Fiverr scammed me $20!!!!!!!

[gearmonkey]

Wow, has this ever happened to anyone else? I am a buyer on Fiverr and they closed my account when I had paid Fiverr gigs in the work and credits in my account.

I lost my money and the gigs I paid for...

Fiverr is a scam

[gearmonkey]

I just filed a complaint with PayPal. Next, I will need to call my credit card company. Fiverr just emailed and is now saying my account will be banned until I undo the paypal complaint...

Yet they already blocked my account. how can they ban it twice?

This experience is awful, I wouldn't wish this on my worse enemy.

[nik0]

What they are saying is that your account will be unbanned when you undo the paypal complaint, but not sure if I would trust them

Why did they close your account btw? I breached there TOS multiple times by adding contact details in email conversations but my account never got locked

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by nik0

What they are saying is that your account will be unbanned when you undo the paypal complaint, but not sure if I would trust them

Why did they close your account btw? I breached there TOS multiple times by adding contact details in email conversations but my account never got locked

Yeah, just proves to be another form of a scam by Fiverr. They are trying to blackmail, leverage, bully me into closing the complaint. Not gonna remove this complaint, I am going to escalate it.

I am also going to file a complaint on Ripoff report.com and the FTC Bureau of consumer protection.

They think they can bully the little guy? Nope! I will fight this out tooth and nail. It's not about the money, it's about the principle.

edit:
I'm trying to understand why they initially blocked my account. They never sent me a notification. I also never sent my personal contact info to anyone. I only bought maybe $125 worth of gigs with this account. I have never sold on Fiverr before.

[dadamson]

Did the payments from PayPal actually go through?

There is probably an issue with your PayPal account and Paypal pulled the funds back from the Fiverr gigs.

Meaning you ordered Fiverr gigs and Fiverr could not collect the cash.

You will need to sort it out with PayPal and then Fiverr will unrestricted your account.

Your only wasting your time fighting them as you have obviously breeched the terms and conditions that you signed up with.

~Dave

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by dadamson

Did the payments from PayPal actually go through?

There is probably an issue with your PayPal account and Paypal pulled the funds back from the Fiverr gigs.

Meaning you ordered Fiverr gigs and Fiverr could not collect the cash.

You will need to sort it out with PayPal and then Fiverr will unrestricted your account.

Your only wasting your time fighting them as you have obviously breeched the terms and conditions that you signed up with.

~Dave

Fiverr has my hard earned money in their possession and they refuse to give it back. I have no PayPal issues what-so-ever. Fiverr has stolen my money and refuse to give it back.

Even if I did break any TOS, does that give them the sole right to steal my money?

[Whos That Guru]

I've withdrawn well over 1,000 dollars from Fiverr as a seller, and as a buyer I've spent around 60 on gigs. So I can safely say they are not a scam. A little biased? Sure. Are some of the mods on there sexist? Definitely.. or at least they are based on my experience.

But I highly doubt they stole your measly 20 bux. lol

Just speak with them & find out what went wrong, and then find out what you can do in the future to avoid this from happening again.

[silverace]

Fiverr support always worked with me in a professional manner, I think you are over reacting. It also seems like you never asked them why they banned you in the first place but just went on a rampage?

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by Whos That Guru

But I highly doubt they stole your measly 20 bux. lol

Well then, what is it called when they have my money and refuse to give it back? Borrowing it? Watching it forever? Playing board games with it? What???

In my native English language, taking someone's money and refusing services or a refund is, in fact, stealing.

Call it what you will, but they took my money and seem content not giving it back.

[Whos That Guru]

I'm sure you'll get it back..

I've been on there long enough to tell you that you will get your $ back and/or your account restored. Probably both.

I'm willing to bet that whatever happened is just from a mistake somewhere. Just take a deep breath, calm down & then send them an email to find out exactly what needs to happen to get everything back to normal. If they said to close the dispute and they will fix everything, then close the dispute and see what they do.

