Sellers are still second class citizens on Fiverr

[elasttech]

I started working on Fiverr again thinking that it has left all the nightmares for a seller behind with a new start, but I just realized that sellers are still second class citizens on Fiverr.



A buyer marked an order as complete and gave me 2 stars. So requested cancellation and the buyer did not respond and eventually, after 2 days, the order was cancelled. But I noticed that rating is still there.



So I contacted support and they said, “when a buyer leaves feedback for an order, they are not just rating a delivery, they are rating their experience with you as a seller”. Okay I understand but what about mutual cancellations? Why the ratings for mutual cancellations get removed?



So what happens after a non-mutual cancellation, the seller gets only bad rating instead of money, and the buyer gets the work done (no matter how badly), gets the money back and the chance to keep his/her rating.



Do you guys see the discrimination here? If I request for a cancellation and the buyer does not respond, shouldn’t the cancellation be cancelled automatically rather than refunding the buyer? Why a seller will cancel an order and loose 4 bucks if he gets nothing in return?



I didn’t argue too much with the support guy because they are not the decision makers. They say what they are trained to say.



Whatever…

[fonthaunt]

It isn’t mutual if the buyer doesn’t respond. To be mutual, both parties have to actively agree. The CS rep may have misunderstood or just worded their response poorly. However, non-mutual cancellations like you had don’t ever remove reviews. If you could still reach the buyer you might still be able to get them to ask CS to remove it and if that happens, CS will do so.

[elasttech]

Reply to @fonthaunt: thanks for the reply. But my concern is that if I knew that I will even loose the money if the cancellation isn’t mutual, I would’ve never cancelled. Why would I? The damage is done, buyer has given me a negative rating and by cancelling, I lost the money too! It doesn’t make any sense.

[misscrystal]

Hello elasttech,
I read the feedback you mentioned. It is just the buyer’s side of the story so maybe you could respond to his feedback by saying why you went on vacation with the order unfinished and stopped communicating with him. It may help to give your side of it.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @elasttech: I understand, it bites and it can happen to anyone. The best thing to do, especially for new or returning sellers, is to really read through at least the primary help topics for Users. Fiverr has really improved those.

They are quite readable, broken up by topic, searchable, and not packed with ToS-style jargon. The exact definitions of the cancellation types and how they effect you are written there pretty plainly. Yes, it takes an extra day or two for some sellers to scan through them and take breaks, but that time can save you plenty of future angst. Example:

“After an order is marked as complete with Feedback and those funds are still clearing the mandatory 14 day payment window, a seller can propose a Mutual Cancellation through the Resolution Center. If the buyer agrees to cancel the order, the feedback will also be removed. If the order is cancelled without the buyer’s agreement, the feedback will remain on the order.”

Link to Help: http://support.fiverr.com/hc/en-us

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Fiverr Customer Support

http://support.fiverr.com

[elasttech]

Reply to @misscrystal: thanks, will try.

[sincere18]

Reply to @elasttech: Did you contact the buyer first to say something like I noticed you gave ma a 2 star rating, is there something I can fix for you? Customer satisfaction is my number one priority. Thank you.

What did the buyer say?

Did you request a mutual cancellation for this?

[sincere18]

Reply to @elasttech: yes, also, even if the review cannot be removed, many buyers read your reply to that review to see how professionally you handle it. So make sure you post a very polite and professional apology and explanation. Because that to many potential buyers says alot about you as a seller.