Wait! Teka! Bago ka mag-basa, nais ko lang sabihin na hindi ako gumawa ng anything illegal using my account. Wala akong pang-aabusong ginawa, at wala akong alam sa kung bakit biglang naisipan ng Shopee na i-limit ang account ko. Ang artikulong ito ay para sa mga kapwa kong users ng Shopee na biglang na-limit ang account kahit wala naman silang kasalanan, hindi para depensahan yung mga talaga namang nag-abuso sa Shopee.

Bago tayo lumayo, ano ba ang common na dahilan sa kung bakit naba-ban or nali-limit ang access sa Shopee? Ito ang sagot ng Shopee diyan (<strong>Paunawa:</strong> ako lang ang gumawa ng description sa mga 'yan at hindi ibig sabihin na 100% accurate 'yan):
  • Fake Order Creation
    Maa-award sa iyo ito kung nag-order ka tapos hindi mo ike-claim, or kapag nag-order ka tapos natanggap mo na, then sasabihin mo hindi mo pa natatanggap.
  • Shopee Voucher Abuse*
    Sapul ka kapag inabuso mo yung pag-gamit ng voucher nila, to the point na wala ka nang binayaran—dinaan mo na lang sa kava-voucher.
  • Subsidy and Rebates Abuse*
    Hit ka dito kapag gumagamit ka ng Cashback or any other third-party apps na nagbibigay sayo ng extra para ipambili mo sa Shopee tapos na-abuse.
  • Scam
    Either ikaw yung promotor ng scam or bahagi ka sa pag-gawa ng scam tapos nalaman ng Shopee. Maaaring kabilang din dito yung pag-tatransact outside of Shopee for products na listed sa Shopee.
  • Shopee Coins Abuse*
    Kapag in-abuse mo naman yung pag-gamit ng coins to the point na puro ka na lang coins, tapos 'di ka naman din nagse-spend ng real cash sa Shopee, asahan mo nang bi-bingo ka dito.</li>
  • Free Shipping Abuse*
    Makukuha mo 'to pag panay ng panay ang gamit mo ng free shipping ng Shopee, tapos sinabay mo pa sa pa-coins mo or additional discount voucher.
  • Multiple Accounts
    Bawal gumawa ng multiple accounts dahil mali naman na talaga 'yon. Pang-aabuso na sa promos ng Shopee ang pagkakaroon ng multiple accounts. 'Pag guilty ka dito, 'wag ka nang pumalag.</li>
Ang problema kasi talaga dito is, hindi dinefine ni Shopee ng mahusay ang mga items na 'yan sa policies nila. Yung mga may asterisk (*) diyan sa list ay problematic dahil sa term na "abuse". Dahil hindi klaro sa mga customer ng Shopee 'yang mga terms na 'yan at kung kailan at paano naga-apply yung "abuse", lahat ng action ng users ay actually pwedeng ma-label as "abusive" kahit hindi naman talaga, basta ma-justify lang ng Shopee sa end nila. Unfair 'yon sa consumers/users.

So, bakit ako na-limitan ng account? Ayun na nga... Hindi ko din alam. At dahil diyan, magkukwento ako. Hehehe.

Huli akong nag-order sa Shopee noong May 14 at nagbayad ako via ShopeePay like I always do. I top up my ShopeePay via GCash and 7/11 lang and it's been this way since the time na nag-register ako sa Shopee. Gumamit ba ako ng voucher sa last transaction ko? Opkors. Gumamit ba ako ng Shopee coins? Opkors din. They let me use them, so I use them. It's as simple as that. It's not like nandadaya ako para magka-coins and vouchers or gumagamit ako ng black magic para ma-apply ko sila sa orders ko. Lahat ng 'yan, nagagamit ko dahil ina-allow ako ng Shopee through their app/system. At ilang panahon ko na ding ginagawa 'yan.

Ilang oras after kong makapagtransact sa last na order ko sa Shopee, aba! Biglang may email ako na ang may subject na "Access to your Shopee account has been limited." At ito ang laman ng email:

Hi ######,
We have limited your access to some Shopee account features.

Please see the terms and conditions of our services via https://shopee.ph/legaldoc/termsOfService/ .

If you have any concerns regarding this, please contact us at help.shopee.ph or 02 880 5200 in the next 30 days to address our concerns; otherwise, your account will be permanently suspended.

Cheers,
Shopee Team

Hindi ko pa agad nakita yung email ng Shopee na 'yan. Kinabukasan, nung in-access ko na yung account, may notice na nag-pop out sa screen ko saying the same thing: na limited nga daw ang account ko due to violation of their policies.

Sa pagkaka-alala ko, wala naman akong ginawang anything wrong sa Shopee. I transacted like I normally do, and have availed of their promotions like a regular user would. So curious talaga ako sa kung anong nangyari sa account ko. I wanted to know about my violation. So I contacted Shopee Customer Care via email (since hindi available at that time yung Live Chat nila) to inquire about my account limitation.

