Shopify support ignores for weeks? Escalating...

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A store owner’s Shopify account was terminated after Shopify Payments flagged suspected policy violations and repeatedly rejected supplier invoices, despite the invoices containing all requested information (supplier name, business address, item details, pricing, bank details) in PDF format.

Key Issues:

  • Initial invoice rejections cited vague reasons like “not a screenshot from spreadsheet” and missing information that was actually present
  • After second rejection, the store was terminated
  • Attempts to open a new store resulted in immediate termination within 3 days
  • Support has been unresponsive for 3+ weeks despite multiple “escalations”

Current Status:

  • No contact from Shopify’s Trust & Safety or Risk teams
  • Support agents acknowledged false flags are common and difficult to resolve
  • Agents reportedly suggested circumventing security systems, indicating they lack power to resolve the issue
  • The owner successfully operates 10 similar client stores (5 exceeding $50k revenue) with identical products and suppliers, suggesting inconsistent enforcement

Community Suggestions:

  • Ensure invoices are system-generated from official supplier platforms
  • Avoid opening new stores during active reviews
  • Use Partner Dashboard if applicable
  • Maintain detailed records and reference original ticket numbers

The discussion remains unresolved with no clear path forward.

Summarized with AI on October 27. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Hi! I’ve recently had an issue with one of my stores getting terminated.

TLDR: My store was terminated due to suspected infringement of policy that ensures no scam business activity is being made with Shopify stores. First, shopify payments paused my payouts and demanded invoice. I gave full-proof legit invoice from my supplier outlining everything shopify asked me for (supplier name, business address, item quantity, item price, shipping price, country of destination, bank details).

But that invoice was rejected multiple times. Even though support agents ensured me everything would be fine if i resubmitted it again.
First reject: “Please note we need an invoice form your supplier rather than a screenshot from a spreadsheet.”
Second reject of appeal: "Please note we require an invoice from your supplier, showing supplier name, product names, dates of transaction as well as the amounts."

ALL WHILE MY INVOICE HAS ALL THE INFO, IT IS JUST IN PDF FORMAT.

Now going forward, the store of course got terminated after 2nd upload of documents. I reached out to support → “escalated” multiple times → nothing. Ignored for weeks.
I thought starting a new store is a great idea, moving slower and steady. 3 days later - store terminated straight up.
Shopify asks for the same info - gave them new invoice for that store. Ignored
Reached out to support agents → “escalation” is my favorite word now → no action taken.

I am supposed to be contacted via email but it’s been a total for 3 weeks of complete “escalation” and no actions were taken, nobody contacted me.
I don’t understand why support exists if the best solution is to ignore a storeowner after a few emails?

2

Hi,

That does sound incredibly frustrating, especially when you’re trying to do everything right and provide exactly what’s being asked.

From what you’ve shared, it looks like you’re stuck in one of those cases where Shopify’s Trust & Safety or Risk team is reviewing everything internally and not routing through regular support channels anymore. Once things are escalated to those teams, it’s common to experience long silence periods, as the frontline support team doesn’t have access to override or speed up those reviews.

Here are a few things you might try if you haven’t already:

1. Make sure your invoices are system-generated from the supplier
Sometimes, even well-prepared PDFs get flagged if they appear to be self-made or not exported from official invoicing systems. If the invoice came from a platform like Alibaba, Faire, or a known distributor with a traceable transaction history, that may help.

2. Avoid creating new stores during an open case
Opening new stores while an existing one is under review can actually trigger further reviews or automatic flags. Even if the intention is clean, the system may see it as an attempt to bypass a restriction.

3. Contact via the Partner Dashboard if you’re a Shopify Partner
If you’re listed as a partner, you can try opening a new ticket from your partner account. It might route you differently than the normal support path.

4. Use the original ticket number in follow-ups
If you have a reference number from the original escalation, always include that when you check in. Even repeating the same message with the original thread ID can help it surface again.

5. Keep records and remain consistent
Since these cases often go to a specialized internal team, consistency and clarity in your records (like timestamps, email responses, document copies) can help if you ever need to explain things again.

You’re definitely not alone in feeling this way. Hopefully, this gets picked up soon, but if you’re still stuck after this long, you might consider requesting a formal written explanation via email so you at least know the final status and whether the account is permanently restricted.

Hope something here helps get you a clearer outcome.

3

UPD: Shopify still ignores. Support agents told me that it is normal to get falsely flagged for suspicious activity and it is hard to get out of this. Since I’ve shared that I operate with 10 similar stores of my clients selling the same products and same supplier + fulfillment pipeline and having 30-40k revenue no issues, they straight up suggested circumventing shopify security systems since I probably would not get a response at all. This is getting ridiculous.

Big takeaway from this is that once they removed email support and put shopify support agents only - support is nonexistent. Nobody either has any power to help/check info required for your case or cares at all to spend time “escalating” and reaching out to respective teams.

4

Just to be clear, I also operate 10 similar stores selling exactly same products with exactly the same supplier. 5/10 stores are way past 50k revenue and no issues there. So there seems to be a bias towards my personal stores for whatever reason