My store has been problematic for many years now and it is causing me too much stress. Settings keep changing, there seems to be a lot ob bugs and nothing ever gets resolved through Shopify support. I have been looking into moving to another platform but have also considered closing my Shopify account and opening a new one to start completely fresh. I did try moving from Dawn to Horizon and was told that this would give me a fresh start but it is not. I have just as many issues as before. Do you think it is worth opening a new account or should I move platform?
Hey @CZS
Honestly, I’d say no to both. Opening a new account means losing your order history, customers, reviews, SEO and rankings, and if the problems are coming from apps or settings you’d carry the same setup straight into the new store, so you’d take a real hit and likely end up in the same place.
Same logic with switching platform, that’s a huge job and you’d only want to do it if you knew Shopify itself was the cause, which is exactly what nobody has established yet. And the Dawn to Horizon move already proved the point, a new theme changed nothing, which strongly suggests the issues aren’t in the theme at all, they’re more likely apps conflicting, leftover code from past edits, or settings being changed by an app or a staff member. That’s actually good news, because that’s fixable without blowing anything up.
What you need is a proper diagnosis rather than another fresh start, someone going through your apps, theme code and settings to find what’s actually causing it and what keeps changing your settings. Happy to take a look and give you a straight answer on what’s really going on, so you can stop guessing and stop paying for it in stress.
Best,
Moeed
Hi @CZS
I think opening a new account would not change anything. You will have the same issues.
But you should try alternatives for sure. It might suit you and your store better. Check Wix, Shopware, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce, but do not close Shopify while testing. See how to import products, perform day-to-day tasks, and more.
If something feels wrong for you, the more and more you use it, the more frustrated you can get. So think of testing other platforms for all the issues you have with Shopify.
But as Moeed said, proper diagnosis is needed. As is visible, you have put a lot of work into the store, so compete swtich is a big job. But may I ask, have you shared your store in Store Feedback or checked other merchants’ troubles? Have you hired anyone to fix those theme bugs, or thought of checking some paid themes?
I always recommend that merchants to check this store User feedback, and you could learn a few things, maybe. Because they are doing a lot of things right.
Whatever you decide, good luck.
There’s nothing wrong with migrating to another platform. Especially if you’ve just been fed up with everything.
I would personally consider shopping around for a better theme. You’ve been dating the free for a long time and I don’t think it’s a healthy relationship. The expectations are just too high imo..
I actually would reiterate what I said before, that if you just lowered your expectations of Shopify as a whole, and considered third party integration, you would be much happier with the results.
You said you don’t do apps anymore but I would reconsider that. Many apps solve real problems in being on Shopify. Shopify itself really only serves one function: to be the web host of your online store. That’s it. They are not in the business of doing everything for you, and especially speaking to the theme, they are not in the theme business. Ever wonder why Shopify doesn’t create any paid themes? Think about it. Or why Shopify doesn’t offer different email plans or templates? Or their own version AfterShip service? What Shopify offers is basic and is relatively good for basic needs..
Keep expectations of Shopify and their base themes at a minimum, and pay for things you think your business growth demands.
Hey @CZS
hope you’re doing well!
I’d investigate the root cause before moving. A new Shopify store might help if years of legacy settings are causing issues, but there’s no guarantee. I’d only shift platform if you’re confident the problem are with Shopify itself, not your store setup
when I moved to Horizon, I didn’t add any apps and I still have constant support issues that go unresolved.
In the last month,
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my checkout button on the cart page on a mobile phone appears to have been not working at some point as my phone has cached this error and isn’t clearing. I have asked support for help to try to reset something so people who have items in their basket can reach the checkout but they haven’t offered any solution other than to try to convince me that this issue is only affecting me. I have a huge drop off at the checkout even though there is free delivery and no hidden charges.
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I am only getting one abadoned cart message in about 30 abandoned carts. Shopify said that the issue was that my settings were wrong and that I was only sending emails to people who had signed up for marketing. They changed the settings so that everyone who leaves an email address should get an abandoned cart message but I am not getting any more abandoned carts in my admin. I tested it and I get an abandoned cart but it doesn’t show in my admin so I can’t tell who is getting them and what they aren’t buying. When I click the link to complete the order, the abandoned cart shows in my store but this doesn’t help me find out if my emails are going into people’s spam or if people aren’t clicking them if I don’t know that they have been sent.
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the checkout defaults to “pick up” so in order to make it clear that people can get their items posted I have had to turn off the click and collect option. Doing that has meant that on variants, it shows “pick up currently not available” which makes it look like it is out of stock. This is only an issue on products with a variant. I have changed the wording to “contact us to arrange a pick up” with our phone number but that’s the best work around I can find.
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customers have been in touch saying that they can’t find where to enter a voucher number on a mobile. In the default checkout settings on a mobile, it’s not obvious that you have to click the arrow to see your order or where you enter a voucher code. I have edited this wording but I only got this support from Gemini as Shopify just said I couldn’t edit the checkout.
