False Positive warnings about "Feedback boosting violation"

[paschalisblack]

Hello everyone,

My name is Pascal, I have been on fiverr since 2015 and I would like to share my experience regarding some recent issues I'm having with false positive warnings I keep receiving for "Feedback boosting violation".  More specifically, first time I received this warning was on June 2024 and the warning said:

"Our rating and Seller leveling system are a fundamental part in building and maintaining a trusted marketplace. Your account has been flagged for purchasing or selling with the intent to falsely increase ratings and/or levels. This goes against our community ideals. For more information, please review our Terms of Service."

I was very surprised to see this notification on my account since I always make sure to be within fiverr's guidelines and never did anything to violate them. After overcoming my initial shock, I decided to write to fiverr CS. They were very polite and after some time they got back to me saying that the warning was invalid and they succesfuylly removed it.

That would be a happy ending if the same warning wasn't sent to my account again a few days earlier, on August 29. Again, I was very surprised but I immediately opened a new ticket to CS explaining the situation and my history with the same false positive warning. They were polite as always and they submitted my case to the relevant team and asked me to patiently wait until they had some news, which I did for 3 days. 3 days without any reply. I can't even express how stresfull I was (still am). I believe many of you can understand how stressfull this situation can be for a fiverr seller who worked very hard for many years.

After 3 days, CS came back to me with an update, saying that the relevant team decided that the warning was valid and will remain in my account for 90 days. 

I explained again that I didn't do anything wrong and asked them for any kind proof or anything that proves what I am accused for. Their answer was that they can't share any further details since this is "internal information" etc. Again, I asked them to tell me what exactly I did wrong because if I don't even know my exact violation, then how I will make sure not to repeat it in the future? Makes sense, right? 

After that, they reply with the exact number of the order that violates the rules about feedback boosting. This was the message I received:

"Thank you for the follow-up.
 
After reviewing your account again, I found that order #F%%%#&* violates our Terms of Service regarding abusing our product tools to boost your account’s reviews and ratings. All reviews must come from legitimate sales, therefore this warning will remain.
 
I want to remind you that, unfortunately, as Customer Support, we cannot overturn this decision."

Finally thing seem to go somewhere. I instantly checked everything in the mentioned order. Every message, every attached file, my delivery, buyer's feedback etc. Obviously it was just a regular order just like any other of my clients. No abuse, no asking for feedback, nothing at all. 

After replying to CS that I have checked the mentioned order and everything is 100% fine, they aswered that they will forward my case again to the relevant team and get back to me once they have any news. 

And at this exact state I am now. Waiting for a new message from CS and hopefully have the warning removed this time.

I have read many similar stories about this exact same warning other fiverr sellers receive fro time to time. As I understand this is a major flaw on fiverr's detection system. The previous time I got this warning and have it removed by CS, 2 months ago, I have been told my customer support agent that it is very rare for a false positive warning to be issued to an account. However, obviously this is not the case since it's the second time I receive it within 2 months. I have read other fiverr sellers receive it even more often. 

I am not sure how it will end for me, if I will have this warning removed or not but this is a very serious issue and no fiverr seller deserves to be stressed like that for these kind of false positive warnings. We already have so much on our heads, we don't need another reason to worry. Hopefully fiverr will take some measures about these warning and they will no more be sent for invalid reasons.

I will update everyone here once I receive a new reply from CS about my case. If everyone has any similar experience with this kind of warning, please feel free to reply. Your experience might be very usefull for some of us.
 

Edited September 2 by paschalisblack

[paschalisblack]

Update: I got a new reply today from a custromer support supervisor saying again that the wartning will remain even and my case has been reviewed many times very carefully. But obviously it hasn't. They still didn't give me a clear answer of what exactly was wrong on the mentioned order. I keep insinting that this is a false pisitive error, which it is, because the order I am accused is a perfectly normal order where I never asked my client or any of my clients to leave any feedback. Today I opened a new ticket asking them to at least tell me the exact violation of this specific order. I am pretty sure that they will get back with another automated answer and I am really worried that I will receive the same warning very soon and my account that I worked so hard to build will eventually be restricted due to those false positive warnings. I have tried very hard to think what possibly could trigger those warnings but my mind falls to an empty wall. Those 2 orders I get the same warning are perfectly normal order just like hundred others.

[filipdevaere]

3 minutes ago, paschalisblack said:

Today I opened a new ticket

Opening a new ticket does not help and even delays the response from CS. You should continue with your first ticket.

[paschalisblack]

1 minute ago, filipdevaere said:

Opening a new ticket does not help and even delays the response from CS. You should continue with your first ticket.

I was forced to do so because CS will mark the current ticket as "solved" with every new reply I send which indicates that they don't even want to listen anything from me.

