It's not easy working with family

My mom and I have been working on revising her business website. We have been going back and forth as to the content that should be on each page, especially the services page that includes the fees for different types of dog training. I told her in a loving manner that she is the most difficult client that I have ever had. After pondering upon this for some time, I think that it is harder to work with someone who has a dual relationship with you. When I am doing my freelance writing for other people, I can keep it strictly professional; however, it is hard to do that with the person you are living with. After much weeping and gnashing of teeth, we have finally come up with web content that we find appropriate. Whew! What a relief.

The squeaky keyboard gets the grease!

Last week, I sent in my complaint about Fiverr to the Better Business Bureau. Today, I received an e-mail from Susan from the Fiverr support team.

Susan (Fiverr Customer Support)

Jul 08 00:07

Hi there,

We would like to apologize for the delay in our response. Your account has been restored. There was a mistake in reviewing your account with our Trust and Safety team. We will review that matter internally to help improve our process. As a token of your patience in this matter, we are adding $20 to your account on us to purchase Gigs of your choice.

All the best,

Susan

My account has been reactivated.  I am still waiting to hear about the $20 I earned last month.

Here is the response in regards to the money I earned in June 2014.

Susan (Fiverr Customer Support)

Jul 08 04:20

Hi there,

You're very welcome!

I checked and $4 have already cleared and $16 are still in awaiting clearance.

Fiverr has a 14 day clearing period since the day of completion to ensure buyer satisfaction. If your funds haven't cleared by then please let me know and I'll be happy to look into it for you.

All the best,

Susan

Dream Job

For the past seven months I have been exploring working from home options. At first, I was willing to take any form of employment as long as it did not involve working in an office with a supervisor breathing down my neck. Today, my mom and I were discussing what would be my career path of choice. So I sat down with a pen and note pad and wrote the following:
1. I want to build up a freelance writing and editing business that produces a steady income for me.
2. I want assignments that are interesting and challenging.
3. I want to create a schedule in which I can work at a reasonable, non-stressful pace.
4. I want the flexibility to be able to take my lap top and work from anywhere that I choose, so I can spend more time with family and friends.
5. I want clients who are happy with my work.
6. I want clients who will gladly pay for the time that I have invested in their project.
7. I want to receive joy and satisfaction from the assignments that I accomplish.
8. I want to enjoy the learning process and the knowledge that I gain from each assignment.

Fiverr: Adding Insult to Injury

Here is a good example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. Before I was blacklisted by Fiverr, I had an assignment to complete by July 2, 2014. Fiverr sent me a warning e-mail in regards to not completing the assignment by the deadline. Since there was no way I could access my account, how was I supposed to complete the assignment. Then they sent me another e-mail saying that the customer cancelled the order. Wow! They sure no how to make a girl feel good.

Here are the e-mails:

Fiverr: Warning! You are late in delivering order FO42EB7623F5.

Fiverr <noreply@e.fiverr.com>	Jul 2 (2 days ago)
to me

Dear michellemason,
You missed your estimated delivery deadline for order FO42EB7623F5, 'provide writing and editing services'.
Note: If you fail to submit your completed work within the next 24 hours, certified83 will be entitled to cancel this order.
Thanks,

The Fiverr Team

Fiverr: Order FO42EB7623F5 was cancelled - late delivery.

Fiverr <noreply@e.fiverr.com>	Jul 3 (1 day ago)
to me

Dear michellemason,
certified83 cancelled your order 'I will provide writing and editing services for $5'.
Review the reason for this cancellation here: click here.
Thanks,

The Fiverr Team

NEA funding idea

Ever since the whole "Fiver incident," I have been thinking about an idea to pose to the NEA for funding. It would be nice to have a similar site that is non-profit, so they won't take a dollar for every five dollars you make. This would be a spring board for budding artists, writers, poets, graphic designers etc... to get their work recognized; so they can make a living off of their talent.

The Keys Are Mightier Than the Sword

Thank God for blogs. They provide a great place for people to vent and express frustration with life, work, whatever. Life is had, and it's comforting to know that there are other people who are going through the same struggles that as we are. The key is not to get discouraged and to keep on tapping on those keys and let your words be seen.

I sent a complaint against Fiverr to the BBB and RipOff Reports.
We cannot let companies like Fiverr bully us hard-working, everyday folks who want to make a little extra money from working at home around!!!

Fiverr Scam

Since the beginning of May 2014, I have been exploring writing and editing opportunities through online resources such as craigslist and fiverr. When I joined Fiverr, I almost immediately started receiving writing assignments. A web development company asked me to write two articles for them. The first assignment was to write an article on Ruby on Rails technology. This was quite a challenge for me because I am, not what you call, a seasoned techie. So I started searching researching resources online that would hopefully explain to me what Ruby on Rails was in layperson's terms. The second article was on Mobile Apps, especially iPhone apps. Well, I thought to myself, "Now here is a subject I can write about." I have about fifty apps on my iPhone and iPad. A while back, I went app crazy. For example, I shop at Vons. "Cool! There is an app for that. I'm going to put it on my iPhone. Every store,restaurant, and companies that I do business with is represented by an "app" on my iPhone. That's all great and well, but now it takes so long to swipe to the app that I am looking for. Great! "Good thinking Michelle."

Every day I was eager to go on to Fiverr to find out if I had new assignments. It was like, "Michelle. Here is your mission for today. If you are up to the task, then go to this link. "
Unfortunately, I have been labeled a "bad girl" on Fiverr because they said that I violated their terms and conditions by trying to get two evaluations from the same person. Wow! that is not what I was trying to do. With these types of business, you better not make any mistakes because they don't want to know or even care what happened. You are just "Blacklisted." So I sent them an e-mail explaining that I had e-mailed a customer and asked them to rate my services. They said that they never got a message from Fiverr, so I wrote an inquiry to their tech support company. Big Mistake!! A little while later, she informs me that she did find the message in her "To Do" category, and she rated my services, and I rated my experience working with her. I thought, "Problem Solved." So I figured that when  their tech team e-mailed me back, I would tell them that the problem had been solved. Another Big Mistake!!! Big Fiverr does not like that!!! They assume you are "Guilty" and that's it. See what happens when you can't actually talk to a person on the phone and explain the situation and resolve the problem.

Sometimes, I think that technology has consumed the "humanness" out of people. In my opinion, they receive "no stars" in customer service. Oh yes, and I have my earnings. What happened to my money? So I guess they figure, "Well since you have been blacklisted, you don't get paid for the hard work that you performed for those customers. WHAT A SCAM!!! Shame on you Fiverr for taking advantage of people like me who are trying to get to know how your system works. I wonder if they purposely black list sellers, so they can keep their money for their pocket books.

I do need to make a correction to this Blog. At the bottom of Jay's e-mail, they mention that if they do not receive further consumer complaints about me, I may receive my earnings in 45 to 90 days. First of all, I had a five star rating. No one was complaining about me with the exception of Fiverr who readily assumed I was masterminding some violation of their terms and conditions. Also note, there was only ONE set of ratings sent in by me and that particular customer NOT TWO.

Here is the e-mail from Jay:

Jay (Fiverr Customer Support) Jul 01 13:07 Our system has brought to our attention some irregular activity originating from your electronic location. After further review, we've permanently disabled your account for violations of our Terms of Service, we don't allow users to compromise the integrity of our feedback system by boosting their own ratings from multiple accounts. If there are no other complaints from your buyers that come in after the safety period of 45-90 days from today, whatever revenue that is legitimately yours (if any) will be available to you to withdraw after a verification process.