Important Update: Some canceled orders now qualify for buyer reviews

[Shiran.M]

In order to create a more accurate review system and to increase transparency and trust on our platform, starting next week, buyers who cancel an order will also be able to leave a review and share their experiences. 

This applies to cancellations of orders in which a delivery was received and/or orders that involve lateness or unresponsiveness. Of course, this option won’t be available for orders made by mistake.

Following this change, we will decrease the rating score threshold for all levels from 4.7 to 4.2 in order to help sellers maintain their rating levels.

We encourage our sellers community to use this feedback as an opportunity to improve your services and address any issues that may have led to cancellations. As always, you will be able to add a public response to the review on your Gig page.

We believe that this update will yield long-term benefits for both buyers and sellers, especially those who provide quality user experiences.

Click here to learn more about this upcoming change.
The Fiverr team

****In case you missed it, here is some clarification we posted in a reply on page 8****

We understand that cancellations can be frustrating and sometimes feel unfair. However, sometimes service quality does not meet buyer expectations set by high rankings that don’t reflect quality properly. This change is intended to foster transparency and trust on our platform through a more accurate reviewing system, recognize and reward sellers who provide exceptional service, and improve the buyer and seller experience in the long term.

Here are some things to keep in mind: 

• Reviews for canceled orders will only be enabled in cases of late deliveries (24 hours or more) or lack of response to buyer inquiries (for 24 hours or more). Buyers will also be able to review canceled orders that include deliveries, but safeguards have been put in place to prevent abuse or misuse of this feature. Sellers, first-time buyers, buyers who didn’t understand the service and placed an order by mistake—are not eligible to leave reviews on canceled orders.
• Cancellations can cause inconvenience to both buyers and sellers, and the time and effort you put in your deliveries are important to us. We encourage you to keep up communication, make sure expectations are aligned, and address any possible misunderstandings at the start of an order. In case you still think you can’t meet buyer expectations, you can cancel the order prior to delivery without prompting a buyer review. If you think a buyer-initiated cancellation is unwarranted (like when buyers ask for unlimited revisions), you can reject the cancellation, as long as you’ve delivered based on requirements that were set. 
• Sellers can always leave a response to reviews, both for completed and canceled orders. 
• Please remember, not all canceled orders will result in a review as not all buyers choose to leave feedback.
• We lowered the rating score threshold from 4.7 to 4.2 to help sellers better maintain their levels.

 

Now, let's address some specific questions you posted:
1. If a canceled order is over 14 days old, the buyer won't be able to leave a review on the order?  
That’s right, reviews for canceled orders must be posted within 14 days. After this time, there will no longer be an option to leave a review.

2. First-time buyers can't review a canceled order at all or are they just excluded from the rule?
First-time buyers, which means buyers who purchase on Fiver for the first time, will not have the option to leave a review for a canceled order. 

3. Is it a manual process or does the system determine what's eligible for a review or not? 
It is not manual. Buyers can leave reviews for canceled orders in cases of lateness, unresponsiveness, or if a delivery was provided. This doesn’t include orders placed by mistake or by first-time buyers. Sellers who are buyers are not eligible to leave reviews.

4. Is there any indication in the ratings that they are from canceled orders?
Yes, reviews for canceled orders will be marked with a relevant tag.

5. What is considered an unsatisfactory delivery?
Unsatisfactory deliveries vary, so it really depends on the specific case. Our customer support team is here to help if you have questions about deliveries.

6. Can a random seller try to abuse this system to give you a bad review?
No. We will block these reviews, and we’ll treat such bad behavior on our platform with the appropriate means.

7. What does ‘unresponsiveness’ mean? 
A seller who fails to respond for 24 hours (or even longer for orders with a very long delivery time) is deemed “unresponsive” and may be subject to reviews on canceled orders. 

We are collecting all of your feedback and will do our best to address concerns so we can improve your experience on Fiverr.

Edited June 20, 2023 by Shiran.M

[nickkold]

 

19 minutes ago, Shiran.M said:

In order to create a more accurate review system and to increase transparency and trust on our platform, starting next week, buyers who cancel an order will also be able to leave a review and share their experiences. 

