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I dodged a seller/buyer's heavily manipluative tactics, managed to get them to accept delivery, and now we're at that review stage. I don't know what to do.


mandyzines

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If I leave the review that I want to leave, they could easily create another account to retaliate. I can't see their review until I post mine (?). I don't even know if I'll be able to respond to their review publicly, because I blocked them right after they accepted delivery of the order. Will I be able to?

Note that I have a section in my order requirements: "One last detail: please acknowledge my revision policy. If there are any technical errors on my part, then I will gladly revise them. If there's a change in direction or script, then an additional fees will be applied to the order. Type 'yes' to agree." They only typed "thank you" in response.

So, this is how it went. They sent me a script to voice, without any direction, and I sent them two files with two very different sounds upon delivery--12 hours early. They respond within the order messaging about two more 'potential' orders, bypassing acknowledgement of what I'd delivered until I told them I would be glad to chat about those once we get the original order all nice and settled.

That's when they put the order in revision. They told me the recording was "boring" and that they wanted one like I had on my gig, providing me a link to my gig. I pointed out there were four different sounds in the gallery--the gallery just like the ones they have on their own gigs. I again pointed out that I sent them not one, but two different recordings, and that's when they backtracked and said the upbeat one sounded good.

Great!

Then they wanted me to add background music, for free. I told them I'd happily do it for $5. They scoffed, "i did not think just adding music is $5." I pointed out that my gig follows the same format as his, and I define the price in my gig description as well as an option in the add-on's--for $10. So, because he's so great, I'm offering 50% off.

Then he tried to discuss the 'potential' other two orders again, me politely requesting we stick to this order first, and he accepted my add-on offer for the order.

I delivered a final track with the music in the background, which he said he liked, and he tried to discuss the other orders again. I agreed to tackle that once he accepted delivery.

He accepted the delivery, and asked about the other order pricing immediately. I told him that I would gladly look that over, then blocked him.

He very quickly left a review.

I'd say that from the time I delivered the two recordings to getting his acceptance for the order was only an hour.

So, yes, this goes back to my first couple of paragraphs. I managed to assert boundaries well, but I don't know what will happen or to do from here.

Any input would be appreciated.

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I see a lot has happened for a single purchase. There's many things I don't uderstand much, both his behaviors and your reactions to them.

Of course we can't sit here and re-examine every single chat message to judge so I'm going straight to the point.

Review the customer in the most honest and objective way you can.
Did he ignore the messages? was he rude? was he incorrectly insisting on having discounts? Did he respect his project brief or he wanted more without paying? IF this is the case, they seem like things to point out in a review. Then of course, evaluate yourself according to your client's tone/ beahvior: Many simply ask for extras and avoid to ask for the cost, others spend many days declining your extra offer and still demanding for it.

For the rest I must say that:
-if he didn't read your gig description and pricing, that's his mistake, but no one gives bad review because of the price. Many people gives negative reviews only when the quality doesn't justify the cost... but he said multiple times that he liked the project.

- You blocked him, it didn't seem like a reasonable reason to do it. The fact that he wanted to make other purchases makes me think that he was interested in your way of working and was also very satisfied! Did something happen that you didn't put in your summary?
I would un-block it (if there's an option). 

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2 hours ago, mandyzines said:

I told him that I would gladly look that over, then blocked him.

well this wasn't very necessary ... I assume that most buyers would get upset if this happened to them ... A simply ' unfortunately I can't help with the other requests ' would've been enough in my opinion

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1 hour ago, imagination7413 said:

I know this doesn't address your current issue but... time to tighten up your requirements? Checkboxes with 'yes' and 'no' options rather than type-in? 

I didn't know that you can do that! I thought it was either a required text field or an attachment. I think saying "thank you" in that required text section of my requirements along with what transpired afterward is pretty dodgy. They speak/write English fluently, and...are a seller.

Acknowledgement.png

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3 hours ago, mandyzines said:

I include one, using the original script and directions. That's in the gig description, but this is in my requirements:

I write customized poems and  I've included several questions (like your example) to receive information in order to do so. Annoyingly enough, I've had many occasions where people expect a large poem and only give one sentence replies. What I've noticed however, is when I ask additional specific questions on the order page they always respond with way more information. Perhaps they didn't know it was important or they didn't thoroughly read. Whatever the reason, most of them are surprisingly responsive and detailed after I ask these questions. Perhaps it's because I'm directly asking so they cannot ignore it as easily as static requirement questions (of course they can but you get the point). 

