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Is it wrong to bill a customer more after order is placed with a wrong amount?


bethanyblack

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Hello. I need some advise from more expert sellers haha.. or anyone that  has experience in selling/offering services. I have 2 months selling on fiverr and sort of new to this.
1 week ago, a potential client asked me for a quotation for his work, it was a sort of simple request (fit for my standard gig) and told him it was going to cost $45 a 7 days turnaround time. He agreed. Then I created the custom offer, he purchased and all was good, or so I thought until it was his booking day came and I was about to work on his commission and suddenly I realized... I charged the wrong amount! I put $35 instead of $45.. 🥲 ( the extra $10 was a simple add on for a background)... 

While I was thinking how to tell him about my mistake, I decided to send him a sketch via the delivery page (I usually do this after telling my customers to not confirm the delivery until the final file is sent, that way when they request revisions it properly counts) and he sadi he loved it said he had no revisions or changes to make but proceeded to request revisions as I asked him. Then before I deliver the final file, I told him about this error and how I apologized for the inconvenience caused and sent him a bill for the missing $10 add on... He went silent on me. He has been online but simply hasn't replied yet.

So I'm not sure how to handle this. My order is stalled in revision and he hasn't replied  in 2 days. I refuse to deliver the final file until he pays the complete amount he initially agreed on. His file is ready and done ( I send him a low quality preview with the bill in the order chat log)... 
If I´m buying something and I notice the cashier has put the wrong amount in the point of sale I let him know of this mistake, I make him aware of this, even if the amount is wrong in a convenient amount for me. At least That's what I think it's the correct thing to do in the first place... Any advise how to handle/approach this?

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Personally, if I made a mistake like this, I would consider it a good lesson in not making such mistakes. I would not add a charge to my order unless I accidentally put $5.00 instead of $500 or something extreme like that.

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I agree with @melanielm. I've made this mistake once (also for around $10 I think), and I never made it again! I saw it as my own fault for not being thorough.

14 minutes ago, bethanyblack said:

While I was thinking how to tell him about my mistake, I decided to send him a sketch via the delivery page (I usually do this after telling my customers to not confirm the delivery until the final file is sent, that way when they request revisions it properly counts)

Unrelated to your question but I felt it's necessary to point this out. By this, do you mean you deliver an order that's not finished yet? Because if so, that's against Fiverr's ToS and might result in a warning. So never do that!! Only use the delivery button if you have the final, full order ready to go. If you need feedback from your buyer in between (e.g. to know if you're on the right track), you can simply attach a file on the order page. 

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I appreciate your advise and I see your point everybody... I will definitely hear you and just deliver the final file and be done with it.
Although I should point out we shouldn't normalize working for such dishonest pricks. This customer has dfinitely won a block. We're just freelancers, human independant beings... trying to take bread to the tables as per say.. not big companies/corporations with thousands employers and such. it's not okay, I feel I worked so hard on this clients commision that him refusing to pay just $10 feels as if my work is worthless. really a hit in my short career here.. haha.. a lesson learned, definitely.

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Ooh, I'd say how you've handled this could well upset a buyer.

If you had noticed your mistake minutes after sending the offer (and after he's accepted), then you have cause to write to him and say something like, 'oh gosh, I'm so sorry--I realised immediately I clicked 'send' that I'd mis-billed by $10. Is it acceptable for me to add this on?'

But to leave it, not say anything until later and then to send it out of the blue--no matter whether it was discussed and agreed at the start or not--seems like bad form to me and an error to be swallowed by the seller. 

You're not alone in making these mistakes though! We've all done it at some point...the miscalculation or mis-billing thing.

I made an even bigger costing error; I quoted for editing a script of 160k words. The client sent me a script of 182k words which is an enormous difference, adding days onto the working time. I should have inspected the document the day of the commissioning.

As I only noticed the extra 22k words when I came to edit the script much later, I let it go and I edited the extra and said nothing until the work was back with the client, completed.

I mentioned it to him in passing and said, 'we had agreed on 160k and I noted there were 180k words; I was happy to edit the extra free of charge since I did not pay enough attention at the time! Mea culpa!'

My buyer will almost certainly be happy about that and while I lost a large sum there, I know I have pleased him. He's an old boy and I don't for a minute think he tried to hoodwink me so asking for extra would only embarrass him on a huge job.

I think your buyer could feel a bit aggrieved... But hopefully, they will reappear soon.

Annie

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