Jump to content

Devistatingly unfair order cancellation


aislingjane

Recommended Posts

Hey there,

This is a little bit of a rant, but I am also hoping to call attention to this issue as this is the second time this has happened to me.

I am absolutely devastated, an order that was marked complete over 4 days ago has been cancelled by the buyer, despite me having completed the work to his full satisfaction.

I spent almost 30 hours on this project with multiple revisions completed, and at NO point did the buyer ever communicate to me that the project was not completed to his satisfaction, in fact he was very pleased and encouraging throughout the whole process.

Her are some screen shots as resolute proof of this.

680EAC2E-16CD-481B-A7A8-C80C7A2A86E8.thumb.jpeg.64018c61cccb94d09f4076fe02d786de.jpeg
image3508×1683 170 KB
25AFDF5D-029A-4AEF-B5F4-7FB2CD84C0D4.thumb.jpeg.0151a9ed3a1c745684867617ad142666.jpeg
image3508×1683 170 KB
FB1AEEF5-D274-49FE-B0E4-658C9FF0C210.thumb.jpeg.efea4f3b5e85170686549d94b56a7b94.jpeg
image1683×3508 151 KB

I received a notification today that the order was cancelled by the buyer, even though it was delivered on time to his full satisfaction.

I am outraged that I will not be getting paid for this for this job,I spent a full work week illustrating this image, I am a dedicated Fiverr seller and have recently been awarded the ‘Fiverrs choice’ award, the platform takes 20% of my earnings and yet completely screws me over.

This order has been cancelled with absolutely no imput from me whatsoever, my opinion was never asked and no opportunity has been given to me to dispute this.

Reading through the Fiverr terms and conditions it states:

“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.”

I delivered this order was completed on time to a high standard, completing everything that was asked of me by the buyer, and he expressed multiple times he was satisfied with the order.

I feel like he was able to cancel this as he never approved the order, but it was automatically marked as complete as he works long shifts.

Due to loosing my job several months ago due to Coronavirus Fiverr is my only source of income, if I am not compensated for my time on this project my prospects of eating this month are slim.

The fact that Fiverr has deemed I will not be paid for this is absolutely criminal.

I am so confused and bewildered by this outcome, I’m devastated and have been in tears as I have no idea how I’m going to make it through the month without this money I was relying on.

I have sent an email to Fiverr support, but have not recieved a response.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,
Aisling

Edit:

This was my response from Fiverr support:

C187FE41-8159-4609-BA8D-6785B250B315.thumb.jpeg.15f6b19001819cc43db4fb0d34f682fc.jpeg
image1303×816 175 KB

What they are referring to is the fact that half way through, the client realised I was working in portrait, and he wanted it landscape.
So I said ofcourse, no problem, my mistake, and offered to change it no extra charge, no problem.

F2741690-A000-4149-A20E-F1435F49AE63.thumb.jpeg.5b7430dac5adacf5529679c807c79d10.jpeg
image3120×3547 561 KB

The buyer stated it was fine and just to keep it the way it was, and then I continued to do many more hours of work on it from there. He could have easily stated he was unhappy then.

6DAB3159-C3FB-4966-AD77-E84E306460EB.thumb.jpeg.2c4dab3795efeb6dcce64a3044f09f9b.jpeg
image3120×3547 685 KB

P.s Thankyou for all the support guys, it means a lot.

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sucks you’re going through this, especially after putting so much time in.

I’d be interested to know what support says so please do share when you hear.

It sounds like it was cancelled by CS given you didn’t agree to the cancellation, or perhaps triggered by the buying cancelling the payment.

Someone here knows more than me, drum roll…

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We hear too many of these. You are doing the right thing, talking to CS. Be sure they can see all the relevant info to show that you delivered as per client brief and your portfolio promises. Show that the client was happy. That they let it autocomplete is irrelevant.

Try to make sure you don’t get too emotive. Focus on facts and not feelings - they should be self evident from the facts.