This isn't an answer to your original question, but it might help you to avoid such situations in the future! 

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10 hours ago, mandyzines said:

I include one, using the original script and directions. That's in the gig description, but this is in my requirements:

Directions.png

Yeah, nothing to go on, and that one revision does open the door for them to say "Oh but I wanted an Irish brogue accent, please redo.  I took revisions out for that reason. 

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14 hours ago, mandyzines said:

I didn't know that you can do that! I thought it was either a required text field or an attachment.

Technically, you can't. There are check-box options, but you have to have a minimum of two, and you can't set them up to stop the process if they buyer disagrees. 

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I've put my revisions policy in my FAQs. It takes up three of them, but it's decently clear. Ex:

Quote

Do you offer revisions? What counts as a revision?

For this gig, revisions or alterations can only be made in the 'sketch' stage of the drawing, due to them being made free-hand on paper with a pencil. Ink cannot be erased, so if you want a change, it will need to be done early. I will communicate frequently. Revisions do NOT include change orders.

What is a change order?

Please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_orderfor more info. Any requests made after the sketch stage and before the product is delivered, to any stage of the project already completed AND verified by the buyer will also be treated as a change order. Absences of response risks cancellation.

What if I need a change order?

Change orders can be expensive. It’s important that the original project is thorough in details. I can and will charge according to the amount of work that a change will cause, per change order. If this requires starting over from the start, it will constitute the cost of a new project.

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Man. I got same problem. Buyer doesn't know what he wants. He seems to reluctantly accepted the delivery after 10 updates. I just want to refund instead of risking bad review from unpredictable karen. Gut punching feeling when I think about how much time I spend on this project. 🤷‍♂️

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You've got to let us know how this plays out @mandyzines, I feel invested now!

Aside from updating your requirements there's not much you can do. The only thing you could do is wait to review them until the tenth day (or not at all). This will buy you some time to rack up some other good reviews so that anything negative he leaves doesn't drag down your stats as much and potentially put off future buyers.

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On 5/18/2022 at 9:04 PM, sabinespoems said:

 

This isn't an answer to your original question, but it might help you to avoid such situations in the future! 

I provide 24 hour delivery but can only record during eight of those. Most of my buyers live in other parts of the world.

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22 hours ago, imagination7413 said:

Technically, you can't. There are check-box options, but you have to have a minimum of two, and you can't set them up to stop the process if they buyer disagrees. 

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I've put my revisions policy in my FAQs. It takes up three of them, but it's decently clear. Ex:

I did this to five gigs last night, conflicted because I hears a rumor that a lot of buyers are going to level one voice over sellers, rather than to the ones at higher levels, because they're more flexible with revisions. I got an order about two hours ago, still. They also didn't give me any direction. When this happens, I give them the first sound in my samples by default, just like I did with this problem buyer/seller. It's actually most like my natural tone. I'm  trying a reel in that first gallery space, with "read one,...read two..." for the different tones next. In fact, I might do that for all of my gigs.

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8 hours ago, williambryan392 said:

You've got to let us know how this plays out @mandyzines, I feel invested now!

Aside from updating your requirements there's not much you can do. The only thing you could do is wait to review them until the tenth day (or not at all). This will buy you some time to rack up some other good reviews so that anything negative he leaves doesn't drag down your stats as much and potentially put off future buyers.

Thanks for addressing that "not much you can do" part! I haven't reviewed them yet. If I've blocked them, am I going to be able to respond to their review?

There's a pattern I've seen with my clients for certain types of voice overs, and specific patterns of behavior noted from my colleagues for what I'll call "ill-intentioned" buyers. Some of them were quite literally blackmailed--holding the delivery acceptance of one order while discussing either more added to it with no additional fee, or (as in the case here) wanting to discuss other projects to be done voluntarily or for a minimal fee. The common threads are that these are being thrown in during an active order awaiting delivery acceptance--and the buyers are sellers. They know exactly what they are doing.

For me, there was more than one red flag with this guy; I'm 99.9% sure I correctly interpreted his intentions.

I've raised my prices. Hopefully this will prevent the problem sellers/buyers from wanting to order.

 

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18 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

If I've blocked them, am I going to be able to respond to their review?

