Shopify Support has gone from OK to absolutely HORRIBLE

Topic summary

Merchants report a dramatic decline in Shopify’s customer support quality, with many considering leaving the platform after years of use. The core complaints center on accessibility and competence:

Support Access Issues:

  • Phone support eliminated entirely; only chat available
  • Chat wait times exceeding 1+ hours
  • Callback option removed or grayed out
  • Support representatives perceived as outsourced, undertrained, or possibly AI-driven

Critical Business Impacts:

  • Multiple stores shut down without warning (5-7+ days), causing $15k+ in lost revenue
  • Account lockouts lasting months with no resolution despite 30+ escalations
  • Domain transfer issues preventing merchants from moving platforms
  • Price gouging accusations (hand sanitizers during pandemic) leading to immediate shutdowns

Support Quality Problems:

  • Representatives unable to answer basic questions or provide solutions
  • Repetitive, scripted responses and irrelevant questions
  • Cases escalated repeatedly with no follow-up from specialized teams
  • Incorrect information and lack of product knowledge

Additional Grievances:

  • Shopify Experts program: merchants report paying upfront for incomplete work with no refunds
  • One merchant claims a hired expert harassed customers on social media after negative review
  • Glitchy new chat interface requiring constant page refreshes

Many long-term users (4-10 years) express nostalgia for previous support quality and are actively migrating to competitors like BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, or Weebly. The discussion remains unresolved with ongoing frustration.

Summarized with AI on October 27. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.

Shopify Support IS HORIBLE

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