Ripped off by Buyer again

[cherylleisten]

This last rip off is the 3rd time I have had a buyer cancel on me AFTER they got my script.  The first time, it was another script.  The second time, it was social media posts and a business plan.  Three strikes, and you're out. 

The impression that I got is that if you do any type of gig writing, design, advertising, or basically anything they can cancel on after they get it, you can forget about getting paid.  Am I right in assuming this?  Honestly, I don't know how all you graphic designers and digital marketers out there make a living.  My guess is you're only charging $5 or $10, so you don't lose much or you must really love volunteer work.  After this last cancellation, I told customer support that I'm not doing any gigs related to digital marketing, scripting or design anymore since I'm obviously never going to get paid.  

Edited May 12, 2022 by cherylleisten

[katakatica]

51 minutes ago, cherylleisten said:

The impression that I got is that if you do any type of gig writing,

I can only speak as a writer (not as a designer/etc.) but it's rare for me to find a bad egg. Sure, it's happened here and there - I've had a few very obvious cases of people who knew how to game the system, but out of, say, the 200 most recent orders I've delivered over last/this year, it was maybe... 5?

Still a lot of money (since I don't only charge $5/$10, wouldn't be able to survive in Sweden if I did that!) but it's not as bad as no money whatsoever. Art/graphic design usually has a watermark on it as well, which is a pretty good way of protecting the seller, I think. 

 Creative work will always have its risks, but for me it's still worth it (though I understand your frustration, it's definitely annoying when people act this way.)

[yannisenglish]

Actually, it is more complicated than that. I will take an uneducated guess and assume you are a relatively new seller but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

$5-$10 gigs are reportedly more likely to attract scammers. They assume sellers with low rates are new to the game, especially if they do not have enough reviews. They're like sharks that smell blood in the water. But the price isn't enough. If they can tell you are a new seller, they'll likely attempt to scam you, assuming you do not know how to protect yourself.

The good news is, you can safeguard yourself (and your sanity) in a few ways:

• Tighten up your gig description and packages. Do your best to close any possible loopholes that a scammer can exploit to justify a cancellation. Make your deliverables abundantly clear and take advantage of your 10 FAQ question allocation.
• Vet, vet, vet, and then vet some more. If a buyer approaches you before buying, give them a storm of questions that'll ensure you know and understand their requirements. Scammers don't want to waste time answering questions (or they simply don't know how to answer them). If your buyers are mostly buying without contacting you, ensure you have a list of required questions they need to answer before they can place an order. If the answers all come up "n/a" or something, then you start bombarding with requests for clarifications.
• Know what procedures you can follow to DMCA or take down content you have not been compensated for. An example is Youtube where you can submit through their copyright claim system evidence of a buyer cancelling your order so they can take down videos. There was a post in the old forums about written content and Google but I do not know if it survived the change.
• Cast a narrower net and niche down. I do not know what you do on Fiverr but being a generalist can potentially open you up to a larger pool of scammers. If you present yourself as more of an expert in a particular niche, you have less chances of being a target.

And to reiterate what @katakatica said, freelancing is not without its risks. You'll have your gains and your losses, that's just how it is. The more time you spend doing what you do here on Fiverr, the more experience and savviness you gain. Don't underestimate luck, either. I was lucky enough to have only been scammed once here on Fiverr. You had 3 back-to-back ones. This just comes to show how much of a craps shoot such a platform can be sometimes. 

[vickieito]

4 hours ago, cherylleisten said:

This last rip off is the 3rd time I have had a buyer cancel on me AFTER they got my script.  The first time, it was another script.  The second time, it was social media posts and a business plan. 

I don't know why buyers are canceling on you, but I agree with @yannisenglish that sometimes we unknowingly attract the wrong buyers to our gigs. 

I looked at your gig and you state that you will deliver "a script that works." This is a vague and risky thing to say. How do you know when you've delivered "a script that works"? Are you willing to guarantee that claim? If it doesn't "work," will you redo the script until it "works"? You only offer 1 revision, so how can you back up this claim?

This type claim opens the door for a lot of unnecessary abuse and headache. Scammers and bad buyers like it when deliverables aren't clearly defined. Consider rewriting your gig so it works for you and not against you.

[cherylleisten]

23 hours ago, katakatica said:

I can only speak as a writer (not as a designer/etc.) but it's rare for me to find a bad egg. Sure, it's happened here and there - I've had a few very obvious cases of people who knew how to game the system, but out of, say, the 200 most recent orders I've delivered over last/this year, it was maybe... 5?

