You're being really dismissive here - no-one's saying PM bad/others good. I was pointing out an experience with ProtonMail and others have corroborated with their own experience.

All of that said, if it says nothing else it at least suggests that larger providers seem to have a better grasp of how catastrophic being locked out of one's own e-mail can be - PM really don't seem to understand the responsibility they bear being a provider of such critical infrastructure. If this were happening in this same way at larger providers like Google and Microsoft, I'm quite certain there would be heavy regulations by now.

Making an account is really quick, no need to feel honored by such simple act. It's basic privacy - don't keep your identities too long, especially if you're going to tie them to the set of services you're using.