Except when they’re dealing with a big spender, that is.

To file a complaint:

The Federal Trade Commission has anonline formfor consumer complaints.

The Better Business Bureau also lets consumersfile complaints online.

Find this office through theNational Association of Attorneys General.

This may be a product of the growing mass-market popularity of stock trading.

Such costs can rise exponentially when the service is free.

For example, publishing a toll-free customer service number could be economically crushing for Internet giant Yahoo.

“It’s not something that’s new.

It started at the general store, and it continues in the online store.”

l.9520-7-2708612Another increasingly popular approach is to charge for telephone help.

Netscape gives free customer support through email, promising that a tech person will respond within 24 hours.

Some businesses make customer service a priority to stand out from their competition.

Chicago-based Perceptual Robotics, which developed the technology, expects it to become widely available on the Web.

And on the other end, the customer needs a fast Internet connection.

“It’s pretty high end.

“The mass market expects a seamless process.”

Are customers ever right?