Do I have any recourse if Shopify is unjustly terminating my account?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Multiple merchants report sudden account terminations by Shopify’s Trust & Safety team for alleged violations of the Acceptable Use Policy, specifically related to selling unauthorized branded products.

Common Complaints:

  • Merchants claim they have proper authorization and offered to provide documentation (authorization letters, supplier contacts)
  • Shopify allegedly refuses to review evidence or engage in meaningful dialogue
  • Email responses from Trust & Safety are slow (days between replies) or non-existent (some report 20-26 days without response, one claims 2 months of being ignored)
  • Live support directs users back to email communication but provides no direct assistance

Financial Impact:

  • Funds are held in reserve for 120 days post-termination
  • Some merchants report thousands of dollars withheld
  • Several describe this as their sole income source being eliminated overnight

Official Response:
Shopify Community staff can only advise users to:

  • Reply to termination emails received from Trust & Safety
  • Contact live support (though acknowledged to have limited access to these cases)
  • Cannot discuss account-specific details in the public forum

Status: Unresolved. Multiple merchants express frustration with what they perceive as inadequate customer service and lack of due process. Several warn others against using the platform.

Summarized with AI on October 30. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
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Yes, they don’t respond back. I have a business loan with Shopify that gets paid with every transaction and because my account is being closed I need to know what will happen to this loan. I opened a new shopify store and I need to know if I can transfer this loan. Something of this gravity when it comes to a business loan is huge. No answer.

Additionally I opened a new account and somehow it linked to the e-mail of the account that is closing. I am unable to change the account bc it says the account would need ownership transfer. I asked if when the account is de-activated by Shopify in 5 days - if I would lose this new account too. Which I was advised it was ok to start a new account. They said it is possible since the e-mails are linked. The person chatting didn’t even know for sure because when she tried to get a hold of the accounts team, this team also never answers. All the associates in the chat always say they will get back to you via e-mail and they never do. I can’t believe a company like Shopify that host huge accounts don’t have this organized and can’t provide appropriate support.

I made over 1.2 million in sales in 3 years using Shopify and I wish they treated me nicer and actually provided support to help me with something of this caliber.

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