Suspicious gig purchase - sabotage?

[intel_007]

Dear All,

I'm in need of a supporting community to vent my frustration. So, our firm is fairly new to Fiverr and have experienced great success. We adore our clients and strive to make their experience pleasant and care-free while delivering an exceptional product. We've also been excited because we're about to hit the Level 1 Seller milestone after tireless work and dedication. 

Well, earlier today I received a ping to my phone with a Fiverr message from a buyer asking our team if we could conduct certain services. For context, we're licensed private investigators and we must abide by the legal and ethical standards set by the regulatory board. Moving forward, right as I received the message, it was only a matter of seconds when the buyer placed an order without even allowing us to the opportunity answer their first question (the initial message).

Naturally, I panicked because a.) while we state in our gigs to contact us first prior to ordering, it's never a guarantee the buyer will read the disclaimer thus impacting cancellation b.) the buyer's request was completely unrelated to our gig description and might even breach privacy laws c.) when we replied to buyer's initial message stating our reasons for not being able to conduct such investigations, there's been crickets despite their "online" status. We also noticed that the buyer's average response time is "6 days". To add even more salt to our open wound, even if the buyer's request was legal and something we could assist with, a project of that magnitude would be invoiced by X3 of what they ordered.

Within thirty minutes of the buyer's order, I submitted a ticket to customer service explaining the legal/ethical concerns of the request along with our suspicions of the quick purchase seconds after the buyer's very first message (not allowing us even a moment to reply with "no"). I worry that CS will side with the buyer thus compromising our elevation to Level 1 Seller. It's all so depressing and unfair.

It was a hard day to begin with and this stress undoubtedly takes the cake. Since the timing is very interesting (days before the 15th), it feels like an intentional attempt at sabotaging our good status. As investigators we're naturally suspicious, but I just need some love and reassurance that I'm not crazy. 

I appreciate any feedback or sharing of similar experiences.

Regards,

Intel_007

[agenciawem]

Some guys prefer to contract directly, maybe for time, is their right too, and something normal around here, my advice is to keep cool, polite, and try to figure out what he needs, but making clear your rules too. If there isn't an agree, you can cancel, and if he tries to 'sabotage', there're some things that you can do to report either. Good luck

[intel_007]

Thank you for your great advice, agenciawem. Yes, a calm reasonable mindset amid conflict always wins. We were actually very gracious and polite to the buyer while articulating specific reasons why we contacted customer support to cancel the order. Thankfully, CS did cancel the order and make it clear that this wouldn't impact our cancellation rate. I hope that those who read this thread have this example to bring some reassurance that CS will come through in some (not all) complex situations like this. 

I'll reaffirm that the request from the buyer was something we couldn't fulfill since it potentially infringed on ToS and was a service we don't offer. What's odd is that the buyer never once acknowledged our thoughtful message (while online) over a 6-7 period which only confirms our initial suspicion. Shortly after that debacle, we received yet another message from a different buyer requesting for our firm to conduct an investigation of another Fiverr member which I'm pretty sure is a clear violation of the ToS. 😒

After the odd events yesterday, I believe our firm experienced intentional (multiple) attacks to hurt us. We're in a specialized gig category requiring licensure in accordance to the law (which we follow) and there's maybe two others who we've identified as licensed (in legal compliance) among the others promoting that service who are without. That's for another day... 

Thank you all for your love and support.

[cs_evans]

Why do you think it is sabotage?  Did something happen recently which would lead you to believe you are being targeted?