Is the Rating System really unbiased?

[badar121]

Hey everyone,

Firstly, I want to say that Fiverr has been a game changer for me. It has given me the opportunity to sell my skills and achieve many things. However, there's a particular situation I've been facing for quite some time, and I’ve been meaning to raise this concern. Today, I finally decided to write about it.

Fiverr frequently promotes itself as a fair and unbiased platform for both buyers and sellers. But many sellers, including myself, would disagree based on experiences where buyer-related issues were handled by Customer Support. I’ve had several cases where the buyer was completely in the wrong, yet I had no choice but to comply with what the customer demanded.

However, the main issue I want to highlight concerns the review system that follows an order. Fiverr has a system called "Private Feedback," where the buyer receives a form at a random time within a few weeks after the order is completed. Here’s my case:

I’ve had my share of difficult buyers, and there have been many times where I’ve wanted to give them a 1-star review. The rating system should reflect how our experience was with each other, right? So if I’m extremely unhappy with the buyer, I can give them a 1-star rating. But if the buyer is happy with my work, they can give me 5 stars. However, every time I want to leave a 1-star review, the first thought that comes to my mind is, “What if the buyer leaves negative private feedback out of spite because I gave them a bad review, even though they initially left me 5 stars?”

It’s obvious that if a buyer sees I’ve given them a 1-star review, they’ll be looking for ways to retaliate. When they receive the notification for Private Feedback, they might use it to take revenge. I randomly asked 10 people what they would do in such a situation, and unsurprisingly, all 10 said they would likely give negative private feedback in response.

So, is this really fair? Fiverr claims the platform is unbiased for both buyers and sellers, but only buyers have access to Private Feedback. Wouldn't it be fairer if sellers also had the option to give private feedback on buyers? Buyers should be aware of this as well, so if they intend to retaliate, they’ll know that sellers have the same feature, which could at least improve the accuracy of the Private Feedback system.

What are your thoughts on this?

Edited yesterday at 12:43 AM by badar121
Title correction

[newsmike]

14 minutes ago, badar121 said:

“What if the buyer leaves negative private feedback out of spite because I gave them a bad review, even though they initially left me 5 stars?”

This is why smart businesses know that no matter what a customer posts about a product or service, the only proper response is "We're sorry you had a problem, please contact us so we can make it right."  They are the customer, they pay you and you should realize that speaking negatively against those that pay you is not a smart bet. Business requires some restraint and engaging in trashing someone who just paid you is not a classy look.  

[priyank_mod]

2 hours ago, badar121 said:

if sellers also had the option to give private feedback on buyers?

This will not serve any purpose. Buyers don't get ranked publically and wait to be chosen, on the basis of a complicated mesh of a million performance-based factors!!

[visualstudios]

9 hours ago, newsmike said:

This is why smart businesses know that no matter what a customer posts about a product or service, the only proper response is "We're sorry you had a problem, please contact us so we can make it right."

And this is why having a system that allows sellers to rate buyers publicly is totally pointless. 

Three things can happen:

5 star review

No review

Honest review that is left by a seller who doesn't appear to be professional, because the only professional options are the first two.