A merchant’s Shopify Payments account was suddenly restricted from receiving payouts over three weeks ago, with no prior email notification or explanation provided.
Core Issue:
Payouts frozen during what appears to be an automated risk review
Zero communication from Shopify about the reason, required actions, or timeline
Support representatives claim the decision-making team cannot be contacted directly and will “email when resolved”
Merchant’s Concerns:
Funds are being withheld indefinitely with no recourse
Customer service has been unhelpful, providing circular responses
Considering escalation to Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, viewing the situation as potential theft
Suggested Resolution Steps:
Proactively submit business documentation (registration, supplier invoices, shipping proof) via existing support ticket to expedite the review
Publicly contact @ShopifySupport on X (Twitter) for visibility and potential escalation
Status: Unresolved and ongoing, with the merchant expressing extreme frustration over the communication blackout and lack of actionable guidance.
Summarized with AI on October 24.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
Just over 3 weeks ago I accepted payment in my Shopify store and saw that my account access had been limited for payouts. I had never received any kind of notification by email about this so I reached out to support, which of course is terrible. Got no help at all and simply had somebody run me in circles, tell me that it was an investigation that they couldn’t tell me anything about and then I’d get an email response when it was finished. Absolutely refuse to tell me what was going on and now here I am over 3 weeks later, still not even an email that says what was going on or how I can fix it and whenever I reach out to support they just continue to say that the team that makes the decision can’t be contacted directly and will email me with a resolution. They keep getting my money but they’re not doing anything to help support me as a customer with a paying account.
They keep telling me that there’s nobody I can email or talk to and at this point it seems like they’re just dodging me because they could refuse to contact me forever. At this point I’m considering contacting the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office because this is in fact theft. They’re withholding money and giving me no method of getting it and refusing all attempts at communication. Anybody have any suggestions?
This is an incredibly stressful situation, and your frustration is completely justified. This is almost certainly a standard Shopify Payments risk review, which is often triggered automatically. The lack of communication from support is unacceptable, but the best approach is to be proactive.
The most effective way to resolve this is to give the internal risk team everything they need without waiting for them to ask. Gather your key business documents now: your business registration, invoices from your suppliers, and proof of shipping for the held orders. Reply directly to your existing email support ticket, state that you wish to expedite their review, and attach all of these documents.
If you still get no response after providing the documents, your next best step is to post a polite but firm message publicly to @ShopifySupport on X. Explain that your payouts have been held for over three weeks with no communication. Public visibility can often get your ticket escalated to the right team more quickly.
They won’t contact me. That’s the issue. NO INFO, NO NOTICE, NO COMMUNICATION… NOTHING! I ask and they say they don’t have the info but someone will email me. Hiding behind their complete futility and failure as a company. Customer service has been COMPLETE GARBAGE. I can’t even understand 90% of the reps I’m trying to talk to. No reply,no directions no effort at all. I’ll try other social media I guess
Thank you.