A great thing about the Internet is how it puts you in contact with people and organizations around the world. Within seconds you can send a message to the CEO of the company that's screwing you around or the tech support people who can get you working again. The only trouble is, they don't want to hear from you.

I've noticed a nasty trend at Web sites to hide postal addresses and email address, phone numbers, and even the real names of people who publish under noms de Web--names like Maxthon Guy.  This is particularly true when it comes to tech support.

At a lot of organizations, time spent on a phone is considered a major expense. Solution: Eliminate incoming phone calls.

Web sites have taken that a step further by hiding email addresses. Some will accept email, but only if you send it via a special form on the site that requires you to fill out more information about yourself than you would ever learn about them. Sometimes the sheer length of information they ask before I can email them is so overwhelming, I just forget about it. Which, of course, is exactly what they were hoping I'd do.

After all, business can be so much more profitable if they don't have to spend their valuable time dealing with those pesky customers.

Happily for us, however, they can't get away with it--at least not entirely.  The U.S. goverment--the same one that some people like to complain is too big and does too much--comes to the rescue with  its Web site Consumer Action Handbook (http://www.consumeraction.gov/corpormain.shtml), which includes a huge listing of companies, their postal addresses, email addresses, and best of all, phone numbers.

If you need more detailed information--such as names and sometimes photos of top executives--do a search at The Consumerist.  The site is not exhaustive, but the information is often invaluable when you're really pissed off.  It is particularly helpful for some of  the worst offenders of consumer satisfaction, such as DirecTV and eBay and PayPal.

For tech support, check out the manufacturers lists at JR and Comp-U-Plus. I'm sure these companies, both retailers, are posting the tech support information, including phone numbers, because they're hoping you call the manufacturers instead of them the next time you have a question or complaint.  But who cares about motivations?  It's results we want, and these lists give you the ammunition to get results.

For the record you can email me at ron@maxthon.com. or ron@ronwhite.com. My phone number?  You got to be  kidding.

(A version of this blog entry  appears in the Maxthon Blog.)