Complain About Substack - File a Complaint Today

Getting in touch with a human at Substack is notoriously difficult, as they funnel most users through a self-service help center. There is no public phone number or live chat, which is a major source of frustration for users needing immediate help.

Honestly, it's a total lottery. You might get a reply in a day, or you might never hear back.

• Be incredibly specific in your first message. Include your account email, the name of the publication, and screenshots of the error.
• If you get an automated email with a ticket number, save it. Reference that number in every single follow-up.
• Post your issue publicly on X (formerly Twitter) and tag @SubstackInc. Sometimes public visibility is the only thing that gets a response.

If Substack is giving you the silent treatment, it's time to escalate. Your best bet for a US-based company like this is to file a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). You can do this online at BBB.org. It's a formal process, and companies usually respond to avoid a negative mark on their public record. BBB works, but prepare to wait. Substack will get a notification and is expected to respond through the BBB portal. For billing issues, don't hesitate to file a chargeback with your credit card company. Explain that you were charged for a service you can't access or that the company is unresponsive. This often gets their attention faster than anything else.

Subject: Formal Complaint: Unresolved Issue with Account [[Your Account Email]] - Second Attempt

I am writing again to resolve an issue with my Substack account. My initial support request, sent on [[Date]], has not been resolved, and I have not received a meaningful response.

On [[Date of incident]], [[Describe the problem clearly, e.g., I was unable to access a newsletter I paid for, a payment failed for no reason, I was locked out of my account]]. This has been incredibly frustrating, and the complete lack of communication from your support team is making the situation worse.

To resolve this, I require you to [[State your desired outcome clearly, e.g., restore access to my paid content immediately, process my payment correctly, unlock my account]]. I also need a confirmation email stating that the problem has been fixed permanently.

Please be aware that if this issue is not resolved within the next 48 hours, my next step will be to file a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau and dispute the subscription charges with my bank.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

[[Your Name]]

• Create a Paper Trail. When you use their support form, take a screenshot of the confirmation message. You now have proof you tried to make contact.
• Mention Competitors. Sometimes, mentioning that you're considering moving your newsletter to a competitor like Ghost or Beehiiv in a public post can catch their attention.
• Reference Reddit Threads. A user on Reddit mentioned they finally got a response after their third follow-up email, where they included links to other users reporting the same bug. It shows them it's not an isolated issue.

Tired of sending your support request into the Substack void and hearing nothing back? It's a common story. Users on Reddit and Trustpilot constantly talk about submitting tickets and getting total silence. No joke. Pine AI handles the persistent follow-ups for you, so you don't have to keep checking your inbox for a reply that might never come. It's your automated advocate that keeps pinging them on your behalf. Sound familiar? Let us take over the tedious part so you can get back to writing or reading.