Yes I believe so. Blocking is related to messaging and purchasing, but is not connected to leaving and responding to reviews.

18 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

holding the delivery acceptance

It's a an unpleasant tactic. I get this occassionally for consultancy. We complete the call, and then I get lots of messages over the coming days as people pump me for info, opinions or advice. I feel like I have to (I'm a wimp) reply politely and answer their questions.

18 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

and the buyers are sellers

This is really toxic IMO, I think drop servicing/arbitrage is a problem if done without transparency or professionalism.

18 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

I've raised my prices

I definitely noticed I got fewer problem buyers, not zero, but far fewer.

53 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

they're more flexible with revisions

The problem with revisions IMO is that the buyer can still ask for as many as they like, even if you set it to zero. Again, you're in the position of pushing back, refusing, asking for another payment once they hit the limit but you're risking a bad review. The whole revision logic is buy weighted and a little flawed (just my 2 cents).

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1 hour ago, williambryan392 said:

This is really toxic IMO, I think drop servicing/arbitrage is a problem if done without transparency or professionalism.

I wanted to use the word "toxic"! There was a top-rated Fiverr writer/seller, who's a part of the "learning" section of this site as well as an affiliate, that published a Youtube video about the concept of drop servicing. In it, she called out another seller in particular (without stating her name, just using published video footage) who was claiming on her gigs that everything she was selling was of her own making, while also making social media "influencer" videos as well as courses about how to make loads of money (just like her!) essentially exploiting other Fiverr sellers. I wouldn't be surprised if this influencer is also an affiliate, come to think of it. At any rate, the influencer threatened litigation for defamation. People are being trained to be toxic to other Fiverr sellers.

 

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1 hour ago, mandyzines said:

I wanted to use the word "toxic"! There was a top-rated Fiverr writer/seller, who's a part of the "learning" section of this site as well as an affiliate, that published a Youtube video about the concept of drop servicing. In it, she called out another seller in particular (without stating her name, just using published video footage) who was claiming on her gigs that everything she was selling was of her own making, while also making social media "influencer" videos as well as courses about how to make loads of money (just like her!) essentially exploiting other Fiverr sellers. I wouldn't be surprised if this influencer is also an affiliate, come to think of it. At any rate, the influencer threatened litigation for defamation. People are being trained to be toxic to other Fiverr sellers.

 

I know the seller you’re taking of and watched the same YouTube videos. What’s interesting to me in particular is how she interviewed the influencer months ago for her channel and it was all rainbows and light, there was no criticism then of the drop servicing strategy so I wonder if something happened / changed behind the scenes 🤔 

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11 hours ago, mandyzines said:

without stating her name, just using published video footage

Just to add, in the video I'm pretty sure the influencer was called out, not verbally by the video creator admittedly, but with screenshots of the influencers insta, name, profile picture etc so it was obvious who they were. I remember when I saw it I thought 'wow' that's brave, to not just call out the drop servicing model, but to call them out by name.

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Blocking the buyer so quickly was probably a mistake. If I have a bad experience, once delivery is accepted, if I'm considering blocking the buyer, rather than immediately block them, I'll star their profile, and leave it 10+ days, as I don't want to provoke them into leaving a bad review. Also after 10 days, it allows you to make a better decision, as you can react logically, rather than by emotion.

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On 5/20/2022 at 7:45 PM, williambryan392 said:

 

He did leave a 1 star review, making it seem like I held what he ordered until he paid me more money for it, and that his client was affected by my actions. He accepted the delivery, and it was the music add-on that he agreed to pay more for. My spidey senses were right.

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5 hours ago, mandyzines said:

He did leave a 1 star review, making it seem like I held what he ordered until he paid me more money for it, and that his client was affected by my actions. He accepted the delivery, and it was the music add-on that he agreed to pay more for. My spidey senses were right.

Ah I'm sorry, that's a kick in the guts. 

I took a look at your profile and the review, I think it's likely that the immediate blocking caused, or at least exacerbated the negative review.

Anyway, what's done is done.

A tiny bit of good news is that fiverr isn't considering this review as being that relevant. It typically orders reviews by relevancy when showing them to buyers and this is at the very bottom. Also, you've still got a 4.9 overall rating which is great!

2 hours ago, imagination7413 said:

Kudos to you for standing your ground, even if it got you a 1-star. I know it probably hurts, but I think you did the right thing.

Agreed.

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