A heads up to buyers about what a cancellation does to a seller

[Guest sandra4service]

how do you handle free riders buyers when they request for cancellations?

[marioland]

I just give them the money back, obviously they need them more than I do!

[beatcraigslist]

Reply to @sandra4service: Thats the biggest problem with this site I think. There is no arbitration process. Its just give a full refund or take a negative which can hurt you in many ways. It creates a situation for free riders to thrive. CS does not care to get involved or help out. Every time I have asked for any help it has always been thrown back at me saying “there is nothing we can do, try to work it out with your buyer” Yea, that really helps me a lot.

[kuzzmedia]

@beatcraigslist - Yes, I think an arbitration method would be good.



It doesn’t seem right penalize sellers for cancellations that are not their fault.



I think both buyers and sellers need a fair level of protection. Both can frankly get screwed. I can only imagine that this is a constant work in development here and it will improve.



Whatever the case may be, the gig should be created with avoiding cancellations in mind. I am sure that in certain gigs, cancellations will be far more common. Try to identify those reasons and diminish them as much as possible.



When folks say they’ve had 170 orders and like 40 cancellations, I see that as a very high percentage. Something can be done to lower cancellations drastically.

[ramnati]

Tired of people doing cancel for no fault of mine. And don’t understand why fiver punishes sellers for mutual cancellation.

While I dint care about loosing levels, it really gets irritating when sellers have absolutely no say and help desk does not respond even after 2 days.



For statistics I had 5 cancellations for 25 completed gigs that is bad.



I think I give up. Fiverr is not for me. This place is not for people who like to earn honestly. When all good sellers leave fiverr will know their policy is wrong and that will be too late.

[ramnati]

Reply to @wolfstarpicture: Lucky you. But fiverr did demote me when gigs cancelled and customer support don’t even respond 😦

[greyhound12]

FIVERR ADMIN - I hope you are reading this thread and taking on board what people are saying in it!

[ijohnson]

Sellers fail to read, too!



I submitted a request for a gig several days ago and got several responses from a Seller asking for the order. After doing my due diligence, I selected the Seller with the “Top-Seller” rating.



Two days into what was supposed to be a 24-hour turnaround order, I get a cancellation request from the Seller. Now, this cancellation request (with no plausible explanation) comes after I get a message from the Seller stating that my order would be complete in 30 minutes. Go figure!!!



When I refused cancellation and stated that I would grant the Seller two extra days to complete the order WITHOUT holding it against him by giving a negative review or feedback, I get a request for log in information AGAIN to access my site. I sent the Seller all the requested information again and requested that he contact me if he had any questions or concerns.



Well, a couple of hours ago and several hours after resending all the requested info, I get a “Cancellation” notice from Fiverr Customer Service with no explanation.



Needless to say, I am not a happy camper! I am disappointed in the Seller and Fiverr for handling this situation so shabbily. I think the Buyer should be contacted by Fiverr Customer Service before any cancellation is granted to mediate so that the Buyer is satisfied also … especially after they can see that the Buyer outlined everything they needed done in the gig BEFORE the Seller accepted.



In addition, finding HELP here with situations like this is not easy. There should be a prominently placed button to click on for “Order Disputes”. After some searching, I submitted a ticket disputing the action taken by the Seller and Fiverr and requested information regarding my recourse to leave the Seller negative feedback based on this experience and suggested ways Fiverr can intervene to avoid these situations in the future. I am still awaiting Fiverr’s response.



So, now I’m back to trying to find another Seller to complete my order while I still have this bad taste in my mouth. Urggghhhh!!! I think I may look for competent help elsewhere.

[rory88]

To my knowledge fiverr looks at the cancelations and sees if they are the fault of the seller before penalising them. Cancelations are more of a warning flag than a cause for penalty. Also I’d assume (Thought I haven’t been in the position myself) that customer support respects the subjectivity of these incidents and contacting them can resolve any issues of wrongful penalties.



I could be wrong about all this and if I am I’d appreciate someone letting me know because it would help me too but I think Fiverr like all of us wants everything to keep running smoothly.

[Guest jrmkr1]

Reply to @wolfstarpicture: It is true that system is not perfect. The cancellation will be limited if the system refund 50% or something like that but not 100% the buyer. Then they will be more friendly for the seller and actually sellers are interest to finish the work, but buyers are not understanding what happening and what should be for the task. They are not willing even to read the information in the reply messages too.

