Class action lawsuit for suspension of stores / loss of data without notice

[nextclean]

On Friday my store was suspended without notice. It took 3 days of chats, emails and calls until the risk team emailed me today, telling me my store was suspended but unable to tell me why.

We sell an EPA registered hypochlorous acid disinfectant by the gallon. The cheapest price online in Google shopping for a comparable product is $60, we sell it for $45. This was the price before covid-19, we didn't raise our prices. We did create new Shopify store a few months ago to sell it online (because we typically sell b2b locally). We spent a lot of money and time making the site and now I cannot access anything to take a back up or move it anywhere else.

Turns out that I'm not alone. I've read in this forums that there are many of you that woke up to their site suddenly suspended as well, some of you even spending/losing a lot more than we did.

Not being able to download client records or all the content and design isn't right.

This has caused financial harm to my business and to many of yours.

Claims I see as a paying customer:
- Shopify suspended sites without notice or clear reason, causing direct financial harm to businesses affected
- Shopify is holding hostage valuable business data including; client records, images, website and blog content without warning or clear reason causing direct financial harm
- Shopify markets a complete and secure platform without making it clear that you should backup all data since your site access can be suspended at anytime

The reason for this post is to get a feeling of how many were affected.

I'm going to be reaching out to my network to first see if a case can be made and if so, if it's worth it.

The more people that respond, the stronger the case will look.

So just reply saying your site was shutoff too, what you sold, how old your site was and how much you invested in it.

Mine was nextcleaner.com, 3.5 months old, sold EPA registered disinfectant cheaper than anywhere else, we invested about $12k in time and money setting everything up.

[doucelove]

@nextclean Thank you for putting this together. 

My site was angelicarehomellc.com , it was online for three weeks and I invested over $5k in web design, content purchase, and marketing for the site. In addition, shopify took money from my orders ($1500) and never paid out to me nor returned to the customer, and refused to release the payment. 

[bostonpublic]

same thing happened to me 5k down the drain. 

[WyzeShop]

I was affected as well. Www.wyzeshopper.con I suffered a lost of $1, 000.

[RocketLeather]

I had the same problem with my store Rocket Leather except that they stole my domain name.  See below one of many emails I received from Freya in their risk management department:

Freya (Shopify)
Jun 24, 2021, 20:52 EDT
Hello RJ,
Thank you for your reply. You are more than welcome to take this up with our legal team: legal@shopfy.com.
However, we did refund the domain to you, which means you do no longer own it. The domain does expire January 21st, 2022 which is when it will be available for purchase again from any buyer.
Regards,
Freya
Risk Analyst | Shopify

I lost thousands of dollars starting when they forced me to reverify myself.  

RJ

[Shop345]

Hi All, 

Thanks for putting this together. We are a company offering grocery delivery services in the Caribbean. We partnered with one of our local companies to sell their hand sanitizer and alcohol products on our site. We did have a small mark up, the same for all of our products since we do not keep inventory. We have the same mark up across all products. We received an email about the products and the products were removed. We understood that they needed proof with regards to purchase price and that was fine with us. However, a few days later, with the products removed, the website was then taken down. This was extremely frustrating. 

The website taken down was one thing, but then we were completely locked out of the shopify portal containing all of our sales data. We were completely locked out. No email, no warning, no response. Numerous chats with support and we kept getting told that it was escalated. The shopify team does not appear to have the capacity to "investigate" the cases they are flagging. We have not been able to conduct business for other products for a week now with absolutely no contact from the shopify team. 

I'm not sure what will come out of these but I'm disappointed. I have no issue with companies carrying out their policies but no communication is unacceptable. 

[Wildjune]

Who is going to take the initiative to sue these **bleep**? I've been with Shopify for 5 years and they just shut down my store. No warning. I am US based. I make handmade products. No outsourcing or anything like that. No fraudulent charges or chargebacks, NOTHING. This is WRONG. Shopify needs to be taken down and banned from the US. PERIOD. I am so pissed. 

[jk2323]

Did anyone take action?? 

[Anonymousowner]

Do you know of an official form to submit a formal complaint and take part in any class action? 

Shopify is now holding funds for a standard account review. Customers can still checkout, but we as merchants will not be paid out. A standard review should take place before we are even allowed to sell, not only when we have accumulated funds.

The worse part is that the timeline for the review seems subjective and is not being handled in a timely matter which will basically suck up all of our cash and put into their hands just before their earnings release. Without a timeline for this "standard review", I have to wonder why they might hold funds for any other reason then to generate cash on their end.

I hope I am wrong. Please share your experiences and let me know if anyone else is interested in documenting their experience on a web form.

[Mballard]

I just discovered that my store has been blocked. Back in January I accepted an offer from shopify to participate in the Shopify Capital program. At the time I qualified for $4,000 in Shopify Capitol. Two months later, the pandemic hit and all sales and POS opportunities disappeared. I received a call from Shopify demanding payment in full. I explained that all of our sources of revenue had dried up and we were applying for loans, grants, unemployment and whatever we could find. My partner and I worked hard to find the right pivot and produce a product that would sell and by June started to see a slow but sure climb in our sales. Since June, our sales continue to increase and our fees are being paid back. We received an email with an offer to settle our shopify capital for $1500 less that what we owe. Busy, fulfilling orders and not having $2500 floating around to give them, we just continued filling orders. Today, they have locked our store without warning. In the agreement that I signed, nowhere did it say that I must pay back in any other form that the percentage of sales. In the email that they sent prior to today, nowhere did it say that if we didn't agree to their new terms that they would lock our store. Now, they have cut our life line and have caused major damage to our AfterPay promo that started today. I'm not sure what to do.

