How can I handle order fulfillment after recovery from a serious accident?

Payments + Shipping & Fulfilment
1

I have a store that has done well for 3 years.

So got a Shopify Capital loan a few months ago.

In October I got into a car accident. I was badly hurt. Dislocated foot, open knee wound, busted bowels, broken ribs, broken arm and a broken neck. I had two major surgeries and spend 3 weeks in ICU and another 2 weeks on the ward.

As you can imagine I had a lot of angry customers after 5 weeks of no response or sending of orders. When I got home I was still not able to work. No energy, sick all the time, bladder infections..etc.

I tried to get as much work as I could done to try sort out the mess, but I just wasn’t well enough. So I received a lot of chargebacks.

I’m now feeling somewhat better and now able to work again, but I get an email to say my payments are on hold. I just thought, I’ll sort all this mess out and they will surely release payments if I explain.

While I’m working on sorting the orders and customer care I get an email to say I can no longer use Shopify payments

I get payments with PayPal, but because of my being absent they have a 30% rolling reserve.

I’m getting orders but not receiving any money, and to top it off Shopify Capital are still taking their money daily from mv account!!

I’m now on benefits and Shopify Capital are eating into my benefits. I can’t fulfill the orders with no money.

I’ve spoken to Shopify support 5 days ago and I still haven’t got a resolution from them. While they are still taking the Shopify Capital money from my account.

If I could add a third party payment provider I could start making money again and take it from there. I love this business so much I don’t want to see it destroyed.

Anyone have any suggestions?

2

Hi, @Pamela_Gormley

First, I want to express my sincerest empathy for the awful car accident you experienced. I hope you have/had a speedy recovery.

Unfortunately, however, if your store remains active while you go through personal issues, you are still responsible for the orders that are placed with your business. In these situations, we recommend you have a friend log in to your account and enable your password page and pause your store while you recover. If you wish to continue your business it’s best to delegate these tasks to a trusted family member or friend.

In regards to your Shopify Capital, my advice would depend on what capital product you have. Do you have a cash advance? Or perhaps a loan? The terms of repayment differ between products. For example, if you have a Merchant Cash Advance you will only remit a portion of your sales each day. If you don’t have any sales, there is no remittance.

You should, however, be able to enable a third-party gateway moving forward. For a list of available gateways that work with Shopify, you can refer to this document.

3

I’m really sorry to hear about everything you’ve been through. It’s amazing that you’re still trying to push forward after such a tough time. A few years ago, I went through something similar after a truck accident. My online store wasn’t as established as yours, but dealing with chargebacks, financial stress, and upset customers felt overwhelming. What helped me was focusing on small steps—fulfilling a few orders at a time and being honest with customers about what I was going through.

I also leaned on legal support. If you’re still dealing with fallout from the accident, I’d recommend looking into Best Truck Accident Lawyers in Tulsa. They helped me navigate some of the financial and legal challenges so I could focus on getting back on track.