How to properly file a complaint against Shopify?

[jorgehp1]

I'm having a very frustrating experience with Shopify and need to escalate by filing an official complaint, but I'm unsure of the proper process.

My Shopify store was deactivated over 2 weeks ago after there was a delay in providing documentation they requested. I understand having to verify businesses, but as soon as they asked, I submitted everything right away.

However, it's now been over 15 days and my account is still deactivated with no updates or communication whatsoever from Shopify. I've tried following up multiple times, but my emails go unanswered.

Having my store deactivated has completely halted my business with no ability to receive orders or manage inventory. The lack of resolution is causing significant financial losses every day.

I feel I've given Shopify sufficient time to correct this, but the silence is unacceptable for a paid service that I rely on. I need to escalate by filing an official complaint, but I'm unsure of the proper channels to do so.

Does anyone have any experience filing complaints against Shopify before? What is the recommended process - is there a dedicated complaints department, email, or other avenue I should pursue?

I've been a loyal customer for years, but this situation has been handled so poorly. I need to light a fire and get this escalated correctly before my business is impacted further.

Any advice would be appreciated on the best way to file an official complaint that will get traction and resolution.

Thanks!

[DG98]

Hi jorge,

I have the same problem.

also when contacting service chat, they say they are "working on it" and i just need to wait.

Without any warning they shut down my account not knowing i did anything wrong.

I right away asked what was the problem and that i will solve it but they can't give my any information.....

what a shit show by shopify..

Weeks, months and countless amounth's of money went into the shopify store just to let it shut down with no warning upfront..

shopify needs to reconsider this recless handling.

[jorgehp1]

Hey,

The dedicated team for these cases should either be fully staffed or consist of five people. My case was finally resolved after approximately 18 days, coincidentally on the same day I filed a complaint...

One thing I believe contributed to the resolution was consistently pressuring the Shopify advisors; this resulted in them creating around four new escalated cases.

[teevoyage]

Hi Jorge, Can you advise on how did you submit the complaint against shopify? They charged me after I deactivated my store, their horrible supports kept telling me it is getting refunded, on their end they see everything is refunded, but the bank do not see anything. 

[teevoyage]

I saw someone already mentioned BBB complaint. That is how my case got resolved finally. When you file a compliant through BBB, they are required to assign someone and BBB checks in with you after 10 business days (roughly, cannot remember exactly) to see if you are satisfied with the solution. 

My issue is relatively small compared to the troubles you guys have in this thread, but it still took me about a month and half to get it resolved, plus many tickets and chats with their support team. Even when my ticket got escalated, shopify kept asking me to wait with no expected end date. So be sure to ask them to give you a timeline, even when BBB gets involved, insist on requesting immediate resolution. 

[drewwenning]

Thank you, appreciate it

[Kasser]

I was told that because i keep enquiring, new cases are being opened, (even though i provide the escalated case number each time to avoid it) and now that was the reason for the delay in attending to my issue lol. 

our domain which has been used on shopify for over 6 years , is apparently stuck on another shopify store that is deactivated. it has been over 30 days now and just like all the comments on this thread, i get them “copy paste”responses “to wait” “they are working” . we sell an organic tanning lotion and its summer and we go about business. this started on the 3rd of december , which means we lost 1 month of summer sales and also the christmas and end of year selling opportunities. how does one file a complaint, if attempted to do so in the support chat, but off course they are pin the same payroll as the copy past responses of “i am the one to fix this” “i am the one that will make sure your problem is resolved” . we are literally ticking down the clock off summer selling ability. 

[Adam-A]

Yea Shopify are awful. Everything is hidden behind a " we are working on it" Wall. Customer advisors NEVER respond to the support inbox, then you go back onto the chat to get another " we are sorry for the inconvenience, we will escalate the issue" chat, then no-one responds and round and round the loop you go. Just remember you are a number in a system, not a person to them. 

