Is there any way I can get my old gamertag back without paying?

If it were possible, support would be the only ones who could do it. But it's not possible.

There is no way to get a free change. You'll have to pay if you want to change it again.

In my case I registered my Gamertag with a space. This also marked the same tag without a space as reserved. I had to pay a fee to change my Gamertag back to the default name I was assigned, then pay again to change it to a version
without a space. Absurd and infuriating.

I wouldn't expect any understanding or humanity out of customer support. They will just recite policy and practice canned empathy.

Is there any way I can "delete" my gamertag so I can use it on another account without paying $10 to change it?

I dont know I have no games to launch. Is there any way I can get my games back without having to pay?

There is no way to get a free change. You'll have to pay if you want to change it again.

In my case I registered my Gamertag with a space. This also marked the same tag without a space as reserved. I had to pay a fee to change my Gamertag back to the default name I was assigned, then pay again to change it to a version
without a space. Absurd and infuriating.

I wouldn't expect any understanding or humanity out of customer support. They will just recite policy and practice canned empathy.

First off xbox gamertags are the same thing with or without spaces for instance in your gamer tag heavy felon would be the same as heavyfelon so that's why it marked it as reserved.