Bill, I think the last real telephone exchange went automatic not all that long ago. Sometime in the 80's maybe.

Email isn't always the best for customer service, but it can be more efficient. I still like getting someone on the phone, if you can. Now, the automated systems make that almost impossible.

A few companies still answer their phones. Voile is one-no automated system, just a guy answering the phone. It's actually hard to believe. Snow Leopard (an online store) and MSR are good too. A few minutes on the phone can be worth far more than a whole page of emails back and forth.

I can understand why some companies just want to deal with their dealers. They may not be set up to talk to customers all day or answer emails. But if that is the case, they need someone who knows about the product and can speak for the company. I don't expect anyone at REI or even a small store to know everything about every product they carry. I've worked retail-that is expecting way too much. So the company has to have some way for customers to get questions answered. Outsourcing customer service is a whole other topic. Saves money, but annoys the heck out of me most of the time.

However, sometimes you have to go to the source. I finally wrote Optimus in Sweden about problems with my Nova and got an answer back right away, after getting no help at all from their US distributors.