I am a frontend developer and have been struggling for years with Shopify’s ability to support me and my ability to support larger Shopify Plus clients. Most support agents completely deflect any request I make since everything I work on is 100% custom and not based on any of the out-of-the-box Shopify solutions. All of our conversations usually end with them recommending I hire a qualified Plus Partner to provide support. I have looked into this but unfortunately, in many cases I know more than these Plus Partners do and they are not able to help.
Through my many Shopify Plus clients, I’ve had the opportunity to deal with a few Plus reps and launch engineers who have all been surprised that we are being asked to provide the level of support we do without having access to resources available to Shopify Plus Partners. They have directed us to apply which I have done repeatedly.
I have now applied on three separate occasions over the past year and never get any kind of response one way or the other. I have followed up with Shopify many, many times but nobody seems to know now this application process works. They all say we more than meet the criteria and to continue to wait for a response but since my first application was more than a year ago, I don’t see waiting being a good option.
So, I’m asking if anyone else has gone through the process or can give me any direction? I’m getting pretty good at figuring things out on my own and reverse engineering other solutions to get where I need to be but it would be nice if Shopify was as eager to support its Plus clients as they are in upselling them to Plus in the first place. Open to any input you may have.
Thanks for the input however I’m not on that thread and am not JackJack1. Not sure where you came to that conclusion. I have been developing on Shopify for 3 years and work for a company that has been in business for over a decade. We do custom work for many Shopify Plus clients already and easily meet all of the criteria in the link you provided. I have confirmed with multiple Shopify Plus reps and launch engineers that we’d be a good fit for the program and none can explain why we have not heard anything. And even if you were right and our application was being denied, it would be nice if Shopify would let us know, or at least, be able to tell us when we follow up about the application what the status is.
I’m sure at some point in my Forum posting history I’ve said I was new to Shopify but I can’t imagine that would be used against me. Shopify can clearly see the breadth of work me and my team do so again, I welcome any input from the community or Shopify themselves.
Just a follow-up to my original post. After chatting with numerous agents at Shopify, it was confirmed that our client portfolio does “justify the consideration of our application” however there is no way of knowing if the application has been received, will be reviewed, or has been denied. There is no system they can check or person that can be contacted to confirm anything. If you have not received a response, you are to just assume your application has been denied.
This is the most recent response I received from an Agent at Shopify. This is a very different response than what I had been told up to this point by many other agents at Shopify. It’s a do-nothing, pass-the-buck answer but it at least explains what I have been running into. That said, if this is correct, why have I been wasting my time following up with Shopify and re-applying multiple times. Well, because that’s what previous agents had told me to do. Shopify, either this Plus Partner program is broken or you need to better communicate this to your team.
I am not applying to this program to get more business (which is the assumption most people at Shopify make when I talk with them). I have more work that I know what to do with. I am applying solely to have access to resources that will allow me to better support some very large Shopify Plus clients that Shopify has repeatedly failed to support themselves. I know my opinion is biased here but I am confused as to what benefit Shopify gains by denying our application and preventing us from helping these clients. I am an advocate of the platform but man, Shopify makes it so hard to be on their side sometimes.
Kind of hoping this post makes it’s way to someone at Shopify but if not, I guess it’s good just to vent.