You can reopen the dispute just as easily as you can close it if they dont hold up their end of the deal. They have no reason NOT to.. so ya just try it & see what happens. I still say there was just a flaw somewhere along the line.

[JeanneLynn]

I just don't understand why Fiverr would ban a buyer. Did they tell you why you were banned? I've been buying Fiverr gigs lately and I'd hate to get banned.

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by gearmonkey

Even if I did break any TOS, does that give them the sole right to steal my money?

Ummm if that is an admission that you did then YES it does give them the right to lock your account and they are not under any responsibility to give it back immediately. They can even take their time to process and then give you it back. At any rate like Who said its best to cool down. Escalate all you want as far as I recall Paypal doesn't protect services or digital goods.

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by Whos That Guru

I'm sure you'll get it back..

I've been on there long enough to tell you that you will get your $ back and/or your account restored. Probably both.

I'm willing to bet that whatever happened is just from a mistake somewhere. Just take a deep breath, calm down & then send them an email to find out exactly what needs to happen to get everything back to normal. If they said to close the dispute and they will fix everything, then close the dispute and see what they do.

You can reopen the dispute just as easily as you can close it if they dont hold up their end of the deal. They have no reason NOT to.. so ya just try it & see what happens. I still say there was just a flaw somewhere along the line.

Get this, I created a brand new account using my exact old username. The difference it shows no orders in query and no funds credited to my account.

I also had to use a different email address as the registration form said my other email was already in use.

so I have my account back with a different email, but still no money. Now I am sending them order numbers which I have placed but never received a report or confirmation for.

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by JeanneLynn

I just don't understand why Fiverr would ban a buyer. Did they tell you why you were banned? I've been buying Fiverr gigs lately and I'd hate to get banned.

They gave me no notice. They won't tell me anything. In fact, they have stopped answering my emails. I had to create a new account. They still aren't answering my email. Maybe they just have terrible support?

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by Mike Anthony

Ummm if that is an admission that you did then YES it does give them the right to lock your account and they are not under any responsibility to give it back immediately. They can even take their time to process and then give you it back. At any rate like Who said its best to cool down. Escalate all you want as far as I recall Paypal doesn't protect services or digital goods.

If I broke the TOS, then I didn't do it consciously. I was ordering gigs and asking for details about the URL my link would be placed on. Is that against the TOS?

I see nothing wrong with analyzing the URL you are potentially going to buy an ad spot on.

I guess they can give me the run-around with my money, but that just gives me (and right to) file a complaint with the FTC, BBB, Consumer Complaints, Attourney General, and Ripp-off reports.

Guess it works both ways...

[Whos That Guru]

lol I dunno man.. all I'm saying is you sound a little tense in your posts, so we can only imagine what was said in your ticket to their support team..

Everyone needs to vent now & then, but dont go overboard with the only people who can help you. Trust me.

That old saying is true, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar (your $ is the fly in this case, your attitude being either honey or vinegar)

hahaha

& yeah, sorry man but Mike is right - Paypal doesnt offer buyer protection for digital products or services.

I suppose if you DO go the dispute-route, you could say that the gigs you ordered were for physical products that the seller was going to ship to you.. BUT the problem with that, is that fiverr will have records of what you ordered.

So unless you really DID order physical products from sellers, I dont think that will do any good.

As for the username thing, I dunno.. but it just leads me to believe that again, there was just an error with their site or database or something.

Stuff happens.. nobody is 100% "bulletproof" with their website. Hell, look at all the government websites that the group Anonymous can hack. Surely if the govt. cant be prepared for all possible scenarios, neither can fiverr.

I stand by my original suggestion - Calm down a bit, and send another support ticket without all the "YOU STOLE MY MONEY!!!" talk. lol I'm sure they will be able to help you out.

However I have a feeling that you creating the same exact username is probably gonna delay the process. That just makes it harder on them (or so you would think.. maybe not)

[gearmonkey]

True about digital products, but I'll still go through the system. Then when (if) paypal deny me, I'll file a complaint with my Credit Card company. they'll have my money back in a day. My wife works for them, so she knows the routine.

