Buyer Acting Suspicious - Advice?

[mhwoolz]

Hi everyone! I’m having a bit of a confusing interaction with a buyer, and I was wondering if any of you have had similar experiences that might shed some light on mine.



I completed a revision gig for this buyer, and soon after I completed it he responded that it was “horrible” and demanded a refund. I had completed the gig as described, so I responded that I didn’t feel a refund was right but would be happy to make changes if he could tell me what he was unhappy with. We went back and forth a bit like this, and the buyer seemed unable to tell me what exactly he didn’t like. To me, this has the characteristics of someone attempting to get my work for free, but I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt and complete work he’ll be happy with.



He finally asked if I could make more corrections but still didn’t specify what he wanted changed. I went through the document again, made a few minor changes (I had already corrected everything, so there wasn’t really anything left to change), and sent it back to him.



Today, I got a message from the buyer claiming that he had sent my revision to a friend, and “the friend” had found my real name. He wanted an explanation of how “the friend” could have known my name. I realize in retrospect that Microsoft Word must have labeled my comments with my name, which I’ve now changed. I responded that I hadn’t communicated with anyone else about his order and that his friend may have found my name attributed to my comments. The buyer then asked where my name would be located.



This all seems kind of suspicious to me, so I replied that I would rather not continue discussing my real name. I prefer to work under a username to avoid breaking any of Fiverr’s rules against outside communication.



Does anyone have any idea what this buyer could be up to? To my knowledge he hasn’t actually broken any of Fiverr’s policies, but it all seems very weird.



Thanks in advance for any insight!

[emasonwrites]

In my honest opinion, it kind of sounds like he’s just looking for any way to try to get his work for free, including perhaps accusing you of outsourcing the work–e.g. that would be the reason that “friend” would have your name, because you outsourced to him…though that’s pretty convoluted.



I can’t think of any reason he would be so focused on having your real name unless he was going to try to contact you outside of Fiverr, but since he claims to have had such a negative experience, I’m not sure why he would do that.



While this isn’t strictly always true, most of the time, I find when someone says something is “awful” or “horrible,” but can’t pinpoint something specifically wrong with my work, it’s because they’re trying to get something for free. People who have real concerns, even if they don’t necessarily have the “right” words to express them, don’t just say, “This is bad,” and then can’t say what it’s “bad” when asked for specifics.

[mhwoolz]

Reply to @emasonwrites: Thanks very much for your response. I hadn’t thought of the possibility that he might accuse me of outsourcing. It would be a stretch! I entirely agree with you about the overly general complaints as well. I’ll keep a wary eye out!

[emasonwrites]

Reply to @mhwoolz: I only even suggested it because I once had a buyer do that exact thing to me. He came back, said that the article was terrible, and asked if I’d outsourced it to someone else, a “foreigner” in his words. He couldn’t tell me what he didn’t like about the writing, what about it sounded “foreign,” etc., etc., just kept trying to figure out who I’d outsourced to…super weird.

[mhwoolz]

Reply to @emasonwrites: That is very weird! It sounds quite similar to the way my buyer is acting, actually. He’s commented that my revision isn’t “proper English” but won’t point out any mistakes.



I would hope that as a professional writer I have some sense of what proper English is!

[sincere18]

I would give the refund in this case. Just to move on and not have any thorns pop up anywhere. And what kid of “friend” was this, and why were they passing it along to their friend? I wonder if THEY may be outsourcing and were upset that their client could see it was done by someone else.



What is it that you are selling by the way, an article?

[itsyourthing]

Another convoluted scenario… maybe the buyer is trying to insinuate that he ‘knows who you really are’ - perhaps as a veiled threat?



In any case, I agree that you should just refund. Even if it was a large order, it seems like you may be adding a load of ‘free time’ into trying to figure it out. Best of luck, though.

[mhwoolz]

Reply to @sincere18: I could give in and give a refund, but I consider it something of a matter of principle (and good business practice) not to give in to people trying to take advantage of my. Of course, I could be being too much of an idealist.



I do wonder why they were showing it to someone else, or if perhaps they were just making something up? Them outsourcing it could be a possibility.



I have a proofreading and editing gig, and this was to edit a letter.

[sincere18]

Reply to @mhwoolz: I completely understand the whole “principle” thing, however when you are running a business you have to overlook a few small things along the way. How much is this for? Every business always has a little loss now and then, it’s not that big of a deal. I get you do not want to feel taken advantage of, however this if Fiverr, where things like that WILL pop up from time to time, it’s the nature of the beast. THis person has your real name so that is something to consider and why I suggested in this particular case just give the refund so there are no thorns that pop up at a later time. And for the future, if there is anything that seems odd from the getgo of an order, just politely do a cancellation.

