I will attached a ticket, one of the tens of tickets, all along the same lines, you come to your own conclusions about the criminal activities of Shopify’s trust and safety team.
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I would like to understand why our funds have been seized starting the 24th of July and have not yet been released even though we complied with the requests.
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An agent has joined the chat
04:34 *** (Support Advisor): Thank you for contacting Shopify! My name is ***, your Support Advisor for today!
04:36 *** (Support Advisor): Hi. Thank you so much for bringing this up with us. I’ve checked on your store and I was able to see that you were requested documents to verify your business as a reseller. Were you able to submit the documents?
04:36: So, how can I even explain this to you, we have been told basically to remove our products from sale, we did, and now we receive emails like this, that link to products ON OUR NEW STORE THAT DOES NOT OPERATE ON SHOPIFY, can you actually believe this
04:37: Quote from the email sent by you on the 24th of this month, with an attached 24-hour notice “If you are unable to provide the requested documentation you will need to remove the branded or trademarked product(s) from your Shopify storefront and all sales channels. Kindly note that if you decide to remove the branded or trademarked products from your store, you will still need to sign the attestation.
If we don’t receive the requested documentation, or the branded products are not removed by Jun 25, 2023, we may disable your account.”
So we IMMEDIATELY removed all the products as we had no intention to argue with anyone and support was not responding to help us upload the needed documentation
04:38: Yet, our funds are not only still seized, but we receive emails asking us for documents about products that we sell ON ANOTHER PLATFORM, what the hell is happening, is this an excuse to steal our money?
04:39 (Support Advisor): Just to set your expectations first, we Support Advisors are unable to see what is going on with our Trust and Safety Team especially with the documents being requested nor the contents of the e-mail. However, that is actually weird personally
04:39 (Support Advisor): Having to receive a notification about products that are not included
04:40: Thank you for your email.
Upon reviewing your store, there still appear to be a few products that require removal in order to be supportable on Shopify. For example: “two product links featured from another platform, not a Shopify store”
Kindly note that this may not be an exhaustive list of the branded or trademarked products in your store. Additionally, it is the merchant’s responsibility to identify and account for any products on their shop that may be branded or trademarked, and exhaustive lists cannot be provided by Shopify.
Please notify us by responding directly to this email once you have completely removed all brand name products or upload the following documents:
Invoices from the suppliers these products/brand name parts were purchased from such as Seiko
All of your documents will be handled securely, according to our Privacy Policy.
If we don’t receive the requested documentation by Jun 29, 2023, we may disable your account.
If you are unable to provide the requested documentation you will need to remove the branded or trademarked product(s) from your Shopify storefront and all sales channels. Kindly note that if you decide to remove the branded or trademarked products from your store, you will still need to sign the attestation.
If you have any questions about this request, please reply directly to this email.
Thank you,
Ari
Trust & Safety | Shopify
Ticket ID: 164615a9-6a8b-4074-a19b-d4546efcd***
04:40: Just to ask, were the products not been added to shopify at all?
04:40: This is the email we received today, the links are not from shopify products
04:41 (Support Advisor: I see. That really is from another store
04:41 (Support Advisor): I checked your domain and it is not connected
04:41 You can check yourselves people at [email removed]. are not responding to our emails, they threaten to disable our account tomorrow if we don’t “provide documentation” of products not sold on their platform unless we “remove the products” which we did 3 days ago
04:43 (Support Advisor): Thank you so much for these details
04:43 (Support Advisor): To be honest, even I would question this out because the domain is not really connected to Shopify
04:43 (Support Advisor): By the way, you are not using “domain” as your domain right? Because it is used as the primary domain of your store
04:43 (Support Advisor): This might be the reason why our team still tags this as the issue
04:44 : what is this joke, and the only people responding to us say that “Oh it’s not our department” Are you out of your mind, that is 6000 euros stolen right there that is vital capital for our business, that even if Shopify decided to not treat as such, is a legitimate business with artisans on the payroll and suppliers to be paid, obligations that we won’t be able to comply to unless we receive our funds
04:44: it’s disconnected from the store what are you talking about
04:44 (Support Advisor): It is still included within your store
04:45: should we change domain name because shopify lost their minds? and can’t even check if a website is built on their platform
04:45: You can call disconnected included if you like
04:46: here you go, not “included anymore”
04:46 (Support Advisor): IT is still connected but it is not pointed. There is a difference between pointing it to Shopify and connecting it to your store
04:46 (Support Advisor): Look, I know that you are frustrated and mad about what is happening especially when you complied with what our team has provided. However, I really want to help you out and I am just giving you the benefit of the doubt. I was setting my expectations earlier but I would still reach out to our team about this.