[cps1234]

complete garbage problem is they work outside america so they can get aweay with everything i hate canada. Hope trump puts massive terriffs on them. After 10 years of dealing with there incompetant staff i turned my sites off and changed hosting. Have to realize they are over saturated on there servers. i never had any luck even being on the search engines until i figured out you have to build and spend hours on google searchj console to being seen. I wonder how long i would have lost money just beliving the site was visible but never was? they dont care they are worth 200 billion. I am keeping one site open as i have a company judging if they on purpose disabled my site because i was too hard to deal with. After spending over 5000 and never had any help but not even being offered help. there is a massive learning curve in seo and after having 30 years experience its strange i never picked it up. i turned site off within the ten years as constanstly giving them the benifit of the doubt.

[Kasser]

I am waiting for the day I can leave shopify too, maybe if they decide to actually release my domain they claim is on a frozen miracle store. I AM BEING HELD RANSOM AT THIS POINT. THEY HAVE MY DOMAIN AND I CANT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I’m an australian business so i was unable to file a complaint via BBB, havent been able to find or get to any sit/organisation to file against shopify australia as yet, if you have any advice please do share i am desperate. our product is an organic tanning enhancer and its summer in australia and our bulk time for sale and promotions to take place and our domain is being held under the banner of “wait”. 

[rachel1602]

Hi Jorge.  I am also having a nightmare with Shopify.  I've used them for years too and their customer service was absolutely superb but it has gone downhill so fast and it is now almost impossible to get issues resolved.  Instead of getting intelligent knowledgeable and helpful agents on chat you get patronised and sent irrelevant screenshots.  I have so far spent 8 hours on chat yesterday and today solely because invoices and payout reports which I am downloading are not being emailed to me.  This is clearly a shopify problem as I am being notified that I will receive them on my email address 'within moments' then nothing.  I am now trying in vain to submit a formal complaint.  The bot advised I could not do it without Shopify Plus.   Now I'm online to a chat agent who says I can make a complaint by speaking to support and requesting an immediate escalation. I have pointed out that he is a support agent and I have requested an immediate escalation and he's still refusing to take a complaint from me and is now saying he doesn't know how to.  I could scream!!! Did you or anyone on this chain (who is not a Shopify Plus customer) find out how to make a formal complaint which Shopify actually respond to?

[Shay]

Hi @rachel1602 

I am sorry to hear about this situation and I definitely want to make sure you are getting the help you need. Can you please share the ticket number of the interaction where you did not get the support you need? While I can't directly access tickets due to our authentication processes, I can flag a ticket for review and ensure it is getting the required support. 

Please let me know if you need any further help. 

[FLYFashions]

REALLY NOW... I am being DOUBLE BILLED.....gonna fix this?

[FLYFashions]

Is ANY ONE going to HELP ME??????????????? I am a PAYING customer too!!!!!!

[Dirk]

Hey, @FLYFashions 

That does sound strange about your double billing. It looks like we'll need to access your account in order to resolve this issue. While we're not able to provide account-specific support via Community at this time, we'd be happy to continue assisting you through our available support channels. Please visit our help center and login for assistance.

If there is anything else I can help you with, please let me know.

[FLYFashions]

It's been months at this point and I don't see them fixing it. I filed business complaints, service provider complaints, and consumer complaints all for Shopify to say it was late payments and have the complaint closed, but my account is on autopay. If anyone took the time to look at the screenshots of my payments they would see there was an issue. I am under the impression it is what it is and I need to move to another platform.  

There was one rep who found the issue, but again Shopify has never fixed the payment issues. See what the rep said:

Flor

2:25 pm

Hi Pharice,

This is Flor again, from Shopify Support.  I wanted to reach out to provide further clarification regarding the billing concerns you raised during our recent conversation.

After reviewing your account, it appears that the multiple charges you observed on your bills were due to the timing misalignment between Shopify's billing cycle and the billing cycles of certain payments. This discrepancy led to charges appearing on different bills, causing confusion.