Ask directly to have your payment reinstated as you did everything correctly under TOS (and make sure you did).

You might check to see if this person is still on Fiverr, if not they may have made a chargeback which means Fiverr no longer has that money. I have herd that some have recovered from this when making it clear that they did everything right and therefore are deserving of their pay.

You could also look online Google Image Search etc to see if the image is in-use. this proves that the work was acceptable and therefore deserving of payment. If you find the image in use DO NOT approach the person until Fiverr have ruled. Even then you might be better to let servers and Google manage the takedown (painful as it is). You can only do this once it is totally proven that you have/will not be paid.

🙂

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Aisling,

If you completed the order and the delivery was as specified in the gig description, send as much evidence of this as you can to Fiverr Customer Support; send it in one comprehensive document and try to be direct and succinct.

In cases such as this, they will usually compensate you for your losses, possibly paying you in full. It’s at Fiverr’s discretion.

Sounds as though the buyer may have filed a chargeback but even if it was cancelled by CS, they will almost certainly consider compensation because it sounds as if you did everything right and the buyer has been sneaky and underhand.

Please keep us updated–this is horrible for you but Fiverr may well find in your favour if you present to them what you have said here.

Keeping everything crossed for you.

Annie

EDIT: Oh, Aisling. 😦 I just saw your edit on your original post. This is awful–the person should have said to move to landscape! I don’t understand that Fiverr found in their favour after these discussions between you and the client. This buyer has really behaved badly and not given you a chance to revise the image even though you offered–doesn’t make sense. So sad.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sucks you’re going through this, especially after putting so much time in.

I’d be interested to know what support says so please do share when you hear.

It sounds like it was cancelled by CS given you didn’t agree to the cancellation, or perhaps triggered by the buying cancelling the payment.

Someone here knows more than me, drum roll…

Thankyou for your support, it looks as if Fiverr is of the stance I do not deserve to be paid for my time. Is creatives deserve better!

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thankyou for your support, it looks as if Fiverr is of the stance I do not deserve to be paid for my time. Is creatives deserve better!

@benedictrm 's advice is great. I’d follow it. It’s not over yet I think. I think CS will do something, just be articulate, thorough and polite with them. So far I haven’t been disappointed with the service. So far…

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have my sympathy. Based on what you’ve presented in the forum, your story makes me upset and annoyed on your behalf. Like you, I would be gutted to have had the order cancelled as it represents so much work - particularly as it was a creative and bespoke service.

I’ve said this a few times in the forum, because of the liberal way in which orders appear to be cancelled (as reported by a number of sellers in the forum), I would never consider offering a service on Fiverr that would take me any longer than a couple of hours to complete. There was one chap three or so days ago saying how an order had been cancelled that represented a month’s worth of work.

If Fiverr are to allow orders to span such a lengthy period of time, there really does need to be better policing of the dispute process. I’m sure there are many cases where buyers genuinely feel aggrieved, but there are also cases where buyers unjustly receive their money back. Disgusting.

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have my sympathy. Based on what you’ve presented in the forum, your story makes me upset and annoyed on your behalf. Like you, I would be gutted to have had the order cancelled as it represents so much work - particularly as it was a creative and bespoke service.

I’ve said this a few times in the forum, because of the liberal way in which orders appear to be cancelled (as reported by a number of sellers in the forum), I would never consider offering a service on Fiverr that would take me any longer than a couple of hours to complete. There was one chap three or so days ago saying how an order had been cancelled that represented a month’s worth of work.

If Fiverr are to allow orders to span such a lengthy period of time, there really does need to be better policing of the dispute process. I’m sure there are many cases where buyers genuinely feel aggrieved, but there are also cases where buyers unjustly receive their money back. Disgusting.

Thankyou for your sympathies.

I’ve been shaking all day due to anger and hurt, I just don’t understand how this is legal, I was truly relying on this money to get by this month.

Fiverr really needs to create a more caring environment for their creatives, that’s how you attract and keep decent hardworking people.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ungh. I just saw the update. They got you on a technicality. A technicality that the buyer didn’t contest at the time but they now raise, despite having accepted it at the time.

