Damn. I take reports like this seriously, but I can't think of a damn thing I can do to recover your lost message.

I just spent several minutes typing in a detailed reply only to have it disappear when I clicked the Post button! This isn't the first time this has happened. When it craps out, there's no way to return to the composition screen to try submitting it again, either. Bummer!

Yep, bummer. "disappear" and "craps out" may be perfectly accurate descriptions of the phenomenon, but don't give me any traction to help figure out what went wrong. 'Course, in the heat of the moment, I react the same way, and don't think about how to compose a logical trouble report.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like the form disappeared, but nothing replaced it. If the server had sent an error message, it would include a link to try again. That link is equivalent to using the Back button, which, of course, is not present on the message form. You can always use the keyboard shortcut alt-LeftArrow to go back to the form (a fine example of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped).

I'm sure it's no consolation at all, but (anecdotally) the system seems about 99.9% reliable--something like one message in a thousand goes astray. Not quite the mythical "five nines", but you know how it is: Each additional decimal point to the right requires an order of magnitude more effort, only asymptotically approaching perfection. I don't see a justification at this point for that scale of effort. Sorry if that's cold-blooded, but as a fiscal conservative maybe you can sympathize: There'd be no payoff from the investment, and I have to put my energy where it'll support me financially. That's life, eh?

--Robert