How can I ensure my payment reaches the artist through Shopify?

[Gjgordon72]

I have bought a painting from an artist who has a Shopify account. I made the payment but when I enquired directly to him about delivery the artist told me he can’t access the account because he’s had trouble setting up authentication process. I want to make sure he gets paid and would do it directly if I could be refunded for the money he can’t access. There doesn’t seem to be any phone numbers to call and when I emailed Shopify with they details they responded saying they wouldn’t raise a ticket on email.  The artist is an older guy (much the same age as my parents) and I suspect has just not managed to keep up with the digital requirements. Any help to get the payment to him would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Shay]

Hi @Gjgordon72 

I definitely understand your concern here and your desire to not only complete your purchase, but assist the merchant in ensuring they are all setup properly. 

Due to the nature of setting up payments this is not something that you will be able to directly assist with. I don't recommend sending payment through an alternate method though until your original transaction is refunded. 

If the merchant does want your assistance with this they can email our support team and CC you on the email and include written permission to discuss this with you CC'ed. 

What payment method did you use? Did you use a gateway like PayPal or credit card? 

[Gjgordon72]

Thanks for the prompt reply, Shay. I paid by credit card and the transaction went through on 5 May.  I’m happy to help the merchant contact you if you can give me the correct email address

[Shay]

Hi @Gjgordon72 

The merchant will need to submit a ticket through our Help Center to get support with this. They can follow these steps to do so:

To access our authenticated support, please follow this link: Shopify Help Center. Next, you will want to follow the on screen prompts to sign in, choose your topic and issue and at the bottom of the help articles provided will be all available authenticated support options, including email.

[Gjgordon72]

Shay - this is going to sound critical, and it’s not aimed at you, so I’d like you to share it with your teams at Shopify. You (Shopify) are making things really really complicated for clients and customers. Go back over this issue and consider if your response constitutes good customer service? I remain unsatisfied/powerless on the payment, it’s highly unlikely the elderly client will be able to sort his issue online and get his money- and, incredibly, we’ve played it out on a public forum. Plus you just emailed me to ask if I’m satisfied. Really? My recommendation is simple. Please get a phone line and dedicated email. Invest in customer service and show you’re there when things go well and occasionally when they don’t. If not, cases like mine will accumulate into huge reputational problems that will threaten future viability. Remember Shopify the customer is always right!

[Shay]

I appreciate your feedback and I will absolutely pass it along to the appropriate teams for consideration. 

Even if you are not a merchant you do have the ability to contact our support channels using the steps I shared above. If you don't have a merchant account you can follow the prompts for not being able to login to an account to continue to our support options. We use this format as it is more secure for our merchants who require support and ensures that we are speaking with the correct staff member on a store. Without account verification we aren't able to access any store details or further troubleshoot a problem with a merchant. We take account security and privacy very seriously. 

[Gjgordon72]

I’d be interested to see the evidence that your customers prefer this system. I suspect it’s Shopify’s lowest cost option. You can still have security on phones. And Banks manage this pretty effectively. Contacting you is really hard and your answer shows that you’re not listening to feedback. Please do pass this on - and I’d happily discuss on a call if the option ever became available. George