They responded with this:

Hi,
Good day!

Thank you for sending an email to Shopee Philippines. My name is Sheila, and our team is currently reviewing your concern. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We will provide a more substantive response to your problem and a suitable solution.

Thank you for using Shopee Philippines!

Should you need further assistance, you can reach us through the following Shopee Customer Service channels:

Chat Support (Shopee App Help Centre) - 24/7

Hotline - (02) 8 880-5200
Monday to Sunday (9:00 AM to 6:00 PM)

Best Regards,
Sheila

Then I replied:

When should I expect a response from your team?

Tapos wala nang reply. So naghintay ako hanggang Sabado sa response nila, pero wala at nainip na ako. Triny kong makipag-chat with their Support Agent via Live Chat, at matiyaga namang sumagot yung customer representative nila.

Wala akong copy ng transcript ng chat namin, pero basically, nagtatanong ako sa kung bakit bigla-biglang ni-limit ni Shopee yung account ko. I've told the support na wala akong ma-recall na ginawa kong mali, at kung meron man silang na-capture na ginawa kong illegal, bigyan nila ako ng clear explanation regarding my violation dahil hindi ko matanggap na kine-claim nilang may violation ako pero wala naman silang pinapakitang detalye or proof.

Sa pag-uusap namin ng customer rep nila (I forgot her name already), sabi niya na ang violation ko daw is concerning vouchers and naka-flag daw sa system nila na "no appeal". Pero hindi daw niya pwedeng i-disclose sa akin yung further information about my violation sa policies nila kasi hindi daw sya authorized to do it, and kung gagawin nya, siya naman daw ang mape-penalize. I got mad for like 2 seconds until na-remind ako na customer rep lang sya at hindi nya kasalanan yung nangyari. Pero hindi ako satisfied na ganon na lang 'yon! May violation daw ako? Then prove it. Violation ko tapos hindi ko pwedeng malaman?! Ano daw 'yon?! Give me what I need! Kagaya nga ng sabi ni Piolo, "I deserve an explanation! I need an acceptable reason!" LOL.

Well, the nice lady promised me naman na ie-escalate daw nya yung complaint ko sa team na naghahandle ng such complaints. And she flagged my ticket as urgent daw. And ang sabi ko sa kanya, hindi ako mananahimik hanggang hindi nila binabalik sa dati yung account ko. Mumultuhin ko sila! Pero 'wag ka, willing akong gawin talaga 'yan. Hehehe.

And so I waited for their response within the day, pero wala akong natanggap. Pinalipas ko na lang muna. Kinabukasan, they emailed me this:

Hi ######,
Good day!

We know that you really want to determine the main reason why our in charge team decided to penalized your account as part of our Seller's / Buyer's Performance Monitoring. We would like to inform you that this is a system generated data, wherein all unusual activity has been automatically recorded. You may simply check the Terms of Service https://shopee.ph/docs/3586 under section 5.3 wherein it clearly explains the reason for the action.

We highly suggest to always follow our Community Rules and Guidelines in Shopee to avoid this incident.

Should you have concerns other than this, kindly send us a separate email. If you wish to thank us for our service or would like to share your feedback on how we assisted you, please do so through the customer feedback survey you will be receiving.

For further assistance, you may also reach us through the following Shopee Customer Service channels:

Chat Support (Shopee App Help Centre) - 24/7

Hotline - (02) 8 880-5200
Monday to Friday (7:00 AM to 7:00 PM)
Saturday to Sunday (9:00 AM to 6:00 PM)

Best regards,
Coreen
Shopee Team

And ito ang naging response ko:

Hello.

Well, this does not answer any of my concerns with your decision to limit my account. I am asking for the exact reason for limiting my account, not a reiteration of what's already obvious. I have reviewed that same document you gave above, but I didn't find anything there which I've violated.

I wish you would just limit the use of vouchers/coins/whatever if you don't want your users to "abuse" them, instead of setting your users for failure for allowing them to avail your promotions and then limiting their accounts after use. Your system is the problem, not the users. So don't put the blame on us. For the record, your policies don't even have a clear definition of what "abuse" is.

I still wish to know the details of my violation and I need proof for it. You can't just ban people claiming they have violated your policies without providing an explanation and without presenting proof. I would complain to DTI for this abuse from Shopee's end if you won't fix this. And I'll file for complaint if you won't provide a valid explanation for my case in your next response or if should you choose not to respond.

Mainit! 🔥 Oo, mainit ang ulo ko nung tinype ko 'yan. Ang gulo na nga ng mundo dahil sa COVID-19, dumagdag pa itong Shopee sa iniisip ko. Hehehe. Hindi na sila nag-reply pa sa akin noong Linggo matapos kong i-send 'yan.

