https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/11/starlink-bug-frustrates-users-they-dont-have-tech-support-just-a-faq-wtf/
Users locked out of accounts can't submit tickets, and there's no phone number.
What are you talking about? You can just @ Elon on X Formerly Twitter and he'll sick his blinkered fans on you.
Just make sure you've paid for a blue check, and have at least a couple months history of posting stupid conservative memes.
Im still amazed daily when I see people complaining that a rich kid with money pushed a half baked product to market with no plans for sustainability and then people are shocked when stuff breaks, doesn't work or decays into obsolescence months after its launch.
Early on, Starlink support posted a recommendation to customers- Reopen old support tickets, because they'll get the highest priority. That and the insane variability of service quality made me instantly cancel the service I got from them FOR FREE. Unless you live where you can't get any other service, DO NOT pay Starlink. It's a standard Musk venture where customers are treated like they're scumbags for expecting the bare minimum, and they change the prices and rules on a whim.
I heard on BBC now they answer with something like "we are very busy right now, will answer when we have time"
Doesn't surprise me. That's most new tech things I've used. The FAQ probably only answers 3 questions that literally nobody ever asked, too.
It grinds my gears so hard. At first I submitted feedback, thinking everyone wants good documentation. Then I realized the ploy.
Also, chat bots. Fuck me for being able to think through the basics and needing real help, right?
They do want good documentation... They're just not willing to write it themselves or hire a copy writer to do it.
That's why AI is being used. It does the boring shit for you and is dirt cheap. So what if it still sucks balls? 🤷🏻♂️
Troubleshooting internet. You've done everything and confirmed it's an issue outside of your network and equipment.
Call...
"I've changed DNS, cables, secondary router, even the backup modem; issue persists.But things are fine if I use the mobile network, so I know everything after the modem is fine too. In the ping log I set up, I see poor latency issues sporadically every few seconds."
"We'll need you to go through the troubleshooting article."
FAQs are just a format of writing. They are usually what developers/managers want to communicate and not necessarily what happens in support.
The “secret sauce” is this: Phone Support is Really Fucking Expensive - even when it’s outsourced overseas - like, easily half the cost of running a business. Good phone support. Which is why it’s so hard to find.
Jackass CEOs come in, cut phone support first thing and “save” the company millions. Druggie narcissist billionaire CEOs never intended to provide it in the first place.
FAQ is one of the most annoying things ever invented. Besides trying to find a way to contact a company.
I recently called a support hotline (after reading the FAQ) and they had a complex Dial-X-If-You-Have-This-Problem structure which on every end just had a person reading the FAQ entries. There was no way to reach an actual person...
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Starlink's lack of traditional customer support options is making life difficult today for new users affected by a bug that reset their accounts.
Starlink's account-recovery page that allows users to request password resets with an email address or phone number hasn't been working for them.
"When I try to reset my password via the email option, I get the error 'User not found,'" we were told by Adam, a Starlink customer in Alabama who preferred that we not publish his last name.
When Adam tried to reset his password by entering his phone number, he received a text message with a password-reset link.
"I installed our Starlink two days ago, and received the email this afternoon that my account had been reset and that a refund was on the way.
Some people had Starlink dish shipments in transit when the account-reset email arrived and were concerned about whether they would be able to activate service.
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