I generally don’t like to confront my clients/buyers because I have always believed that Customer is God. But sometimes things become so stretched from reality that I need to set the record straight. Now I am not going to put my side of things as I want all the visitors to make their own opinion by going through the following conversations which recently happened on fiverr for 1 of our orders. Only thing I want to mention is that our team was on holiday due to a big local festival because of which lots of the orders got delayed.
The gig in question :- http://fiverr.com/harmonyinfotech/design-a-header-for-your-site
We always request client to provide following details after ordering this gig.
1) Header Dimensions (Width x Height)
2) Color Scheme
3) Site URL
4) Title/Subtitle
5) Images to be used (Photos,Background,Foregrounds)
Client (On 08 January 2012) :-
Hi Im not quite sure what color scheme or anything for that matter. I have two sites I would like to have this done for:
www.getinshapechallenge.com This is where I am giving away a free nutritional weight loss program where thousands have tried the product (Check out some of the testimonials). I think I would like a header that prompts crossroads and challenges and how the 10 Day + is the best choice. Also have testimonial(s) in the header too. Also love fade into headers like the survivalist one you have on your fivedollarbaby web page.
www.robynearrow.com is the website about me. IF anything I want people to see all the things I have done. Bike across country, work with 20,000 children on never give up (Which i would love to have “Never Give Up” somewhere in the header) world class athlete, Doctorate degree, bus accident, well known, liked and looked up to. The go to source with mental and physical strength as the key to life…… Colors I don’t know.
These are both weebly.com websites…. so I am not sure what size the dimensions can be.
Hopefully you can still help me out with headers that are usable and loved for these two websites. You may want to start on the getinshapechallenge.com first this way i can get some other pics of me up on the robynearrow.com site. Thanks again!!
US (13 January 2012) :-
Sorry for the delay.Here is the first review for first header .Please check it and let me know if you need any changes.
Regards,
Ravi.
Here is the Quick Note we always send to our client after delivering the first draft because fiverr doesn’t have an easy way to submit revisions and we have to remind the clients to reject the gig when looking for a revision.
Note :
………………………………..
Just a courtesy message to let you know that you should reject the gig in case you want us to work on a revision. You can reject a gig using “Got Problems?” link visible on right-hand side above the message box. You should always reject a gig when requesting/waiting for a revision because the fiverr system otherwise will mark the gig as completed automatically after 3 days. We have “5 Revisions No Question Asked” Policy. Once you are happy with the order, we will supply you psd/source files incase you need it. We will also upload the header/banner on your site free of cost.
Client ( 13 January 2012) :-
NOT EVEN CLOSE TO WHAT I REQUESTED. YOU DIDNT EVEN USE ANY OF MY PHOTOS. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU DON’T ENJOY YOUR WORK. NOT TO MENTION I AM SUPPOSED TO HAVE TWO DIFFERENT GIGS SENT TO ME!!!! I JUST WANT MY MONEY BACK. THIS IS NUTS
US ( 13 January 2012 ) :-
No need worry we revert back with changes for you and sorry for the mistake..
US ( 17 January 2012 ) :-
Hi,
sorry for the delay,Please check the attachment and let me know if you need any changes.Regards,
Ravi.
At this point the buyer got the order cancelled by getting in touch with fiverr customer support and put some negative feedback which I felt was too scathing (I don’t mind proper criticism but it has to be reasonable and correctly portray the situation). As I let my designer team handle most of the work including responding back to clients so I don’t generally interfere unless there are some issues like delayed order delivery or cancelled order as I want to know why a customer was not happy with our work and what I can do to fix that issue.
So I sent the following message to the client on 18 January 2012 .
Hi,
I cannot understand how do you expect us to peek into your mind and design something which you have envisioned in your mind. For god sake, this is a design gig and we provide “No Question Asked” Revisions . We understand that we cannot always deliver a perfect design in the first try and that is why we expect the client to give their feedback. As for not using your images, you haven’t even provided them so how are we going to use them. If you want a decent result then you need to have some patience. We definitely love our work and have delivered more than 2000 headers here on fiverr with 98% +ve feedback so that is not something fluke.Regards,
Alok.
Client :-
Thanks for your explanation. My problem with this gig is I gave explicit description on what I wanted. You didn’t deliver. Not anything close. I wouldnt have had a problem if the header had something close to what I had asked for including the use of my photos that could easily be taken off the websites. I provided this information right from the start. You know what its your business. Run it anyway you like. Im the buyer and Im not interested regardless the numbers you say have been sold. Take care
Myself :-
Really ? Not to pick a fight but you need to understand that what may be explicit for you may not be the same for others.
Just a simple example here so that you understand the problem we face to understand what exactly you want.
We clearly mention the details to be in following format.
1) Header Dimensions (Width x Height)
2) Color Scheme
3) Site URL
4) Title / Subtitle
5) Images to be used (If available)and what exactly you provided.
1) Header Dimension :- “I am not sure what size the dimensions can be.”
2) Color Scheme :- “Im not quite sure what color scheme or anything for that matter.”
3) Site URL :- www.getinshapechallenge.com
4) Title / Subtitle :- “I think I would like a header that prompts crossroads and challenges and how the 10 Day + is the best choice. Also have testimonial(s) in the header too.”
5) Images :- To our discretion to be picked up from the site.Now can you please go through above requirements again and can’t you see , you have left almost all the things to our discretion. Now we may not have done justice to it but it is only because the “explicit” instructions aren’t very explicit.
It would have been explicit if it was like this as what one of our other client has provided.
1) 950 x 200
2) I’m thinking blue, but open to suggestions
3) www.PeopleSkillSite.com, but this is not yet active
4) Title is “People Skills 101″ A subtitle might be “Learning, Growing, and Achieving”
5) I’m thinking some shots of business people (like your #164 header) possibly interacting (not quite like #163, but might also show a social setting). May I leave initial images to your creativity?So we are left to come up with everything on our own but we aren’t given enough tries to do it. How do you expect us to give you what you wanted in the first try with somewhat vague instructions left to our own imagination.
I hope you will take above message in its right spirit and understand that we are ready to give our best but the client needs to give us some space if they expect us to flex our creative muscles.
Anyway I understand that it is completely your choice to get it done from whomever you deem fit and the numbers were mentioned only to let you know that we must be doing something right.
Regards,
Alok.
The client changed their feedback again to following which prompted me to write this blog post and this is a first time after having delivered more than 2800+ gigs on fiverr with 98% +ve feedback that I felt compelled to write it.
Client Feedback
HORRIBLE!!They say 5 days.Its more like 20+.They send a header with zero requested specs along with a note you can reject this gig and we will revise.Then you get another revision just as bad as the first. etc., etc., etc., They are trying to override fiverr rules. BAD BUSINESS HERE. GO ELSEWHERE!
Now my designers may not have done a correct job initially but that is why we offer “5 No Question Asked Revisions” because I know that sometimes it takes some time to really understand what a client is really looking for.
Anyway I would like feedback from my readers as to what they think about this whole issue.