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Support for Horizon are unable to make blogs and pages appear in searches with an image. They also can’t do this for the menu when the images are selected to show so I have blank spaces.
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sometimes the wrong main image shows on the collection pages. A temporary bug that glitches in and out
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customers in the Uk are frequently told their card is declined and then they have to try again and it works. I can see this in the admin that the same card is entered twice and the second time it is approved. Shopify say that this is a 3d secure issue but I have had it happen with my card also even though there was no problem with my verification. The website where it happened to me was hosted by cloud flare so I don’t know if this is a cloudflare issue or a shopify issue but Shopify don’t seem interested in fixing it. It has been ongoing for years.
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I can’t get the buy button to appear above the fold on a mobile. Changing the shape of the image and scrolling doesn’t solve the issue and it only shows if I use hints and dots which I think look bad on a desktop.
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My orders and deliveries page was blocked by robots in GSC. Shopify couldn’t help so Gemini gave me the information to tell them how to fix it
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I moved to Horizon from Dawn in May and my traffic dropped 25%. I was also seeing a new landing page showing up for customer accounts that had the word /password and I don’t have a password page. I suspect that there is/was a cached issue where customers with accounts were unable to see the new website. Shopify said that this was all bot traffic even though the reports show it was human traffic. This remains unsolved and people are still landing on that page. The also said “When you change your theme, the old theme’s custom login links, buttons, or navigation layout often do not transfer over automatically to the new theme. If the new theme was still searching for old layout paths or legacy account links, it would confuse your returning buyers and create a login challenge.” Nothing has been done to fix this.
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Support tried to fix this issue by telling me to redirect the subdomain at 123reg and delete the customer accounts. I did this and then discovered that this information was inaccurate and had to reverse it all. Then I was still left without a solution but had days of stress trying to fix what they had told me to do. They gave me ÂŁ25 off my next subscription which does not compensate me for the time and stress of being told to delete the customer accounts domain.
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Shopify think there is an issue with my cookies banner until they find out that it is not a third party cookies banner and then they say there is nothing wrong with it. I don’t know how to check or fix this. This is apparently causing my stats for reports to be inaccurate
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The Horizon breadcrumbs file doesn’t work and Shopify tried to fix it. Gemini spotted the problem when Shopify couldn’t. It said This snippet is not referenced by any other files (OrphanedSnippet) means that your theme code is currently not calling this file at all.This completely explains why your Google Search Console numbers have been dropping. When Shopify support altered your theme “as a favor,” they completely disconnected your breadcrumbs.liquid snippet from the layout. Because it is disconnected, your breadcrumbs code is completely invisible to Google’s crawler." I have resolved the breadcurmb code issue with Gemini but I feel I am losing confidence in Shopify support and the theme coding. Why have breadcrumbs built into a theme if they don’t work?
These are just some of the issues last month and there’s always something going wrong. I am at a loss as to how to solve these and similar ongoing issues.
prior to Dawn I was with underground Icon theme. I found I was constantly bounced around between Shopify and underground with each blaming the other and no one fixing it. Dawn was far faster and better than Icon so this has put me off paying for a third party theme. When people say I expect too much from a free theme, it is not a free theme. Shopify take 2% of my sales and they should be incentivised to make their themes fit for purpose. The more money I make, the more they do. 2% of my sales is far higher than my monthly fee or the cost of a paid for theme.
First of all, really appreciate the info you shared in such a complete detail, not many people do it.
Secondly, thanks for laying it all out, and that changes my answer a bit, since you added no apps, my “app conflict” problem doesn’t hold. But reading the list, almost every item is a theme or configuration issue, for example:
(breadcrumbs snippet not being referenced, buy button placement, blogs and pages missing images, the pick up default wording, checkout voucher visibility, the /password landing page),
That’s not a Shopify platform fault. And the clincher is that Gemini fixed your breadcrumbs and your GSC blocking when support couldn’t, which tells you these are dev problems, and support isn’t a dev team, they’re not equipped for theme code, which is exactly why you keep hitting a wall. So moving platform or opening a new account wouldn’t fix any of this, you’d carry the same unresolved theme and settings issues with you and lose your history and rankings on top.
What you actually need is a Shopify developer going through the theme and settings properly, most of that list is genuinely fixable in a single focused pass, including the 25% traffic drop since May which almost certainly ties back to the theme migration rather than being coincidental. Happy to take a look and give you a straight answer on what’s really going on, so you can stop firefighting it alone. If you’d like then feel free to connect.
Best,
Moeed
Yes dawn is fast. That’s because it has nothing in it. Again you are battling features and functionality vs free. And I say free because it is. I see this a lot. People try to combine features and say “well I’m paying Shopify they should fix it”. I think that is where you’ve been for a long time, and it’s slightly incorrect and is only leading this constant battle with Support. They are not theme developers. Why you keep going to Support for theme issues I don’t know but I said this a few months ago. Expectations. I know you don’t like this word. But it really is guiding you down a negative path.
