Can confirm. This works in more places than one, Reddit too. Reason? When you're a paying customer, you get routed to elevated support staff. They have a higher incentive to help you fix the problem and fast.

I don't hate it, I appreciate it. Better than having no easy recourse. Because I bet if everyone were treated equally, it'd be shitty service for all. Better to toss in a few bucks if it's valuable and get the support (and some ads run).