Dealing With Scam Sellers on Fiverr

Fiverr has been full of scam sellers lately. The problem is that a lot of buyers are expecting the worst from every seller—and when they don’t get exactly what they want (even for understandable reasons) they’re claiming that they’re being scammed.

I’m going to write another post next week about spotting scam sellers, but right now I’m going to cover what you should do when you find out your seller on Fiverr is a scammer.

Remain Polite and Try to Work It Out

Don’t instantly jump to it being a scam. There are a number of reasons for a seller to not deliver exactly as expected.

First of all, check the gig description again. Is there something that you missed? Maybe the seller specifically states that he wouldn’t do the exact thing you’re asking for, and gave you an option through the gig page to avoid a cancellation. Life could have actually gotten in the way (it does happen!). Oh and check Fiverr’s Twitter feed to see if there has been a problem with the website!

Stay polite the whole time—it shows that you want to work it out and are willing to give the seller the benefit of the doubt.

Why Haven’t You Gotten What You Asked For?

Ask the seller why he hasn’t given you what you paid for. This is something to do if you can’t spot the reason or the seller didn’t get in touch with you about it.

Again remain polite but you need to get firm. If you believe that you haven’t received as you expected, you need to make that really clear.

Avoid leaving negative feedback at this time. It’s important to discuss your beliefs with the seller and give him the chance to message you back.

Reject the Delivery

There is a “request modification” button. If you really believe you didn’t get as you expected, click on this and request the seller modifies the delivery. This is going to send a message to the seller to say that you don’t agree with the thing he’s sent through.

Make your reason for the delivery very clear. If you didn’t get something you expected, then state your belief, what you expected and question the seller.

If the seller keeps delivering the same thing, keep rejecting it until you make a decision over what you want to do.

Note: You have three days to request that modification. After that, the order will automatically complete.

Ask for a Refund

You have the right to ask for a refund if you haven’t received your delivery. Now, it will need to be a mutual cancellation that you send through, and you have to wait for the seller to accept it.

Most scam sellers will try to reject the cancellation and force you to accept the delivery. You have two choices here: you can leave negative feedback or contact support to cancel your order. Of course, you could do both—that is your prerogative. For real scam sellers, I would suggest that you do this.

Don’t Leave Feedback Right Away

You don’t need to leave feedback as soon as you receive the delivery. There are times that I’d suggest you hold back and wait for a few days, especially if you’re buying SEO gigs. The internet marketing gigs are where most of the scam sellers are.

Once you leave feedback, you have 7 days to change or remove it. Once those 7 days are up, that’s it; it is there forever whether it’s honest or not. Only support can remove it afterwards. Let it auto-complete if you’re not sure and then wait a few days to see how your delivery works out. You can then leave negative feedback and talk to support about getting a refund if you need to.

Report the Seller

Finally, make sure you report that scam seller to Fiverr support. This is really important because it’s the only way the website is aware that there are problem sellers. Asking for a cancellation is not enough.

Now, please do make sure that this is a scam seller. You don’t want to attack an innocent seller just because you didn’t get what you expected or wanted if there was a good reason for it.

You won’t find out what action is taken to the seller. You can keep checking though to see if the seller has had his gig removed or even the whole account.

Have you come across a scam seller on Fiverr? Why not share how you dealt with the situation or what you’d do in the future?