Customers constantly being double charged

Topic summary

Merchants using Shopify Payments are experiencing recurring issues where customers see duplicate charges on their bank statements—one on the capture day and another the following day. Despite only capturing payment once in the Shopify admin, customers’ accounts show two pending transactions.

Key Details:

  • Affects high-value orders (ranging from $3,495 to $5,000+)
  • Occurs 1-2 times per week for some merchants
  • Customers confirm banks are not at fault
  • Pattern observed primarily with ASB bank in New Zealand
  • Second charge typically drops off after several days

Impact:

  • Customers unable to afford necessities while funds are held
  • Increased customer service workload
  • Risk of losing repeat customers

Status:

  • Unresolved since at least 2020
  • Shopify representatives suggest these are authorization holds versus actual charges, but provide no permanent fix
  • Merchants express frustration at being advised to “blame the bank”
  • Multiple users report the issue persists as of February 2023 and beyond
  • No timeline provided for resolution

Merchants are seeking urgent assistance and considering alternative payment processors.

Summarized with AI on October 27. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.

I recommend removing Shop Pay as an option in your shop! We faced this issue for many years and removing Shop Pay solved it entirely.