Important Update: Some canceled orders now qualify for buyer reviews

[nicks_voice]

Do we have an update on if this was rolled out? Anyone experience reviews after cancellations?

[vickieito]

On 6/17/2023 at 11:23 AM, moikchap said:

To surface the result for others; it seems low completion rate buyers get a precise number but high completion rate just get a generic "High" descriptor. So we were unable to confirm if it is pure cancellation or not. But, at those extremes, it's likely not significant anyways.

@moikchap & @hightlink - I found out where I was seeing the exact order completion rate ... this is only on buyers who have previously bought from me (so that's why I couldn't see an exact percentage for either of you ... I'm not your seller):

Quote

I'm not sure how helpful this is - since the orders are with me, I know exactly why the orders were canceled (when my account was shut down, we had several orders in queue that were immediately canceled). I would be more curious to see the exact percentage on buyers who haven't placed an order with me.

[shahidfreelanc]

On 6/14/2023 at 7:40 PM, 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

****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.

It's really helpful but remember fiverr doesn't like any link created in text format. I attached your text format below. 

[mehedipro]

On 6/19/2023 at 12:05 AM, mehedipro said:

Can I request a review of my past canceled order?

Sometimes that will be negetaive for us.

[skills_investor]

The buyers who don't like the work can also give the reviews after cancelation of order?

[lalumiere]

On 6/21/2023 at 5:09 PM, nicks_voice said:

Do we have an update on if this was rolled out? Anyone experience reviews after cancellations?

Not on cancellation but I am already painfully experiencing the effects of the changes.

I have 101 five-star ratings and 1 one-star rating, left a year ago by a buyer who was kindly refused to be given a project for free.
Now, after this change from last week, my ratings suddenly are showing 4.8 (based on just this one angry one-star 'revenge' out of 101 positive ones) and I had not received even one order since then. Not even one. I was an active seller, often had to make myself unavailable because I was constantly overbooked. Not a single order since the change was implemented. So these are the first effects...

[donnovan86]

28 minutes ago, lalumiere said:

So these are the first effects...

The cancellation changes were not implemented. Fiverr sent a forum message stating they are taking this back to the drawing board. 

[elitedesignuk]

On 6/27/2023 at 12:25 PM, donnovan86 said:

The cancellation changes were not implemented. Fiverr sent a forum message stating they are taking this back to the drawing board. 

Well - that's great news and more importantly it shows that on some level Fiverr does care what we think and will listen.....besides that - while I am sure that their intention was good - it was poorly thought out.....

Let's all hope that they can come up with a plan that achieves their intended goals in way that is fair to both parties and doesn't enable bad actors on either side.

[donnovan86]

2 minutes ago, elitedesignuk said:

Let's all hope that they can come up with a plan that achieves their intended goals in way that is fair to both parties and doesn't enable bad actors on either side.

Well people will end up disliking no matter what. 

They still want cancellations to have reviews, so I am not sure how they will implement that because people will not be ok with it anyway. Well as long as Fiverr support has our backs when there are manipulative buyers, I would be ok with this measure. I rarely refund these days, if at all, and when I do it's usually mutual anyway.

[victoriahogan]

This is a horrible update. Absolutely terrible - Fiverr ALREADY allowed significant abuse from buyers. This just make a sellers life even more difficult. Completely awful.

 

Absolutely depressing that sellers continue to have no recourse. 

[donnovan86]

13 minutes ago, victoriahogan said:

This is a horrible update. Absolutely terrible - Fiverr ALREADY allowed significant abuse from buyers. This just make a sellers life even more difficult. Completely awful.

 

It was canceled, it's not active. They are rethinking it.