Core Issue:
Multiple Shopify merchants report having their payouts frozen for extended periods (30-60+ days) during account reviews, with substantial amounts withheld ($40,000-$60,000+). The original poster faces potential lawsuits from landlords and employees due to inability to pay bills while funds remain inaccessible.
Common Experiences:
Merchants receive generic “funds on hold” notifications with no explanation
Daily contact with support yields only reassurances that cases are “being escalated” or “worked on”
No concrete timelines or resolutions provided
Support teams reportedly unable to provide account-specific assistance or access case notes
Multiple escalation attempts produce no results
Business Impact:
Inability to pay rent, employees, or suppliers
Forced to stop advertising and cancel orders
Risk of bankruptcy for new businesses
One merchant considering legal action
Status:
No resolutions reported in this thread. Official Shopify responses direct users to contact support directly—the same channel merchants report as ineffective. The discussion remains open with ongoing complaints and no confirmed successful outcomes.
Summarized with AI on November 2.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
I’m reaching out today as a new business owner selling electric scooters with a physical store, and I’m in urgent need of assistance. My payouts from Shopify Payments have been on hold for 45 days while they review my account, and over $40,000 is currently being withheld. Although this review is standard and customers can still check out, this hold is having a severe impact on my ability to sustain my business.
I’ve saved all my life to open this business, and it was my dream to make it a reality. Now, I’m facing potential lawsuits from my landlord and my employees because I cannot pay them due to this prolonged delay. Every time I contact Shopify Support through chat, I’m assured that someone will reach out to me, but it’s been 45 days, and I’ve received no concrete resolution.
Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you resolve it? I’m looking for advice and support as I navigate this incredibly stressful situation. I hope to get this sorted quickly, as my business and employees depend on it.
hank you for reaching out to the Community. I’m happy to provide some guidance on this request, to ensure it gets resolved.
If you haven’t done so already, I’d encourage you to connect with us directly. This will allow you to follow up with us on your open ticket, as we’re unable to provide account-specific support via the Shopify Community. We will also be able to confirm the appropriate steps have been taken to ensure this gets resolved as quickly as possible.
If you have followed up with our advisor team already and it has been advised that your ticket is being worked on, then you will want to wait for our reply. While I can completely understand how that may not be ideal, our support teams are working as quickly as possible to ensure this gets resolved.
Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.
Thank you for your response. I want to clarify that I’ve been contacting Shopify Support every single day for the past 45 days, but unfortunately, all I’ve received are apologies and assurances that the team is working on my case. This prolonged delay is having a devastating impact on my business and employees.
Tomorrow is our rent payment deadline, and I need to pay my employees as well. With over $40,000 being withheld, I have no means to cover these critical expenses. We’re now facing lawsuits, and this unresolved issue threatens our ability to continue operating.
I urgently need this resolved, as my business is hanging by a thread. Please escalate this matter to a team that can provide concrete action immediately. My employees, my business, and I depend on this.
I’ve been trying to address this issue for 45 days now, only to be met with reassurances that my case is being handled by customer support based in the Philippines, who cannot provide the necessary assistance. New businesses need to be aware that there is a real risk of bankruptcy due to this delay.
I must share my story with the media. I am an ordinary person with no criminal record who served in the army. Because Shopify has not taken action, I’m now facing severe consequences, potentially losing everything I’ve worked so hard to build.
I urge you to resolve this immediately. Your inaction has put my business and livelihood at risk, and I’m at the point of no return.
Have you had a resolution yet? we are in a similar situation and will be more than happy to connect and talk about it with you or any media. We made acquired a store and now are seriously regretting being on shopify.
Was this ever resolved? We just received the ‘Funds on hold, Customers can still checkout and to contact support for the next steps.’ So far it’s been 2 days of contacting support and no resolution and no idea why there even is as a hold as supposedly there are no notes as to why funds would be on hold & now they say “Support Advisor): I just received a notification from our team that their channel is closed as of the moment and will continue their operations tomorrow.” How is it possible it’s closed on a Thursday at 2PM EST? We cannot run a business this way.
While I wouldn’t have any insight regarding the hold, I can confirm that connecting with us directly would be the correct steps. Please feel free to follow up with us if you haven’t done so already, as this will allow us to ensure the correct steps are being taken to get this resolved. We wouldn’t however, be able to share a time frame on when you can expect to receive a reply. Rest assured, our teams are working hard to review and resolve holds as quickly as possible.
Please let me know if you have any troubles connecting with us.
I already have connected with support directly. They have given me the same generic answer I have seen others with the same situation receiving with no resolve or resolution. Us business owners are expected to give our customers prompt customer service and solutions as fast as possible and us in return as customers to Shopify are not receiving the same prompt and actual resolve and resolution to an issue & it is truly disheartening. A company of this size should actually have a 24-48 hour turn around time to something like this. How are we supposed to run a business when the funds we need to operate our businesses are put on hold with no communication and no resolution. You receive a paycheck to answer us in this thread from your job and we have our funds on hold with no email as to why, With no communication & with no true “escalation” timeline.
Hey man, I have the same problem now for 30 days. They olding all our money, we can’t invest no more, we had to stop running our ads and cancel a bunch of orders.
Finaly ? Did you get your money back ?
How it was at the end?
Have the same problem, my payouts are on hold for since 3 weeks. When I contact the chat they always say the same thing " need to be escalated " need to prioritize" “need to put as urgent”… They are useless but I keep contacting them every SINGLE day.
My friend has the same issue, since one month no news. As you and me.
Let me know if you get a reply from the Risk Support Team