Problem is, they'll negative my paypal account. Good thing I have other paypal accounts for backups. I'll delete that one, if need be.

[Benignant]

Don't panic mate. Moneybookers had my 250EUROS and closed my account due to rules violation. The funny thing is that I didn't do anything, I only received that money and in about 1 month my account was down.

$20 is not something what you'd waste your time for and definitely not a thing for fiverr.com! Better focus on contacting them and solving your issue.

[frank07]

I get ban from them because a stupid mistake, but I am still get my money back. Maybe you put your email to the sellers in the message?

[gearmonkey]

I never sent my email in a message.

[silverace]

Originally Posted by gearmonkey

they'll have my money back in a day. My wife works for them, so she knows the routine.
Problem is, they'll negative my paypal account. Good thing I have other paypal accounts for backups. I'll delete that one, if need be.

OK so that's another TOS you are breaking + stealing money from paypal. I'm done with it, the whole heated up attitude etc, I don't buy it. you probably know very well what you are doing wrong and just think you can do some damage to fiverr. This sounds just like those scammers being banned from an aff network and start topics on ********** just to rant about it.

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by silverace

OK so that's another TOS you are breaking + stealing money from paypal. I'm done with it, the whole heated up attitude etc, I don't buy it. you probably know very well what you are doing wrong and just think you can do some damage to fiverr. This sounds just like those scammers being banned from an aff network and start topics on ********** just to rant about it.

Why, because I am trying to protect my interest? They took $20 of my hard earned money, no matter how you want to spin this, at the end of the day, they have my money and are not willing to give it back to me.

I use Paypal as phase one to protect myself from scammers. I link my credit card to paypal as an extra precautionary measure just in case paypal refuse to protect me. PayPal is not FTC regulated and can do as they please. I can counter that by using another form of a safety net for myself.

The facts remain the same, Fiverr stole my money, if PayPal is not willing to protect the better interest of the person being scammed, then it's the credit card company's job to look out for the better interest of their customers. I'm not breaking any rules. Get off your high horse.

[mosthost]

There's a whole lot of 'blame the victim' mentality going on here. That's probably because these guys don't want their lucrative $5 gigs to end

My experience with Fiverr was as a consumer was very poor and I wouldn't use that website again under any circumstances.

[Talen]

This thread would probably serve you much better on a fiver forum...

[silverace]

Originally Posted by gearmonkey

Why, because I am trying to protect my interest? They took $20 of my hard earned money, no matter how you want to spin this, at the end of the day, they have my money and are not willing to give it back to me.

I use Paypal as phase one to protect myself from scammers. I link my credit card to paypal as an extra precautionary measure just in case paypal refuse to protect me. PayPal is not FTC regulated and can do as they please. I can counter that by using another form of a safety net for myself.

The facts remain the same, Fiverr stole my money, if PayPal is not willing to protect the better interest of the person being scammed, then it's the credit card company's job to look out for the better interest of their customers. I'm not breaking any rules. Get off your high horse.

This whole thread you've been f'king ranting about fiverr, and it never seemed as you had a normal attitude near their customer service. Like I asked, did you ever try to ask them why you where banned? at least you didn't let us know. Paypal also has a very friendly customer service if you just give them a call. If you "just wanted to protect your intrest" then you wouldn't be on this forum just going on and on trying to make us feel sorry for you, but you'd be on the phone with paypal and mailing fiverr trying to work things out with them.

[mosthost]

Originally Posted by Talen

This thread would probably serve you much better on a fiver forum...

This guy brings up an excellent point. We're in the 'Adsense/PPC/Seo Discussion forum right now!"

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by silverace

This whole thread you've been f'king ranting about fiverr, and it never seemed as you had a normal attitude near their customer service. Like I asked, did you ever try to ask them why you where banned? at least you didn't let us know.

I've emailed Fiverr's customer service with no success. Do they even have a customer service? If they do, they must be out of the office, or closed down for the weekend, because they have not written me back since my first correspondence. Maybe they are under staffed. I don't know...

