[12_throw_away]

Let's put aside the ethical and legal implications of lying to disaster survivors, and calling your normal free trial month as "disaster relief", and enrolling people recovering from a disaster in a monthly auto-renewing service after a 1 month free trial ...

Actually, no, let's not put that aside. This is repulsive behavior.

[inemesitaffia]

Article is misleading. There's no auto renewal

[falcolas]

According to the starlink announcement:

"After 30 days, we will move you to a paid Residential subscription, tied the location you are using it in at that time. We will reevaluate as necessary based on conditions in the area. Starlink will notify you as the 30 day mark approaches to remind you of the change."

[inemesitaffia]

These are people with equipment already. You don't need an account to use it so how will you be billed?

[falcolas]

You have to create an account to use the promotion.

    Go to starlink.com/residential
    Enter your address and click “Order Now”
    Select the “Helene Relief” service plan and check out

[inemesitaffia]

It's not required. The map isn't the territory.

There's people on ground using it like that w/o activation

[falcolas]

So Starlink's activation instructions expressly written for the Hurricane Helene relief effort are lies?

Please forgive me if I request a citation. Especially since the information you've provided so far has all been contradicted by official Starlink sources.

[xracy]

"what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence"

[inemesitaffia]

https://x.com/Unitedcajunnavy/status/1843985998721524222

I believe this is the organization that asked for this.

Everyone is buying at retail. You can't actually get it online

[xracy]

Even if this had sources like the above article...

You still haven't addressed the fact that the article explicitly calls out the hardware costing $400.

So yeah, the service is free for 30 days (like the free trial only worse in some ways from the article), provided you have paid $400. The not auto-renewal is the lowest bar to clear for not being a scummy company. The $400 for the hardware is highway robbery and an opportunistic cash grab.

Even in the world where your correction had a primary source you're missing the point by making this correction.

[inemesitaffia]

You can't get the hardware from SpaceX since you want it immediately, so you buy at retail. It's not $400

Cash grab?

You think they make the equipment for free in Shangri LA? Is it more expensive than other phased array antennas? Did SpaceX suddenly jack up the price? Is Apple giving out free phones for their free SOS? Does SpaceX owe people phones so they can use direct to cell since that's also free?

You don't need to activate it to use it. You just plug it in and it works. There's no credit card to renew. Unless you want to activate it(there's a risk a thief would be able to resell it if you don't)

It was always an offer of free service without hardware. Like the mobile providers offering free services in the area, they aren't going to give you free equipment.

This is what was offered

"Starlink is providing free service for 30 days in regions affected by Hurricane Helene"

That's it. You can't extract free equipment from that statement. Even providers that give equipment without charge own it or tie it to a contract. What you pay SpaceX isn't an activation fee. You own your dish in full.

See how the guy who asked for this has several dishes? . https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1841207137420132549

[xracy]

> it's not $400

There's just no point in having this conversation, and I'd like you to understand why from my first comment. You're not having a conversation about facts. Your sources for this information have been:

1. Claiming that what the article says is wrong. 2. Tweets with no primary sources

This kind of stuff is really easy to find meaningful answers to, and you just don't and instead gainsay whatever goes against statements made by Elon. (Elon is not a reliable source for a reason).

"Starlink is providing free service for 30 days in regions affected by Hurricane Helene" <- This is meaningfully false if you have to buy the hardware to access it. $400 is $400 more than free.