Kinabukasan, naisipan nilang sumagot sa akin. Ito ang sabi:

Hi ######,

Good day!

Thank you for your response.

We regret to inform you that based on our system and manual checks, your account has been flagged as “high risk” and has thus, been suspended. Please be reminded that the following behaviors in any form are strictly prohibited on Shopee:

• Fake order creation
• Shopee voucher abuse
• Subsidy and rebates abuse
• Scams
• Shopee coins abuse
• Free Shipping Abuse
• Multiple accounts

For more information, please refer to Shopee policies and Shopee community rules.

http://shopee.ph/docs/3720

Should you need further assistance, you can reach us through the following Shopee Customer Service channels:

Chat Support (Shopee App Help Centre) - 24/7

Hotline - (02) 880-5200
Monday to Friday (7:00 AM to 7:00 PM)
Saturday and Sunday (9:00 AM to 6:00 PM)

Best regards,
Coreen
Shopee Team

Whoa! "High risk"! Big word! High risk na pala ako for transacting regularly via Shopee. High risk pala yung account ko for being active. High risk na pala yung account ko for using the application honestly. At this point, obvious na wala pa rin silang sagot sa concerns ko about my account limitation. Ang gusto ko lang naman is i-prove nila na may violation ako and I would shut up. Pero they can't do that. And remember, I have warned them na kung hindi sila magpo-provide ng sufficient evidence regarding my violation, I would escalate my concern sa DTI. So I did.

Sakto I have learned from another Shopee user na nag-complain din sya sa DTI about sa sudden limitation sa account nya. And dahil pareho kami ng sentiments, na-encourage akong gawin na din yung ginawa nya. So as response sa Shopee:

Hello Shopee.

I am looping in DTI in this thread since your company has failed to provide me sufficient explanation as to why you have suspended my account. Note that producing a generic reply in your attempt to "prove" that I have violated anything in your policies does not prove anything. I have contacted you via customer support and email, but you keep giving me generic responses. I have no choice but to seek assistance from DTI on this regard.

Hello DTI Consumer Care.

I was a regular customer of Shopee PH and I cannot recall any violation that I did with regards to their policies. I have reviewed again and again the community rules (http://shopee.ph/docs/3720) and I cannot find there anything I have violated. I have sought for Shopee's assistance to point to me exactly the cause for my account suspension, but they have failed to provide me a detailed explanation concerning my account's sudden and unacceptable suspension.

Being a regular customer and user of Shopee, I have only used vouchers they have made available for use through their system, have only used coins they allow me to use, and transact with products they allow me to buy. Everything I did in Shopee has always been allowed and approved by their system. Suddenly, they have decided to limit/suspend/ban my account last Friday for no sufficient and valid reason.

In this regard, can you help Shopee customers like me who are having trouble arguing for our rights as consumers against Shopee PH? While Shopee helps many Pinoys on shopping for their needs, this kind of abuse from Shopee should not be tolerated as it goes against consumer rights. Please help. Thanks.

Well, DTI did not respond. And Shopee has closed my ticket na din. Pero suprisingly, I got this email from Shopee kanina lang:

Hi ######,

We are excited to inform you that your account limitation has been removed after a full review and now you can continue to enjoy our services.

We thank you for your patience during our review process and for helping us create a safe and enjoyable shopping environment for all our users.

If you need any further assistance, please feel free to contact us at help.shopee.ph or 02 880 5200.

Cheers,
Shopee Team

VICTORY! ⚔️ Hehehehe. Wala naman kasi talaga akong violation eh, bigla-bigla na lang nila akong ili-limit from using their app. Ayon nga sa isang show noong bata pa ako, "kung may katuwiran, ipaglaban mo!" I did and I won. Natakot kaya ang Shopee sa banta na habulin sila ng DTI? Or natakot sila sa banta na mumultuhin ko sila? Feeling ko sa second, pero 'di ko sure. 👻

Sa mga gustong mag-complain sa DTI ng abuse towards consumers ng online stores, send your concerns to:

Wala pa ring binibigay na explanation ang Shopee sa kung bakit ganon ang naging decision nila noong umpisa. Ang mahalaga, bumalik na sa normal yung account ko. Well, baka warning ni Lord sa akin 'to na tama na ang pago-online shopping. I prayed for the Lord to teach me to be content sa kung anong meron ako eh, mukhang yung limitation sa Shopee account ko yung answer. Hehehe.

O sya, nakuwento ko lang yung gusot namin ni Shopee no'ng nakaraang mga araw. Bati na kami ngayon. LOL! Inuulit ko lang: sinulat ko 'to para sa mga inosenteng na-suspend sa Shopee. Kung may illegal ka naman talaga ginawa, sa Shopee ka na magpaliwanag! 🤣 I hope maka-tulong ito sa iba pa na nahaharap din sa same na concern. Bye, friends!