[doucelove]

@Mballard welcome to the dark side of shopify that they do not mention in all their ads. I have been trying to get my problem solved with them since Jan and they just keeping sending me in a circle. 

[L_m222]

Hey guys!

I’m wondering why it now takes so long to receive any Shopify help.? Is any body else having issues with this?  I’m finding it very difficult to get in touch with anyone. When I do they say 3 working days they will email me but it’s now been 9 days and no email.
One thing I loved about Shopify initially was the prompt help you received. Being able to speak to someone and have Shopify assistance at your fingertips with no delays or waits.
It has changed dramatically from what I’m experiencing now and this makes me concerned with Shopify moving forward. They are holding my customer payments. Not getting in touch with me like they’re doing a runner?! Something is seriously wrong. !

I’m never one to complain but when trying to run a business and not getting the support you need is truly disappointing. 
Open to suggestions or ideas on how to get in touch with a real person. ? Should I close my account with them? I’m feeling this may be the inevitable solution. 🙄

Kindly,

L
Australia

[qbcdef]

Its been bad for me as well. Used to be the best 

[Stephtopo]

This just happened to me too, almost a month and $16k they withheld for no reason.  I am researching class action because their pathetic frontline customer support says they have Che led and can’t honor my request for reimbursed processing fees.  Please contact me for more info. 

[qbcdef]

I didn't get my money for a month but the payouts showed paid to me. When finally looked into it they had sent the money elsewhere. 2 different account numbers that I didn't provide. Money is gone 

[jk2323]

Was a class action filed? Did you get your money back??

[peterbeachin]

We need a legal firm that takes on actions of this kind. They cannot be treated like they own and control our intellectual property, our businesses and our incomes 

[PhoenixReign]

I am in process of filing complaints with consumer affairs, securities exchange for unlawful lending & business practices, & the California Attorneys General for unlawful business & lending practices, as well as discrimination. 

I am also contacting my attorney. 

[nextclean]

Can you tell us more about what happened that led you to take these actions?

[gunners]

I'm in the same position in California as well. Now I am unable to see my store, and the money I was "supposed" to be able to withdraw according to support.

[Begrateful4257]

Hi PhoenixReign,

How to get in touch with you?

I'm in SoCal. LA.

[nextclean]

Why are you trying to contact PhoenixReign?

[qbcdef]

My money was paid to someone else $55,000

. 2 different accounts ts and I won't get my money back. They suggested I hire a lawyer. I am devastated, now they are holding $20,000 because payment is failing.

It seems that they hold a lot of money from a lot of people for way too long for no reason whatsoever. 

I reached out to the legal department hopefully someone there will realize how completely distorted this story is. Truly not to be believed .

[avenuewatchs]

My shop was closed for no reason 

[qbcdef]

https://www.bbb.org/ca/on/ottawa

[jk2323]

Hello! Was the issue resolved?

[fala]

How did this go for you ? We are considering the same 

[lawon]

Hi, unfortunately, I was unable to pursue this due to the complex nature of finding legal representation because of jurisdictions, cost etc
In the end, I just put my head down and re-invested in another ecommerce store business using other providers
THis is not what I would have liked to happen but I had absolutely no help or replies from the community either - It was very clear to me that I was all alone -
I thought that I had to reply to your enquiry at the very least - that is more than what I got, I got no replies to my questions, no one offered any help or even advice or even just an update such as this one!
All the same, I wish you good luck and the best in whatever troubles you are encountering.

Regards
CF

[HeatherMay]

Did you ever get anything going with this? They just sponsored my favorite e-sports players, and I'm having a hard time seeing them talk about how amazing Shopify is when last year, Shopify closed a store I put a ton of work into giving me no recourse to recover the site or even a way of seeing the data from my site. They acted like my sales (primarily B2B) made my account too risky. I had the purchasing manager from a large and reputable organization willing to send an email/call someone on my behalf to verify their purchases through my business, but there was never an option. 

[Hondzilla]

They did this to me too. Won’t respond or give me my payouts or documents.

[Vayro]

Same exact problem.  Any legal action we can take?

[juliewegener]

I’ve been in a “standard review” with payouts “paused” as well. I don’t get it...I thought Shopify was my partner in a new business, I chose Shopify, and instead I’m now afraid of how their actions can at whim cause me unnecessary harm. This is completely unacceptable. In a class action there would have to be consideration of interest on withheld revenues and lost income due to withheld capital.

[Jakobgrb]

My store was also blocked without warning we sold trend products and on my Shopify account were at the time about 20.000€

[ahamshif]

Did you get an email saying your store was blocked?

[Hondzilla]

Nope, no reason. Just out of the blue my store was deleted. I’ve been waiting months to get copies of my sales etc for tax purposes this year. Shopify will not respond regarding that store. Once tax season hits if I haven’t heard anything I’m going to contact Oliver law group to handle the class action suit. I’m not sure how many people Shopify has pushed around and done this to but I guarantee it stops with me. I don’t care how much it costs to pursue this lawsuit because at this point if something doesn’t happen a lot more people are going to suffer