Originally Posted by silverace

Paypal also has a very friendly customer service if you just give them a call. If you "just wanted to protect your intrest" then you wouldn't be on this forum just going on and on trying to make us feel sorry for you, but you'd be on the phone with paypal and mailing fiverr trying to work things out with them.

Why would I need to call PayPal? They have a system you must go through, which I am doing. Have you ever used PayPal before? You don't call them, you file a dispute through their system, which I have done. *IF* that doesn't go nowhere, then I can call them before I escalate this with my credit card fraud department.

[ActivePresent]

Sent fiverr support, and back your money.

[paulgl]

Losing 20 bucks is a cheap way of deciding to never use fiverr again.

I know people swear by some of the stuff, but seriously, I can't
imagine when I would ever trust knuckleheads doing something
for $4 that involved my precious websites.

Paul

[silverace]

Originally Posted by gearmonkey

Why would I need to call PayPal? They have a system you must go through, which I am doing. Have you ever used PayPal before? You don't call them, you file a dispute through their system, which I have done. *IF* that doesn't go nowhere, then I can call them before I escalate this with my credit card fraud department.

I use them on a daily basis and calling them just makes things so much easier. yeah fiverr customer support can take a week to answer, but when they do the follow ups are also really quick..

[fluffythewondercat]

Making wild accusations just makes you look immature.

Fiverr management is still feeling their way as they go, but I am absolutely certain their intent is to be fair. Work with them and you'll most likely get a satisfactory outcome.

fLufF
--

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

Making wild accusations just makes you look immature.

Fiverr management is still feeling their way as they go, but I am absolutely certain their intent is to be fair. Work with them and you'll most likely get a satisfactory outcome.

fLufF
--

What's immature is to block someone's account and not give their money back. Now THAT'S immature!

I have yet to receive a follow-up email from Fiverr. Guess my issue isn't 'important' enough.

Honesty, I believe they have no intentions to givinging my money back. The initial email they sent me had the tone like "pfft, dude, it's only twenty-buck... just move on and stop bothering us."

It may only be twenty-bucks, but if they do this 100x per day, then that's a lot of dough. I don't want to see others get scammed like this. I'm a strong advocate that the little people need to stand their ground against cooperate greedy companies like this.

If they think this will "just go away", it won't. I already drafted up a letter to the attorney general. Next is the Better Business Bureau.

[MikeFriedman]

Originally Posted by gearmonkey

I already drafted up a letter to the attorney general. Next is the Better Business Bureau.

You are aware that the BBB has no actual power or authority right?

[gearmonkey]

Originally Posted by MikeFriedman

You are aware that the BBB has no actual power or authority right?

Yes I am aware of that. My intentions is to make some 'noise', and get my experience out there. If they are doing this to other people, then at some point voices will be heard.

Nobody should get away with this type of shady conduct. Nobody.

edit: Just check BBB and found another complaint against Fiverr.com. Looks like I'm not the only one being scammed.

[Ashera]

I use Fiverr all the time as both a seller and a buyer and have never had an issue. For $5, if you know what you looking for and take the time to find it there are a few good gigs. Granted, most of them are complete crap, but there are a few gems hidden in the rough.

[adwordz]

Thank you for share your experience.

[frank07]

Originally Posted by gearmonkey

What's immature is to block someone's account and not give their money back. Now THAT'S immature!

I have yet to receive a follow-up email from Fiverr. Guess my issue isn't 'important' enough.

Honesty, I believe they have no intentions to givinging my money back. The initial email they sent me had the tone like "pfft, dude, it's only twenty-buck... just move on and stop bothering us."

It may only be twenty-bucks, but if they do this 100x per day, then that's a lot of dough. I don't want to see others get scammed like this. I'm a strong advocate that the little people need to stand their ground against cooperate greedy companies like this.

If they think this will "just go away", it won't. I already drafted up a letter to the attorney general. Next is the Better Business Bureau.

