Is the ticket service no longer available to users of the free service?

I tried several times to get a ticket and it kept saying that this service is only available now for paid sites.

Correct but only up to a point.

There are several options now. To raise a support ticket about a service you need to have the Pro version. You can still get support for login queries and report spam on these boards through new report options on the main help page.

Well piffle, Peter. Doesn't that beat all? Boy soon there will be no free service.