It’s pretty safe to say that none of us terribly enjoy calling up customer service and being forced to listen to menu after menu of options all before we finally get put on hold long enough to prepare and cook a turducken. But a new study of the top 101 online retailers claims to have found 22 dotcom merchants who don’t force you to climb the phone tree.

Here is StellaService’s list of online retailers that connect you directly to a human being:
Amazon.com
Grainger
LL Bean.com
SportsmanGuide.com
Nordstrom
Neiman Marcus
Cabelas.com
Urban Outfitters
BlueNile.com
MarketAmerica.com
OrientalTrading.com
YOOX.com
RalphLauren.com
DisneyStore.com
FreshDirect.com
RueLaLa.com
SierraTradingPost.com
Net-A-Porter.com
ColdwaterCreek.com
GreenMountainCoffee.com
Etronics.com
1-800 Contacts

And according to StellaService, customers are more likely to be on hold for a shorter period of time with these 22 retailers:

Overall, retailers that force customers into automated phone menus or IVRs (Interactive Voice Response) keep shoppers on hold for an average of 1 minute and 51 seconds, a 117 percent increase over the average hold time (51 seconds) for retailers that do not use automated phone menus.

Sick of Being Told to Go Climb a (Phone) Tree? [StellaService.com]

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