'Rapid Expansion' Puts a Strain on Starlink's Customer Support

pcmag.com:

Got trouble with your Starlink service? It may take a while for SpaceX to get back to you. 

The company’s satellite internet service is facing some growing pains on the customer service front. This week, SpaceX sent out a message to some existing subscribers, apologizing for Starlink’s slow response time when it comes to customer support inquiries. 

“As we have rapidly expanded our customer base, we’ve fallen behind in our normal response time,” the company wrote in the message, which was posted by Reddit user “sindarwin” and later noticed by Business Insider. 

The message from SpaceX added: “We apologize — this is not the level of support we aim to provide and are making a number of changes to improve, including increasing the capacity of our incredible support team.”

Reddit user sindarwin said they’ve been waiting for 11 days to receive a response from the company. However, the message from SpaceX merely noted, “we appreciate your patience and assure you that someone will respond eventually,” without providing a firm timetable. 

Another Reddit user, Scottlee64, also received the same message from SpaceX about the customer support delays. He’s been waiting for about 10 days now for help on fixing his Starlink dish, which no longer powers on. 

“Starlink's internet service until that point had been great, and from everything I've read it seems as though the customer service will be great once they ‘eventually’ respond to me,” Scottlee64 tells PCMag. “It's just disappointing to be left completely in the dark for so long. Working from home has been especially tough because I've had to ration my mobile data, which I'm almost out of.”

Business Insider notes SpaceX’s alleged lack of customer support has been a core complaint,