Post #2246770

2026-05-07 05:08 UTC

“I&#39;m an AI assistant and don&#39;t have a manager.” — Shopify’s chatbot when I asked it to escalate my complaint to its manager. To which, in vain, I responded with: “You do too have a manager. It’s the person that is responsible for Shopify&#39;s AI assistants.” And so it begins: arguing with computers that are accountable to no-one. While we’re here, does anyone know of any good alternatives to Shopify? #Shopify #AI #AskFedi

Replies (4)

@Luke@typo.social 2026-05-07 05:37

@blag@typo.social time to get a tuk tuk and be a street vendor. I myself am moving away from shopify.

Open ##2310686
@AlexBlock@ottawa.place 2026-05-07 09:29

@blag@typo.social Soon, the only solution will be to arrive at the front desk in person to request assistance. Perhaps there will be a gig economy around sourcing local people to broker support requests. I'm in Ottawa. Got a Shopify question? I'll pick up your UberSupport gig and head on downtown to get face to face with Shopify to get an answer to your questions. Such is, what the world is coming to.

Open ##2310689
@homlett@mamot.fr 2026-05-07 15:11

@blag@typo.social That sucks… Time to be independent and choose FOSS. There are many options → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_shopping_cart_software WooCommerce is among the best alternatives to Shopify imo → https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce/ Also: “While Shopify kept promising to "arm the rebels," it was quietly doubling down on the customers who needed the least help and brought in the most money.” → https://thewalrus.ca/the-death-of-shopifys-start-up-dream-one-layoff-at-a-time/

Open ##2310690
@nickweisser@mastodon.social 2026-05-08 17:17

I’ve been fairly happy with Shopify AI / Sidekick so far and haven’t had to escalate anything yet, so I can’t really judge that part from experience. But I agree: if you hit a real issue, not having a human in the loop would be extremely frustrating.

Open ##2310693