04:46: so now you are saying that we are going to receive our funds? and they were kept because the disconnected, deactivated account was still on the dashboard?
04:47 (Support Advisor): No. I told you earlier that we don’t have any information about this. That is why I need to reach out to our team on your behalf since you said they are not responding
04:48 : It’s been 4 days of absolute madness, not only we had to migrate within 24 hours but we got robbed of 6 thousand euros, plus all the funds we had to invest on the team who this the hasty migration and the SEO hindered by such a process, do you understand? And we keep getting bullied by these “risk management people” who do not respond to our emails, do not seem to understand what they’re asking, nor what the response they receive is
04:49 : Why in the world are they not responding do you think this is how people should get treated?
04:49 : It’s very easy to say it’s another department and the other department doesn’t respond, what are we supposed to do
04:51 (Support Advisor): No. This is not how I personally want our merchants to be treated because I am a business owner once. That is the reason why I feel what you feel. I had this experience before when I was selling clothes. It was very unpleasant and inconvenient process. That is the reason why I want to help you out. Even though this is really handled by our Trust and Safety Team that us support advisors do not have any information within, I still want to reach out to our team about this case so that we would be able to determine as to how you can proceed from here. We would explain what has happened especially with the details you have given me so that we would know why you are still experiencing this issue
04:54 : We have been given an instruction that was absolutely unfair and unreasonable and we still complied to it. Damaging our business greatly, on top of that a vital portion of our funds have been seized and have not been released even under the comply of the requests made by shopify itself, that is what has happened and I’m sickened by it, in 7 years of ecommerce I had never experienced something like this and I can’t wait to never see this logo load in front of my eyes ever again
04:55 System: Agent was disconnected
04:55 System: “support agent 2” joined the chat
04:55 (Support Advisor): Thanks for reaching out to Shopify Support. My name is ****. How are you? I’m here to help you with any concerns you might have.
04:55 : that is what happened and please make the “trust and safety team” what a funny name, know, since they are so trustworthy and safe that they do not even dignify us with a response to our emails
04:56 Wrist Modding: Oh ****, you have a handful to catch up with, another of your colleagues has given up apparently, take your time and fasten your belt
04:56 (Support Advisor): Hi there, **** 
04:56 Jeff (Support Advisor): Thanks, I am trying to catch up.
04:56 Wrist Modding: It’s ******** by the way, that’s my name
04:57 (Support Advisor): Thanks *******, I am here to help.
04:58 (Support Advisor): It seems (support agent 1) lost connection from the chat session. I am now reviewing your chat conversation.
04:58: It’s been 4 days of people trying to help and you can see by yourself the results, we still appreciate the effort
04:58: sure
05:08 (Support Advisor): Thanks so much, we appreciate your patience.
05:09 System: The guest has kept the chat open
05:09: You’re welcome
05:12 (Support Advisor): Still checking on this, bear with me as I am still trying to catch up.
05:12: ok
05:17 (Support Advisor): Thanks, I can imagine the frustration you went through all out the process, I also personally sent a message to ***, to collaborate with him and have this to follow up to the dedicated team that handles your case. Please bear with us.
05:18: I’ve been told this for 4 days
05:19: And no I don’t think you can imagine what not being able to pay your employees and suppliers for a platform’s “safety and trust team” quirk means
05:25 (Support Advisor): I know where you are coming from *******, I am an employee who’s getting paid by my employer and I would feel frustrated if I would not get my payment on time. Rest assured I am with you on this.
05:25 (Support Advisor): I am also now coordinating with our back end supports to help out on this one.
05:25: Thank you
05:26: please do, all the requests your customers have realized to the “trust and safety” have been obviously ignored, and our own requests are as well
05:34 : so how do we stand? what actions are to be taken?
05:37(Support Advisor): Yes, I have reviewed the previous tickets and I am doing everything on my power to help you on this one. I see you are in this business for a long time and you already submitted the necessary requirements asked by our dedicated team. I am reaching right now to our dedicated team to follow up on your case.
05:38 : well, let’s hope this goes somewhere, we are exhausted and people are suffering from it
05:39 (Support Advisor): I perfectly understand and I will assure you I am with you on this, Adelajda.
