Shopify’s Price Update Error Caused Major Sales Losses—No Compensation Offered

[fzb]

Hi all,

We recently faced a major issue with Shopify that’s important for other merchants to know. On September 30, Shopify made an unannounced update to comply with the European Price Indication Directive. However, this update accidentally crashed all pages on our European sites where “compare-at prices” were applied. The crash lasted until October 1, costing us all potential sales during this period.

As a Shopify Plus member, we expected more accountability for such severe disruptions. Unfortunately, despite acknowledging the error, Shopify declined any form of compensation, citing their Terms of Service.

This experience highlights a serious gap in Shopify’s responsibility toward merchants, especially given the impact on our business. Has anyone else faced similar issues? Would appreciate hearing how others have handled this.

[DaisyVo]

Hi @fzb 

From what you've described, it seems like Shopify rolled out an update related to the European Price Indication Directive, and unfortunately, it had a major hiccup, causing pages with "compare-at prices" on your European sites to crash. This crash lasted for a significant period, leading to a direct loss in sales, and to top it off, you weren't offered any compensation despite being a Shopify Plus member. That's a really tough pill to swallow, I get it.

Now, to answer your question about whether others have faced similar issues and how they handled them, here’s my take based on what I've seen and heard in the community:

• Document Everything: First off, it's super important that you've kept records of everything - the dates, the duration of the crash, the estimated sales losses, and all communication with Shopify support. This documentation is crucial if you decide to push for some form of resolution or compensation down the line.
  
  
• Community Sharing is Key: You're absolutely on the right track by reaching out to the community. Sharing your experience is valuable because it not only validates your issue if others chime in with similar stories, but it also opens up the floor for shared strategies on how to approach Shopify or even prevent such incidents in the future. Keep an eye on responses to your post; you might find merchants who have navigated similar situations.
  
  
• Escalate within Shopify Plus Support: Since you're a Shopify Plus member, you have access to a higher tier of support. If you haven't already, try escalating your case within Shopify Plus support channels. Sometimes, initial responses can be quite standard, but pushing it up the chain might get your case reviewed by someone with more authority to consider exceptions or offer some form of goodwill gesture, even if it's not direct compensation.
  
  
• Legal Angle (Consider as a last resort): While Shopify mentioned their Terms of Service, and they often do lean on that, it's worth a very quiet consideration (maybe with a legal advisor) if the sales losses were substantial. Sometimes, just the mention of a legal perspective can prompt a company to reconsider, though this should really be a last resort and weighed against the costs and potential relationship impact with Shopify.
  
  
• Preventative Measures for the Future: Looking ahead, think about what preventative steps you can take on your end. While this issue wasn't directly your fault, consider if there are any monitoring tools or alerts you can set up for your site to detect crashes or errors faster in the future, regardless of the source of the problem.
  
  

Honestly, it's a tough situation, and I wish Shopify had been more forthcoming with compensation. It's always disheartening when large platforms don't fully take responsibility for errors that significantly impact their users' businesses. Keep engaging with the community, document everything meticulously, and explore all available support channels.

If you need any other assistance, feel free to reply, and I will try my best to help.

Best regards,

Daisy.