Fiver canceled an order that was completed and rated 5 stars a month ago, And took the money from my account

[yafetteshale]

I am a Level 2 seller on Fiver and a month ago I completed an order, the client was happy with the delivery so he marked it complete, gave me a 5-star rating, and a tip. Then he returned and asked for more drawings. He didn't want to pay for the additional service so I said no. He said he had done a lot of business with Fiver and that he is like a VIP so if I don't do what he asked he'll "GET HIS MONEY BACK" even though the order is completed and it's been a while. Today I found out that the order has been canceled, my success score is reduced, and they TOOK MONEY THAT WAS ALREADY IN MY ACCOUNT ($385). so what I want to know is 1) if this is even legal and part of the "terms of service". 2) Do clients have the power to take money back the money in our account even though the order is complete and old? 3) is there no time limit for clients returning and asking for free service?  4) should we take out the money as soon as we get it? and if we do will the account show a negative balance when the clients ask for their money back after months? 

[yafetteshale]

I am a Level 2 seller on Fiver and a month ago I completed an order, the client was happy with the delivery so he marked it complete, gave me a 5-star rating, and a tip. Then he returned and asked for more drawings. He didn't want to pay for the additional service so I said no. He said he had done a lot of business with Fiver and that he is like a VIP so if I don't do what he asked he'll "GET HIS MONEY BACK" even though the order is completed and it's been a while. Today I found out that the order has been canceled, my success score is reduced, and they TOOK MONEY THAT WAS ALREADY IN MY ACCOUNT. 

[serfederica]

Contact CS. Explain the situation. Tell them this isn't fair to your work and time. The customer probably made a card charge-back. Fiverr usually refunds those.

[donnovan86]

16 hours ago, yafetteshale said:

should we take out the money as soon as we get it?

Even if you do that, you will have to repay Fiverr the $385, until then your balance would be in red and anything you earn will be used to repay that balance you owe to Fiverr.

Go to customer support and tell them about this. But if they already refunded the customer, I am afraid you won't really get your money back. It's still worth it rather than doing nothing.

16 hours ago, yafetteshale said:

Do clients have the power to take money back the money in our account even though the order is complete and old? 3) is there no time limit for clients returning and asking for free service?

I think there might be some stuff we don't know here. Normally the order shouldn't be canceled if it was rated and complete. Unless there were issues found after the order was rated and the buyer was able to prove that, while also proving you did not help him. Also, did you insult that buyer? I see from one of your reviews taht the buyer felt insulted. That could also be a problem.

[nahidhasanbabu]

You can contact Fiverr support with the deliverable file documents. Sometimes it happens, once clients claim to get back their funds. But if you can provide enough proof and if your service is okay, then Fiverr will return back to your fund.

[cyverium]

If it was not a chargeback, you can try contacting support. 

If it was a chargeback, you have lost the money and it cannot be returned to you. Pretty much every company or self employed individual accepting credit cards will just refund money to avoid the whole chargeback process as if you get too many, you can quite literally lose the ability to accept credit cards at all. On a place like this, there are a TON of disputes between the buyers and the sellers, with Fiverr stuck in the middle. On one hand it is in Fiverr's best interest for transaction to go through so they can get their percentage. On the other, they cannot afford chargebacks, as they come with penalties and fees for Fiverr. So I am guessing they will choose to err on the side of caution, and most likely ban the buyer after refund (if not the very first time, I can pretty much guarantee than any company would ban buyer on second attempt at a chargeback, it is just too much hassle to deal with people like that). 

It might interest you that service like Paypal will refund money to the buyer up to 180 days (6 months) after the transaction, and you cannot be certain that earned money is really yours to keep until that period passes. As well Amazon, Ebay, and all similar sites I am aware of.