What to do if seller (content writer) commits a fraud

[Guest mohitchauhan651]

Hello Guys,

Just wanted to share some events that occurred in last couple of days.

I work in a reputed travel organization and was assigned to look for a suitable content writer online. I came across Fiverr and browsed through some sections before finalizing 2 sellers (good reviews and ratings).

My requirement was to create an informative piece of article for touring destinations in India and Asia.

My experience with the first seller was bad. The article shared was gibberish and spun. Being in travel industry for more than 10 years, I even knew which website the article was originally sourced from before spinning. But somehow I felt that this might happen once in a blue moon and did nothing about that.

So I moved on to the second seller with the same request. I even mentioned about the earlier misdoings of a seller and that I require only original content that is not copied from any sites.

2 days later I received the order.

After reading the article I could figure out that apart from the introduction (around 100 words) all the content was copied from reputed websites. I am sharing one example as a proof of misdoing.

The article to the right highlighted with red is almost similar to the one on the website where it was fetched from.

Plagiarised content from Adventurenation2684×768 500 KB

There are 2 things I would like to know. How to get a refund and are there any genuine writers available on Fiverr?

[leannelrivers]

Hi there,

I’m sorry you’ve had this experience. Looks like they’ve changed enough hoping to get away with it. There are many genuine and talented writers on Fiverr and it’s when buyers have bad experiences that all sellers get painted with the same brush.

You are able to request a cancellation and have the grounds to do so. I would be surprised if the seller disputes the cancellation considering the work isn’t original. If they do dispute it then the customer service team will step in for you and I imagine the seller will be warned.

[adriaana]

Hi there

I’m sorry about your bad experience on Fiverr. There are many reputable content writers on Fiverr. Don’t give up yet.

Personally, I write great travel content as well with over 90% customer satisfaction.

[benedictrm]

Seems to me that you probably want to cancel one or both jobs as they did not fill the Brief.

Consider if you paid enough for the work? Being in travel, you would know that a Hotel in Uttermorrocovia that claims to be 5-Star but changes $5 is not going to be any more than a flea-pit populated with crooks who will steal whatever is not nailed down, and if it is nailed down probably give it an STD. You guide your clients away from these no matter how great the (suspiciously soggy) brochure claims the accommodation to be.

There are good writers here I am sure. I used to offer writing (elsewhere) but gave up simply because everyone seemed to think that $5 per 500 words was doing me a favor.

🙂

[Guest mohitchauhan651]

Seems to me that you probably want to cancel one or both jobs as they did not fill the Brief.

Consider if you paid enough for the work? Being in travel, you would know that a Hotel in Uttermorrocovia that claims to be 5-Star but changes $5 is not going to be any more than a flea-pit populated with crooks who will steal whatever is not nailed down, and if it is nailed down probably give it an STD. You guide your clients away from these no matter how great the (suspiciously soggy) brochure claims the accommodation to be.

There are good writers here I am sure. I used to offer writing (elsewhere) but gave up simply because everyone seemed to think that $5 per 500 words was doing me a favor.

🙂

Totally agree and its a lesson for me as well. I do not care much about the refund, but what was disheartening was the level of mockery that can happen if you are not careful while choosing the right person.

That’s not all. The seller even after showing the proof of misdoing is denying everything. If you see the screen shot, I am still confused how can the seller contradict?

Believe it or not… it was a level 2 seller with more than 600 positive reviews.

[Guest mohitchauhan651]

Hi there

I’m sorry about your bad experience on Fiverr. There are many reputable content writers on Fiverr. Don’t give up yet.

Personally, I write great travel content as well with over 90% customer satisfaction.

Thank you Adriaana, I will be in touch.

[Guest mohitchauhan651]

Hi there,

I’m sorry you’ve had this experience. Looks like they’ve changed enough hoping to get away with it. There are many genuine and talented writers on Fiverr and it’s when buyers have bad experiences that all sellers get painted with the same brush.

You are able to request a cancellation and have the grounds to do so. I would be surprised if the seller disputes the cancellation considering the work isn’t original. If they do dispute it then the customer service team will step in for you and I imagine the seller will be warned.