Here is a one of my experience got on yesterday:



One of buyer ask me to do a modification to his recently got project developed base on PHP. Then some of messages flies among us and at the first he said he is not going to buy all the required gigs(7 - This is on his satisfied suggestion) and he will buy half and the remaining is when he is see the progress. I happy with it because he don’t know whether i may complete the order as he desired. So I agreed. after that he again said he is only buy a one gig and remaining is on the progress. I again satisfy with him because I am flexible on any situation. Then the project starts and he send me the files.



I put those files and run on the server so i got a page full of warnings. The project is totally incomplete. So I got to fix those errors and tell the buyer. His server is hidden warnings so that he has not saw those warnings before send me then he thought I am plying on him. I then explain(i feel very hard to explain because he is not listen me, but finally he goes easy) and he agree that his server is hidden warnings. In this situation I not getting any payment for fixing errors. But i thought it is okay with me and i continue the project.



I have notice that mistakes of the project clearly, but he not willing to read it and don’t understand what i saying. So many number of messages flies among us and waste both of our time. And also he going to reject the order and i said “you can reject the order anyway, but u don’t understand what i said. I clearly notice the information in the message. Please read slowly, you will understand” because I exactly know he is not listen to me.



Finally he was happy with me and the project is continuing now.



Here what i want to tell is fiverr should develop the system to give some attention when buyer is going to cancel the project. As an example notice him and get confirmed that he is exactly understand the reason for the cancellation is clear and right.



Then it combine with the seller’s feedback and then analyse for the result. If the result is fair then confirm the cancellation and refund the buyer.

If it is not fair, then allow him to tick something like “Do anyway” and refund the buyer but not 100%.



P.S. Above is a one experience only. There was about 6 or 7 as I can remember. But I got them clear after explaining them.

[beatcraigslist]

ijohnson said: I think the Buyer should be contacted by Fiverr Customer Service before any cancellation is granted to mediate so that the Buyer is satisfied also

Dont feel bad, they don't contact sellers either when they make a decision. We just find out after its already done.

 

rory88 said: To my knowledge fiverr looks at the cancelations and sees if they are the fault of the seller before penalising them. Cancelations are more of a warning flag than a cause for penalty. Also I'd assume (Thought I haven't been in the position myself) that Customer Support respects the subjectivity of these incidents and contacting them can resolve any issues of wrongful penalties.

Wow, you are way of buddy. They do not do any of that. Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

 

[ryangillam]

beatcraigslist said: Wow, you are way of buddy. They do not do any of that. Sorry to burst your bubble.

They do check if it is the buyer's fault first if you are a top rated seller. All cancellations are manually reviewed before losing a level.

 

[janeedward]

This issue of Gig Cancellation in Connection with a Seller hard-earned level badge necessitate what I do call The Plan B Shock Absorber.

I as a seller do have mine.

Do you have yours?

Before you start to create a Gig, ask yourself: what if a buyer do not read my well written description and instruction(s) before he/she places and later want to cancel an order of this Gig earlier placed by he or she?

There will always be a solution to a problem no matter what. But planning ahead is necessary.

Nothing in life is perfect so always RIGHTLY get prepared.

[giworks]

I was just thinking about this in these days… It’s really disheartening! 😦 Fiverr should absolutely support both sides… Buyers and Sellers… I hope that admins are reading this thread… I think that we are the real “heart” of Fiverr… but who the hell takes care about us? Just think about it Fiverr: SURE Buyers make you “RICH” cause they give you the money but the real “heart” are the Sellers that makes you “UNIQUE” & “RICH” cause SELLERS provide the services to BUYERS! So come on Fiverr… I think you should really take care about us! <3

[solidslick]

SO we’ve been lulled into believing that mutual cancellation have no negative effect on us right?



Check out what happened today when a buyer requested a mutual cancellation and I didn’t give it much thought and accepted.



This is the NEW fiverr 2.0 interface.



This is UNACCEPTABLE fiverr!!!



Along with the “NEW” fiverr 2.0 comes the NEW way to screw us with mutual cancellations!!!



What do you think a potential buyer is going to think when they see that???



Way to go fiverr!



I will tweet your ad or message and link to my 29,000+ real Twitter followers in 24hrs for $5



.