I smell :poo:

But it will be hard to defeat unless you can find this work in-use.

In future make sure you have very clear requirements like Orientation, Sizing etc in your Requirements so this should not happen or if it does, you can point to their info being followed.

I very much like to know the context of the work so I can see if there are technical things and more subtle requirements that the buyer may not have thought to mention. That happens a lot. Good clients really appreciate this. Interestingly many buyers (I think Resellers) decline to provide this so I cannot work with them out of fear that this will be the outcome too often.

🙂

FWIW, I think it is rather nice work so other people who value you should be out there. Maybe see if you can sell this again. Which if you have not been paid you have full rights to do seeing the first person is not using it (right). I’d use it as an album cover in a heartbeat - but sadly original music doesn’t make $200 in a year, a decade…

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ungh. I just saw the update. They got you on a technicality. A technicality that the buyer didn’t contest at the time but they now raise, despite having accepted it at the time.

I smell :poo:

But it will be hard to defeat unless you can find this work in-use.

In future make sure you have very clear requirements like Orientation, Sizing etc in your Requirements so this should not happen or if it does, you can point to their info being followed.

I very much like to know the context of the work so I can see if there are technical things and more subtle requirements that the buyer may not have thought to mention. That happens a lot. Good clients really appreciate this. Interestingly many buyers (I think Resellers) decline to provide this so I cannot work with them out of fear that this will be the outcome too often.

🙂

FWIW, I think it is rather nice work so other people who value you should be out there. Maybe see if you can sell this again. Which if you have not been paid you have full rights to do seeing the first person is not using it (right). I’d use it as an album cover in a heartbeat - but sadly original music doesn’t make $200 in a year, a decade…

you can sell this again

This is a major point here. You need to inform the buyer that in case of cancelation the commercial rights for the design are yours and you can resel or use it otherwise. Buyer must not use the artwork at all in any way shape or form if you did not get paid.

Also, on another note, this could be a lesson for you to never accept an order or allow that order starts without them specifying the elementary things like dimensions, ratio, resolution, color palette, I have a full brief for my client and I stick to it.

Just today I lost a client because of that.

He kept asking me to make him overlay and I kept sending him a list of questions to answer, and he could not articulate himself enough for me to understand what he wants. I just kept replying to answer my design brief questionnaire and finally, he stoped sending messages.

If he tried to skip me and make an order without me approving he has the same questions in my mandatory requests.

Most of my orders now with returning client timer doesn’t start because they do not want to fill all of that in because I already know what they want so it is perfect for me. I get to chose when the order starts and they already paid.

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Just today happened the same to me. The client asked me for one code where it should convert one pdf into audio file and then open the pdf and play the audio. I just delivered the program exactly as he wanted but he requested to cancel saying that he didin´t need that anymore.I deny the cancelation because he already had the program and because i sent him what he asked for. 

As incredible as it sounds, fiverr approved the order cancellation and even more incredible was the fact that the client got a job for 2 full days for free and the person who worked on it received nothing.

Already talked with fiverr help center and if this case is not resolved in the correct way I don´t want to work with a website that leaves their worker penniless and the client with a job for free.

Edited by programmingwise
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, programmingwise said:

Just today happened the same to me. The client asked me for one code where it should convert one pdf into audio file and then open the pdf and play the audio. I just delivered the program exactly as he wanted but he requested to cancel saying that he didin´t need that anymore.I deny the cancelation because he already had the program and because i sent him what he asked for. 

As incredible as it sounds, fiverr approved the order cancellation and even more incredible was the fact that the client got a job for 2 full days for free and the person who worked on it received nothing.

Already talked with fiverr help center and if this case is not resolved in the correct way I don´t want to work with a website that leaves their worker penniless and the client with a job for free.

