Fiverr is a great platform for people with various skills that hope to earn from freelancing as well as those that hope to get their work done. Fiverr has a judgement system that they use before allowing the buyer to post to freelancers. This system works in two ways, and what the buyer posts may get approved or get rejected. Further on, rejection happens in two ways: rejection without consequences and rejection with consequences. Rejection with consequences is frustratingly bad since Fiverr will most likely give you a warning without explaining why, which increases your chances of getting the account banned as it's unclear how you can avoid the mistake in the future.
Although it is a wonderful platform, there are various issues (in particular transparency issues) with their verification system and how they communicate the rejection that I would like to address.
One of the biggest issues that I have with Fiverr is that they are not clear about the reasons for rejection. Most of the time, they will suggest looking into the terms and conditions that have been provided. These (21-page long) terms and conditions do not quite point out exactly why the rejection happened and why the account got a strike. Asking for additional clarity results in even more Hence, they are not quite clear and keep referring the buyer to the terms and conditions, which is deeply upsetting. It’s backward that it's up to the buyer to figure out why they were rejected and why they received a warning from Fiverr.
I like to believe that I am not the only one that thinks Fiverr is rather harsh when it comes to punishing people for minor infractions. Understandably, there are millions of people who use the platform, and it is necessary to weed out those who are genuinely dangerous. However, most of the mistakes that cause one to receive a strike should not necessarily invite consequences. For instance, people have had their posts rejected followed by consequences as a result of unfortunate wording or due to topics being perceived by Fiverr as a gray area.
Fiverr's three-strike-out (TSO) policy that Fiverr practices before it justifies them to permanently ban a buyer is unfair, according to me. I strongly feel that their technical system has a problem because you might get two strikes for a mistake that was only committed once (I speak from experience). In my opinion, the eagerness of Fiverr to give the buyer a strike without clear information on why it happened is so bad that you do not dare to post anymore for utter fear of losing your account. offering no further opportunities for the buyer to redeem themselves. They might also choose to give you "jail time," usually ten or twenty days, for a technical error on their end.
With all the issues that buyers go through with the Fiverr platform, one would expect that the customer service would be great. This is, however, not the case since their customer service adds to the frustrations of the buyer. First, the customer service is unclear on their reasons for rejections and strikes. Secondly, they are unwilling to give further information on why these things happen, and lastly, they are short-tempered. This customer care seemingly operates under the mindset that if they ignore an issue, then it is solved. They are also rather unresponsive, and buyers have to send several emails before getting a reply back. Usually, they will send one reply, which will honestly not address all the issues that the buyer was trying to address.
Most of the issues presented above are easy for Fiverr to address while still ensuring that it keeps its users compliant with the rules and regulations of the platform. I would, therefore, like to suggest a few solutions to each of the mentioned problems that Fiverr should take into consideration to allow users (buyers and freelancers alike) to comfortably use their platform, including myself.
The user should be able to clearly explain to the platform why they received a strike or were rejected. Clear communication from the onset is much better than telling the user to review the terms and conditions. The platform should go ahead and completely abolish this as a reason for giving users strikes. It would take a lesser amount of time as well as reduce users’ frustrations if Fiverr explained from the get-go why the user was getting strikes or getting banned from the platform. In addition to this, I believe that Fiverr should include an easier way for users to appeal whether access is restricted if an account gets banned or not.
Fiverr has outlined various reasons why users may be banned from the platform in their terms and conditions. Among these reasons include low-quality gigs, making resales of goods, offering academic services on the platform, and copying gigs, among others. Fiverr gives punishments for issues such as unfortunate wording, linking to online resources for context, and not receiving the kind of punishments that Fiverr gives, including warnings and eventually permanently banning the account. Such issues should be highlighted to the user without giving them a warning since they could happen to anyone. Severe punishments should be reserved for severe intentional violations on the platform and should include a fair trial by an independent party.
The three-strike rule that Fiverr has is so short-sighted considering these strikes happen very frequently. As such, it would make more sense if they got rid of the three-strike rule entirely. These strikes have been the reason why I and many other users have been banned from this platform for unreasonable reasons.
Most of the above-mentioned problems could easily be solved if the customer service at Fiverr were friendly, communicated efficiently, and willing to help out the users of the platform to find a mutually satisfactory resolution. It is, therefore, paramount that Fiverr ensures that their customer service knows how to effectively handle their buyers while dispensing the right information with regards to why projects get rejected, why warnings occur, and the way forward. Being able to address the concerns of the users is better than just referring them back to the terms and conditions, in addition to the frustrations already caused.
Permabans are really devastating, in particular on freelance platforms such as Fiverr. They can take away the livelihood of a freelancer or restrict access to critical expertise for buyers in an instant. Such companies, where profit is the motive, should not have access to powers like permabans. I have always looked forward to making use of this platform to help me with some of my projects that I can’t handle myself because of my health issues. Unfortunately, I have been permanently banned from using the platform, and I believe this is a system failure on their part meant to keep people like me away. It is quite grievous when people turn to a freelance platform as a way out of an undesirable situation, such as health issues, that they cannot resolve in their locality by themselves. I feel the system should be overhauled so that they get to fix some of the small issues on their end that lead to intensified consequences for the users. I believe most users will agree with me when I say that, for the most part, Fiverr fails its users.