[daicious]

way to keep buyers off your lawn, sheesh

[Guest gamersuscentral]

I still have yet to experience a cancellation. But from reading all of this, it just makes me want to overdeliver more!

[tarotkatya]

I just obtained level 2 seller, and in some ways I think it’s due to my checking out each order as it comes in, whether I’m ready to work on it right then or not. I also get people who don’t follow instructions, and I will send them a msg first regarding the clarification I need from them. Usually, I get a quick response. On the occasions I don’t, I resend the msg with a mutual cancellation request. So far I haven’t gotten dinged for this practice by fiverr. Out of the sixty something orders I’ve received, only 8 have been cancelled, and all at my request. It’s also a good way to weed out buyers who might be more hassle than $4 pay out to us is worth.

Buyers will do what they’re going to do, and fiverr is going to do what fiverr will do. I was making sales from the beginning, and I’ll continue to make sales whether I maintain my levels or not. Just hang in there. :x

Tarotkatya

[cheezees]

Reply to @gamersuscentral:



Unfortunately, overdelivering is meaningless if the buyer did not read your instructions and backs out because they misunderstood.

[Guest sandra4service]

Just make your instructions to buyers as simple as possible to avoid confusion when ordering.

[smith33122]

Sheriff’s Note: Do not post the same thing more than once please

[Guest paleruby]

Hi

Just dropped in slit my throat. I feel for sellers, but on the other hand the last 3 orders I I placed it was the seller that cancelled. Of course I mutually agreed to cancel (what else was I going to do?) The orders were not duplicates and were for different gigs. I’m not just a buyer but a seller. I sell on my websites everyday and depend on the articles written here to provide fresh content. And when I think I’m going to get some fresh content from here and then after 3-4 days the seller wants to cancel using some of the lamest excuses I ever heard and I have to hunt someone else to do it (More time lost). Well it’s pretty hard to be sympathetic to sellers. Especially after one seller cancelled a birthday song for my daughter 2 days after her birthday.

Paleruby

[guruofbacklinks]

Reply to @paleruby: I get your frustration and as a buyer I’ve had similar issues with sellers cancelling after the delivery deadline for the gig had already passed. To me that is the height of bad business.



However, that is not a normal occurrence, nor is it a practice followed by the majority of sellers on Fiverr. To say that it’s hard to be sympathetic to sellers in general isn’t very fair. The actions of those sellers you described do not reflect all sellers on this site. I am good to my buyers. I communicate regularly. I also don’t sweat it when buyers ask for a little more advice etc. than what the gig states that I offer. I consider it good business to be helpful and communicative to them. Most other sellers I’ve come across are the same. They take care of their buyers and it shows in the number of orders and positive feedback they’ve received.



The truth of the matter is, though, that there are far more features and policies in place to benefit and protect buyers than there are for sellers. If something goes wrong with an order, you can get a refund. Sure, maybe it’s just a credit back to your account but you still have the opportunity to go and purchase services from another seller. When we give work and then a cancel is requested, we lose both the time we spent and the work. We also get penalized in multiple ways (potential loss of seller levels and additional selling features, lower ratings, lower rankings in searches etc.). If a buyer randomly decides they want their money back, they can easily say “this isn’t what I was expecting” whether it’s the truth or not and request a refund. They can even threaten with negative feedback to get their way. Unfortunately for sellers, if we’ve already given work there is no way for us to get it back.



I think Fiverr needs to do something to make this a little more fair. They’ve taken steps already, which is good, but it’s small compared to the buyer fraud and other issues sellers face on a daily basis. To me the loss of levels should only happen when there is evidence that the majority of cancellations have come from poor customer service or failure to deliver on the part of the seller. That evidence should also prove that the failure to deliver was due to inaction / lack of communication etc. from the seller, not the buyer failing to read directions, ask questions or understand exactly what the deliverables are for a gig. Punish those who deserve punishment, not every seller. Cancellations on their own are in no way an indication of a seller’s competence, professionalism, customer service or the quality of their work. Cancellations come about from all kinds of reasons. That should be considered before the system is allowed to automatically demote someone.

[Guest lisha5684]

guruofbacklinks. I completely agree 100%!

[mod_doodler]

hello everyone! check this out! its my gig! it was awesome!



http://fiverr.com/fragglerock