Late Seller has tried 7 times to cancel gig. How does this dance end?

[pete_pisc]

I tried searching the archives for this, but could not locate an answer.



I ordered a two gigs from the same seller (each was a gig plus a $5 extra). Was supposed to be done in 4-days. After 5-days and a couple friendly nudges from me, the seller sent me a mutual cancellation. I’m new to Fiverr, so when the I received the cancellation for the first gig, I accepted it and then discovered I could not leave a review. So when the second cancellation came in, I declined. Seller is pissed-off because he’s stuck in a cancel/decline cycle with me.



How does this end? I selected the seller because he has eighteen 5-star ratings. Clearly, not a 5-star seller, just games the system when he gets in trouble. I just want my feedback included in the mix.



Comments? Should I keep declining the offer from the seller? How does this end?

[pete_pisc]

The first 3 times, there was no explanation - just “I am unable to do this work.” When he realized I wasn’t going away, he said “Buyer didn’t read the requirements.” When I cut/pasted the [simple] requirements back to him, and how I’d easily met them, he said “no matter what I do, you will leave me a negative review - find someone else.” (Which is true). I have found someone else, and frankly, although I’m pretty sure I’ll get my $10 back, I don’t care - mostly I just feel like the guy is a fraud, and am a bit surprised there is no mechanism on Fiverr to somehow throttle the dance.



Thanks for the tip to contact Customer Support.

[goodgift]

Reply to @pete_pisc: Not sure why you’d insist on this person doing your work after they said they’re unable to do it. Now, they could have given you a laundry list of reasons, but really, if they are telling you that they cannot do the work (reasons or not), it’s time to move on. I don’t think the person is a fraud. I think the person just recognizes when he can’t (or perhaps won’t) do something, and they aren’t overly articulate about it.



The feedback you’re seeing is for completed work. Since he is unable (or unwilling) to complete the work, there’s no sense in insisting on leaving feedback. They did, after all, tell you they couldn’t do it.

[pete_pisc]

Thanks everyone - going to someone else is fine. Frustrating part is doing it after the gig is already late; and canceling because he doesn’t want to face the music. Most folks like that don’t wake-up one morning and decide to be a flake - they spend a lifetime getting there. I made a decision based on a consistent 5-star review, and that simply is a joke. I would think that Fiverr would recognize that reviews are their lifeblood. Angieslist took down Craigslist based on reliable reviews, eBay and Amazon would both wither on the vine if there was this type of pattern.



Thanks again to all who responded.

[bestinmarket]

@pete_pisc well, if you were so angry on that seller that you want to give him bad rating, why you didn’t do it when the order was marked late? that’s common sense, if a seller has not responded to your order a single time in all 4 days, you could have contacted CS to get the refund.

Moreover you should have contacted the seller before ordering his gig.

[evanwilder]

Run for the hills. Run away.



Also, contacting Customer Service helps.

[cre8iveartwork]

Another 5$ drama… :))

[steveeyes]

Cancel and move on. Contacting customer support won’t do you much good. Why? They will either cancel the order for you or tell you to do it. You are spinning your wheels for what $10 bucks. I know your response is going to be it isn’t the money but the principle or something like that, but he can play the game for as long as you can and a lot your valuable time will be wasted. He probably already sent CS a message as well but they are slow to respond these days. If they do, they’ll just cancel it thinking it isn’t worth their time. I suggest the same.

[miacmht]

Reply to @pete_pisc: Maybe don’t accept the mutual cancellation, then make a force cancellation on you side? I’m not sure you’ll be able to write feedback at this point, but at least it’s negative and leave an automatic feedback “seller failed to deliver on time”.

[pete_pisc]

All - here’s how the story ended.



First, Customer Service responded quickly. They actually said they would look into the seller to see if there is a pattern of abuse; cancellations, etc. They also provided some times on vetting sellers (text of their email is pasted at end of this message). I am relatively pleased with their response.



Second, once the order goes into status, the buyer then has the unilateral option to cancel the order which (a) refunds their money; and (b) auto-generates a negative blemish on the seller’s record ("cancelled order. seller failed to deliver on time! "). Seller cannot edit this, but that’s really all I wanted, so I’m happy.



As one of the comments said, I really only got PO’d when the seller waited 5-days (a day late) before cancelling. And he did this on two gigs, not just one. Didn’t give a reason. I know sellers live/die by the reviews they receive, but I thought this is the type of seller response I would like to know about when I select a seller, so feel obligated to review my experience.



Thanks to all who comments



I traded 3-notes with Fiver Customer Service - below is the most informative.



==========FIVERR CUSTOMER SERVICE RESPONSE BELOW=========



The next time you’re browsing Fiverr, here are a few suggestions to help you on your next purchase:



Check your Seller’s reviews and star ratings. Our new advanced rating system allows buyers more options to review a service before its purchased to ensure the quality you receive, the better the star rating - the better the outcome you may receive.



See how long it takes for a Seller to follow up with you by going to their profile page (click on their user name) and check out their “Responsiveness” and “Recent Deliveries” figures. If a Seller produces quality work with a fast turnaround then they’re most likely fantastic at what they’re doing.



Read their Gig description and ask any questions prior to ordering if you have any. Its fun & easy to order on Fiverr, and we want to make sure that you can hit the ground running - it doesn’t hurt to also create a few Gigs as well to get the full experience of Fiverr (every Fiverr team member Buys and Sells Gigs on Fiverr!)



View how long the seller has been on the site. We want to make sure that all sellers have their fair share of exposure, however if you’re running in to a lot of sellers who may not be up to speed with how to sell on Fiverr, we will advise you to seek out a veteran member.



Please let me know if you need any further assistance



Cheers

Giovanny

[pete_pisc]

NOTE ON SECOND PARAGRAPH: you have to wait until status becomes “Very Late” before the option opens for Buyer to rescind the deal; and the Seller gets dinged for poor response.