Discredited by rivals

[shineris]

I am a seller that offers translation services for $5 every 600 words. So far, I have perfect ratings, good traffic and loyal customers. I am also about the fastest growing seller in my niche. Unfortunately this doesn’t sit well with some of my rivals.



Which is understandable, since there’s a lot of fish in the same small pool.



I’ve only caught an attempt at discrediting once. Well, I say caught, but it was actually just an assumption. The buyer (a Malaysian) was very nice at first, but after I delivered he was very abusive, and in a very bad way. To avoid further complications, I offered full refund and made a mental note not to receive orders from this person again.



Of course, I have no proof that the buyer is attempting to discredit me, which is why I have not made any report.



My question is, if this happens again and instead of grudgingly accepting the money back, the buyer acts all nice and then in contrast give glaringly bad review for no reason, what should I do? Is there any defence against this? Will I have to contend with one sabotage for my entire career here?



Of course, I’m not as arrogant as to say that I have no faults. Eventually I would receive bad reviews, but I’d like it to be something that I actually did wrong instead of an act of sabotage. So if your answers are in this vein, please don’t bother replying.



Thanks in advance.

Shion

[bigbadbilly]

There’s not really much you can do about it except be nice. It has happened to a lot of sellers and will continue to happen. Competitors will generally order… and leave a bad review to hurt your reputation. Best thing to do is always be nice and report to Fiverr. They can see the messages and whatnot. But in the end… You can’t really do much. If you have a feeling about a buyer… don’t do the work. Try to politely cancel. Make an excuse if they don’t want to… and then, if needed get support to cancel. Sure. You’ll probably loose a few “Real” gig sales because you felt uneasy. But loosing a few is the only way to protect yourself from these kinds of people. And even then… you can’t control everything. My personal recommendation? Be nice and if something like this begins to happen… before you respond order a gig from them. And if they start threatening… you can threaten to do the same. (Ooops… did I type that out loud)

[youguru]

You could also ask some previous customers if you can use them as a reference, and mention that on your gig page. That would go a very long way towards strengthening your credibility. I am astounded at how many sellers don’t do this, especially those offering SEO services of one kind or another. I know that’s not your area, you’re doing translation, but the point is the same.

[shineris]

Thanks to both Bigbadbilly and Youguru for your replies.



I would like to do that, but the possibility of losing real gigs may be a little more than I can stomach. Sure, I shall be cautious, but it’s hard to tell what the other person is like, especially over the internet, in which facial expressions are non-existent. You’re right, I should make a report, but I’m of the opinion that I don’t want to make reports until I’m 80% sure.



To tell the truth, asking my previous customers if they can provide reference will be kind of stomping on my policy of “swearing confidentiality of contents”. Sure, releasing names doesn’t violate the policy, but it’s kind of similar to slapping the policy. Some of my customers are people in… delicate… situations who looks for an anonymous translation from a random translator who won’t squeal. Then again, people can already contact my former customers by clicking at the comment, so maybe that’s good enough as credential?



Of course, none of my translations are against the law despite the dubious nature of some of my clients.

[catwriter]

The comments under your translation gig should be a reference enough.



One or two negative reviews shouldn’t create too much of a problem if you politely explain your side of the story in your answer.