Can someone explain to me where did I breach the ToS?

[nikolakesla]

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/f5q266kl9b3rwg3752xlx/h?rlkey=dijfer8fjxy7ejwj81li4zf8k&dl=0 

This link contains all the audio files and the pdf files.

Customer has asked me to transcribe 2 live performances.

1)https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Ci--MbNEHoY is this one. Which is named "Soad Madonna" in the folder. Customer asked for the transcription of the guitar parts and I did as they asked.

2)https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=4_OfngfMmIQ is the intro to this live performance. Which is named "Chop Suey Intro" in the folder. Again, I transcribed the parts that the customer had asked.

I've sent them the files in "Guitar Pro" file format. Which is a program for viewing and editing guitar tabs and notation.

After that the customer had reviewed the order and given their ratings. As soon as I saw the customer had rated me, I rated them too. There was no point in the conversation that I or them asked about a rating or a positive rating. The customer was a repeat customer of mine and they have been ordering the gig regularly. I have not asked any of my customers to leave me a rating. I have not bought or sold review scores anywhere or in any job. All I did was to do what the customers asked me to do. I still don't understand how the review team sees this one as a breach. All I did was to do what was written in the job description. Fiverr is the source of my only income and I did not or won't commit any act against the terms of service. 

I have been accused of fraud, but they won't show me any evidence.  The support team claims they've reviewed the case multiple times. But I'm not even sure they have reviewed it even once. I have never asked the customer for a rating yet I'm being punished for it.

[nikolakesla]

Fiverr gave me a warning and flagged my account for "abusing our product tools to boost your account’s reviews and ratings". I asked the support but they don't answer me. They simply say that it has been reviewed and the warning will remain. I have never bought or sold any king of rating or review boosting. The order they tell me that breaches the ToS, was just a normal order. Customer sends me 2 links, I tell him that he can buy the Basic Package, he buys, I deliver. In which part of this chain did I do anything wrong? Support won't answer. I just want to know what did I do was wrong so I won't repeat it again. I'm leaving the ss's of the order.

[vickieito]

Hi @nikolakesla - If this was a repeat customer, they may have falsely triggered your account for review by leaving copy-paste public feedback on your order (as well as previous orders), especially if they've ordered a lot from you in the past.

[nikolakesla]

1 hour ago, vickieito said:

Hi @nikolakesla - If this was a repeat customer, they may have falsely triggered your account for review by leaving copy-paste public feedback on your order (as well as previous orders), especially if they've ordered a lot from you in the past.

They were a repeat customer. I contacted the support and they told me that the warning will stay. They told me they reviewed but I can't understand how did I do wrong.

[vickieito]

Actually, @nikolakesla - I looked deeper into the reviews that you were getting and I can see why your account triggered a review.

For almost every order placed by one of your buyers, you placed an order with them at the same time. It looks very suspicious. I stopped counting after I got to 10 orders that you placed with your buyers (at the same time they placed orders with you). Your buyers also don't really have much history on their accounts and I can't see what services they are providing. Some of these buyers no longer exist (including the one in your screenshot above). Your reviews for these buyers are also very short (e.g., "Oustanding experience!") and their reviews for you are equally short and generic.

To avoid this from happening again, don't ever purchase from your buyers. I'm also a seller who buys on this platform and if someone has purchased from me, I don't buy from them (even though I would love to use their services).

Edited November 5, 2023 by vickieito

[nikolakesla]

20 minutes ago, vickieito said:

Actually, @nikolakesla - I looked deeper into the reviews that you were getting and I can see why your account triggered a review.

For almost every order placed by one of your buyers, you placed an order with them at the same time. It looks very suspicious. I stopped counting after I got to 10 orders that you placed with your buyers (at the same time they placed orders with you). Your buyers also don't really have much history on their accounts and I can't see what services they are providing. Some of these buyers no longer exist (including the one in your screenshot above). Your reviews for these buyers are also very short (e.g., "Oustanding experience!") and their reviews for you are equally short and generic.