Hope it works out and hope you get a good dev working with you. @Moeed is among the top here.
Hi @CZS
First, could you please share your store URL and describe the issues you’re experiencing?
Once I review your store and understand the problems, I can give you a proper recommendation on whether you should create a new Shopify store or simply resolve the issues in your existing one.
In most cases, creating a new store isn’t necessary. The issues are usually related to the theme, apps, custom code, or store configuration rather than the Shopify account itself. It’s important to identify the root cause first.
From my experience, Shopify is one of the best, most secure, and most reliable eCommerce platforms available. Once the underlying issues are identified, they can usually be resolved without starting over with a new store.
Best regards,
Devcoder 
@devcoders dude, 
scroll to post #5 you will see list of detailly explained issues. Store is https://www.christinesadler.com/
Pretty sure that’s an ai bot or copy and paste response, which then goes active once a person directly replies to the response with a url.
Thank you Moeed. I think what you have said makes it clearer to me. I think in the past I have felt that Shopify were just passing me on to someone else who would charge me and then leave me with more problems that they would then say they couldn’t help with. I need to get my head around this first as I have never considered Shopify a web hosting platform rather than a full package service.
Before deciding between a fresh account or switching platforms entirely, it’s worth separating two very different possibilities, since they lead to very different fixes:
1. The issue might be app-caused, not theme or platform-caused. Switching from Dawn to Horizon changes the theme, but if you kept the same apps installed (or reinstalled similar ones), a misbehaving app can absolutely cause exactly this pattern - settings that silently revert, features that stop working, “bugs” that never get resolved through general support because the root cause isn’t Shopify’s core platform at all. A genuinely useful diagnostic: temporarily disable every app one at a time (or all at once, then re-enable one by one) and see if the glitches stop. If they do, you’ve found the actual cause without needing to rebuild anything.
2. If it really is platform-level and persistent regardless of apps/theme, a fresh Shopify account is unlikely to help much - the underlying account/store data structure carries over in spirit even with a new store, and most “corrupted settings” issues are actually tied to specific apps, theme code, or accumulated technical debt (old unused sections, metafields, deprecated app remnants) rather than something wrong with the account shell itself. Moving platforms is a much bigger undertaking (rebuilding the whole store, re-doing SEO, migrating customers/orders) and should really be a last resort after confirming it’s not an app or accumulated-clutter issue first.
Practical next step before either drastic option: be specific in your next Shopify support conversation - not “settings keep changing” broadly, but a documented example (“I set X to Y on [date], and it reverted to Z by [date], here’s a screenshot of both states”). Vague reports get vague, unhelpful responses; a specific, reproducible example is much harder for support to wave away, and it also helps you personally identify if there’s a pattern (same setting, same app, same time of day) that points to the actual cause.
Would be worth sharing your store’s URL here too - people in this thread may be able to spot something concrete (an app, a theme setting, a conflict) faster than guessing in the abstract.
Best,
Vikash Jha - Apploy
Hi @CZS ,
Starting a new Shopify account (or switching platforms) usually won’t fix this most “everything’s broken” stores actually have 2-3 root causes: leftover app scripts, messy custom code, or conflicting third-party integrations, not the platform itself.
Before doing anything drastic, get a developer to audit your current store (apps + theme code + scripts). That’s far cheaper than migrating and more likely to actually solve it. Only consider switching platforms if the audit shows it’s a genuine Shopify limitation, not your store’s setup.
Hey @CZS ,
I can understand why you’re considering a fresh start if you’ve been dealing with the same issues for years.
That said, I wouldn’t recommend opening a new Shopify store unless you’ve identified that the problems are specific to the current store itself. In many cases, recurring issues are caused by themes, apps, custom code, or store configuration rather than the Shopify account. Simply creating a new store and recreating the same setup may lead to the same problems.
Before deciding to migrate, I’d suggest asking yourself a few questions:
- Are the issues reproducible, or do they happen randomly?
- Do they occur on a completely unmodified Shopify theme with third-party apps disabled?
- Have you documented the issues with clear reproduction steps and timestamps for Shopify Support?
Moving to another platform is a significant project, and it doesn’t necessarily eliminate operational or technical challenges it simply replaces one ecosystem with another. Unless you’ve concluded that Shopify fundamentally doesn’t meet your business requirements, it may be worth isolating the root cause first.
If the issues can be consistently reproduced on a clean theme with minimal customization and Shopify Support still cannot resolve them, then you would have stronger evidence to either escalate the case further or evaluate whether migrating platforms is the right long-term decision.
If you found my reply helpful, feel free to mark it as the accepted solution so it can help other merchants following this discussion.
Thank You !