I have absolutely zero confidence that anything will be done about the issue of the reliability of the messaging system here. It is a constant problem and one that the owners of the site are more than well aware of for literally years. The ability to chat and directly connect to others here is a major benefit of membership. Unfortunately, it does not appear to get the same value is placed on it by management than as is by the users.
A funny thing is, we have been members long enough to remember "the first chat" program that was used. It was bulletproof, never going down and easy to use. Well, it got "upgraded" and ever since then, and we are talking years, the messaging system here has had constant issues. It clearly is a problem that can be fixed if the will to do so was there. I am not an IT person but dang, plenty of other websites have chat systems that work. Perhaps, management should ask what they are using?