a potential long term returning client over a bad review especially when he clarified that he will save the 5 for his next order? That’s professional to you?

So you advise her to block a potential long term returning client over a bad review especially when he clarified that he will save the 5 for his next order? That’s professional to you?

Could be a “smart abuse trick”. He keeps you a review hostage for his next order in an old fashioned way.

You are contradicting yourself now.

It’s up to her to decide, and she does not deserve that someone guilt trip her by insinuating she’ll be unprofessional if she chose so.

[lloydsolutions]

Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. But what if he directly places another order? I have no control on that…

Fiverr gives you the opportunity to block a buyer if you choose to do so.

If someone wants to act differently that is their choice.

You decide what you want to do based on the opinions of others and not on some sort of examining of scenarios.

This is a Fiverr forum where participants express their own opinions which should be accepted as such.

[humanissocial]

How should I handle this? Should I block him right away to avoid any possible work with him again?

I would. He’s manipulating you and you should never work with someone who does that.

I would request a cancellation for any orders from him.

Do not ask or even mention reviews to clients! It’s coercive and unethical regardless if why they reviewed you that way.

[blavaro]

I’ve just completed an order for a buyer and everything was fine. I followed every instruction, he asked for few revisions and I did all of them, even if the order was for just 5$ (I still have a basic package for T-shirt design for 5$ dollars). I gave him 5stars as a buyer, because we had no misunderstandings and everything was okay. Then I received the notification from Fiverr informing me that the buyer gave me a 3.7 review. I was shocked and went to see what he had to say. Nothing bad. He said “This seller has good design quality and very good timing at completing the work! Communication was very good.”

As you can imagine, I was confused and so I messaged him asking why he had nothing bad to say and yet left an only 3.7 stars review. This is his reply "your work is really good and i like your work… will save the 5 for my next order! 😉 from you"

Seriously???

I messaged him asking why he had nothing bad to say and yet left an only 3.7 stars review.

Cross your fingers that Buyer did not report you. You gave him a right to do that.

[humanissocial]

I messaged him asking why he had nothing bad to say and yet left an only 3.7 stars review.

Cross your fingers that Buyer did not report you. You gave him a right to do that.

Cross your fingers that Buyer did not report you. You gave him a right to do that.

Yes. He’s already manipulated her. Now she’s given him even more power.

When you don’t follow the ToS, you make yourself more vulnerable, not less.

[humanissocial]

You gave me heart in my initial post because you liked my answer. Then you noticed who answered and removed the heart. Gotcha. 💔

No, I deleted my heart because I saw the other things you put in this thread that are rude and incorrect. Stop drawing conclusions without evidence and then posting them here.

Why are you so combative? Are you going to tell me about your degrees and why you should be allowed to be like this because you’re more educated than I am like you did to Vickie?

Cut it out. No one cares.

[enunciator]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

Thank you for your proper words. Take love from me.

With this being a professional business-related forum and also the era of social distancing, I found the wording of your request quite humorous! 😄

[humanissocial]

Thank you for your proper words. Take love from me.

With this being a professional business-related forum and also the era of social distancing, I found the wording of your request quite humorous! 😄

shovan_7790:

Thank you for your proper words. Take love from me.

With this being a professional business-related forum and also the era of social distancing, I found the wording of your request quite humorous

Especially in saying it to me. Of all the people in the forum, why would I appreciate that behaviour? 😂

[enunciator]

shovan_7790:

Thank you for your proper words. Take love from me.

With this being a professional business-related forum and also the era of social distancing, I found the wording of your request quite humorous

Especially in saying it to me. Of all the people in the forum, why would I appreciate that behaviour? 😂

He might have been addressing the OP, I’m not sure. But that phrase is so unusual, I am expecting it to come out of a low brow romance novel with Fabio on the cover.

[humanissocial]

He might have been addressing the OP, I’m not sure. But that phrase is so unusual, I am expecting it to come out of a low brow romance novel with Fabio on the cover.

I got it as a reply, so it’s to me.

It is bizarre indeed. I suspect that he meant to say he loved how phrased something, not that he loved me.

That’s what happens when you have a poor command of English. You say things that differ from what you actually mean and then the other person has to figure out what you meant. Why would a buyer want to do that for a seller?

Or maybe he really just loves me. I do look quite ravishing in my purple shirt, I must say.

[mjaninea]

I messaged him asking why he had nothing bad to say and yet left an only 3.7 stars review.

Cross your fingers that Buyer did not report you. You gave him a right to do that.

mjaninea:

I messaged him asking why he had nothing bad to say and yet left an only 3.7 stars review.

Cross your fingers that Buyer did not report you. You gave him a right to do that.

I know, but I couldn’t leave it just like that, I wanted to understand why his review was not coherent. I think that as sellers, we deserve an explanation, also to understand if there is anything we can improve in our service. I would have appreciated it if, in response to my question, he would have given me constructive criticism or would have pointed out something I did/said wrong.