This applies to cancellations of orders in which a delivery was received and/or orders that involve lateness or unresponsiveness. Of course, this option won’t be available for orders made by mistake.

Following this change, we will decrease the rating score threshold for all levels from 4.7 to 4.2 in order to help sellers maintain their rating levels.

We encourage our sellers community to use this feedback as an opportunity to improve your services and address any issues that may have led to cancellations. As always, you will be able to add a public response to the review on your Gig page.

We believe that this update will yield long-term benefits for both buyers and sellers, especially those who provide quality user experiences.

Click here to learn more about this upcoming change.
The Fiverr team
 

Hey! So if a canceled order is over 14 days old, the buyer won't be able to make a review on the order? I'm asking because I have a 3-month-old canceled order, but I shouldn't be worried about a review on that, right?

Also: "Buyers (excluding first-time buyers) can leave a review for canceled orders within 14 days from cancellation if the case involved lateness, unresponsiveness, or an unsatisfactory delivery."

Does this mean that first-time buyers can't review a cancelled order at all or are they just excluded from the rule?

So about the last paragraph above, how does that work? Will the buyer apply for getting permission to review or does the "unsatisfactory delivery" for example get reviewed by support and either get accepted or not? Is it a manual process or does the system conclude what's eligible for a review or not? 

Edited June 14, 2023 by nickkold

[zeecreations]

Another buyer-centric update which can be used for exploitation by buyers. It should only be allowed if the delivery was late or no communication. If you have it on every order you made a delivery. Then let's say you delivered 4 times and buyer didn't like it and you mutually decide to cancel, you lost all that time on 4 deliveries and STILL got rammed by a 1 Star rating. How is that fair to sellers?

[Alex.M]

''Note: On a review of a canceled order, there is no option for the seller to rate the buyer.'' 

Sounds promising 

''Following this change, we will decrease the rating score threshold for all levels from 4.7 to 4.2 in order to help sellers maintain their rating levels''  - So Fiverr is expecting this new feature to be a disaster? 

What happens if  the buyer cancels an order for whatever reason they come up with and they leave a 5-star review? Wouldn't that be strange as well? Isn't that a way of manipulating the system? '' If you cancel the order I will still leave you a 5-star review ''  I got messages like that promising to leave a 5 star review if I cancel the order in the past as well when this new ' feature' didn't even exist 

[saadatique]

What a terrible update, tbh. Buyers can misuse this feature and blackmail the sellers as well. Why fiverr always think of the buyers but not the sellers? 

[jasmeowthecat]

To be quite frank, not sure what comment I aim to provide here.

This really does screw over sellers if the buyer cancels just after ordering (Or whenever the threshhold is which will be likely found out immediately) people can mass order and mass "bomb" 1 star reviews - Even 5 star if they are doing the reversal of trying to get more positive reviews. 

I see this as an absolute shamles of a decision - I agree it's a fantastic idea in the planning phase, not the implementation... 

[mansoorjadoon44]

I can think of so many ways how buyers can abuse this.

Who comes up with these ideas? 

This should be reversed at all costs. 

[katakatica]

2 minutes ago, jasmeowthecat said:

To be quite frank, not sure what comment I aim to provide here.

This really does screw over sellers if the buyer cancels just after ordering (Or whenever the threshhold is which will be likely found out immediately) people can mass order and mass "bomb" 1 star reviews - Even 5 star if they are doing the reversal of trying to get more positive reviews. 

I see this as an absolute shamles of a decision - I agree it's a fantastic idea in the planning phase, not the implementation... 

From what I understand, officially, if they order by mistake / etc. (which would have to happen to cancel like that), they won't be able to leave a review, only if the seller is unresponsive/late/delivers, but the work isn't good enough. I wonder if these will be normal reviews, though, because who would leave a 5-star review on a bad experience, right? 

I do agree though that this IS risky, though, because things can get blurred very fast. Seller doesn't reply within an hour of the order being made? They are being unresponsive. They aren't sending updates 2 days into the order process? They are late, etc. 