[exosticastores]

Hey I read everything, I went through the same in the double charged area, Report them to the BBB, that is the only way they take action within 10 days by law. 

https://www.bbb.org/file-a-complaint

[FrozenChozen]

Your assistance Bot is absolutely ridiculous! I'm trying to get an answer about why my credit card is attempting to get charged so I set up a Shopify account..now it's telling me that I need a store to access live assistance. I DON'T WANT OR NEED A STORE, I need someone who can actually help me. 

[Erin]

Hi, @FrozenChozen. You can still contact support without creating an account by explaining your issue and following the prompts. If the prompts aren't describing what you need you should find an option at the bottom of the chat box that says something along the lines of "I still need help" or "chat with a support advisor". If you are not seeing that please try re-explaining the issue and you should see that appear. Let us know if you're still having trouble and we can help walk you through it.

[FrozenChozen]

I spent 5 minutes repeating the same things because the Bot kept saying I needed to log in & when I replied I was logged in, it told me I needed a store. I explained that I DON'T have a storefront & back around the loop it went 

[Erin]

Thank you for explaining that. The Help Center assistant changes its responses based on what was said to it and it can sometimes default to previous answers if you repeat the same, or a similar, question or statement. For example, if you say that you don't have a store it may continue to tell you to create one. We appreciate your feedback as this is something we are always working on improving. That being said, in this case I recommend starting a new chat with the Help Center assistant and saying something like "I have an unauthorized charge from Shopify." I just tested it out on my end and was able to see the "I still need help" button appear right away. You should see it all the way at the bottom of the chat box. Let us know if you are still having trouble with that!

[FrozenChozen]

This was the response I received 

If the card is no longer valid and you're still receiving notifications, it may be best to contact Shopify support directly for clarification. They can help investigate any unauthorized attempts related to your information."

[Erin]

Did you see the "I still need help" button at the bottom of the chat box? Also to clarify, did you begin a new chat or continue in the same chat? If you continue in the same chat you will likely see the same responses since it is responding with the context of what has already been said. I recommend trying it in a different browser or clearing your cache and cookies and typing what I suggested in my last response. You can see an example here.

[FrozenChozen]

I don't know that I'm communicating my issue clearly enough. I do not have a Shopify store, never have. Out of nowhere, I started receiving notifications from my bank that Shopify attempted to authorize a closed debit card. The fact that it was a zero dollar authorization attempt (on multiple occasions) tells me that someone managed to get that card information & tried to set up a Shopify store. Ironically, the attempts stopped after I first posted here & attempted to contact support. This smacks of fraudulent business practices by Shopify. Because of this, I will never do business with the company. 

[Imogen]

Hi there, @FrozenChozen. Thank you for following up with us here and taking the time to outline your situation in more detail!

Thank you for bringing this to our attention! If you’ve noticed unauthorized charges on your credit card, we recommend speaking to your banking service provider, or credit card provider, about this promptly to ensure your card is secure. We also wanted to advise that you can ask your bank or credit card provider how to enhance your account security measures to protect your card information.

[FrozenChozen]

You're not listening..it's a non-working card but someone still attempted to use it on Shopify. I've gone round and round with the Shopify customer support bot (which is a joke).  I'm very well aware of how to maximize my banking security but thanks for your concern. 

[TX-RH]

Imogen can I get an escalation on ticket 51551538 regarding action Ticket ID: 18f9be0b-79c8-4b07-a322-15c23b1d7838 by Merchant Trust Team who is non-responsive despite multiple escalations and an immediate response. 

[TX-RH]

Erin can I get an escalation on ticket 51551538 regarding action Ticket ID: 18f9be0b-79c8-4b07-a322-15c23b1d7838 by Merchant Trust Team who is non-responsive despite multiple escalations and an immediate response. 

