Just threatened by seller after asking them to cancel

[theactualvixen]

I submitted a new order today and had chatted with the seller. This was in regards to my website. The seller then found additional "issues" with the site and asked for $300 on top of the original order to fix. I thanked them, but requested a cancel. 

We then went in a circle of them declining to cancel and went back and forth with cancel requests from me and them. Finally, I told them it was underhanded to ask for more money on top of the original order. 

They then proceeded to threaten me before accepting my last cancel request. They then privately messaged me harassing me more. I did not respond to them. Fiverr, please do something about these users. No where on the description of this listing did it indicate more money would be requested.

[besoh93]

As a seller that offers web development gigs myself, I am always careful to ask all the details before sending an offer. 

I think that everything can be solved through good communication, but if that does not go well, escalating the problem to resolution center may be the best thing to do. 

[melissaharlowvo]

The one thing that would concern me is you say he “privately messaged you” so does that mean you went out of the platform to communicate? Somewhere there is a breakdown of procedures and TOS? When you work outside the protections of Fiverr and go against the TOS, then you may open yourself up to people trying to take advantage. Nothing is private on Fiverr… that’s the beauty.

[theactualvixen]

Fiverr stated they'd look into this. I supplied screenshots, however they can view the back and forth here. No conversation or chat was had off this site.

Edited November 12, 2023 by theactualvixen
More info

[theactualvixen]

23 hours ago, melissaharlowvo said:

The one thing that would concern me is you say he “privately messaged you” so does that mean you went out of the platform to communicate? Somewhere there is a breakdown of procedures and TOS? When you work outside the protections of Fiverr and go against the TOS, then you may open yourself up to people trying to take advantage. Nothing is private on Fiverr… that’s the beauty.

Once the order was canceled, he privately messaged as in sent a message to me THROUGH Fiverr. You know you can message someone without an active order right? That's what he did. You're making an assumption and talking about TOS, which I'm already well aware of. I'm not in the wrong here. 

 

If anyone else wants to make assumptions or try to make me look like the bad guy, save it. I did not deserve this for simply disagreeing with paying more money on an order that was already agreed to and paid for. Nowhere in the listing did it state an additional payment would be needed. 

 

Also, while he had access to my site he took it down after I refused to pay more. He did not build my site. He did this to get back at me for refusing to pay more money.

 

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by theactualvixen
Clarity

[theactualvixen]

My last reply- I'm grateful to the freelancer that's helping me now. They saw what the scammer had done and said no worries, I'll take care of this for you. I had a back up, so thankfully did not have to start from scratch.

My message to the community is to be kind and be fair if you're a seller. And there is never any reason to threaten anyone here. 

[katakatica]

23 minutes ago, theactualvixen said:

Once the order was canceled, he privately messaged as in sent a message to me THROUGH Fiverr. You know you can message someone without an active order right? That's what he did. You're making an assumption and talking about TOS, which I'm already well aware of. I'm not in the wrong here. 

 

If anyone else wants to make assumptions or try to make me look like the bad guy, save it. I did not deserve this for simply disagreeing with paying more money on an order that was already agreed to and paid for. Nowhere in the listing did it state an additional payment would be needed. 

 

Also, while he had access to my site he took it down after I refused to pay more. 

 

 

I think the point was more that if you work through Fiverr only, you will be able to show evidence to CS easily (and likely get help/if anything get the seller investigated) If you HAD gone against the rules, they would be unable to help you. 

If he took your work down (not his own, which would make sense if he'd actually started working / etc but it doesn't seem to be the case) I honestly would just take the case to CS, show every detail (the threats, your page being gone, the seller changing prices, etc.) and see what they say. If they misunderstand you first, try to explain again (I know it's frustrating.. )

It HAS happened before to me personally that I had more work to do than originally planned (e.g. it was a bigger project than it seemed) but I think communication from the seller AND buyer needs to be very clear in that case.

If you sent all info through to start with and it fit with what the gig offers (which I will assume), the seller was absolutely in the wrong. It COULD have been just a misunderstanding as well but once the seller started harassing you it grew into a much bigger issue.

I know it sounds like stupid advice but try to keep your messages to customer service (and if you reply to the seller for any reason) calm and I think you have a relatively easy case (though I'm unsure if CS can help getting your site back sadly.)