To avoid this from happening again, don't ever purchase from your buyers. I'm also a seller who buys on this platform and if someone has purchased from me, I don't buy from them (even though I would love to use their services).

I did not place an order. Those ratings are from buyer reviews. You know, I rate the buyers too. I have never bought anything through Fiverr.

Edit: Also I don't write anything to my reviews. I use Android and I can rate without writing anything. I think it automatically writes "Outstanding" when I do that.

Edited November 5, 2023 by nikolakesla

[vickieito]

15 minutes ago, nikolakesla said:

I did not place an order. Those ratings are from buyer reviews.

Ah, you are right! I think there's something about that last buyer that you had in that screenshot - that was the account that no longer exists (and the orders with that buyer somehow triggered something that gave you a warning and shut down that buyer's account). Do you have any idea why?

[vickieito]

Was the music the buyer's own music, or was it someone else's work?

[nikolakesla]

24 minutes ago, vickieito said:

Ah, you are right! I think there's something about that last buyer that you had in that screenshot - that was the account that no longer exists (and the orders with that buyer somehow triggered something that gave you a warning and shut down that buyer's account). Do you have any idea why?

No idea. The buyer contacted me before the warning for another job. When I tried to create an offer, I saw they were no longer available. Thank you for the replies though. I've never thought about the reviews I have given. Maybe it is because of them. Always thought that it was the reviews I've received. Or maybe the buyer did something wrong and I'm collateral damage.

Edit: I've reached the daily reply limit. The order was for an improvised live performance from System of a Down. But the warning was not for copyright, it said it's for buying or selling fake reviews to raise the rating.

Edit 2: Support case number 

#10611051

Edited November 5, 2023 by nikolakesla

[vickieito]

1 minute ago, nikolakesla said:

Or maybe the buyer did something wrong and I'm collateral damage.

If the buyer was stealing someone else's work, that person may have reported them to Fiverr (which got their account shut down and caused you to get a warning).

[vickieito]

9 minutes ago, nikolakesla said:

But the warning was not for copyright, it said it's for buying or selling fake reviews to raise the rating.

Yes, I'm also wondering what "product tools" have been supposedly abused to "boost your account's review and ratings." It doesn't really go with the discussion we're having.

@Lena, could you take a look into @nikolakesla's help desk ticket? We don't know what the issue was regarding that last order (which caused the buyer's account to be banned and @nikolakesla's to have an account warning). Thanks in advance for your help!

[Lena]

Hi @vickieito thank you for the tag 

@nikolakesla 

I understand and sympathize with you, but I assure you that your issue was reviewed several times by our relevant departments and it is being handled properly. I am so sorry I cannot help you more, but this decision is final and I am unable to assist as it is beyond my capabilities. 

Thank you for your understanding. 

[nikolakesla]

33 minutes ago, Lena said:

Hi @vickieito thank you for the tag 

@nikolakesla 

I understand and sympathize with you, but I assure you that your issue was reviewed several times by our relevant departments and it is being handled properly. I am so sorry I cannot help you more, but this decision is final and I am unable to assist as it is beyond my capabilities. 

Thank you for your understanding. 

I'm not asking for a resolution at this point. Please help me understand which part of my order or that specific sale triggered this warning. The customer was a repeat buyer and this had never happened before. Was it the automatic review response(which is generated by leaving the comment empty in the android app), or was it the buyers review comment? Was it something else? I'm asking because I want to continue making sales through Fiverr but I don't understand what triggers these warnings. Please don't say that the case is already reviewed and you can't help me. In the ToS about the reviews, I've read it all and can't find which are that I've breached. I did not contact the buyer outside of Fiverr. I did not ask him to leave a review or a high rating. I just delivered the order. Again, not asking for you to remove the warning. So please don't respond with the same answers I've been given since this happened. Nobody gave me an explanation on this topic. Is it really that hard to just point me to where did I breach the ToS?

