PSA: Shopee might ban you for using too many VIP vouchers
Shopee is perhaps the go-to eCommerce platform in Malaysia these days, and they’ve even launched a paid subscription plan called Shopee VIP which gives users additional benefits and discounts when shopping on the platform. It is supposed to offer daily, weekly and exclusive vouchers, which in theory should let you save even more if you’re a frequent shopper.
However, it seems that just like telco plans, Shopee VIP too has a ‘fair usage policy’ in place.
We first heard about it when one of our own colleagues was banned from the VIP platform by Shopee after using the vouchers and discounts given to him by being a Shopee VIP subscriber in the first place. As it turns out, he wasn’t the only one either; numerous other users on Reddit and Facebook have also reported being banned by Shopee for using benefits that come with the VIP subscription.
According to our colleague as well as those on Reddit, they basically logged into Shopee one day to find that all of their VIP vouchers had disappeared and only the shipping vouchers were available, with our colleague also pointing out that he couldn’t access the VIP page at all. This was despite him still being charged for it; he even got a reminder notification from Shopee that his VIP subscription was due for renewal.
After contacting support, our colleague eventually got the reason behind his VIP ban:
‘Upon review, our system has identified certain account and purchase activity patterns that do not fully align with Shopee’s policies. As a result your access to certain ShopeeVIP benefits, including voucher availability, may be affected. These checks are part of our ongoing efforts to maintain a fair and secure marketplace for all users.”
Of course, we asked him what he was buying with all his Shopee VIP vouchers, and as far as we can tell all he did was just to use them daily to buy goods and essentials for his family. Similarly, the user on Reddit who also received the same ban mentioned that he used their VIP vouchers to buy items from overseas as well as a tablet, before getting banned off VIP.
Based off what our colleague and the thread on Reddit has experienced, it seems that whatever AI flagging tool that Shopee is using is flagging users who are making full use of the daily vouchers. Which, if we’re being honest, seems to be going against what Shopee VIP is supposed to offer anyway, especially when it’ll be those who love to shop and save with coupons who are more likely to sign up in the first place.
Even after raising it with customer service though, our colleague was not able to get the ban rescinded. Instead, they informed him that the ban was ‘system-driven’ and that there is somehow to manual process or specific action that the customer service agent could do to fix reinstate his VIP benefits.
Incredibly, one guy even posted on Facebook that he was banned for ‘browsing merchants too frequently’. Just like the others, he was banned by Shopee’s automated tools, but after checking with customer service, it seems that the specific reason given was abnormal access to various products and shops. This user was also a VIP subscriber mind you, and was further frustrated when his 7-day ban continued on even after it was supposed to have ended.
It’s a bit of a shame to see Shopee customers sidelined like this, as it seems clear that they’ve done nothing wrong other than use the VIP program as it’s intended to be used. It’s also equally frustrating to see that their customer service, despite being able to tell that these users probably shouldn’t have been banned, are unable to do anything about it due to Shopee’s own system.
If you do find yourself banned and you believe it was done unfairly, you can make a complaint to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living of Malaysia yourself over on their website, which you can access by clicking here.
[UPDATE 12 Aug]: In the time since we posted this, we came across a new update post made by the original Redditor who posted about being banned from Shopee VIP. According to them, they got a reply from KPDN but was told that they couldn’t do anything for now as Shopee claims it is currently doing its own investigation about the situation.
As such, they’ve since been told that their best course of action at time of writing is to report it to the Tribunal For Consumer Claims Malaysia. Once again, if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can make a complaint there by clicking here to head to their website.
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