I will respond to both OP and you in this comment:

I had a similar issue some time ago, except that I had an argument with a rather abusive/disrespectful buyer after the first order completion. We were supposed to work together for more after the first order, but I refused to continue because said buyer broke Fiverr's TOS many times and crossed a few lines becoming horribly rude and passive aggressive. When he realized he couldn't convince me (or rather force me) to do what he wanted, he cancelled the completed order although he never said what I did was wrong or bad. On the contrary he seemed pretty happy about it. I reported the user explaining the situation and also for breaking the TOS, then a few hours later I saw my order had been cancelled by CS.

However, the agent in charge informed me that what I did was in the scope of the original request and thus my rates were not affected. Plus, they would reach out to the relevant team to know if I could also receive a full refund of the deserved compensation and it was indeed approved a couple days later.

Now, of course all situations are different and unfortunately it also depends on who you are talking to when you get a response from the CS. There are different agents taking over daily if the ticket stays open and from experience I can confirm that they don't always properly check the full conversation or screenshots with the proof you've already sent. If you are told off by an agent when you are in the right (as it appears in these cases here), I would recommend to keep discussing the whole matter, do not let the CS close your ticket (you can reopen it if needed though) and be done with it. Be respectful and professional, but offer all the proof you can to demonstrate you fully deserve a refund as well for a work that has previously been accepted with happy comments.

@programmingwise: What your client did sounds fishy to me. When they try to cancel saying they don't need a work anymore, it might just be a way to get their money back while keeping the finished work for free. Either way, a similar excuse should not be accepted, as sellers work for many hours over something and it's not theif fault if buyers change their mind at the very last minute (yet again, it's interesting that this person said they didn't need it anymore AFTER your delivery and not along the way, before you could complete it).

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, nika_3dartist said:

I will respond to both OP and you in this comment:

I had a similar issue some time ago, except that I had an argument with a rather abusive/disrespectful buyer after the first order completion. We were supposed to work together for more after the first order, but I refused to continue because said buyer broke Fiverr's TOS many times and crossed a few lines becoming horribly rude and passive aggressive. When he realized he couldn't convince me (or rather force me) to do what he wanted, he cancelled the completed order although he never said what I did was wrong or bad. On the contrary he seemed pretty happy about it. I reported the user explaining the situation and also for breaking the TOS, then a few hours later I saw my order had been cancelled by CS.

However, the agent in charge informed me that what I did was in the scope of the original request and thus my rates were not affected. Plus, they would reach out to the relevant team to know if I could also receive a full refund of the deserved compensation and it was indeed approved a couple days later.

Now, of course all situations are different and unfortunately it also depends on who you are talking to when you get a response from the CS. There are different agents taking over daily if the ticket stays open and from experience I can confirm that they don't always properly check the full conversation or screenshots with the proof you've already sent. If you are told off by an agent when you are in the right (as it appears in these cases here), I would recommend to keep discussing the whole matter, do not let the CS close your ticket (you can reopen it if needed though) and be done with it. Be respectful and professional, but offer all the proof you can to demonstrate you fully deserve a refund as well for a work that has previously been accepted with happy comments.

@programmingwise: What your client did sounds fishy to me. When they try to cancel saying they don't need a work anymore, it might just be a way to get their money back while keeping the finished work for free. Either way, a similar excuse should not be accepted, as sellers work for many hours over something and it's not theif fault if buyers change their mind at the very last minute (yet again, it's interesting that this person said they didn't need it anymore AFTER your delivery and not along the way, before you could complete it).

Thankfully fiverr help center saw that what i was saying to them was the complety true and they gave me the money i deserve.

I'm glad this situation turned out the right way, although the client probably got the job for free anyway

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/18/2022 at 2:47 PM, programmingwise said:

Thankfully fiverr help center saw that what i was saying to them was the complety true and they gave me the money i deserve.

I'm glad this situation turned out the right way, although the client probably got the job for free anyway

Yeah technically they do, because even if you are compensated with Fiverr giving you the money back, the buyer can still use the work without paying for it, as they got a full refund. But, as long as you are compensated one way or another, I guess that's okay.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...