Need Feedback: How Can We Help You with Late Deliveries?

[readwritesell]

What about buyers who tell you- “I don’t need this within a certain time frame” or say, “I’m going out of town for a while, I don’t need this until ___ date”. I’ve delivered late orders in circumstances like that, and was not negatively affected at all. Aside from the psychological effects of “RIDICULOUSLY LATE” blaring across the screen when it gets delivered, of course. I think it would be great if we had an option to set a mutual time frame with the buyer, instead of always using the pre-set times in the Gig. Especially as some people place an order without giving you the chance to offer a custom one.

[sincere18]

Reply to @futurepocket: I see where you are coming from, but then as a buyer from the start of ordering a gig there would never be any confidence of buying a gig, or even paying for one day delivery if we know as a buyer a seller could ask for a mutual cancellation. Sure it’s mutual, but it changes things a lot.



Someone else made the suggestion somewhere above that there be a limit for mutual cancellations, like 5% or gigs or something, which I think if they go this route and allow the mutual extensions would be a great idea. Then at least as a buyer we know that sellers are only going to use that extension when absolutely necessary that something really comes up in life they have to tend to. Not just always have an out if they get busy or have other things to do.

[sincere18]

Reply to @enlightenedpen: I agree. Sellers can extend their delivery dates and if they get one bad review for a late delivery once in a blue moon then it won’t effect their overall rating in the big picture. But if someone has this happen often then they need to adjust their delivery time and/or pause their gig if they have too much to do.



On the aspect of a seller not being able to start the gig because a buyer doesn’t send materials, that can be fixed by the clock not starting until the buyer sends stuff, so that would solve most of that issue.

[sincere18]

Reply to @readwritesell: in a case like that it sounds like you have good communication with the buyer in general and not everyone has that option. I guess it might depend on what you are selling and the buyer, lots of factors.

[sasho_pipi]

Reply to @sabiansoldier: My thoughts exactly! I believe this would be a win-win situation for both parties. It can occur that buyers won’t notice the request but this is a risk worth taking.

[mintyone]

Reply to @readwritesell: Still deliver within your window. First in first out.

[chipperwood]

When a client underpays, I notify them that their word count requires a greater amount, and instruct them to use a gig extra to make up the balance.

[rachelbostwick]

Reply to @sincere18: Paying for a basic gig instead of adding the extras that they are asking for, I would bet. Paying $5 and asking for something that is only covered in a $20 order. I’ve even have people say they’ll pay me the rest later. No.

[phoenix7813]

Reply to @mintyone: You encounter that risk with any order that you make. In your scenario you share the blame with the seller. Did you make 100% clear that you needed your product by a certain date? Did the seller explain to you that they were having difficulty and might be late.



The bottom line is always communication. And the point of this is to devise something so that if buyer and seller MUTUALLY agree to the extension then there is no negative consequences.

[phoenix7813]

I think the only thing Fiverr needs to do is remove any negative consequences from late deliveries.



If the buyer is not happy with the late delivery (most are actually quite understanding as long as you communicate) then they can note that in the feedback.



As a seller, I pride myself on communication. When I get an order I reply ASAP with any questions I have and let the buyer know when I will be working on their product. The MOMENT I have even the slightest thought that I might be late, I send a message explaining why.



I will go on to ask if they have any particular deadlines they are working with and give them the option of either bearing with my lateness or mutually cancelling the order so they can find someone else.



Keep everything as it is. Buyer can auto cancel after 24 hours of being late. I’ve read some horror stories here about people delivering their late orders just as the buyer cancels. Did you ever consider sending them a message explaining things? Might have saved yourself a sale.



We need communication not automation.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @sincere18: Sellers can state a modification policy but that doesn’t stop some buyers from hitting the modification button which can cause the gig to show as late. The seller can explain to the buyer that a mod is extra which sometimes results in an angry buyer who uses that as an excuse to late-cancel and leave an automatic 1 star review. Others accept the delivery but write a negative review. Sellers are at a disadvantage on modifications when a buyer is unethical or just in a bad mood.

[phoenix7813]

I see a few people with this attitude of ‘the buyer sets delivery times so there is no excuse for late delivery’.



Recognize that not all gigs are the same. Some people sell services that take next to no time or input from the buyer. But a lot of gigs aren’t quite that simple.



Let’s take logo design for instance. In an ideal situation I would think 3 days is plenty of time to craft a logo. But what about when, on day 2, you present the buyer with a few options and ask ‘Which do you like best?’ and they don’t respond until the third day (if you are lucky). Now you are basically starting off late.



I’ve had voice over orders where it took days for the buyer to deliver the script. Why should I be punished for this?

[phoenix7813]

Reply to @snapbliss: Disagree totally. It’s not that cut and dry. A transaction is a dance between the buyer and the seller. Buyers can, and often do, cause their own problems by not being prepared. I pointed out an example where someone ordered a voiceover gig from me before they had even prepared a script. My fault?

[phoenix7813]

Reply to @andreapayme: applause Exactly right Andrea. I pride myself on communication and reply to messages asap. I know how even one or two bad sales can ruin a reputation on here. But there is no accountability for the buyers.