While this - normally - shouldn't be the case, I've had some buyers complain (many of them cancellations in the end) because they'd thought that the order would be delivered sooner. Sure, but...there's a deadline for a reason. 

I do think that this COULD be good if it's handled well (CS looks into buyers potentially being manipulative/etc.), but I'm not sure the capacity for that is there. I guess it'll all boil down to how buyers behave. Will people who are actually just scammers even bother to leave reviews after they get their money back? I'm not sure, honestly, but it's really hard to tell. 

[eclixo]

Buyers may cancel orders either due to dissatisfaction with the received product or to protect our ratings. However, even if we cancel the order, we are aware that we will receive a one-star rating. In that case, why should we cancel the order? It would be more beneficial to receive one star while keeping the payment rather than receiving one star without any payment.

This unwise decision has the potential to harm the reputation of this platform.

Is there any indication in the ratings that they are from canceled orders? It is important for my clients to understand that all completed orders receive a five-star rating.

 

[eclixo]

If an order is canceled, it implies that no delivery has taken place. In that case, what exactly constitutes an unsatisfactory delivery? For instance, if I cancel an order because the client keeps requesting revisions and lacks a proper roadmap for the product, would it be considered an unsatisfactory delivery? Technically, I haven't delivered any product, and the delivery is still within the timeframe. So, what exactly is defined as an unsatisfactory delivery?

[catwriter]

1 minute ago, eclixo said:

If an order is canceled, it implies that no delivery has taken place.

There are cancellations after delivery, when the buyer isn't satisfied with what they've received.

15 minutes ago, eclixo said:

It would be more beneficial to receive one star while keeping the payment rather than receiving one star without any payment.

It would. And Fiverr would prefer it if there were no cancellations, too. That's how they get money. And I guess that's one of the reasons why they're implementing this: to remove any incentive to cancel the order after delivery.

[eclixo]

1 minute ago, catwriter said:

There are cancellations after delivery, when the buyer isn't satisfied with what they've received.

If the buyer is satisfied, they wouldn't accept the delivery, indicating that the delivery isn't considered complete. In such a scenario, I would never cancel the order, knowing that I will receive a one-star rating regardless. Instead, I would prefer to keep the buyer's money, receive a one-star rating, and consider it as a truly unsatisfactory delivery.

 

4 minutes ago, catwriter said:

It would. And Fiverr would prefer it if there were no cancellations, too. That's how they get money. And I guess that's one of the reasons why they're implementing this: to remove any incentive to cancel the order after delivery.

This step ruins the buyer's experience because no seller would willingly cancel an order, knowing they will receive a one-star rating regardless. Furthermore, this also results in a loss of the buyer's money.

In such a scenario, if I have delivered a product that the client does not like and I am unwilling to provide additional revisions without extra payment, and the client also refuses to add more money, and I do not want to cancel the order due to the inevitable one-star rating, what action will Fiverr support take? Will they cancel the order? It is evident that the client is at fault for not agreeing to pay for revisions to achieve a satisfactory delivery. In such cases, the order should be considered completed, and the buyer should bear the loss in an unsatisfactory delivery.

[Alex.M]

29 minutes ago, katakatica said:

but the work isn't good enough

who decides this? it's something very subjective 

[nickkold]

3 minutes ago, cre8iveartwork said:

who decides this? it's something very subjective 

Yes, this. What is the process for allowing the Buyer to review it afterward? Is it just if the Buyer didn't like the outcome of the delivery? I really hope not. Then we as sellers are screwed and can be taken so much advantage of.

[hashcyber]

I got very disturbed because I already face the issue. There was a new buyer on Fiverr,  I worked for him one and half month, he didn't give me proper requirements, he gave me simple requirements I thought that he want these features, so I started working for him later on he gave more and more requirements which weren't possible because they weren't discussed and he was teasing me a lot, after sometime, I thought that this order isn't giving me value also I'm losing my attention and interest in other orders as well, I mutually cancelled the order and also provided him the product just to continue my work with professional buyers which were in queue now I'm imagining that what If I got these kind of buyers who submit the requirements blindly and then realized that they have many other requirements what would happen in the future. I'm very disturbed. I don't have a single negative review but now I'm thinking that I will get twice 60 days. and mostly customers place order without messages and in requirements form they put .....

