Are bad buyers like buses?

[emmaki]

I can’t help but notice that much like the saying that buses come in threes, bad buyers come in neat little packages to ruin your week with their malicious and/or idiotic abusive behavior.

I’m certainly getting a couple this week (one buyer is moaning that my revision isn’t the 10 words he paid for, despite the redelivery being 11 words of fresh content, broken up into 3 different taglines in an ultimately unsuccessful act to trying to please the unpleasable–I have written back pointing out that I overdelivered, and that this chap’s actually got $10 worth of content) and I’m just waiting for #3 to jump up and say “boo”.

Don’t be like a bus, buyers. And if you’re reading this [the guy in the above para], you’re a goddamn idiot. Anyway, do other sellers have this experience? And is it always the cheap ones? You bet it is!

[writer99025]

I offer so much (700 words) for so little ($5) that it’s very rare for buyers to have problems. Always overdeliver. Only issue for them is that I take time - 14 to 15 days - but they are happy because of the content.

[emmaki]

That’s certainly a good strategy–$5 for 700 words is a bargain for quality writing (put your prices up!). I do overdeliver, especially when a seller isn’t too happy and it’s just over a few words. The problem isn’t really me, it’s them. I’m just a bit curious because it’s always the $5 gigs (and not necessarily the 10 word one, although it certainly attracts trouble from time to time!)

I only shifted to 10 from 50 because other buyers were ordering multiples of basic gigs rather than gig extras. It was pretty crazy. A lot of these people to me seem to be pushing the envelope to see what they can get away with. This culture of “let’s overdeliver or refund” isn’t healthy for seller or buyer, imo. I’ll play the game up to a certain extent, but… it’s not right. At least the 3 buses thing has a reasonable excuse…

[misscrystal]

I thought you were going to tell the old joke: why are bad buyers like buses? I never heard they come in threes, but the answer is there will always be another one coming along.

[cyaxrex]

Bad buyers to me are more like thunderstorms. Life is great. Gigs are going out, people are happy, I’m happy. Then, BANG. I’m suddenly confronted with this nasty, swirling ball of negativity spitting nonsense at me. And yes, after a big storm I do usually experience intermittent showers of other unhappy bar stewards for a wee while.

[emmaki]

Ah, but with a storm comes that fresh smell. That clear, cold and crisp air. The banishing of humidity.

A bad buyer leaves a lingering scent of cheetos dust, entitlement and way too much eau de toilette that doesn’t quite cover up the miasma of body odor. They probably also wear fedoras unironically, because… that’s my prejudice.

[cyaxrex]

Ah you are actually so right about the clearing of the air of a real storm, I actually had a problematic order clear today which left me with the same refreshing feeling.

Personally, I’m all for fedoras, though. They’re the hat for balding men in their early thirties. Milk tray man, secret agent, the fedora covers everything. It’s just a pity that the image has been so diabolically usurped by so many ruthless Fiverr buyers with poor body odour control.

[eoinfinnegan]

I think sellers who cancel to avoid negative reviews must take at least some of the blame for the crap buyer issue. When a buyer gets offered a cancellation after delivery the reality is they have got something for nothing. They can then decide to continue with that method and the result is that buyers become nasty and demanding on even the most basic orders. I think this is why most of the issues come with low priced orders.
If we stop the culture of cancellations and the necessity for 100% 5 star reviews then we will actually stop or at least reduce the number of these buyers who annoy us all.

[lleikeratx]

Unfortunately, one of my first buyers was bad. I tried scheduling an appointment with him to deliver and he kept canceling or doing a no-show until the time for delivery passed. Then, he gave me a bad rating that impacts my customer approval rating and there’s no way to refuse it. I should have canceled to altogether, but i was too new to realize i could do that.

[sue_mcl]

I absolutely agree!

[capitalquality]

I seem to have had more than my fair share of these recently, and yes, it’s always the cheap ones. But I also agree with @eoinfinnegan’s point that we sellers (as a whole) are encouraging some of this bad behaviour. Unfortunately there are a lot of sellers who don’t care as long as they’re getting the business.

[jamesbulls]

I’ve developed a highly-refined spider-sense when it comes to bad customers. I refund new orders the moment I detect a hint of trouble. No psychic abilities required, just common sense: if a buyer is asking for work that I’ve stated in my business policies I won’t do (which I directed the buyer to read at the time they placed the order), then this is a clear indicator that the buyer can’t (or won’t) follow simple instructions and is almost certainly going to burn my butt.

Yeah… I dunno about bad buyers being like buses, but they’re a lot like jalapeno peppers: what you eat today will burn your butt tomorrow. Don’t eat bad buyers. They’ll burn your butt.

[misscrystal]

If someone has sent me negative messages for months asking dozens of petty questions, intermingled with complaints about getting scammed by other sellers, sounding angry and slightly unhinged, and then suddenly places a $5 order, I cancel that.