Unclear Instructions Leading to Cancellations

[rowbee]

Have you ever gotten an order and the instructions either did not make sense or there was lack of?..



Lately I have been seeing a lot of sellers having to cancel due to buyers being unhappy. This has happened to me once and I have to say that it’s so frustrating that it turns me away from wanting to continue with Fiverr. But one person is just one person. There are a lot of great buyers out there. So here’s just some things you may come across as a seller:

1. When a buyer orders, but the instructions are unclear: I would not continue with this until I get more information. Immediately send a message to the buyer and ask for clarification. Be detailed with what you want. Ask 20 questions, because your delivery is dependent on what you can understand. If they don’t respond or don’t respond fast enough to give you time to actually do the gig, I’d go ahead and cancel. This way, you don’t deliver something that the buyer didn’t want. You don’t also go past your time limit and give them a chance to cancel while you’re still working on their order. There are some times when buyers will understand that they were at fault and will accept a late delivery, but I’d say only do this when you’re sure of it.
   
   
2. When buyers order something, but seem to want more than what they paid for. A friend of mine had an order on her 300 word gig. However, based on the buyers instructions, it seemed they wanted more than just 300 words. My friend even sent her a message asking if she wanted all this in 300 words and if not, to add multiples. The buyer did not respond. So, when my friend delivered, the buyer was upset that it wasn’t and immediately requested a cancellation.
   
   
   
   Unfortunately, sellers do not have an accept/decline choice prior to the order being complete. I think this would be GREAT for sellers so that they can make sure they know what the buyers wants and to prevent buyers from taking advantage of sellers. But since this isn’t available, I would just say: If you aren’t sure and the buyer isn’t helping you understand, then don’t do any work and just cancel. This will save you a lot of time and hassle. Since Fiverr isn’t taking off rating for cancellations, this is your best bet of staying away from cancellations and negative reviews.
   
   
   

[Guest jennyplamondon]

I agree. I wish there was an approve/deny/request modification that Sellers could use. That way they can request a modification of the request before “accepting” the Gig and getting to work. I’ve had a lot of problems with Sellers who don’t get back to me and therefore I run out of time or spend a lot of time working on something that doesn’t please them. It also feels like some Buyers don’t even read your Gig before ordering and therefore they expect something different or much more than what you offer, even if you have a very clear description.



Being able to approve or deny Gigs will also save time and headaches on both the Buyer & Seller’s behalf, and I also think that this shouldn’t be used against the Seller’s rating in any way. Sometimes the Buyer & Seller are simply not an ideal match for working together, and that’s just life.

[Guest celticmoon]

@rowbee Excellent advice! I can see how frustrating it must be for sellers like you with writing gigs, but also the videographers & others, I’m sure, who need good instructions in order to produce what the buyer wants. And better to cancel before getting deeply involved with someone unwilling or unable to clearly communicate their needs!



Although I don’t sell any here, I’m also an artist, and over the years friends & acquaintances have asked me to design business logos or business cards for them. And even though they may love my work, I don’t think I ever managed to create an image that satisfied the person, except ONCE! ~lol~ Because these were friends, I didn’t charge them anything for my efforts that they didn’t use, so when I found Fiverr I KNEW I wouldn’t be selling anything like logos! I think that unless you pull the image straight out of the buyer’s head, they’re usually not completely happy! The one person who used my work liked it because he didn’t have a pre-set idea, only a broad idea; he just wanted an image representative of our region. I used a local iconic lighthouse as the basis, and he loved it & used it for his medical practice for many years~