What's better: cancelled order or bad review?

[gabsmall]

I have a very difficult buyer that I am working with right now. They give very unclear instructions but expect very specific things.

I've spent probably close to 10 hours working on this order, a pitch deck for a new conference. I did a thorough round of revisions based on the buyer's input, and then the buyer sent me a message that it was "much better." I thought we were done.

A few days later, I get a message saying that the buyer wants to cancel the order because I didn't deliver what he wanted. At this point, I feel like he is just looking to get free stuff. 

I'm a new seller and I only have 7 5 star reviews on this gig so a bad review could really do terrible things. But I don't want to cancel the order either since I know that is also bad for my analytics.

What do I do?

 

 

[imagination7413]

[yannisenglish]

On 9/15/2021 at 12:35 PM, gabsmall said:

I have a very difficult buyer that I am working with right now. They give very unclear instructions but expect very specific things.

I've spent probably close to 10 hours working on this order, a pitch deck for a new conference. I did a thorough round of revisions based on the buyer's input, and then the buyer sent me a message that it was "much better." I thought we were done.

A few days later, I get a message saying that the buyer wants to cancel the order because I didn't deliver what he wanted. At this point, I feel like he is just looking to get free stuff. 

I'm a new seller and I only have 7 5 star reviews on this gig so a bad review could really do terrible things. But I don't want to cancel the order either since I know that is also bad for my analytics.

What do I do?

 

 

The answer effectively comes down to what is more important to you at this stage: the time you spent working on the project or how you look to new buyers?

Like you said, a bad review can look proportionately worse when you have a handful of good ones. On the other hand, if you worked long hours to do the best possible job you could, then you might want to see a return on that investment.

That all being said, some buyers are indeed trying to get free stuff and scam. Standing your ground and showing CS that you did meet the Buyer's expectations with solid evidence could lead to a cancellation and the platform giving you the money anyway. This happened to me the one time I was being scammed. Granted, it was for a pittance of $15.

[kendal1747]

On 9/16/2021 at 1:48 PM, yannisenglish said:

The answer effectively comes down to what is more important to you at this stage: the time you spent working on the project or how you look to new buyers?

Like you said, a bad review can look proportionately worse when you have a handful of good ones. On the other hand, if you worked long hours to do the best possible job you could, then you might want to see a return on that investment.

That all being said, some buyers are indeed trying to get free stuff and scam. Standing your ground and showing CS that you did meet the Buyer's expectations with solid evidence could lead to a cancellation and the platform giving you the money anyway. This happened to me the one time I was being scammed. Granted, it was for a pittance of $15.

Did you get demoted?

[aura_agency]

It may sound stupid, but I'd rather cancel the order. Analytics are "private" (potential customers don't know about that) and can be easily fixed with a couple of completed orders. Bad reviews, on the other hand, are public and you may lose a lot of potential clients (and it will also affect your analytics, so...). 

Of course the best option would be to talk with the buyer and see if there's any way to agree on a satisfying delivery and save both reputation and analytics. But I guess this is not an option at this point.

[yannisenglish]

On 9/21/2021 at 9:27 PM, kendal1747 said:

Did you get demoted?

No, I wasn't and I don't see how I could have been. I had solid evidence that I did the work to their specifications. The Buyer wasn't giving me actual feedback to correct the work nor requested any revisions. Despite their "outrage" and drama I still communicated professionally with them and never once resorted to getting emotional myself.

[kendal1747]

2 hours ago, yannisenglish said:

No, I wasn't and I don't see how I could have been. I had solid evidence that I did the work to their specifications. The Buyer wasn't giving me actual feedback to correct the work nor requested any revisions. Despite their "outrage" and drama I still communicated professionally with them and never once resorted to getting emotional myself.

You must have the patience of a saint. I am so frustrated about this. I could chew nails. Anyway, thanks for your input.

[Zahid I.]

If you think you worked well and he didn't gave you any other changes after saying Much better,
Then I will suggest you to decline the dispute request.

Now it's about negative review or cancellation.

 

Reviews are a part of the journey. but yet it's important in starting phase.

However, if you still don't want to cancel but carry with this as a part as you worked hard, then don't focus on negative reviews. Additionally, you can open a ticket to the support by explaining everything if they can help you to avoid this unpleasant situation and maybe removing the negative review as buyer is just taking free staffs.

 

Or if you want to cancel the order, again decline the dispute request and open a ticket to the support from order page resolution center. Explain support everything and ask favor to cancel the order from their end and also help you to avoid negative impression on your completion rate and metrics.

[yannisenglish]

16 hours ago, kendal1747 said:

You must have the patience of a saint. I am so frustrated about this. I could chew nails. Anyway, thanks for your input.

More like a patient spouse/sounding board 😄

I try to keep the big picture in view, really. I could easily scream bloody murder and end up being the "bad guy". Or I can just copy paste the same response and decline their cancellation request until they're blue in the face or CS steps in.

[kendal1747]

23 hours ago, yannisenglish said:

More like a patient spouse/sounding board 😄

I try to keep the big picture in view, really. I could easily scream bloody murder and end up being the "bad guy". Or I can just copy paste the same response and decline their cancellation request until they're blue in the face or CS steps in.

Very good attitude on your part. I will try to remember that on this long road to the promise land.