why does yahoo mail treat it's paying customers so poorly?

I've been a yahoo e-mail user for ages.
I'm dumb-founded by the poor quality of service they provide.
Like many users, I pay an annual subscription. I access my e-mail via pop.
Frustratingly it's a slow connection and often has failures on the sendmail or pop (receive) side.
The nifty new interface can be as slow as dirt and often isn't very helpful if you have to scroll through many messages in your junk folder.

gmail seems to go out less and provide a better experience overall - for free.

Regards,
makingourway