Thank you leannel,

I did what was suggested in this forum. To my amazement, I was questioned back by the seller regarding the dispute. I am sure there are talented sellers who work honestly in their field, but somehow they get covered with the dirt splashed by few. Nothing we can do about it.

[leannelrivers]

Thank you leannel,

I did what was suggested in this forum. To my amazement, I was questioned back by the seller regarding the dispute. I am sure there are talented sellers who work honestly in their field, but somehow they get covered with the dirt splashed by few. Nothing we can do about it.

Hey,

I’m very surprised they disputed that. I hope it gets cleared up quickly. I’m sure I speak for most sellers here when I say that we want to be part of a trusted, reliable group of professionals. We want newer sellers to be able to have the opportunity to get work and develop their freelance business. Having said that, there are some unscrupulous sellers and buyers here (I’m not referring to you, of course).

EDIT. I just read they had 600+ positive reviews. You can certainly be forgiven for choosing them! benedictrm makes a good point about the pricing.

[Guest mohitchauhan651]

Hey,

I’m very surprised they disputed that. I hope it gets cleared up quickly. I’m sure I speak for most sellers here when I say that we want to be part of a trusted, reliable group of professionals. We want newer sellers to be able to have the opportunity to get work and develop their freelance business. Having said that, there are some unscrupulous sellers and buyers here (I’m not referring to you, of course).

EDIT. I just read they had 600+ positive reviews. You can certainly be forgiven for choosing them! benedictrm makes a good point about the pricing.

Well said and this is what I thought as a basis for judging the sellers. I do not want to publicly exploit the seller, but it was a Level 2 seller. Hard to judge when a seller has so many positive reviews.

Edit: Yes, that is what I am talking about… Can’t judge a seller with so many reviews… I guess pricing is also the key. Thank you for making me feel welcomed here.

[genuineguidance]

Well said and this is what I thought as a basis for judging the sellers. I do not want to publicly exploit the seller, but it was a Level 2 seller. Hard to judge when a seller has so many positive reviews.

Edit: Yes, that is what I am talking about… Can’t judge a seller with so many reviews… I guess pricing is also the key. Thank you for making me feel welcomed here.

I do not want to publicly exploit the seller,

Even if you did want to publicly exploit or call out said seller, that is not allowed on the forum anyways.

The way to warn other buyers of an unscrupulous seller who obviously cannot write original content is use the FEEDBACK option where you can review your experience with these sellers who gave you a less than usable article. Other buyers should be warned.

GG

[superalex76]

Without knowing the details, and most importantly the price, of the services you purchased, it’s impossible to comment fairly.
The requirements for the brief that you have detailed obviously requires a significant level of research. Was that factored into your budget?

I can see that you are also a seller on Fiverr and that six days ago you left a 5-star review for a content writer who charges $10 for 900 words and has a profile littered with grammatical errors.
If that is in the price point that you are shopping in and the standard of writer you chose, then I would suggest that you received exactly what you paid for.

If you have had two poor experiences hiring writers, it may be prudent to reassess your approach.
I would hazard a guess that either your budget, your vetting process or your expectations need to change.

Rather than coming to the forum and disparaging all writers on Fiverr, I would suggest that you rethink your own gig listing; a simple search shows it to have been plagiarized from another seller.

[genuineguidance]

Without knowing the details, and most importantly the price, of the services you purchased, it’s impossible to comment fairly.

The requirements for the brief that you have detailed obviously requires a significant level of research. Was that factored into your budget?

I can see that you are also a seller on Fiverr and that six days ago you left a 5-star review for a content writer who charges $10 for 900 words and has a profile littered with grammatical errors.

If that is in the price point that you are shopping in and the standard of writer you chose, then I would suggest that you received exactly what you paid for.

If you have had two poor experiences hiring writers, it may be prudent to reassess your approach.

I would hazard a guess that either your budget, your vetting process or your expectations need to change.