On your previous post about seller requirements there does not seem to be any sort of way to force buyers to pay attention to this. My horror story there is getting an order for a voice over and the buyer had not even written out a script yet. I had to wait days for them to send it to me. The most basic obvious requirement but I have to jump through hoops and brown nose so they don’t give me a negative review because of their own stupidity.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @enlightenedpen: I would agree with you if there was no modification button that could be misused. I have never made a late delivery and am usually early. I’ve had buyers wait until past the established delivery time and then request a mod and the order is instantly marked late. It doesn’t happen to me often, but it happens.

[phoenix7813]

Reply to @sue_mcl: I think you might be on to something there. How about a button on the seller end, something to the effect of ‘Has the buyer delivered everything you need?’ and your delivery clock does not start until you press that.

[phoenix7813]

Reply to @mintyone: They can start the clock by replying to your instructions with a message that says “I’ll get this to you soon.”

[sabiansoldier]

Reply to @mintyone: The idea is if the buyer needs the product within the original time limit (like in the situation you described,) they have the option to decline the time extension, Obviously the buyer would only agree if it was not an issue to get the product a bit later than expected. Your argument is invalid.

[angelina2014]

YEs this option should be introduced only in special cases and in special caegories like writing and programming projects because routniely this will affect buyers experience.

[sfwriter]

I’m on the “vacation” right now because Fiverr added a new feature where one can order a large number of gigs all at one time. People ordering Blogs in batches of five, ten or twenty that weren’t due for weeks and weeks. And so here I am staring at notices (obnoxious, rude notices) from Fiverr saying “This order is late. Deliver now or the client can cancel.” Followed by "This order is RIDICULOUSLY LATE. The client may now cancel this order."



I have plenty of really good customers that are extremely satisfied with my work (look at my reviews). I was obliged to push all my delivery dates up to six days just so I could cope. But it didn’t really matter, because I got flooded with work. The solution, because my clients are remarkably intelligent, is to allow them to set delivery dates as long as they are equal to or greater than my delivery time.



If someone orders five Gigs, a little calendar should pop up, and they can click five days on the calendar that are greater than the base delivery date. One of my clients would be more than happy to click every Monday for the next two months. And I can’t imagine how thrilled some of my customers would be to order their weekly, monthly, and quarterly items all at once and just get the things out of the way.



Furthermore, each individual multiple in the batch should be treated as an individual order with a separate delivery date and paid when delivered. I don’t want to deliver eight Blogs over the course of two months before I get paid.



To be honest it’s already irritating enough with a 20% share that Fiverr takes, adding three days to clear and holding for an additional week or so so they can collect interest on all that money, even though it’s already paid, cleared and ready to go. In truth it should be forwarded the same day that is delivered and approved by the client. But that’s a topic for another day…

[strongestate]

@sfwriter - I am obsessed with your great idea: If someone orders five Gigs, a little calendar should pop up, and they can click five days on the calendar that are greater than the base delivery date. One of my clients would be more than happy to click every Monday for the next two months. And I can’t imagine how thrilled some of my customers would be to order their weekly, monthly, and quarterly items all at once and just get the things out of the way. - See more at: http://forum.fiverr.com/discussion/58888/need-feedback-how-can-we-help-you-with-late-deliveries/p4#sthash.byjqYBmx.dpuf



Fiverr writers struggle to manage buyers who want to be regular customers. If work could be pre-ordered and slowly hit queues, that would be so fantastic for workloads. Being able to customize gigs went a long way to help this, but sellers/Fiverr lose sales when future orders are left to buyers.



I’m sure this is asking a lot on the back end but it was a great idea!

---

[saraswatimaha]

Why not give sellers the option to accept or decline work? Sellers could avoid getting overbooked and missing deadlines, thus managing their work better, and buyers would know right away whether the work can be fulfilled right away. This would avoid many disappointments and misunderstandings around cancelled orders as well as ensuring that the clock begins ticking when both parties are ready and in agreement on the terms.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @saraswatimaha: I would like to see an option to decline a job that is separate from the timing issue. I would love to have the option to decline a job simply because it is not right for me or because the buyer has given me problems before. I’d like to have the ability to extend deadlines also, especially in cases where there are multiple orders or modifications.



By the way, that is quite a powerful sounding username you have chosen. Very interesting!

[sue_mcl]

What about a quick break feature, sort of like vacation, but for when sellers get just a little overbooked and want to still take orders but just need say 6 or 12 hours to catch up when they have had a flood of orders (or express orders)



Many sellers are VERY reluctant to use the vacation mode feature, as there seems to be a lot of cases where using that has resulted in sellers losing out in their rankings/views and having big drops in orders after turning vacation mode off (personally I haven’t experienced that, but I was very very worried about that happening).



If there was a way to still have gigs showing as active and coming up still, but with a little message saying this seller is currently busy, but you can book them again in x number of hours (a countdown timer from when the seller activates it), then it will let buyers know they may just have to wait half a day or few hours extra say, rather that have to find a whole new seller.

[sincere18]

Reply to @strongestate and @sfwriter: but don’t you think that if you allowed that level of detailed scheduling, it would impact all other buyers? Right now Fiverr is a level playing field meaning anyonc can order from anyone. If some sellers start getting “booked” up well in advance, they simply won’t take any more orders as they are too busy.