[uk1000]

2 hours ago, Lena said:

issue was reviewed several times by our relevant departments and it is being handled properly

but if support doesn't specify exactly what the OP did wrong won't it be difficult for him to prevent the same thing from happening again if he doesn't know what action he did that caused the warning?

And it might help other sellers know what not to do if CS are more specific about what action (whether by a seller or buyer) caused them to get a warning (though sellers shouldn't be warned for something a buyer does, eg. like some sellers were warned because a buyer copy pasted their review, which doesn't seem fair to the seller if they had nothing to do with it).

[Lena]

25 minutes ago, uk1000 said:

but if support doesn't specify exactly what the OP did wrong won't it be difficult for him to prevent the same thing from happening again if he doesn't know what action he did that caused the warning?

The CS explained everything in emails and stated specific reasons and the order they were referring to. 

[nikolakesla]

10 minutes ago, Lena said:

The CS explained everything in emails and stated specific reasons and the order they were referring to. 

No! They never did explain the reason! They never gave me a reason. They never told me anything other than what was written in the first post. When I ask you and the CS about more info, you guys tell me that you cannot give any more info because of your "Privacy Policy". They gave me the order number correct. That's why I am asking to the people of Fiverr that where does the breach occurs in because you guys don't explain it. You just accuse that I did  "purchasing or selling with the intent to falsely increase ratings and/or levels". And when I ask where or how does that occur, you don't answer!

And here are the screenshots. Can you please tell me where do they answer that quastion?

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by nikolakesla

[Lena]

@nikolakesla 

I am very sorry, but as I said before I am unable to assist you more as it is beyond my capabilities. For all further inquiries, please contact the CS. 

Thank you for your understanding. 

[nikolakesla]

Just now, Lena said:

@nikolakesla 

I am very sorry, but as I said before I am unable to assist you more as it is beyond my capabilities. For all further inquiries, please contact the CS. 

Thank you for your understanding. 

 

16 minutes ago, Lena said:

The CS explained everything in emails and stated specific reasons and the order they were referring to. 

Then why are you telling @uk1000 that the CS gave me the reason?

[nikolakesla]

A warning is to warn someone to not to commit the act again. Fiverr gives a warning but never tells you what the act is . And it is a complete lottery at this point that you will or will not receive another warning . There is no guarantee that your account won't get another warning for "confidential reasons" and suspended.

Edited November 5, 2023 by nikolakesla
Typo

[uk1000]

Just trying to guess what the reason could have been since they haven't stated the exact reason yet.

The buyer asked you transcribe the music from 2 videos (intros)
You tell them (after discussing it with them and checking the details) "Sure. You can order the $10 package which will cover both intros."

At the time, did the gig say it was for transcribing of any song (ie. one)?
Though maybe the number of seconds offered of transcribing in the package might have been more than than enough to cover the 2 music vids combined (eg. if they were only intros).

Could the warning have been because they thought you offered to do more than was offered by the gig package for that buyer if they ordered it, so they think that might be influencing them to give a more favourable review? Though if that was the case does that prevent any seller giving a custom offer that's some sort of special offer (ie. lower than one of their gig package prices if they'd ordered directly eg. because the seller knew about how much had to be done etc. so could give a discount if it wasn't too much work)?

Edited November 5, 2023 by uk1000

[nikolakesla]

11 minutes ago, uk1000 said:

Just trying to guess what the reason could have been since they haven't stated the exact reason yet.

The buyer asked you transcribe the music from 2 videos (intros)
You tell them "Sure. You can order the $10 package which will cover both intros."

At the time, did the gig say it was for transcribing of any song (ie. one)?
Though maybe the number of seconds offered  of transcribing in the package might have been more than than enough to cover the 2 music vids combined (eg. if they were only intros).

Could the warning have been because they thought you offered to do more than was offered by the gig package for that buyer if they ordered it, so they think that might be influencing them to give a more favourable review? Though if that was the case does that prevent any seller giving a custom offer that's some sort of special offer (ie. lower than one of their gig package prices if they'd ordered directly)?

