Staying Sane on Fiverr: Call the Cops!
Confession time: I've been doing it wrong...for years...only because I didn't realize the options that were open to me. This week in the Fit Gig Blog, I'll explain what I've been doing wrong, and how a seldom-followed procedure can help keep us both a little saner, and our gigs a little healthier.
The Dilemma
OK, let's set the scene: You receive a new Fiverr order,. It's due in 24 hours, so you wisely open and read through the order very soon after receiving it, to make sure you have everything you need. Alas, you don't. Your buyer has left out a crucial piece of information, and without it, there's no way you can fulfill the order. Making matters worse, they've seemingly evaporated, and multiple messages seeking the info have failed. Time goes by. 18 of the 24 hours are gone, and you can see a bad moon rising. Given the time zone difference between you and your buyer, the odds have become very poor they'll respond in time to conclude the order.
You think back to the last time this thing happened, and how you waited in despair while the clock ticked down, down, down. Ultimately, you visited the order, and lo, there was the dreaded "Oh dear" scold message from Fiverr about the repercussions of being late. For years, I've dodged this fate by delivering what I could before the clock ran out...which in some cases was nothing more than a message saying the gig was running down and I had to do this to "stop the clock." I then asked them to request revision, respond to my need for information, and then we could get it wrapped up. This, by the way, is a no-no, but I really didn't know what else to do.
Well, today it bit me in the butt. The customer, who had been completely uncommunicative to me, managed to find their tongue when it came to communicating with Customer Service, which in turn sent me their dire warning not to let this sort of thing happen again,
The Dialogue
Feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place, and knowing I couldn't be the only one who experienced this sort of thing, I decided to bring my case to Customer Service and ask for some definitive answers and advice on the subject. I'm going to give you the ENTIRE dialogue between us, because it has a bit of a ground-breaking feel to it, at least to me.
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ME:
SUBJECT: I NEED HELP IN KNOWING WHAT TO DO...
"I received a warning this morning about delivering a partial order, and am puzzled what I should have done instead. It was a case where it was impossible to deliver more because the customer hadn't gotten back to me with information that was necessary to complete the order. I'll follow your lead on this. In a case like this, should I just let the order go into late status and take a hit to my statistics?
"The problem is that if I let the order become late, I'm warned by Fiverr for being late...but if I deliver whatever I can, I'm warned by Fiverr for giving the buyer the most I'm capable of delivering. So please just let me know how I should handle situations like that, and I'll do whatever you guys would prefer me to do."
THEM:
"My name is Juan and I understand where you’re coming from. Allow me to clarify this to you.
"After reviewing your account I saw that you had received a warning for misuse of the delivery button. Any misconduct reported to or noticed by our Team may result in a warning.
"As you may know, order deliveries need to contain all of the materials that the buyer requested, otherwise the delivery cannot be considered complete. It is really important to deliver orders properly, in accordance with the requirements. That way the buyer can check the work, officially accept it and you would be paid for a completed order.
"Of course, if you need more time to deliver an order or need additional information from a buyer, you can request an extended delivery via the Resolution Center.
"Just a reminder, a warning will not limit account activity, the purpose of warnings is to raise awareness of the do's and don'ts on our platform.
"Hope I was able to clarify this for you. I am here if you need anything else."
ME:
Hi Juan, thank you for your reply.
If I understand correctly, I should never use delivery to prolong an order, even if the customer is not replying and I have no way to deliver the entire order.
So confirming what you have told me, my only recourse is to request that the buyer extend the order. However, while waiting for the buyer to respond, the order can still run late. In that case, what should I do to avoid a warning and penalty from Fiverr for being late? I don’t want the Buyer’s negligence to affect my reputation and standing on Fiverr. Do I need to report the situation to Customer Service when things run late due to non-responsiveness from the Buyer?
I’d appreciate your insight on that part of it.
THEM: (and this is the part that's golden.,.,)
If the buyer accepts the time delivery extension request, the order won't be marked as late. If they are unresponsive, we would recommend contacting us right away so we can either cancel the order on our end without affecting your rates or contacting the buyer on your behalf.
We encourage you to always perform at your best level and if there is anything else we can do for you, feel free to contact us again.
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The Conclusion
Maybe I'm the only person on Fiverr who didn't understand this, but I never thought Customer Service provided this level of intervention. Here's a summary of the steps recommended by Raul above:
In the upper right of the order, click Resolution Center and request a time extension.
If they don't accept it or answer don't let any more time go by. Contact Customer Service and explain that you are not hearing back from the buyer and are worried about the gig running late and affecting your standing on Fiverr. Here's the link to the Customer Service contact page, and I suggest you bookmark it, because it's not that easy to find on the website: https://www.fiverr.com/support_tickets/new?fbclid=IwAR2EoVv6HC5cYQymtAC8Izx5P22VsPNSmEhuQKGSsGUKm05_nvXry0pYjHo
There's so much you and I can do together to improve your gig's performance. Schedule your Gig Doctor appointment by hitting the Gig Checkup link at the top of this page for an inexpensive personalized checkup and consultation!