So you advised her to block a client for accidentally giving her a bad review based on stars only? Because his written review reflects 5 star. So you advise her to block a potential long term returning client over a bad review especially when he clarified that he will save the 5 for his next order? That’s professional to you?

I understand what you’re saying here. And, thankfully, his 3.7 stars didn’t affect my overall ratings much, but imagine if he did that to someone else who was just starting? With a 3.7 review a seller would not be able to see buyer requests, to send offers, ecc…

Okay, his written review reflects 5 starts, but we all know that doesn’t affect your stats, it’s the stars that Fiverr considers.

And what if he comes back next time to place a new order and leaves another low rating and would use the same excuse? I would not risk that for another 5$ order.

[english_voice]

Since you asked me. I have a zero block policy. Blocking looks unprofessional to me for few reasons. Ignore is much more powerful. If he keeps messaging you without your will and spamming you, you can report him and have him banned or getting a warning. If you block him, he goes to next seller.

So act responsibly for the common interest as well.

Blocking is not unprofessional. It is a valid tool to protect your business.

Unless you block a buyer, they can still order from you. As a seller you then only have two choices - work on the order, endure a hellish experience and more low feedback, thereby further reducing your overall feedback rating; or cancel the order and have your completion stats shredded.

And why should I, as an individual, act as the guardian for the rest of Fiverr’s sellers by having my inbox full of messages from an abusive buyer? No thank you.

[zerlina84]

I’ve just completed an order for a buyer and everything was fine. I followed every instruction, he asked for few revisions and I did all of them, even if the order was for just 5$ (I still have a basic package for T-shirt design for 5$ dollars). I gave him 5stars as a buyer, because we had no misunderstandings and everything was okay. Then I received the notification from Fiverr informing me that the buyer gave me a 3.7 review. I was shocked and went to see what he had to say. Nothing bad. He said “This seller has good design quality and very good timing at completing the work! Communication was very good.”

As you can imagine, I was confused and so I messaged him asking why he had nothing bad to say and yet left an only 3.7 stars review. This is his reply "your work is really good and i like your work… will save the 5 for my next order! 😉 from you"

Seriously???

" your work is really good and i like your work… will save the 5 for my next order! 😉 from you "

This is disgusting. I would say “in that case, I won’t be working with you anymore” and block the idiot. (edit: don’t follow my advice about the reply, it could get you in trouble. But I would do it anyway because I can’t stand horrible people lol)

Also, ignore that user that keeps saying blocking is unprofessional. Fiverr gave us that option for a reason.

[mjaninea]

" your work is really good and i like your work… will save the 5 for my next order! 😉 from you "

This is disgusting. I would say “in that case, I won’t be working with you anymore” and block the idiot. (edit: don’t follow my advice about the reply, it could get you in trouble. But I would do it anyway because I can’t stand horrible people lol)

Also, ignore that user that keeps saying blocking is unprofessional. Fiverr gave us that option for a reason.

(edit: don’t follow my advice about the reply, it could get you in trouble. But I would do it anyway because I can’t stand horrible people lol)

HAHAHA! I know I know! People already warned me for mentioning the review to the buyer, but I was so confused and annoyed that I couldn’t help it!

Thanks for all the advices, I confirm I have blocked the buyer.

Blocking is not unprofessional. It is a valid tool to protect your business.

Unless you block a buyer, they can still order from you. As a seller you then only have two choices - work on the order, endure a hellish experience and more low feedback, thereby further reducing your overall feedback rating; or cancel the order and have your completion stats shredded.

And why should I, as an individual, act as the guardian for the rest of Fiverr’s sellers by having my inbox full of messages from an abusive buyer? No thank you.

Your replies, comments and advices are always on point! Thanks @english_voice

[shohag333]

I don’t understand why he gave you 3.5 reviews after everything was fine. However, it may be a trick. To make you obedient to his next work.

[mjaninea]

I don’t understand why he gave you 3.5 reviews after everything was fine. However, it may be a trick. To make you obedient to his next work.

Yeah, exactly. That’s what I’m thinking too. There’s no other reason. I know my work can’t always be 100% perfect, but I asked him if there was anything he didn’t like and told me " your work is really good and i like your work" so… He could have left 4.1/4.5/4.7 stars… whatever, but not 3.7. Why that low when you’re telling me you like everything about my service! Haha.

[ruthsalmun]

You shouldnt be too worried about it, imstead ask him how to make your service better, you wont always receive 5 stars reviews, and a review and opinion of a costumer shouldnt make you block him, thats very unprofessional.

[erikawinter]

You did the right thing blocking him. We’re all adults here and you do not and shouldn’t put up with that sort of emotional blackmail.

I understand we won’t always get a 5 star review but the way he worded his reason not to give you the 5 star review is what raises a lot of red flags. That is a dangerous client. It was clearly not an accident that he gave you 3.7.