[priyank_mod]

8 minutes ago, paschalisblack said:

Update: I got a new reply today from a custromer support supervisor saying again that the wartning will remain even and my case has been reviewed many times very carefully. But obviously it hasn't. They still didn't give me a clear answer of what exactly was wrong on the mentioned order. I keep insinting that this is a false pisitive error, which it is, because the order I am accused is a perfectly normal order where I never asked my client or any of my clients to leave any feedback. Today I opened a new ticket asking them to at least tell me the exact violation of this specific order. I am pretty sure that they will get back with another automated answer and I am really worried that I will receive the same warning very soon and my account that I worked so hard to build will eventually be restricted due to those false positive warnings. I have tried very hard to think what possibly could trigger those warnings but my mind falls to an empty wall. Those 2 orders I get the same warning are perfectly normal order just like hundred others.

Fiverr officially encourages sellers to seek HONEST feedback from buyers. So in general, asking for it is not an issue. 

But may be this might have something to do with duration/communication of the order or that buyer might have history of being involved in some kind of 'manipulation'!! 

[paschalisblack]

10 minutes ago, priyank_mod said:

Fiverr officially encourages sellers to seek HONEST feedback from buyers. So in general, asking for it is not an issue. 

But may be this might have something to do with duration/communication of the order or that buyer might have history of being involved in some kind of 'manipulation'!! 

I never ask for any kind of feedback, not even honest one from my clients. Just got another reply where they insist that I violated the rules and that the warning should remain. 

Edited September 2 by paschalisblack

[mandyzines]

I'm sorry you are going through this. You don't have Seller Plus, do you?

I have a seller friend going through something similar in regards to bad detection. Their response rate's non-existent and CS is telling them that they haven't received any messages for 90 days while they've had their profile set to unavailable, even though there are clearly messages that have been responded to in their inbox. That's right. They're being told what they're seeing isn't real/there.

 

[paschalisblack]

2 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

I'm sorry you are going through this. You don't have Seller Plus, do you?

I have a seller friend going through something similar in regards to bad detection. Their response rate's non-existent and CS is telling them that they haven't received any messages for 90 days while they've had their profile set to unavailable, even though there are clearly messages that have been responded to in their inbox. That's right. They're being told what they're seeing isn't real/there.

 

Thank you for your reply. I am a seller plus as well. This is definitely a fiverr system bad detection but for some reason they won't admit it no matter what. And now I'm facing the possibility of loosing everything I built since 2015. 

[mandyzines]

2 minutes ago, paschalisblack said:

Thank you for your reply. I am a seller plus as well. This is definitely a fiverr system bad detection but for some reason they won't admit it no matter what.

Apparently, you have more rights when you have a premium subscription and a Success Manager, but you probably already knew that.

8 minutes ago, paschalisblack said:

And now I'm facing the possibility of loosing everything I built since 2015

I can only imagine how you feel. Despair comes to mind.

The system is inhumane.

[paschalisblack]

5 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

Apparently, you have more rights when you have a premium subscription and a Success Manager, but you probably already knew that.

I can only imagine how you feel. Despair comes to mind.

The system is inhumane.

 

5 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

Apparently, you have more rights when you have a premium subscription and a Success Manager, but you probably already knew that.

Unfortunately this is not true. I wish it was but it's not.

[mandyzines]

9 minutes ago, paschalisblack said:

Unfortunately this is not true. I wish it was but it's not.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. You have the standard subscription and no Success Manager right now, right?

Edited September 2 by mandyzines

[paschalisblack]

24 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

I'm not sure what you mean by that. You have the standard subscription and no Success Manager right now, right?

Hmm, I have the standard seller plus subsciption. What I mean is that even thought I am a seller plus seller, customer support don't even want to listen to me regarding this false positive warning and keep insisting that it should remain to my account without any proof of what I have done wrong. I haven't done anything wrong because I have checked the order that triggered the warning and it's a perfectly normal order. But CS don't even listen to me.

[harisawan76]

On 9/2/2024 at 10:07 PM, paschalisblack said:

Hmm, I have the standard seller plus subsciption. What I mean is that even thought I am a seller plus seller, customer support don't even want to listen to me regarding this false positive warning and keep insisting that it should remain to my account without any proof of what I have done wrong. I haven't done anything wrong because I have checked the order that triggered the warning and it's a perfectly normal order. But CS don't even listen to me.

Hi there, I am a level 1 seller going through this exact same issue and their responses are exactly the same to me as they were to you.

Got a warning 2 weeks ago for no reason, I have never till this date tried to manipulate my ratings but here we are.

I have asked them several time to at least tell me what I did wrong so I can avoid it in the future, but they always replied: 'you manipulated the rating system' instead of actually mentioning what I did wrong.

Please let me know if you find any help, I was doing good on the platform but losing it all because of no reason would be devastating.

 don't have seller plus or success manager, if you have success manager then please try to take this issue to them and ask them to help.

 

[paschalisblack]

18 minutes ago, harisawan76 said:

Hi there, I am a level 1 seller going through this exact same issue and their responses are exactly the same to me as they were to you.

Got a warning 2 weeks ago for no reason, I have never till this date tried to manipulate my ratings but here we are.

I have asked them several time to at least tell me what I did wrong so I can avoid it in the future, but they always replied: 'you manipulated the rating system' instead of actually mentioning what I did wrong.

