If you ask any random person on the street "is Gmail free?" they will answer yes just like Wikipedia calls Gmail a free email service and if you search for "best free email services" Gmail is usually top of the list.

I fully agree with you there is an agreement that the user gets Gmail (or Google service) at zero monetary cost in exchange for them showing you ads and using your data however they see fit. And you can argue if that is 'free' or not but to the vast majority they see these things as free, rightly or wrongly.

Is 'free' the wrong adjective? Perhaps but it is what is used for a non-paid service.

> Not having support for customers you make money on is despicable.

I agree. Like I said it is crazy there is no real support process to get your account back when there are a lot of processes to keep your account safe.

Would your opinion - "despicable" - change if the Google was very clear, in their T&C's when you sign up, about their level of support (zilch) for "free" accounts?

Not as long as they make money on it, if they make money off a product they need to provide the basics, and ensuring access to the product is part of that.

Okay. Might you know if there is any company providing "free" e-mail accounts (broadly comparable to GMail), with all the "basics" which you want, and at least breaking even financially on that?

If "no", is there good reason to believe that Google could manage to do that?

If "no", would it be okay for Google (a for-profit company, not a charity) to discontinue free GMail service (presumably with some warning, etc.), because it was not a viable business to be in?

Apple provides phone support for icloud, which includes email. You dont need any apple devices to sign up for icloud and the lowest storage plan is free.

Microsoft also offers chat support for outlook.com

I have not tried the support from microsoft but apple support have been helpful when I had a relative with problems accessing their account. That was not for a paid icloud account.

Okay. I'm not usefully familiar with GMail vs. Hotmail vs. Apple vs. etc. Might you know why those don't get more favorable mentions - "other people reading this item should note that $Alternative_1 and $Alternative_2 are not nearly as bad as GMail...." - on HN, in this context?

(Yes, I am familiar with the "nobody ever fired for buying IBM" aura that usually surrounds Google):

Protonmail offers free accounts that come with email, calendaring, etc. They offer support where you can contact a human being if you get locked out of your account. It is inexcusable that Google, considering their huge profit margin, chooses to offer basically zero human support and relies on brutish algorithm-based support.