Wrongfully accused

[alexamolander]

I am writing here as a last effort. Fiverr has wrongfully accused me of selling with the intent to falsely increase ratings and/or levels. It happened out of the blue and I contacted Fiverr support to try to understand if I maybe had made a mistake and to just clear things out, I was first met with copy paste answers dodging the question. After standing my ground and asking for the reason of the warning I got in contact with a support staff who told me she would look into the issue and later replied that it was a false flag and she also removed the warning.

About one week later I received another warning. This time I was even more surprised as I had few orders since last time. I was met once again with copy paste replies even openly stating that they would keep sending the same answers and that there was no point in further questions. After about 5 messages and a new ticket I was at least told the order ID (something I asked about in the initial message). I looked into it and it was just a 5$ order, that was not even rated. Just a usual customer request and a delivery, nothing strange at all. I once again asked for the reason and what I had done but they just solved the ticket without replying.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? I feel targeted by sabotage and very disappointed in how Fiverr treats us sellers. 

[smartdezigns]

7 minutes ago, alexamolander said:

I am writing here as a last effort. Fiverr has wrongfully accused me of selling with the intent to falsely increase ratings and/or levels. It happened out of the blue and I contacted Fiverr support to try to understand if I maybe had made a mistake and to just clear things out, I was first met with copy paste answers dodging the question. After standing my ground and asking for the reason of the warning I got in contact with a support staff who told me she would look into the issue and later replied that it was a false flag and she also removed the warning.

About one week later I received another warning. This time I was even more surprised as I had few orders since last time. I was met once again with copy paste replies even openly stating that they would keep sending the same answers and that there was no point in further questions. After about 5 messages and a new ticket I was at least told the order ID (something I asked about in the initial message). I looked into it and it was just a 5$ order, that was not even rated. Just a usual customer request and a delivery, nothing strange at all. I once again asked for the reason and what I had done but they just solved the ticket without replying.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? I feel targeted by sabotage and very disappointed in how Fiverr treats us sellers. 

@Lena Possible to check his case? Thank you.

[mpb0707]

Hello there, I’m sorry to hear that you’re dealing with this. These false warnings seem to be part of some new automated system that Fiverr rolled out earlier this year.

 

Since June, I have received 7 of them. Thankfully, Customer Support was able to assist every time. I recommend reaching out to one of the forum moderators. They might be able to get you in touch with a Customer Support Supervisor, who will be a lot more helpful if you feel as though you’ve hit a wall when it comes to opening tickets.

 

Just remember to be patient as the forum mods are quite busy. I hope that helps and you get the new warning removed from your account. Good luck!

[Lena]

Hi @alexamolander

On 11/22/2023 at 6:47 PM, alexamolander said:

I feel targeted by sabotage and very disappointed in how Fiverr treats us sellers. 

Please never think that. We understand how frustrating it must be to receive a warning. We saw that you reached out to Fiverr Customer Support asking for specific feedback which you received. Please follow our Guidelines and whenever in doubt, always contact our CS. Even if it seems small and irrelevant. That is one of the best ways to avoid warnings and account restrictions.

 

[uk1000]

On 11/26/2023 at 1:45 PM, mpb0707 said:

These false warnings seem to be part of some new automated system that Fiverr rolled out earlier this year.

It could be something to do with this Fiverr video - the most recent on that channel of theirs:

eg. at 4:05 it mentions things that it could consider a suspicious purchase eg. ones it thinks are feedback boosting (reviews/rating) - which is what they accused the OP of, other metrics boosting (eg. response rate) and other unknown stuff.

but it seems like they could be using a method that they think is statistically likely to find a suspicious purchase without it actually finding a totally accurate suspicious purchase (and the reasons why). So it probably isn't giving the reasons why - just finding features that seemed statistically more likely to be suspicious purchases - which they surely shouldn't be doing. If it's not a totally accurate way of finding false purchases, with the specific reasons why, it shouldn't be giving people (false) flags by using that algorithm.

Edited November 27, 2023 by uk1000

[fastadking]

I received that flag today: Your account has been flagged for purchasing or selling with the intent to falsely increase ratings and/or levels. 

As I had no knowledge of ever doing anything like that, I contacted customer service. They first reference an order and said I didn't deliver the full order. When I posted a screenshot showing everything had been delivered, they said oh wait. "After a thorough investigation of your account we determined you engaged in falsely increasing ratings and/or levels."

Ok, I said. When and how did I do this? Their reply was "We can't tell you." They said "we're not going to change it. The flag will remain." 

[uk1000]

14 minutes ago, fastadking said:

Their reply was "We can't tell you."

They probably can't tell you because the inaccurate algorithm probably isn't telling them - if you check the above video.

It's like an algorithm that could be right 60% of the time but wrong 40% of the time, that's trained on stuff but they can't tell which times it's right and which times it isn't.

Saying they can't tell you isn't a good enough answer from them nor is leaving the false flag. Fiverr should use accurate algorithms and be able to tell the exact reasons for a decision so we can show proof if it's false.

Though you could check if there was something different about that order - something they might be checking as shown in that video, eg. was there a difference in the amount of messages related to the order or something like that .

Edited November 27, 2023 by uk1000

[fastadking]

21 minutes ago, uk1000 said:

Though you could check if there was something different about that order - something they might be checking as shown in that video, eg. was there a difference in the amount of messages related to the order or something like that .

Great points! When CS did reference an order, it was a $5 ebook I almost never sell. The gig has been on Fiverr since 2013. It's the ONLY thing I offer for less than $25. A buyer from Singapore bought it and let the order auto-complete without a review. 

This sounds a lot like the OP above who was flagged on a $5 order that wasn't reviewed. 

[mpb0707]

@fastadking I dealt with a similar situation when I reached out to Customer Support back in October for one of these false warnings. I was told that they couldn’t provide me with any details. Thankfully, I was able to get the matter escalated to a Customer Support Supervisor who took the matter very seriously and thoroughly reviewed the order in question (which did not have a review).

I hope you’re able to get the warning removed.

Edited November 28, 2023 by mpb0707

[alexamolander]

It seems now that my gig is not showing up in searches, event though I am a level 2 seller, the gig is promoted and I even joined seller plus. It really seems that Fiverr support are thugs who will treat you however the want. It is really unfair and shameful. 

[viciam11]

On 11/27/2023 at 4:50 PM, uk1000 said:

It could be something to do with this Fiverr video - the most recent on that channel of theirs:

eg. at 4:05 it mentions things that it could consider a suspicious purchase eg. ones it thinks are feedback boosting (reviews/rating) - which is what they accused the OP of, other metrics boosting (eg. response rate) and other unknown stuff.

but it seems like they could be using a method that they think is statistically likely to find a suspicious purchase without it actually finding a totally accurate suspicious purchase (and the reasons why). So it probably isn't giving the reasons why - just finding features that seemed statistically more likely to be suspicious purchases - which they surely shouldn't be doing. If it's not a totally accurate way of finding false purchases, with the specific reasons why, it shouldn't be giving people (false) flags by using that algorithm.

Wow thanks for posting this. Learnt something new today. Thank you

[fastadking]

I can tell you from recent experience, the detection software is c**p. It spews false positives like a garden hose.

Customer service has been told the software is not to be questioned. They've also been ordered not to discuss it in any way. I was told by a CS shift manager, in essence, to get over it and go away.