We all know that I’m a Yahoo user. I’m also a Gmail user. I love Gmail. I only keep using Yahoo mail for a few reasons:
1. They’re partnered with my ISP
2. My family and long-time all knows that address… finally. (When I changed to that, it took many of them a year to “get it.”)
3. Gmail leaves much to be desired on features I need for my candle email. (For one, giving out my main account email address on emails sent from other addresses, and for two, the absolutely no folders thing.)
4. Steve’s Flickr account is now tied to that address, and at this time you can’t change that. (Yet.)

So for a while at least, I’m still stuck at Yahoo for a big majority of my email. That in itself is no big deal, but I have about had it “up to here” with their horrible support.

Every time I submit a support request I get one of two basic responses:
1. Something that’s so totally off-base because they simply are ignoring or don’t understand what I’m telling them.
2. “Use Internet Explorer.”

No, freak, IE is not the answer to all problems.

Anyway, here are my problems with them as of lately.

Ads on my DSL Start Page

As a paid user (because ATT/SBC is my ISP), I don’t have any ads in my email. However, a new development has been an ad on my start page. I like this start page with the news, easy access to weather, my email, etc. Also, I’m just plain used to it. Sorry if that offends you. Anyway, recently they’ve added an ad, a single ad, at the top of the right-hand column of modules. This is the only layout I use so I don’t know what other ads there might be for someone else.

I emailed help after this had annoyed me for a couple of weeks and complained that I am a paid user, so why am I seeing these ads? Their response? Basically: “sorry, but there’s no way to remove those ads.” And by “those ads,” they weren’t even referring to the homepage, but somewhere else (I forget where). I had to reply that “you just don’t get it, do you?” but have had no response to that as of yet. I even sent them a link to the following screenshot (click for full):

…Only… when I sent them the screenshot, I sent one with a HUGE red arrow pointing at the ad. Isn’t that ad annoying? I am a paid user, I should not have to look at that blinking ad.

Yes, I have Adblock installed for FireFox. Maybe someone can clue me in on how to block the Flash ads, because when I right click on them, all I get are Flash options. If an actual image one comes up, though, I can right click on it and block iframe. So at least now, after weeks of looking at this stupid thing, I miss some of them.

I even ran across a Yahoo survey asking me about the ads not too long ago. It was some HUGE nearly full page ad and they wanted to know what I thought, and such. I had the wonderful pleasure of telling them that it sucked and that I couldn’t view it anyway, since Adblock got it first. :P

Email Beta Problems

My second problem has to do with the email beta. I want to use this, I really do. I want to like this. But they’re making it so hard for me.

It was working for a little while when suddenly it started appearing funny. So funny that I can’t perform basic functions. Here’s what it looks like:

This is what it’s supposed to look like and how it does display, just before the inbox loads:

Once the inbox loads, forget it, it appears like in the first image. To switch back, I have to quickly click on the switch back link before the inbox loads.

So I make my way to the Yahoo help section and email them. The response I get the next day? I got one of the most frustrating responses ever, they told me the problem was with SBC and so I needed to talk to them.

What!?

How is the Yahoo interface a SBC problem? It’s the same Beta interface for both sbcglobal addresses as well as Yahoo ones! I replied back and told them exactly what I thought of them and then for good measure went ahead and asked for help from SBC on the issue, explaining that I know it’s a Yahoo issue but that they told me to go to SBC. So we’ll see where this goes.

Finally…

(I had another issue but for the life of me I can’t remember it now…)

Do you see what I mean? Yahoo support just does not listen to the users problems. This has been going on for years. When I had an issue that the FireFox extension for Yahoo Photos had suddenly stopped working, twice they told me to use Internet Explorer. I had to say, then, why in the heck does your FAQ provide instructions for FireFox if it, as according to you, is not supported/compatible? I distinctly remember writing about that, but for the life of me I can’t find the entry, it was several years ago anyway, BF (Before Flickr).

Finally, check out this help Q & A. It’s ridiculous. The problem is that a setting in the beta mail is not changeable and/or savable, their solution? “Duh, uh, this is usually caused by the Skpe Toolbar extension for FireFox. Duh, uh, you should uninstall that extension.” Morons!! LOL

This compares highly to the FAQ item I came across on Roxio’s website where a user with such-and-such problem was told to uninstall IE 7 and go back to IE 6.

What is with these developers that they can’t make their products compatible with others so they tell the user point blank to get rid of the “offending” program instead of trying to fix the issue?

Mmm, I keep smelling glazed donuts, who has donuts?