Seller fraud

[maxxtwelve]

I understand that if a seller has good ratings and other people have used their service that they are less likely to get booted off here if they do not deliver as promised. I think that is a poor policy. I am not referring to not delivering what the buyer wanted based on personal taste. Here is an example. I ordered a gig from this seller and said I didn’t need exactly the what his gig said (script treatment) but needed something in writing (synopsis) for a documentary. I could have gotten something in writing from any other writer on Fiverr, but contacted this guy because of him having film writing experience. He said he had a charity so I assumed he knew what a fiscal sponsor was and sent him a link to the website where I was applying and also a copy of the draft of the proposal that I needed him for.



He writes me back saying “you must be a woman because you didn’t say exactly what you want.” and accused me of soliciting him for money? I cancelled my order because he didn’t seem to know what I wanted when I asked him if he could help me. He then denies cancellation and then delivers a pdf with the word “something” written on it stating I asked for “something in writing” and he feels he delivered it. And THEN says I’ll have to convince Fiverr to give me my money back. Something is writing is a figure of speech and clearly this guy is trying to rip me off.



I only saw one other bad review with a similar experience, so I based giving him my business on the positive reviews. I’ve been a top rated seller on here for 4 years and buyer as well… it’s one thing to have an opinion about professionalism as it varies from person to person, but to do what he did is serious misconduct.



Updated April 2, 2015



Since I posted this initially, for the next 2 days, instead of the guy mutually canceling it escalated to 12 emails from him, and a 4 page PDF with sexist rants and the words “something in writing.” Each time he would deny cancellation he would write a 5 paragraph long email with profanity and examples of violent scenarios towards women. Even after I requested that he discontinue to contact me since I’d filed a claim, he emailed me 3 more times.



If you think that’s funny or normal, it is actually cyberbullying. From an adult, not a kid in high school.



None the less, Fiverr agreed and cancelled the order for misdelivery and urged me to report his messages to their Trust and Safety department, which I did.

[fonthaunt]

Send that information to Customer Support and ask them for a refund. If what you describe is true, Fiverr can read the messages and see the silly empty delivery. The seller is an embarrassment to Fiverr. The only unfortunate thing is that when you get a refund, no negative feedback will be shown for the seller.

[catwriter]

Did I understand correctly that you placed an order on a script treatment gig and asked for proposal writing?



If I did understand you correctly, have you messaged the seller first and asked him if he writes proposals?



I’m not saying that what the seller did was ok, I’m just trying to understand what happened here.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @catwriter: I thought about mentioning that too since If someone orders something not mentioned in the gig I would normally support a seller on cancelling. I decided not to mention it since the seller chose instead to behave like a child. I’m glad you brought it up, though. The buyer may need to change strategies when trying again. It sounds like they ordered without asking first.

[alessiobux]

"and then delivers a pdf with the word “something” written on it stating I asked for “something in writing” and he feels he delivered it."



HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH



=D>

[sincere18]

Send it to customer service, but for the future, unless you are ordering exactly what the gig is for, do not place an order until you send a message to the seller to see if they can do what you want.



I this case, just because someone has some film experience that does treatments and has a charity, doesn’t mean they necessarily know how to write proposals. Proposals are very different types of writing.



Though I do not think this was nice behavior, and if the seller did not do this kind of work could have offered a mutual cancellation right from the start instead of writing you back a not nice comment.

[steveeyes]

If you buy a product in a store you don’t like, you don’t shut down the store, you return it for a refund. Same on Fiverr.

[Guest killme20]

@steveeyes well said

[abidagfx]

Reply to @alessiobux: hehehe.

[smartclem]

Reply to @sincere18: Another crucial challenge is fiverr automatically starting the countdown once a buyer purchases a gig. A couple of times I have returned from events only to discover that I have few hours left to complete a job.



It really baffles me why a buyer who wants an excellent job will fail to discuss the project before purchasing a gig.



Although this seller was absolutely wrong, probably because he had several jobs, I believe he is trying to play smart.



Another scenario - a buyer purchases a gig that I did not understand (delivery time is 24 hours). I sent a message for him to clarify, he does not respond after several hours. I move for a mutual cancellation because it stops the time. The buyer rejects immediately and responds. I still don’t get it and move to cancel again. He rejects the second time.

Guess what? I didn’t know when 24 hours past and I was late on the project. I eventually delivered but the experience was not pleasant.

[miroslavglavic]

Why would you request something that is not include in the gig?

[maxxtwelve]

Reply to @miroslavglavic: Just to clarify- a treatment is basically a longer synopsis of your script with details of how it will be filmed and play out. I needed a synopsis for a proposal, I didn’t need him to write a proposal.



