What it was like running customer support for Fyre Festival

Yeah your job is rough, but at least you didn’t run customer support for Fyre Festival.

I had to refresh myself just how crazy it was...

1. The setup

Fyre Festival was billed as a luxury music festival in the Bahamas with top-tier artists, gourmet food, influencer villas, and private jets.

Customer support was handled almost entirely through social and email by a handful of junior staffers and freelancers in the U.S., most of whom had never set foot on the island. They had no direct line to operations on the ground.

2. The early red flags

By March 2017, support was getting nervous emails:

“Where’s my villa assignment?” “I paid $12,000. Can I get a receipt?” “Is Blink-182 really coming?”

Blink-182 would later drop out via Instagram, but support was told to keep spirits high.

“Just keep reassuring them. Don’t say anything that could cause panic.” - A real internal slack

3. Canned response hell

Support was told to use templated replies only:

“We’re so excited to welcome you to paradise! Final details coming soon.”

Even as footage started leaking of FEMA tents, feral dogs, and no infrastructure.

“The support Slack channel was a nightmare. Just meltdown tweets and people yelling ‘What do we do?’” - Freelance PR staffer

4. The collapse (April 27, 2017)

As guests landed and chaos unfolded, the team received hundreds of tweets and emails per hour.

“There’s no one here. No artists. No food. No water. We’re in danger.” - Attendee tweet

Support was instructed to stay upbeat:

“Due to unforeseen weather conditions, we are adjusting some accommodations.” - Official Fyre tweet

(It had not rained.)

5. No help, no refunds

Support staff asked to escalate emergency requests. They were told:

“Don’t offer refunds.”

In fact, some were told to promote Fyre Festival 2018 while customers were still stranded on the island.

“The wifi cut out and I couldn’t reach anyone. I had no idea what was happening.” - Customer support contractor

6. The aftermath

Customer support reps were:

• Threatened on social
• Working 18-hour days
• Unpaid (many were contractors)
• Ghosted by management

---

So yeah, your inbox is a mess.

But no one’s tagging you in photos of a cheese sandwich and demanding $12,000 back.