Is my recent online order a scam?

[AP2142]

Greetings,

I am new to Shopify and placed an order to a store that appeared to be somewhat legit but after reading the store's name, sent emails, and attempted telephone calls, I may have been scammed even though I did receive an email with a "receipt."  I tried making a complaint to shopify.com support team but it's complicated and even tried calling a number that was listed on line.  Needless to say, the number listed is not in service.  Any suggestions?

[Iris]

Hi @AP2142 ,

Thank you for reaching out and I'm sorry to hear about this. You are through to Shopify Support, and Shopify is the ecommerce service merchants use to run their stores. We don't ship or manage orders.

I understand this situation is not ideal and you're experiencing an issue with your order. However, for any updates or to report the problem with the order, you will need to get in touch with the store directly.

If you are unable to get in touch with the store owner, 30 days has passed and believe the store is with Shopify, you can report the issue with the order to the merchant directly via this link. To fill out the form, you need an order confirmation URL. You can actually get the URL link from that email by following these steps.

I totally understand how this experience can make it discouraging to shop online. While there is always the potential for this to happen whether shopping online or in person, there are certainly things you can look for or do to know if an online store is trustworthy before you make that purchase.  Check out this article here for some helpful tips for your next online purchase.

[Marianne111]

I had the same experience as the writer above except that the only means of reaching the company is apparently via email, which I have tried repeatedly (my order was placed well over 30 days ago). I have filled out the Shopify form to report an issue at least 10 times on two different devices (same one that the link you provided above directs us to) and the “submit” field is unresponsive. And the Live Chat was completely useless. 
I certainly don’t expect any refunds or merchandise at this point, but seems like Shopify would want to know when it’s linked to companies that are with scammers or out of business and I can’t find a way to do that. I’ll definitely disconnect from using Shopify in the future based on how difficult communication is.

[Iris]

Hi @Marianne111 ,

I'm really sorry to hear about this experience. As someone who is a shopping online regularly, I can definitely understand how you feel at this moment about this, as I have experienced the same myself .

However, for security and privacy purposes we are unable to confirm or deny whether this store in question is using Shopify. I do want to stress we absolutely do not condone any type of deceitful activity on Shopify. I'm not sure if you use this exact form, but you can report the issue with the order to the merchant directly via this link. If this is the same form then I suggest trying to submit it using a different browser or a device since we don't have any other reports of it not being responsive. 

As you mentioned that it's been well over 30 days in your case, I would suggest that the next step for you is also to contact your bank. Some financial institutions have consumer protection mechanisms and will be able to check what options are available to help you with this situation. I recommend reading this article that explains how to request help with the bank. This article was not created by Shopify, so any questions should be addressed directly to the bank.

[Marianne111]

Thank you, Iris. Luckily I only lost $17!