I think you do the right thing. At least they need to tell you what wrong with you.

[didyouknow]

they will lock an account sometimes to 'investigate' something that might have raised some flags..
no reason to panic, I know of someone who even got his money after being banned (cause he DID brake the rules).. and that was a bit more than just 20$

[johnchristopher]

I have never experienced such a thing woth feverr yet... but many of my friends complained that they got screwed with feverrr...

[dubur]

i hope ill never got experience lik this.. wish the best for you...

[Peter1970]

Originally Posted by gearmonkey

Yeah, just proves to be another form of a scam by Fiverr. They are trying to blackmail, leverage, bully me into closing the complaint. Not gonna remove this complaint, I am going to escalate it.

I am also going to file a complaint on Ripoff report.com and the FTC Bureau of consumer protection.

They think they can bully the little guy? Nope! I will fight this out tooth and nail. It's not about the money, it's about the principle.

edit:
I'm trying to understand why they initially blocked my account. They never sent me a notification. I also never sent my personal contact info to anyone. I only bought maybe $125 worth of gigs with this account. I have never sold on Fiverr before.

I'm with you all the way. Don't let them bully you. What nonsense is that? Asking you to remove your complaint or else? Cheers mate.

[mrclean78]

You sound like you are following the proper procedures by emailing them for an explanation then filing the paypal dispute. I'd let it play out, and just remember to BE NICE in your emails, it was probably an honest mistake that will EVENTUALLY be resolved. There is no need to bash them.

Unfortunately they probably have bad customer support, but they will get to you eventually.

Also you are absolutely correct about having your CC linked to your paypal account. People don't understand that paypal isn't a real bank and the protection isn't great..

[anku9696]

thats strange.. i have been using fiverr since a long time and never saw such kind of problems.

[MikeWike]

Too bad you got banned. You were one of my favorite GIGs :/

[outwest]

LOL i bet their pet peeve is sending email contact info in their PMs, they HATE that I am sure

me even if it was allowed I would not do it
what would you save? probably nothing, the guy would still probably want 5 bucks
he would save a buck you would not

besides I would rather do these in the context of their system, that way I know I have someone monitoring the situation, and I can also have a way to make the seller perform on time etc since they dont want complaints on their feedback (same with Ebay)

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by gearmonkey

Well then, what is it called when they have my money and refuse to give it back? Borrowing it? Watching it forever? Playing board games with it? What???

In my native English language, taking someone's money and refusing services or a refund is, in fact, stealing.

Call it what you will, but they took my money and seem content not giving it back.

Well why did your account get closed originally?

Obviously if you agreed to a TOS then broke the agreement, they may indeed be legally entitled to keeping your payments.

It sounds to me like you aren't telling us the whole story.

Originally Posted by mosthost

There's a whole lot of 'blame the victim' mentality going on here. That's probably because these guys don't want their lucrative $5 gigs to end

My experience with Fiverr was as a consumer was very poor and I wouldn't use that website again under any circumstances.

He's not a victim if he did something that caused his account to be closed; only if they closed it for no reason at all.

Obviously everyone who has lost money/time/something wants to be viewed as "the victim" so that others will defend his interests, but only an incredibly naive spectator would take a story like this at face value without asking further questions.

[ChanceNine]

When they banned one of my accounts I had placed 11 orders. $55 bucks gone. (why would you just ban a buyer? Still do not make sense to me)

Then they banned my other account which I had over $170 for no reason.

[Belseth]

Fiverr is a scam. I spent $330 on voice overs and never received anything. The guy didn't even start the job and Fiverr refuses to refund the money. Don't be fooled the buyer takes all the risk!!! I got robbed!

[befree22]

Fiver did the same to me. I did get my Paypal money back and then I got my fiver account unbanned after I got my money back. The gig seller was a loser -- never communicated with me and it's in the fiver notes.

[nik0]

When you user fiverr make sure you cancel the gig when delivery turns red, that way you avoid people from scamming you, cause once it turns into completed then Fiverr ain't gonna do anything for you.