I spent about an hour this weekend on a phone tree trying to get our of the automated service and to a live person.  It was frustrating beyond belief and I eventually conceded defeat.  I enjoyed this write up this morning regarding Zappos.  Here is an excerpt:

So what is different about Zappos?

• The company provides free shipping both ways
• Zappos has a 365 day return policy
• Only products available in the warehouse are placed on the site
• The warehouse is open 24 hours a day
• The company is contactable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• The 1800 contact number is prominently placed on every page of the site
• The company trusts in its reps; sales staff don’t have scripts
• If products are unavailable, sales staff direct customers to competitors