You're paying attention to the wrong number.  you're worried about 4% when you should really be concerned with net income.

go to a 0% pool, and figure out how much you make, and go to middlecoin, and figure out how much you make after 3.8% fee.

you will net more from middlecoin.  i frankly don't care if middlecoin takes 10% if they're giving me a higher net return. 

I don't expect any tech support or uptime from a 0% pool.  you get what you pay for.