Indefinite payout hold

Hi,

I’m looking for some advice. I have been a LONG time Shopify Consultant and I’ve never run into this issue before. I have dozens of clients on Shopify and continue to bring clients in monthly.

One of my clients recently was unable to change their bank account. It would not accept the previous account numbers as valid, so the previous account was unable to be removed. Finally, nearly a month later, after the account team was able to remove the account, my client entered the new account numbers.

However, it’s now been weeks and the payouts are still “paused” with a message saying the account team will be in touch. They were in touch, asking us to reply to an email to verify we added the new information. We replied as requested. Three times now, over 10 business days with no response.

I’ve reached out daily to chat support and they always say the same thing “oh I’m so sorry, this can take a while due to security concerns, but rest assured I’ve reached out to the account team for you and made sure they know you’ve updated the account numbers so they can lift the hold.”

The internal messaging from Shopify says this hold will not last longer than a few days. Shopify’s own support has said this. They now have more than $10,000 of my client’s money tied up with zero recourse for my client (who is considering legal action at this point).

Has anyone run into this problem and found a reasonable resolution? There is literally NO COMMUNICATION from anyone at Shopify, it’s maddening, and making me reconsider whether I should be recommending this platform to clients. This is a massive risk, and the lack of any escalation ability is really insane.

Thanks for any help,

~ Tim Shutes

CEO, Digital Culture

Hey @timshutes-dc,

This community is not helpful, in these matters. Try to contact with the Chat Support again.

Thanks for your opinion. I’ve spoken to chat every single day for the past 15 days. Is there any other recourse?

Nope, there is not other solution.

What do you suggest my client do if they never receive payouts or any word as to whether the hold will be lifted? Is legal action the only option?

I suggest to Keep Patience.

You (or your client) has already done what needs to be done: Speak with Shopify Support. Inquire. Document.

The next step is talk to an attorney to escalate.

No sense in posting here, no one can give you any information you didn’t already have or are able to search.