Urgent, Payouts Not Received Despite a stale "Should Be Deposited" Status for 5 days

[NedeBraatz]

I'm writing to share a critical issue that I've been experiencing with Shopify payouts, in hopes of reaching someone who can provide a definitive resolution.

Situation:

• Store launched 3+ weeks ago
• Payouts scheduled show a 'Next Payout day' that is five days old and "should be deposited"
• NO money has actually been deposited into our Shopify Balance account
• All payouts remain in "pending" status

Actions Taken:

• Over 7.5 hours spent with Shopify support chat
• 30+ chat sessions
• 5 tickets currently "escalated," oldest from two weeks ago
• Contacted Stripe directly (they redirected to Shopify; indicated that they have no issues on their end)

Impact:

• Unable to access earned funds
• At risk of local sales tax trust fund violation (due today)
• Potential business fines and forfeiture

Inconsistent Responses from Support:

• Varying explanations from "we just resell Stripe, it's probably their issue" to "it's probably your bank"
• Daily assurances of "it'll deposit tomorrow" for 5 consecutive days
• Some representatives have provided inconsistent or unclear communication

Questions:

1. Why haven't we received any money yet, despite the system indicating we should have?
2. What is causing this delay?
3. When will we actually receive our funds?
4. Why has there been no clear, consistent explanation for this issue?
5. Why does each support agent seem to have a different hypothesis, and why aren't their escalations from 2 weeks ago being addressed?

We urgently need a resolution to this matter. The lack of access to our funds is severely impacting our business operations and putting us at risk of regulatory violations. We're seeking:

1. Immediate release of our pending funds
2. A clear explanation of what caused this delay
3. Assurance that this won't happen again
4. Consideration for any penalties incurred due to this delay

I hope by sharing this experience, we can not only resolve our specific issue but also help prevent similar situations for other Shopify merchants in the future. We value our partnership with Shopify and look forward to a prompt resolution that allows us to continue growing our business on your platform.