Rather than coming to the forum and disparaging all writers on Fiverr, I would suggest that you rethink your own gig listing; a simple search shows it to have been plagiarized from another seller.

a simple search shows it to have been plagiarized from another seller.

OOOPS! Oh dear. Well, if that is the case, this would be a bit hypocritical, no?

GG

[superalex76]

a simple search shows it to have been plagiarized from another seller.

OOOPS! Oh dear. Well, if that is the case, this would be a bit hypocritical, no?

GG

OOOPS! Oh dear. Well, if that is the case, this would be a bit hypocritical, no?

GG

Quite! Fairly shameless too.

[genuineguidance]

OOOPS! Oh dear. Well, if that is the case, this would be a bit hypocritical, no?

GG

Quite! Fairly shameless too.

Perhaps this is why he is so familiar with plagiarism. That is, if he is guilty of it.

GG

[Guest mohitchauhan651]

Without knowing the details, and most importantly the price, of the services you purchased, it’s impossible to comment fairly.

The requirements for the brief that you have detailed obviously requires a significant level of research. Was that factored into your budget?

I can see that you are also a seller on Fiverr and that six days ago you left a 5-star review for a content writer who charges $10 for 900 words and has a profile littered with grammatical errors.

If that is in the price point that you are shopping in and the standard of writer you chose, then I would suggest that you received exactly what you paid for.

If you have had two poor experiences hiring writers, it may be prudent to reassess your approach.

I would hazard a guess that either your budget, your vetting process or your expectations need to change.

Rather than coming to the forum and disparaging all writers on Fiverr, I would suggest that you rethink your own gig listing; a simple search shows it to have been plagiarized from another seller.

Thanks for bringing that up. Me and my colleagues were actually checking how the sellers are getting along so well on the platform but couldn’t delete this gig, maybe because I am new to the platform. I have also raised this with customer support to help me get this removed.

As for the second point, I agree that the seller has some grammatical errors listed within her profile. But we had received various article sources of her publications before finalizing. BTW it was not $10 that we were charged, it was a custom link.

The approach is not prudent, this is a way of letting other people know that price does play a part ( already mentioned above). No need to be judgmental either.

[superalex76]

Thanks for bringing that up. Me and my colleagues were actually checking how the sellers are getting along so well on the platform but couldn’t delete this gig, maybe because I am new to the platform. I have also raised this with customer support to help me get this removed.

As for the second point, I agree that the seller has some grammatical errors listed within her profile. But we had received various article sources of her publications before finalizing. BTW it was not $10 that we were charged, it was a custom link.

The approach is not prudent, this is a way of letting other people know that price does play a part ( already mentioned above). No need to be judgmental either.

So you thought the way to go about that was to plagiarize another seller’s profile and listing for ‘your team’?

Also, I’m confused. Have you been in the travel industry for 10 years or in web development for 10 years as it states on your profile?

Sorry, my mistake. It appears you also plagiarized the seller’s profile.

So you were happy with that seller’s work? Why come to the forum and question the integrity of every writer on Fiverr?

[sharjeelh]

So you thought the way to go about that was to plagiarize another seller’s profile and listing for ‘your team’?

Also, I’m confused. Have you been in the travel industry for 10 years or in web development for 10 years as it states on your profile?

Sorry, my mistake. It appears you also plagiarized the seller’s profile.

So you were happy with that seller’s work? Why come to the forum and question the integrity of every writer on Fiverr?

This. I feel like with this post he’s throwing mud-intentionally or not-on every Fiverr writer, especially the ones that are starting out, but do genuine work.

[genuineguidance]

Thanks for bringing that up. Me and my colleagues were actually checking how the sellers are getting along so well on the platform but couldn’t delete this gig, maybe because I am new to the platform. I have also raised this with customer support to help me get this removed.

As for the second point, I agree that the seller has some grammatical errors listed within her profile. But we had received various article sources of her publications before finalizing. BTW it was not $10 that we were charged, it was a custom link.