Still a lot of money (since I don't only charge $5/$10, wouldn't be able to survive in Sweden if I did that!) but it's not as bad as no money whatsoever. Art/graphic design usually has a watermark on it as well, which is a pretty good way of protecting the seller, I think. 

 Creative work will always have its risks, but for me it's still worth it (though I understand your frustration, it's definitely annoying when people act this way.)

Yes, it cost me $375.  I know about the watermark, but I didn't do that.  I was in a rush to get orders done due to having to move this week and all the other chaos that COVID basically dropped on my doorstep.  Won't make that mistake again.  

[cherylleisten]

21 hours ago, yannisenglish said:

Actually, it is more complicated than that. I will take an uneducated guess and assume you are a relatively new seller but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

$5-$10 gigs are reportedly more likely to attract scammers. They assume sellers with low rates are new to the game, especially if they do not have enough reviews. They're like sharks that smell blood in the water. But the price isn't enough. If they can tell you are a new seller, they'll likely attempt to scam you, assuming you do not know how to protect yourself.

The good news is, you can safeguard yourself (and your sanity) in a few ways:

• Tighten up your gig description and packages. Do your best to close any possible loopholes that a scammer can exploit to justify a cancellation. Make your deliverables abundantly clear and take advantage of your 10 FAQ question allocation.
• Vet, vet, vet, and then vet some more. If a buyer approaches you before buying, give them a storm of questions that'll ensure you know and understand their requirements. Scammers don't want to waste time answering questions (or they simply don't know how to answer them). If your buyers are mostly buying without contacting you, ensure you have a list of required questions they need to answer before they can place an order. If the answers all come up "n/a" or something, then you start bombarding with requests for clarifications.
• Know what procedures you can follow to DMCA or take down content you have not been compensated for. An example is Youtube where you can submit through their copyright claim system evidence of a buyer cancelling your order so they can take down videos. There was a post in the old forums about written content and Google but I do not know if it survived the change.
• Cast a narrower net and niche down. I do not know what you do on Fiverr but being a generalist can potentially open you up to a larger pool of scammers. If you present yourself as more of an expert in a particular niche, you have less chances of being a target.

And to reiterate what @katakatica said, freelancing is not without its risks. You'll have your gains and your losses, that's just how it is. The more time you spend doing what you do here on Fiverr, the more experience and savviness you gain. Don't underestimate luck, either. I was lucky enough to have only been scammed once here on Fiverr. You had 3 back-to-back ones. This just comes to show how much of a craps shoot such a platform can be sometimes. 

I'm new to social media on here, but he found it under my scripting gig as an extra.  I've been on here for awhile as someone who has been writing scripts.  It upset me when they sided with the buyer after I asked him several times what was wrong.  I told him he had a revision still.  He didn't want to use it.  

You're right though.  I need to do a better description, and I should have vetted better than I did.  I did ask him a bunch of questions that he answered, but I found out that it wasn't even his company.  After he tried to cancel, I did some digging.  Yeah, I know, I should have done that before hand.  With having to move and apartments out here basically rent gouging everyone, I've spent the last 2 months looking for a new place to live.  I guess I got too lazy.

Thank you for the DMCA advice.  I didn't know about how to do that and niching is a great idea.  Thank you.  I swear my faith in humanity is already slim to none.  This last incident didn't help.

[hardsingh2]

On 5/12/2022 at 11:23 PM, cherylleisten said:

This last rip off is the 3rd time I have had a buyer cancel on me AFTER they got my script.  The first time, it was another script.  The second time, it was social media posts and a business plan.  Three strikes, and you're out. 

The impression that I got is that if you do any type of gig writing, design, advertising, or basically anything they can cancel on after they get it, you can forget about getting paid.  Am I right in assuming this?  Honestly, I don't know how all you graphic designers and digital marketers out there make a living.  My guess is you're only charging $5 or $10, so you don't lose much or you must really love volunteer work.  After this last cancellation, I told customer support that I'm not doing any gigs related to digital marketing, scripting or design anymore since I'm obviously never going to get paid.  

HI, it happened to me to.
After i completed work, buyer kept asking for strange revisions and kept changing them.
Then next my access to website was removed, and then next day Fiverr support cancelled order.
Never got chance to remove my code and website is live now with my entire child theme and pages, post completed in it.
Here you can see my name in child theme file.
https://rollrasen-max.de/wp-content/themes/flatsome-child/style.css

This is just one file, full child theme has many codes and files.

Really, we can work but we can foget about getting paid, even fiverr support doesn't check anything at all.