[corvoace]

unsatisfactory delivery.

This is the biggest problem with this new rating procedure. 

How is this even determined? Is it just an option selected when creating the cancelation on our part (or the buyer)? 

In that case I have zero incentive to accept. 

[corvoace]

Also, something this important should have an accompanying FAQ or more preferably, a live stream Q&A to address our very valid questions and concerns. 

[sandm4n]

Oh lovely! Keep this up Fiverr, you're doing an absolutely wonderful job at squeezing your sellers harder and harder.

After the terrible and extremly biased implementation of extending delivery review times unilaterally from the buyers side, I find this new addition to be the icing on the cake.

Here's a suggestion: please add a feature that gives buyers the ability to unilaterally cancel the order. Why bother making it a mutual decision process!

 

I was contemplating leaving this platform but now I'm certain I should, if I value my time, sanity and self respect as a seller.

Edited June 14, 2023 by sandm4n

[jewel4u]

If a buyer keep sending revision intensionally and seller wish to cancel the order, but seller cannot cancel due to cancelled order will get a review. Just imagine the situation!! 

[mateusbl]

"I had a buyer who ordered without contact me, the buyer was disrespectful and refused to share any information to complete the order... the only solution was ask for help in the Customer Support, since the buyer refused to cooperate."

In cases like this where we can not do anything since is not or fault... will the buyer be able to review after the cancelation?

>>>> Even the support say to us that exist some buyers impossible to deal with <<<<

Edited June 14, 2023 by mateusbl

[takiskoroneos]

This is highly disturbing. I have 320 completed orders and only 7 cancellations so far. Canceling an order was always my last resort BUT also a safety net for my sanity. Fiverr was already unreasonably unfair towards sellers and this is just the nail in the coffin.

Why doesn't Fiverr ever consider that there's a high percentage of low-quality buyers that don't even bother to read about what they're buying and make unreasonable requests? Or that some just take advantage of how Fiverr works to make you work for a fraction of the money they were supposed to pay?
Or some others that just place the wrong order and just vanish with no communication?

What tools has Fiverr made to protect sellers from disturbing buyer behaviors (AND NO, I DON'T MEAN SELLER PLUS FEATURES)?

I think enough is enough, worked on this platform for a few years now, and built a well-reputed gig with my hard work and quality service.
The moment a low-quality buyer ruins my gig with an unreasonable bad rating I QUIT.
 

[visualstudios]

This is a very bad idea. How gets to decide what's eligible for a cancelation, then?

Step 1- order something

Step 2- get it

Step 3- request cancelation and say you are not satisfied.

Step 4 - if the seller gives you push back on the cancelation, you can threaten with the review. If they don't, you can give them a bad review anyway, just cause you feel like it.

Step 5- profit.

Edited June 14, 2023 by visualstudios

[simo_messek]

This is the absolute worst way to oppress your sellers! I am furious and utterly disgusted with this platform! It's nothing short of a malicious exploit. I swear, even a mundane 9 to 5 job sounds more appealing now!

Countless buyers have shamelessly stolen my hard work without paying me a dime, and what happens to them? Absolutely nothing! And now, to add insult to injury, you give them the power to completely screw us over and snatch our work without compensation. And as if that weren't enough, you reward them with a glowing review, enabling them to blackmail us into providing even more work for free!

Congratulations, Fiverr, you've just excelled at shooting yourself in the foot! Your actions are driving away talented individuals from this platform. Keep up the good work! Bravo!

[mhz_designir]

it's really bad news for seller,  already seller  doing hard work to satisfy your clients

But now this situation is un acceptable.

Fiverr should review this worst step.

[kawsar_log]

From now on, buyers can give reviews even after an order is canceled, and the level threshold has been reduced from 4.7 to 4.2.

Most likely it will be effective from next week.