A real head scratcher (Customer Dispute)

[tme2012]

Wrote the first 5,000 words of a book for a client. Turned it in July 30th. This was after a month of communicating with him.

Five hours later he requests the job be cancelled. The reason he gives is that he didn't understand how long 5,000 words is, and that he can't afford to pay me for the whole book, so he wants a refund to hire someone less expensive.

After denying the cancellation request twice, I reached out to Customer Support and explained the situation. You'd think they'd see the total BS on the client side, but instead I get the "you have to work with the client and get them to accept delivery" mumbo-jumbo.

How do you work with a client who just wants their money back because they want to hire someone cheaper? Why is Fiverr so anti-freelancer in these circumstances when the truth is right there in black and white? 

[donnovan86]

20 minutes ago, tme2012 said:

Wrote the first 5,000 words of a book for a client. Turned it in July 30th. This was after a month of communicating with him.

 

Ideally, you just send a sample with random stuff in it just for the client to see how many words would 5000 be. I had this happen many times, and I shared either a link or a document, so they can see. So I know this type of situation very well, I always ensure that the customer has an idea of what they order, because I want to avoid disputes like the one you mentioned.

I see why Fiverr told you to work with the client, either you close the order and they get paid, or he cancels and works with someone else, they also get paid. 

[uk1000]

50 minutes ago, tme2012 said:

After denying the cancellation request twice, I reached out to Customer Support and explained the situation. You'd think they'd see the total BS on the client side, but instead I get the "you have to work with the client and get them to accept delivery" mumbo-jumbo

If you have the "partial refund" option that could be one option if the alternative was cancelling the whole thing if the buyer never accepts it at the current price.

[creative_howl]

11 hours ago, uk1000 said:

If you have the "partial refund" option that could be one option if the alternative was cancelling the whole thing if the buyer never accepts it at the current price.

I would say so too (since we can see how this is gonna go). But he doesn't really need to do that IMO.

Buyer not knowing what they bought is not the seller's problem.

They agreed to work on something, and the seller delivered it.

This sounds to me like someone with buyer's remorse seeing sellers with lower prices.

Imagine writing 5000 words and the buyer says "ohh well.. I had no idea 5000 words was that long... I can't afford this, so can I get a refund?"

Seller making a compromise based on good will is one thing, but being forced to refund? idk about that one.

 

[katakatica]

3 hours ago, creative_howl said:

I would say so too (since we can see how this is gonna go). But he doesn't really need to do that IMO.

Buyer not knowing what they bought is not the seller's problem.

They agreed to work on something, and the seller delivered it.

This sounds to me like someone with buyer's remorse seeing sellers with lower prices.

Imagine writing 5000 words and the buyer says "ohh well.. I had no idea 5000 words was that long... I can't afford this, so can I get a refund?"

Seller making a compromise based on good will is one thing, but being forced to refund? idk about that one.

 

I mean, the trickiest thing is that the buyer could be lying as well. When you spend this much money, wouldn't you check what you're getting if you're unsure? It's not that hard to type it into Google. I've had customers ask it before and I would tell them, but I definitely don't default to people not knowing what they are picking up...

I've had this happen too though - some people would order one thing but then demand the other, only to cancel when I tried to damage control things. What I've noticed is that 'interestingly ' all of these attempts were full of trigger words that might stand out to CS.... It's been a while (I should knock on wood) but yeah it's definitely something that happens with art / writing / etc. Which isn't fun for sure. 

[creative_howl]

3 hours ago, katakatica said:

I mean, the trickiest thing is that the buyer could be lying as well. When you spend this much money, wouldn't you check what you're getting if you're unsure? It's not that hard to type it into Google. I've had customers ask it before and I would tell them, but I definitely don't default to people not knowing what they are picking up...

I've had this happen too though - some people would order one thing but then demand the other, only to cancel when I tried to damage control things. What I've noticed is that 'interestingly ' all of these attempts were full of trigger words that might stand out to CS.... It's been a while (I should knock on wood) but yeah it's definitely something that happens with art / writing / etc. Which isn't fun for sure. 

I agree I've dealt with customers (somewhat) like this too.

What triggers me is what CS is saying 

Quote

"you have to work with the client and get them to accept delivery"

That's wild.

Hopefully, this debacle will end positively and the seller will post a follow-up about it. 

[tme2012]

Well you're going to love the update.

The client was unable to do Zoom calls because he suffered a stroke so I gave him my # to interview him. While he was saying on Fiverr that he didn't know how long the book was going to be, his MOTHER texted me as him saying the quality was bad and that his mother (who was doing the texting) could do a better job. When I texted back, "That's not what you wrote on Fiverr" the texts stopped.

At that point I removed access to the file. The next day, someone saying they were  his sister got on Fiverr, messaged me, and said they would pay me once they had reviewed the file. 

I asked CS what to do and they said they would reach out to the client and respond within 48 hours. 

Last night, the client wrote: ""I have read the book now. Most of it is great! Please refund partial of the money. I am so sorry for wasting your time. I will try to find a ghostwriter that I can pay for up to $1000 for 100,000 words. I only have so much money on my income. I have proof of my miracle. I will breathe and say this again. I am sorry Nick."

So, that's them admitting they liked the book, but want a partial refund. I asked why I should give a partial refund if they liked the work, and forwarded their message to CS.

About 25 minutes ago, I got a notification saying the order had been cancelled with no explanation. I wrote two messages to CS asking for an explanation and got this response: 

Hi Nick,
 
Thanks for following up!
 
While writing this response - I received your latest message, and rest assured I realize how you feel - don't worry, I'll make sure to have your back!
 
We ended up canceling the order (without impacting your metrics in any way) - as it appears the buyer was not ready to accept the work, for a reason that is outside of your control, which is unfortunate.
 
I will gladly forward your request to our relevant team and explain the situation. They will review this further and as soon as they come back with a reply, I will follow up with you on this ticket.
 
I really appreciate your patience and understanding.

 

is Fiverr so tone deaf that they think I'm just so grateful that my metrics didn't get affected that I don't mind at all that someone just stole my creative work and ripped me off for $720? 

I really don't understand how the talent that drives this entire business gets dumped on every time there's a dispute. I feel like a client could come to my house and beat me up, then decide to cancel the order because I didn't bleed enough and CS would say, "Well , maybe next time bleed some more and hopefully the client will accept it!"