Web e-mail has two pluses: It's simple and mobile

After using all types of e-mail client software, I've now used a Web-based system exclusively for more than a year. The advantages are mobility and simplicity.

I can pick up messages from any Internet connection, at a particularly boring party, for instance, where the host has left a live computer running. Or in a hotel lobby, which is set up for the convenience of the guests. And there is always the semiubiquitous Internet café. And after years of struggling with too many features, the system offers just enough to stay in touch without getting confused.

It's been a pretty stress-free year, aside from occasional bumps in the virtual road. A few times a month I log on to my Gmail account and see that the server is busy, the task cannot be completed at this moment, and to try again later. So I fiddle around for a few minutes and return. The mail then sends and receives smoothly. It's something that is pretty easy to live with, like a short cellular phone black hole or a bit of television static.

Gmail hasn't failed big-time, but it still makes me a little nervous. We all lived through some power anomalies a few months ago, but the electricity providers were accountable and provided regular updates. There was presumably a cooperative effort to get everything switched back on. The power company was accountable to the customers, who pay a bill every month.

Web mail is different. While you pay at some point, the service itself is perceived as free. So we can't really complain if Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo! fails to deliver. You get what you pay for. Free Web mail, then, is something to avoid if reliability is something you can't do without. These folks need a local phone company or national Internet service provider with a 24-hour support line to ease their troubled minds.

In all cases, you may need to fight to get real support, as the providers all try to make you use online technical support. You have to learn to click "contact us" because no provider has the courtesy to put its service number in plain sight.

But even this is better than the free Web-mail model, where the only option for support is through its Web page. This is a futile because most problems clear up in an hour and it takes a day to get a response.

Hotmail and Yahoo! both offer phone-support options, but it comes only with their premium service. It's like getting America Online without that distracting content. On the other hand, when you pay for something you have the right to efficient service.

For many, the right to complain will be worth the monthly charge.

You can't complain about a free service, literally. They do not answer or provide phone support, unless you want to hunt down the corporate headquarters and make a big noise. That is, except for Hotmail. The Microsoft subsidiary provides an outage report line. To point out that the number (650-964-7200) is long distance seems petty, because at least you have a place to call.

Free Web mail is ultimately safe, as it is unlikely that Google, Yahoo! or Microsoft will go offline for any amount of time. But as long as you aren't paying for your e-mail service, the provider can become difficult, slow down or even revoke the service and there will be nothing you can do.

It all comes back to the old adage, about only getting what you pay for.

If you have questions or suggestions for Charles Bermant, you can contact him by e-mail at cbermant@seattletimes.com. Type Inbox in the subject field. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.