I think you mistake Cox's lack of action for lack of caring. When your outsourcing you web design work to China, it's hard to get instant user interaction.
But they still care about what the "users" think, the problem is the only interactions with "users" are through these forums and special interest studies, neither of which give a actuate portrayal of the average Cox user. One dumbs it way down, and the other is probably much more sophisticated then the average user. 
::bubble pipe::
You bring up a good point when talking about privacy. But there are different forms of privacy. I wouldn't put a web camera in my bathroom, but I wouldn't mind someone knowing what kind of toilet paper I use. And it's that invasion of of privacy, what products you buy, that Google is very good at. Its what pays for the Google services. I don't know much about Yahoo other then they charge for POP/IMAP access. 
Thats a deal breaker for me and any email provider.
And yes, it is Cox's responsibility to remind you of your bill, just like its your responsibility to remind Cox of any service issues, and it seems like your very good at that. 