This week, I received what I consider to be a threatening e-mail from my Internet service provider:

“In the next couple of weeks, when you log into your Bell Mail [an aside: always known as Sympatico; are they changing it?] using your Internet browser, you’ll experience a simpler, cleaner design, along with many new features and improved functionality. This initiative is just one of the many ways we make sure your experiences with Bell are the best they can be…We’re sure you’ll enjoy the enhancements we’ve made to your email service.”

Seems harmless enough, doesn’t it? But the last time Bell promised an “upgrade” to my mail service, it made it worse. I got more spam. Messages from friends got tossed into the junk folder. The service did not play nice with the mail program I use; sometimes it lets messages through, sometimes not. When I reply to a message, I have to scroll down to see all of it. If I check off messages in the junk folder and indicate I want them deleted, the system doublechecks – “Are you sure?” But if I check off a message in the in-box by mistake, it’s gone without hesitation.

So I’m not expecting to be as thrilled as Bell thinks I’m going to be. It’s a good example of why a company’s execution better live up to its promises.

UPDATE: Today, the folders list shows nine messages in my inbox. When I click on the Inbox icon, nothing happens; I can’t see the messages. Nice “enhancement”!

UPDATE2: OK, that’s fixed. Still doesn’t play nice with my mail program, though.