Further- I said with my order that I should have asked first if he would do a write up if I didn’t need a treatment. At which point, he could have said… NO.



He sent me a total of 12 very long emails and a 4 page long PDF with sexist rants, swearing, … even after I requested him to stop and let Fiverr handle the claim, he continued to email me… he basically became a cyberbully. I’m not exaggerating. The level of his anger towards women was something I have not seen in a long time. Kinda creepy how someone can put that much effort and anger towards someone they have never met before over $5. Anyone can be tough from behind a computer screen.



Long story short. I got a refund and the rep at Fiverr forwarded his account to Trust and Safety and suggested I report all his messages to expedite the investigation. Since you are only able to do that through inbox messages and not order messages I filed a separate complaint with all the screenshots.

[maxxtwelve]

Reply to @sincere18: I didn’t ask him to write a proposal.

[maxxtwelve]

Just to clarify- a treatment is basically a longer synopsis of your script with details of how it will be filmed and play out. I needed a synopsis for a proposal, I didn’t need him to write a proposal. @catwriter



Further- I said with my order that I should have asked first if he would do a write up if I didn’t need a treatment. At which point, he could have said… NO.



He sent me a total of 12 very long emails and a 4 page long PDF with sexist rants, swearing, … even after I requested him to stop and let Fiverr handle the claim, he continued to email me… he basically became a cyberbully. I’m not exaggerating. The level of his anger towards women was something I have not seen in a long time. Kinda creepy how someone can put that much effort and anger towards someone they have never met before over $5. Anyone can be tough from behind a computer screen.



Long story short. I got a refund and the rep at Fiverr forwarded his account to Trust and Safety and suggested I report all his messages to expedite the investigation. Since you are only able to do that through inbox messages and not order messages I filed a separate complaint with all the screenshots.

[maxxtwelve]

Reply to @catwriter: I did not ask him to write a proposal. His gig was for script treatments/synopsis. A treatment is basically a longer detailed version of a script. What I needed was something that went along with the proposal.

1. His requirements stated “send your script”
   
2. I informed him I had no script, and gave him a file of what we had which was a watered down synopsis. I asked him to bring it together. I gave him a link to the film where he could gather more insight, since again, we had no script.
   
   
   
   At this point the seller had the option to do the following:
   
   Ask me for more information or clarify exactly what I needed if it wasn’t clear. OR say, sorry, my gig does not offer this and CANCEL the order.
   
   
   
   Instead, he writes back a sexist comment. At that point, I cancelled my order because he submitted nothing and it’s my write to refuse to give someone my business due to abusive behavior.
   
   
   
   Instead of canceling it escalated to 12 emails from him, and a 4 page PDF with sexist rants and the words "something in writing."
   
   
   
   None the less, Fiverr agreed and cancelled the order for misdelivery. Meaning, they agree that what he sent was misrepresented.
   

[maxxtwelve]

Reply to @sincere18: I didn’t need him to write a proposal. I said I gave him a copy of the draft of the proposal. The point I was trying to make there, was that if I gave him a copy of our proposal (by the way, it said clearly that it went to International Docu Association) that there should have been NO WAY for him to deduce I was soliciting HIM for money.



His behavior was creepy. I don’t even see people act that way in public forums on politics!

[maxxtwelve]

Reply to @smartclem: The next 2 days after I posted this in the forum, the guy wrote me 12 emails all containing profanity and examples of violent scenarios towards women.



I cancelled the order BEFORE he submitted anything. As I said, after I gave him the information, his very first response back to me was a sexist comment. He was not playing it smart, he was being a jerk.



He had excellent reviews with exception to one and going by what he claimed he could do based on his profile he would have been able to execute what I needed in 2 days. His gig time said 5 days and he even had a note saying he often gets his jobs done in 3. Sometimes, depending on the actual project it isn’t necessary to discuss details beforehand. I format books all the time without people discussing details and have stellar reviews. It’s all perspective. Some people have been burned here I suppose and get poor results. Taking all details into my own situation, I was paying $5. Had it been a complex order totaling $50, then yes perhaps details should be discussed.



Also, people order things from me all the time that I can’t deliver and I cancel the order and tell them it’s not something I do. I have had one bad review from someone who kept uploading the wrong file because they couldn’t find it on their computer. I had screenshots from where they admitted it, but they still gave me a thumbs down…



This site is very good for people who need to make extra cash and every experience won’t be pleasant, but there is a line that this guy crossed and that’s it. Sometimes it’s more than a matter of a canceled order or $5… it’s a matter of principal.