You’re absolutely right.
But thats not what all companies live by, as You’ll notice by Jeeve’s post… or by dialing many 1-800 Numbers. And, we are talking Seven figures here, not six.
For some Acme Co.'s, the INTERNET customer service “revolution” justifies the “Customer Disservice” and great benefits. Especially depending on what kind of Widgets Acme Co. is offering. But this is only one ‘means to an end’.
The call center that I mentioned… it ended up going to Delaware. Similar cost of living, lower corporate & maintenance costs. The decision was for fear of alienating the customers. It was not a horribly large company that sold a service that wasn’t necessarily Greater then / Less then it’s competitors.
On a Side Note, You’ll notice that Dell and a few others with notoriously bad experiances, have brought their long belied Cust Service back to American Speaking countries.