I'm having the same thought as OP today after reading about Andrew Spinks from Terraria. The main point to me isn't that I expect Google to ban my accounts and get me wrongly caught up in their support web (although I have generally low trust in them as a company, not as low as many people here), it's that if that were to happen, my life would be irrevocably boned. I mean I've had my gmail addresses since 7th Grade. Literally EVERYTHING I have is tied to them.

To me, paying a small yearly fee for email where I can actually talk to human support is like buying Fire Insurance. On the one hand maybe my house never burns down and I'm just throwing money away, on the other hand if something bad ever does happen, thank God I did it.

Yes, I am sure it is a staggeringly low percentage, but I would also like to support smaller companies, and I like the idea of being able to contact a real human if a problem occurs. Don't mind paying.

Despite the odds being relatively good, it’s not a risk a lot of us are willing to take.

Also, that old saying applies: “If you aren’t paying for a service, you aren’t the customer, you’re the product.”