05:39 : thanks
05:41 (Support Advisor): I appreciate your patience, while I am working on to follow up on your case and requesting it to be on prior, can I verify if you have check on the emails today and did not received any responses yet?
05:42 (Support Advisor): Kindly confirm that you already checked on the Spam or Junk folders?
05:43 : we have received an email at 2am, an email saying we needed to submit documents or remove from our store these two products (links to two products not on shopify’s platform)
thay are not even on shopify, they don’t even know what their platform looks like
05:44 : so yeah, we can’t miss something like that, we have received it and responded to it both via email (emails that will get ignored) and from the Shopify dashboard
05:48 (Support Advisor): Thanks for confirming, please bear with me I have sent follow-ups regards to your case and I am waiting for their response.
05:49 : ok
05:55 (Support Advisor): I am still waiting from someone on the Dedicated Team to respond on my message.
05:55 (Support Advisor): While I am it, wanted to take a moment to check in and make sure that our connection is active. Can you kindly send any responses to keep our chat session.
05:55 : yes I’m here
05:56 : I will stay tuned for however long is needed
05:57 (Support Advisor): Thanks for being more patience, Adelajda.
05:57 : I’ll do what is needed to end this
06:07 (Support Advisor): Thank you.
06:08 System: The guest has kept the chat open
06:08 (Support Advisor): Can you send me any response to prevent us from disconnection due to inactivity, still I am waiting a feedback form the dedicated team.
06:09 : sure
06:09 (Support Advisor): On the other hand, while we wait also checking again with our back end supports any other alternatives.
06:10 : thank you so much…
06:14 (Support Advisor): My pleasure to help.
06:17 (Support Advisor): As per checking with the back end supports our Trust and Safety Team only operates during business hours, probably reason why I still got no responses from them, meanwhile I am now sending a request now to have this case re-escalated and put on high priority. Please bear with me while waiting approval from our back end.
06:18 : sure and thank you again your work is much appreciated
06:20 (Support Advisor): Honestly I am with you on this one, Adelajda that is why I am doing my very best to have this in progress.
06:22 : I can tell you your effort is genuine and that you are doing all that is within our capabilities and not only but my team too don’t know how else to thank you!
06:25 (Support Advisor): Don’t mention it, ********. I am happy to help and extend my support on you.
06:26 : thanks
06:36 (Support Advisor): Thanks for holding, ******. I got a go signal and I will now going to have this put on the high priority list and rest assured that this will be taken care of, and I can assure you my support will not ends here on this chat session as I will personally monitor your case as well and keep you posted form time to time.
06:36 System: The guest has kept the chat open
06:37 : Please do as I trust you and your judgment
06:37 : and please do actually keep me posted as other collegues of yours have said so. but failed in following up as they dais
06:37 (Support Advisor): You can reach back to me through shopify inbox, please don’t worry as I will be sending you a follow up message to make sure we will cover everything for you. Please expect a message notification on your Support Inbox.
06:37 : said*
06:38 : fantastic, we stay in tough there thank you vey much
06:38 (Support Advisor): You got my WORDS, Adelajda..
06:39 (Support Advisor): Thank you so much for being the best part of Shopify and for reaching out to us today. Again, this is Jeff. Have a good day
06:39 System: Chat ended by agent
To this day not only nothing has been solved, but one creepy change to shopify’s “trust and safety” emails has appeared in the last one we received, the email that initiated everything ended with “If you are unable to provide the requested documentation you will need to remove the branded or trademarked product(s) from your Shopify storefront and all sales channels.”
Now the last email we received (the one linking to products NOT EVEN ON SHOPIFY) ends like this
“If we don’t receive the requested documentation by Jun 29, 2023, we may disable your account”
That’s a big omission right there, what happened to “or remove the products” which we did when requested to do so, since when we contacted support about the documentation needed we received NO responses so we just decided to remove everything from shopify, in order to get our last payments from here and move on, without the risk of getting deactivated, banned, or some absurdity like that, but why has the “trust and safety” team now omitted that second part? Are they lying to us, have they deceived us into doing something under the promise of closing this “dispute” to then not comply to their own words, stealing our money (now I will say stealing) and keeping on threatening and harassing us, since they expanded their jurisdictions to apparently asking about products not sold on their platform…
What is happening and what an embarrassment of a situation, we are so saddened and disappointed, this has really hurt us