Client's refusal to order a ready-made website

[worldsova]

Hello! What should I do to avoid losing my rating and getting negative feedback? The client is not happy with the website made: instead of a template website, they made their custom on Wordpress. There were 30 hours left before the end of the work - the client wrote that she was dissatisfied with the work and asked to cancel the order. All that remained was to transfer the content from 2 pages and add 2 plugins. There were also more than 10 variations of the logo made, but she didn’t like any of them. How to cancel orders without losing your rating?

Does it make sense to demand partial payment or let her continue to deceive freelancers?

I made the mistake of making a website on a client’s hosting and sending the original logo in PDF. I completely forgot that this is absolutely forbidden to do.

There are less than 20 hours left before the end of the order - I don’t know what to do - cancel it or wait until I cancel myself due to an overdue order?

 

Edited March 6 by worldsova

[smashradio]

I can't make decisions for you, but if I were in your shoes, I'd approach it this way:

Firstly, I'd have a chat with the client to clarify that making adjustments and having discussions to refine the project are normal parts of the web design process.

I'd gently remind them of the number of revisions included in their package and note that additional changes would incur extra charges.

However, I'd emphasize my eagerness to continue collaborating with them to achieve their satisfaction.

To better understand their needs, I'd ask the client to specify what they're unhappy with and to provide examples of designs they prefer. This way, we can work together towards a final design that they like.

It's important to communicate that while you're committed to helping them, your services aren't free. If there are any remaining included revisions, let them know, and be upfront about potential costs for additional changes.

Also, make sure they understand the timeframes: if what they're asking for takes three days to complete, let them know that the order time needs to be extended. 

Ensure the client knows that simply stating they're unsatisfied without engaging in the process won't lead to a refund. Instead, emphasize your willingness to address their concerns and improve the project. If they insist on a refund, offer one for the incomplete portion of the project (and the client gets to keep what has already been made). 

If you still have control over the website, remove your work from their host and transfer it to a server you manage.

Should the client escalate the issue to customer support and obtain a refund anyway, you'll have the option to take the site down, preventing them from benefiting from your work without compensation.

Throughout this process, be polite and helpful, making it clear that your goal is to deliver a website that meets their expectations while also respecting your professional boundaries.

This approach doesn't guarantee you no negative rating, but I find that being polite, useful, helpful and solution oriented, helps. Sometimes, the client is just not used to working with other professionals, and they need a bit of education to understand the process. But the world is full of bad clients, and this might be one of them. In that case, take the money, the negative feedback, learn from it and move on. 

At least, that's what I'd do, unless I knew that I had promised something I couldn't keep, over-stated my ability or in any way failed to do my job properly. In that case, I'd offer a full refund if the client asked for it, along with an apology. 

Edited March 6 by smashradio

[worldsova]

Thanks for the advice. I'm new to Fiverr. Before that, I worked on other freelance jobs since 2012, where I had 65 only positive reviews in my account. There were different clients ...

The order period was 10 days. When 8.5 days had passed, the client @extendeyelash categorically wrote that she wanted to close the project and asked for a refund. On proposals for website improvements, partial refunds, etc. she categorically refuses to discuss it.

She said she paid for the logo. But apparently she means that she made an initial payment on Fiverr. But she never accepted the job.

This client @extendeyelash is going to re-order a website from another freelancer. I advise those who will work with it: 1) make a website on your hosting. Deliver the finished website only after you are sure that the order will be paid for. I made the mistake of creating a website on her hosting. There is no point in deleting the site now since copies are being made daily on Godaddy. 2) Do not send the original layouts, send them in small jpg size so that she cannot steal your work and refuse payment. It was my mistake to send the finished logos in PDF. 3) Don't trust her promises that she will will give other orders. I believed her because the client said that she was of my nationality and I was sure that she would won't deceive me.

In all the time I’ve been working as a freelancer, this is the second client of my nationality, and for the second time I’ve been scammed. They receive a ready-made website and refuse to pay. There is probably no need to make preferences for your nation, citizenship or other unimportant characteristics. You need to be a professional and work with everyone equally.

 

Edited March 8 by worldsova