Hey thanks for the reply. The music that the buyer asked for was really short. I generally generate a custom offer for those kind of situations. In this case, I would have create a $10 custom offer instead of 2 $5 ones because the buyer asked for them in the same day. But instead I told him that he can order the $10 package. In my mind, that is not different than creating a 10$ custom offer. And if I could influence anybody without communicating, I wouldn't be transcribing music. There are lots of jobs that could benefit from that kind of talent :). So I don't think that's the case either.  Anyways, people should know that Fiverr will not help you in this kind of situation. They just accuse you without any kind of evidence. "Oh look at this guy. Getting good reviews, getting daily jobs. Huh! That's impossible. They must be buying fake reviews!". Oh yes, since it is the only thing that can be done at this point, I am free to speculate. I will definitely not be accepting any order until this issue resolves or a clear answer is given.

Edit: And maybe we should ask every customer to not leave a positive rating. Maybe that way we can work safely. Or does that breach something too? Privacy policy? ToS? 

Edited November 5, 2023 by nikolakesla

[uk1000]

11 minutes ago, nikolakesla said:

Edit: And maybe we should ask every customer to not leave a positive rating. Maybe that way we can work safely. Or does that breach something too? Privacy policy? ToS? 

I assume it wouldn't be allowed to ask them not to leave a positive rating. But if it was allowed and they followed it then you might only get negative reviews if someone rated.

There's this:

Quote

To maintain the integrity and quality of our marketplace, we ask both sellers and buyers to provide reviews after each order is completed. Reviews are based on honesty and are independent of any external pressures, providing both buyers and sellers with the opportunity to learn and improve.

The above is from https://help.fiverr.com/hc/en-us/articles/360010544097-Feedback-and-ratings

Though some people say asking for a review is allowed (as long as you don't ask for positive rating I think) - but I think the seller asking them might be putting some pressure but not for which rating it was. But I don't think they'd want you to influence the rating at all. Though you could ask CS to get an accurate answer.

[vickieito]

Hi @nikolakesla,

After reading through your conversations with CS, it looks like the only reason why Fiverr determined that you were trying to boost reviews was because reviews must only come from legitimate sales (and Fiverr determined that Order FO4177653CD84 was not a legitimate order).

So even though you showed us the same screenshots (showing you delivered what the buyer requested), CS, CS wasn't interested in them because it appears that other evidence was found when they fully reviewed your account, your buyer's account, the order, the delivery, and all conversations between you and the buyer.

So I would look past this order and dig deeper for anything else that may have indicated that Order FO4177653CD84 was prefabricated (not a natural sale) with the intention of getting higher ratings or reaching a certain seller level.

Since this isn't the first time you were flagged for the same issue (and we are trying to prevent any future flaggings), it might be helpful to look into similarities between the false flag and this one.

If you communicated that you were close to leveling up to your buyer at any time (or mentioned any other stats) - just like you mentioned to CS - it may be seen as trying to manipulate the buyer into placing future orders to help you level up. Especially if you were also discussing future orders with them. Or if you mentioned in any way that your buyers were helping you to "grow your Fiverr business" that could also be looked at as trying to manipulate the buyer into making an unnatural sale.

I'm just throwing things out there because I have no idea what may have caused your account to be flagged. I only know that Fiverr doesn't consider that order as a legitimate order, so somehow they think you were trying to influence the buyer to place orders to help you level up or increase your seller stats.

10 hours ago, nikolakesla said:

And maybe we should ask every customer to not leave a positive rating. Maybe that way we can work safely. Or does that breach something too? Privacy policy? ToS? 

That would also violate Fiverr's ToS because you are mentioning "positive rating." As a seller, you can ask for a review, you just can't influence the outcome of the review (positive or negative). So something like,

"Please feel free to leave feedback on this order. It really does help other buyers to know how it is to work with me."

Or, you can choose not to mention reviews or feedback at all. The buyers will leave one anyways since Fiverr gives buyers plenty of automated reminders to leave reviews for their sellers.