[exosticastores]

Report them to the BBB, that is the only way they take action within 10 days by law. 

https://www.bbb.org/file-a-complaint

[exosticastores]

Sounds strange? NOT AT ALL, my self and multiple of your so called "customers" are being double, triple and me 10x times charged UNATHORIZED by you, this is quite normal according to the BBB. 

I have been mistakenly charged by SHOPIFY multiple times for a store I cancelled over a year ago, I opened a case and follow your instructions.. its been 20 days and not a word from shopify, in the 20 day time frame ,ME, NOT SHOPIFY, has reached out to you and spoken with , Denivin, Nino, Marlon, Samantha and Paula, all in different days. No one in your help center can actually help nor knows what to do, they keep saying "it's been escalated" .. "someone will reach out as soon as possible" and NO ONE DOES. It's been 20 days, this treatment towards your customers is disgusting. I have also asked to speak to a manager every time I connect with your help center and the answers are "None are available", "They will reach out shortly".. no one has reached out. Do you not have managers available? This is sounding like a big scam every day that passes, is anyone able to actually help? As I am exhausted of this horrible service from your company and unfortunately had to report to the BBB as a fraudulent company that you are appearing to be. The funniest thing was that 

 the BBB did mention over the phone that SHOPIFY is one of their top complaints they get and they are looking into fraudulent actions inside the company. They also explained that it looks like the only way SHOPIFY does take action and accountability for their unauthorized charges is after you file a complain with BBB. 

It is funny yet very sad that we have to go to this lengths just to get someone fromS SHOPIFY to even acknowledge us. 

[elcambiologico]

I was double billed too for two months if the pos on the same bill and they say they will only return one of them because the other is from a month before and it was canceled before. Although they billed both together to trick me. They will be hearing from my lawyers

[spensi]

i have the same issue.  I have not had access to my account now for a week with no formally response from the dedicated escalation team.

[Moira]

Hi @spensi,

I'd like to reassure you that our team intends to reply with any updates as quickly as we can. It may take us longer than expected at times, depending on the current contact volume we're experiencing and to ensure that proper steps are being taken. I understand it can be frustrating to wait, but rest assured that our team will continue assisting you via the support ticket you have open with us. We apologize if tickets are taking longer to be addressed, and we appreciate your continued patience here.

You're welcome to contact Shopify Support via the Help Center here: (https://bit.ly/2OO3k4E) at any time for an update on your ticket.

[Adam-A]

I wait 3-4 weeks on my tickets with no reply. All the while they have my money in their account. 

[Zoepk]

I’ve logged many tickets with no response and I continue to be billed months after I entered a ticket asking to cancel because for some reason following your step by step guide on how to cancel a subscription/membership doesn’t work for me. It’s now more than $100 that I’ve lost from you continuing to charge me and not replying to any forms of contact. that’s why I’ve had to come here 

[lillybearstudio]

My complaint is that chatting with an advisor gets you nowhere!! And sending a complaint to the SAME place, what will that accomplish? I used to be able to speak to someone on the phone. I have spent multiple days, hours of my time trying to explain the same thing to people on the chat that they are NOT getting. Even though I am very clear, share photos etc. YOU NEED TO BRING BACK PHONE SUPPORT. Not everything should be about online, sometimes you need to actually SPEAK to people.

[LisaMM]

Agreed. Customer service is nonexistent. I am still waiting for a package that is 4 months overdue. No help from online services. Multiple tickets opened and no response.

Would not recommend shopify to anyone.

[Adam-A]

Flagging the ticket for review doesn't fix the issue, there still won't be a response and you go round and round a loop to a never ending no answer cycle. So many generic answers, but no real results or responses. Smoke and mirrors. Probably using the funds to gain interest on.

[Shamillep]

I've been trying to get a issue resolved for over a year with no help and a constant run around and pointless flagged tickets. I'm looking into legal action and want to file a formal complaint with the corporate office.