Please let me know if you find any help, I was doing good on the platform but losing it all because of no reason would be devastating.

 don't have seller plus or success manager, if you have success manager then please try to take this issue to them and ask them to help.

 

I can't relate 100% to your problem. Looks like we are in the exact same frustrating position. It's obviously am error on the automated violation detection system. I can't understand why fiverr insists about a violation we never did and doesn't even share some clarification 😕 I ask them to tell me what what my violation was exactly but they doesn't share any clarification at all. This is the most unsettling situation in the last 10 years on this platform. 

[paschalisblack]

1 hour ago, harisawan76 said:

Hi there, I am a level 1 seller going through this exact same issue and their responses are exactly the same to me as they were to you.

Got a warning 2 weeks ago for no reason, I have never till this date tried to manipulate my ratings but here we are.

I have asked them several time to at least tell me what I did wrong so I can avoid it in the future, but they always replied: 'you manipulated the rating system' instead of actually mentioning what I did wrong.

Please let me know if you find any help, I was doing good on the platform but losing it all because of no reason would be devastating.

 don't have seller plus or success manager, if you have success manager then please try to take this issue to them and ask them to help.

 

Please keep us updated in case there is any progress about the issue we both experience! We need to address this error on fiverr's automated violation system and fiverr needs to fix it. No other fiverr seller deserves to experience this error anymore. I really hope that we both will find justice...

[harisawan76]

I suggest we should try asking customer support again and tell them that other sellers are also facing this issue so it is not a violation or rules but it is simply a bug that fiverr needs to look into.

[paschalisblack]

Hello everyone,

After talking for more than 7 days with CS, my warning was eventually removed! I can't believe it because I was really dissapointed and lost every hope! 

I am exteremely gratefull that the invalid warning was removed after all and I really hope that no other seller will face this problem again!

[arafatcoco]

Talk to fiverr support team.

[mpb0707]

2 hours ago, paschalisblack said:

Hello everyone,

After talking for more than 7 days with CS, my warning was eventually removed! I can't believe it because I was really dissapointed and lost every hope! 

I am exteremely gratefull that the invalid warning was removed after all and I really hope that no other seller will face this problem again!

@paschalisblack Congrats on successfully getting your warning removed! That's great news! I can relate to how much of a massive relief that feeling is, especially after being uncertain about the future of your account for over a week.

Out of curiosity, I was wondering if CS gave you any additional information about the false warning. As you know, many sellers have dealt with this same situation over the last couple years. 

[paschalisblack]

1 hour ago, mpb0707 said:

@paschalisblack Congrats on successfully getting your warning removed! That's great news! I can relate to how much of a massive relief that feeling is, especially after being uncertain about the future of your account for over a week.

Out of curiosity, I was wondering if CS gave you any additional information about the false warning. As you know, many sellers have dealt with this same situation over the last couple years. 

I know that! Unfortunatly, I asked CS if they know what exacty could trigger the warning, but I didn't get any information. However, I explained that this is an issue many fiverr sellers deal with and I got the following answer:

"I can understand why this situation would be frustrating and what you are trying to say. 
 
We make changes every day and try to create a much safer and more pleasant environment for our users, so suggestions like this one are more than welcome. It's not always easy to keep a marketplace with several million users in order and completely safe, even though we are trying, and we will try to do our best and be better in the future.  
 
Your report and complaint give us a different perspective and the ability to see some things and processes from different angles. That allows us to improve and make changes where necessary. 
 
This is a great suggestion and report, so it will be forwarded to the relevant team. "

I really hope that me or any other seller won't receive the same warning again for invalid reason since this is the most frustating situation I have deald with since 2015 that I am a fiverr seller but I can't hide am very worried I will sooner or later receive it again, with uknown concequences to my account... 

Edited September 6 by paschalisblack

[donnovan86]

On 9/2/2024 at 7:09 PM, mandyzines said:

That's right. They're being told what they're seeing isn't real/there.

Maybe some messages were sent to spam and they were not replied to. Sometimes that is an issue. 

[mpb0707]

@paschalisblack Thanks for the insight. Regardless of the reason, I'm very glad that you got everything sorted out! 🙂

[paschalisblack]

11 minutes ago, mpb0707 said:

@paschalisblack Thanks for the insight. Regardless of the reason, I'm very glad that you got everything sorted out! 🙂

I'm so glad too and I really hope that this was the last time I received this invalid warning!

[harisawan76]

On 9/6/2024 at 11:40 PM, paschalisblack said:

I'm so glad too and I really hope that this was the last time I received this invalid warning!

Bro when you created a new ticket, what did you tell them?

I am facing the exact same issue, and they said they cannot help so should I create a new ticket? and what should I tell them?

please help.

Thanks.

[paschalisblack]

3 hours ago, harisawan76 said:

Bro when you created a new ticket, what did you tell them?

I am facing the exact same issue, and they said they cannot help so should I create a new ticket? and what should I tell them?

please help.

Thanks.

I explained my history with this false positive warning and I asked them to review my case again etc. Then, one morning I received a message from CS informing me that the warning was removed. I wish you best of luck and please keep us updated!