[mhwoolz]

Reply to @sincere18: It’s a small order, so I might consider a refund to avoid a lasting problem. It just seems so counter-intuitive! This time around there weren’t any huge red flags until I had completed the order, but I might need to be more willing to politely turn down or cancel orders in the future. Thanks for the advice.

[philtabest]

That does sound very weird, I hope I never have a run in like that on this website. A place he may have found you name is if you right click on the file, click the summary tab and it will tell you who created the file.



I kinda wish I could see the messages! Don’t post them though, it’s against the TOS. 😦

[mhwoolz]

Reply to @philtabest: Thanks for the heads up!



And I hope no one else has to deal with it. 99% of the people on Fiverr are great, but every now and then something weird will happen.

[blackwingvin]

Unfortunately, there are lot of buyers out there who are just looking for freebies. The best thing to do is document every conversation in fiverr and report to the support team.



As for the word file, its always best to use initials.



-ViN

[Alex.M]

It happens all the time,this is how people are 🙂 You can’t do much about it

[slantlab]

I would involve customer service in this and let them take a look at the order. I’m with you on the “no refunds” for a job well done, but this buyer is already pushing the limits. It’s time to drop the hammer on him.

[david388]

Ugh. @mhwoolz, this is the worst. I totally know what you’re going through. And yes, it sucks to just give the refund, but I’d go ahead and do it - unless you feel that Customer Support would be responsive enough to remove any feedback this scumbag leaves (since you’re a fancy TRS and all!)



I actually created a Forum Discussion last week about trying to predict these types of Buyers by looking for red flags in advance and then avoiding doing business with them! Take a peek - if you could contribute anything to the discussion it could at least help put this experience to good use…



http://forum.fiverr.com/discussion/60907/how-to-spot-and-avoid-bad-buyers#Item_47

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[webtelly]

@mhwoolz I looked at your profile. You are a top-rated seller. Congratulations. My first impression, or I should say, my gut feeling, is that you are being targeted. Someone is jealous that you are top rated with just a little over 260 reviews. Or, someone thinks they know who you are and are trying to make contact on the outside. That’s just my unique perspective. Lastly, when I used to work in customer service and tech support with bonuses based on performance, we used to get that one call, usually right on the last day of our 30-day evaluation period that would be a customer from hell. You would swear they were a paid actor. There was no way to keep them on the line, and you would get busted for the hang up. No bonus that period. So, although it seems far-fetched, and I can’t see the incentive here; perhaps this is some sort of internal control or test?

[drribroshan]

Yes. there are a lot of fake buyers there. Most of the time, we can’t recognize who is good and who’s fake. If the seller can view the buyer’s reviews, then the seller can work confidently. Unfortunately, Fiverr doesn’t offer that service.

[starfairy]

@mhwoolz : Hi I’m new to Fiverr. Though I don’t know answers for your problem I can tell you how the buyer knows your name. I just clicked on your name landing to your profile page and ahh you have jotted it down yourself! I know your name too! 😉

[mhwoolz]

Reply to @david388: Thanks for your response! I actually read your post the other day. I thought it was really helpful. I’ll see if there’s any thing I can add that you haven’t already covered. It can definitely be tricky to avoid bad buyers, but knowing what to look for is helpful.

[mhwoolz]

Reply to @webtelly: Thanks for your insight and the congratulations. Being a top-rated seller does seem to attract some more attention. Usually it’s great because it means more orders! The downside is that it can also bring in a few of the more scammy buyers.



That customer service experience sounds so frustrating! I guess the same rule of being consistently polite and helpful no matter what applies to both kinds of situations, even though it can be hard sometimes. 🙂

[mhwoolz]

Reply to @drribroshan: I wish that Fiverr would show reviews of buyers. Otherwise I’m not sure why we write them in the first place. It seemed like they were showing them for about a week. I’m hopeful that they were testing it out and will bring them back some day.

[mhwoolz]

Reply to @starfairy: Hello! Thanks for pointing that out! I don’t mind using my first name on Fiverr, so I included that in my profile. This buyer found out my last name too (which I don’t believe is on my profile, but correct me if I’m wrong!). I wouldn’t usually be very worried about someone knowing my real name, but I thought the way this buyer brought it up was very strange.



Good luck on Fiverr!

[garyogden]

Sounds like a weirdo to me!

[webtelly]

@mhwoolz I found out how this person knows your last name. I googled your Fiverr user name, and you have a very prominent write-up for an interview posted about you on someone’s blog. They also posted it to FB. So, you are definitely out there.