[jackstorms]

Hi Shay,

I hate to bother you but I am looking for a bit of guidance on a huge issue I am having with the Shopify Payouts team.  I confirmed I have no holds or alerts on my account and no reason has been given to keep the over 30k in PENDING status.  The issue has be "escalated" to the Payouts Team but after learning of their 5 hour work days and the multiple merchants I found online with the same issue, I am not hopeful the funds will not get released on a time table that I can work with considering my overhead.

Any suggestions to get my concerns actually prioritized for immediate resolution, I would deeply appreciate.  I am not exaggerating when I state that this unresolved issue of nonpayment on goods already shipped will sink me before the week is out.

ticket# 50366650

I hope you can help🙏

Very Best,

Jack Storms

[RGuitars_co_uk]

Hi

That sounds completely dreadful and extremely distressing.

All I can offer is to get straight back on to the support - online - its
the only way I believe its possible to communicate with them.

Explain that you need the problem resolving and that you must have a date
provided as you simply cannot afford to have the funds delayed.

I dont think there are many businesses who could ever afford to have their
income held for days on end?

So sorry and please update the community on your progress - I havent had
any resolution to my money that was taken from my account for an "upgraded"
service that wasnt an upgrade at all - and the discounts on
commissions that were promised didnt exist either. Still nobody will take
responsibility. Its shocking

[msp24]

Same!  Shopify is withholding $32K and counting with no help in site.  Just 'sorry. thanks for reaching out' response to escalated tickets.  Last month it was $43K and they finally released the funds with, again, "sorry."   Even my bank suggested legal action. 

[TX-RH]

Shay can I get an escalation on ticket 51551538 regarding action Ticket ID: 18f9be0b-79c8-4b07-a322-15c23b1d7838 by Merchant Trust Team who is non-responsive despite multiple escalations and an immediate response. 

[TX-RH]

Dirk can I get an escalation on ticket 51551538 regarding action Ticket ID: 18f9be0b-79c8-4b07-a322-15c23b1d7838 by Merchant Trust Team who is non-responsive despite multiple escalations and an immediate response. 

[TX-RH]

Shay can I get an escalation on ticket 51551538 regarding action Ticket ID: 18f9be0b-79c8-4b07-a322-15c23b1d7838 by Merchant Trust Team who is non-responsive despite multiple escalations and an immediate response.  This is taking way too long

[Waysie]

me too

[Waysie]

I have spent the last 4 hours - same thing. Just bot responses, no help. Waiting times are abusive and I just want to go to another platform that is kinder. Shipping is all screwed up, too complicated, they say watch out for 3rd apps and yet they are advertising them on Shopify as suggestion to use?
I had simple questions, nightmare, and I had to do endless repeat typing. Waiting time is beyond bullying, silent violence.....and I am paying for this? I had 4 customers who could not purchase on my store, so they are paying me direct to my bank, Shopify rejected their credit card info and made it so diffcicult, it's total silent abuse and bullying - wow.....Shopify has hurt my business...any suggestions on another platform?

[Adam-A]

Woocommerce and Wix I am looking at at the moment

[FLYFashions]

I'd go in with you on a complaint.

[1redrickshaw]

Hi Team,

Refunds are not working for my website since last 15 days. I raised the issues and customers are putting negative reviews about us on review forums.

I raised issue 5 days back - Ticket : 47229872 but no updates so far. I ask every day to shopify support and they say the case is with specialist team and they do not have any further information.

Customers are leaving really bad reviews and also I am getting charged back by customer which is unnecessary expense for me.

I was asking for complain process and agent finished the conversation really in unprofessional manner. The support agent name was Peter:
Me:

It was escalated yesterday as well

nothing happened

Agent:

I sincerely apologize as I have explored all possible solutions within the scope of our general support capabilities.

It was my pleasure to have you on the line and I appreciate your time and cooperation.

I extend my best wishes to your business. Cheers!

Have a great day ahead. Bye for now.

And terminated chat.... Wow what a way to treat customer 😭