Three months ago, I optimistically set out to improve my email situation by signing up for Proton Mail, enticed by its allure of enhanced security and the option for a personalized dot.COM domain. This excitement was short-lived; despite following Proton Mail’s setup instructions, both my email and associated web page failed shortly after.
My attempts to resolve this involved a frustrating and fruitless back-and-forth with Proton Mail, my web host Telhosting (likely GoDaddy), and my domain registrar NameSilo. Amidst a barrage of unhelpful automated responses and customer service dead ends, my email address — intended to be a professional gateway — turned into a digital phantom.
Proton Mail’s advice to seek solutions elsewhere felt dismissive, especially considering the investment as a paying customer. Their last message to me, disabling my email without a clear resolution, was the final straw.
As I’m forced to start from scratch without my webpage, my recommendation for using Proton Mail with a personal domain is, regrettably, a resounding no.
The real question we face is this: If we’re struggling with a big company's customer service today, what can we expect tomorrow?
Currently, reaching out to a service provider is a challenge, whether it’s a bank or an internet company. Contact information like email and phone numbers is often obscured, funnelling us toward interactions with chatbots — a strategy aimed at cutting costs and boosting shareholder profits. Because today, some big companies, ignore the 20% who might have a problem with their service.
Once you do manage to connect with human support, the first line often includes offshore representatives (commonly stereotyped as being from India or Bangladesh), who may offer basic troubleshooting like system reboots for minor issues. If you’re persistent, you might reach second-tier support, which is typically more knowledgeable and helpful.
The real test arises when you must navigate this process across multiple companies to resolve interconnected issues it’s quite the ordeal.
Looking to the future, one might hope for improvements.
Perhaps we’ll start chatting with bots to advance to engaging with AI humanoids, possibly located in China. And who knows? If you’re fortunate, you might be escalated to They expert, with its mixed-reality headset, operating a virtual computer, in Greenland where the data servers are based for cooling purposes and also probably a tax haven in the future.
P.S. — I rewrote this post after my email started working again, but regarding my related website, I had to resign and forget its existence. Proton is functioning now, but what a tremendous hassle it has been with personal URLs.