The approach is not prudent, this is a way of letting other people know that price does play a part ( already mentioned above). No need to be judgmental either.

but couldn’t delete this gig,

You can delete a Gig easily - switch to Seller mode and go to your Dashboard where there will be a link to your Gigs and then go to the Gig that you stole copy from and hit the DELETE button OR actually do what YOU seem to want from writers here - WRITE YOUR OWN COPY.

You sound like a reseller.

GG

[superalex76]

but couldn’t delete this gig,

You can delete a Gig easily - switch to Seller mode and go to your Dashboard where there will be a link to your Gigs and then go to the Gig that you stole copy from and hit the DELETE button OR actually do what YOU seem to want from writers here - WRITE YOUR OWN COPY.

You sound like a reseller.

GG

You can delete a Gig easily - switch to Seller mode and go to your Dashboard where there will be a link to your Gigs and then go to the Gig that you stole copy from and hit the DELETE button OR actually do what YOU seem to want from writers here - WRITE YOUR OWN COPY .

He’ll find it easy - he’s been an expert web developer for 10 years.

[genuineguidance]

You can delete a Gig easily - switch to Seller mode and go to your Dashboard where there will be a link to your Gigs and then go to the Gig that you stole copy from and hit the DELETE button OR actually do what YOU seem to want from writers here - WRITE YOUR OWN COPY .

He’ll find it easy - he’s been an expert web developer for 10 years.

I always wonder why people who come here with unclean hands to complain don’t think someone is going to have the where-with-all to go look at the profile of said person? And, if there is dirt, not expose it here?

GG

[superalex76]

I always wonder why people who come here with unclean hands to complain don’t think someone is going to have the where-with-all to go look at the profile of said person? And, if there is dirt, not expose it here?

GG

I normally ignore most of these posts but something about this particular post didn’t ring true.

It’s also infuriating to read the countless ‘I wanted the moon on a stick but my $5 seller didn’t deliver’ type posts.

[roopalmishra]

I normally ignore most of these posts but something about this particular post didn’t ring true.

It’s also infuriating to read the countless ‘I wanted the moon on a stick but my $5 seller didn’t deliver’ type posts.

Hi alex,

Can we stop quoting “$5 seller”. I mean what’s wrong in quoting $5, for a not so developed nation, $30 a day is something you can comfortably live.

[genuineguidance]

Hi alex,

Can we stop quoting “$5 seller”. I mean what’s wrong in quoting $5, for a not so developed nation, $30 a day is something you can comfortably live.

Because, typically, when one is looking for a writer who can write original copy that is grammatically flawless and passes a plagiarism checker, they do not necessarily fall under the umbrella of a $5 seller.

Sure, $5 can buy lots in some countries - but, most sellers in those countries are NOT proficient enough in English to be writing web, magazine or other copy. And the ones who are, know their worth and charge a fair price for their time.

I have to wonder if this poster is a second account for the OP - this account was just opened 8 min ago… the plot thickens!!!

GG

[roopalmishra]

Because, typically, when one is looking for a writer who can write original copy that is grammatically flawless and passes a plagiarism checker, they do not necessarily fall under the umbrella of a $5 seller.

Sure, $5 can buy lots in some countries - but, most sellers in those countries are NOT proficient enough in English to be writing web, magazine or other copy. And the ones who are, know their worth and charge a fair price for their time.

I have to wonder if this poster is a second account for the OP - this account was just opened 8 min ago… the plot thickens!!!

GG

OMG… I think i commented on the wrong forum post.

[superalex76]

Because, typically, when one is looking for a writer who can write original copy that is grammatically flawless and passes a plagiarism checker, they do not necessarily fall under the umbrella of a $5 seller.

Sure, $5 can buy lots in some countries - but, most sellers in those countries are NOT proficient enough in English to be writing web, magazine or other copy. And the ones who are, know their worth and charge a fair price for their time.

I have to wonder if this poster is a second account for the OP - this account was just opened 8 min ago… the plot thickens!!!

GG

I have to wonder if this poster is a second account for the OP - this account was just opened 8 min ago… the plot thickens!!!

Yes, in other news, the OP’s profile image is definitely not him