So, you've ordered a product or service and something goes wrong. You need to speak to a customer service rep as soon as possible, so you pop onto the website and start searching. And continue searching. And search some more. You'll notice that a lot of companies have buried that information, or don't even have it on the website at all. What now? Well, you can do an online search for the phone number, or you can keep two handy sites bookmarked.

I stumbled across ContactHelp.com recently after an order I placed at buy.com went very wrong.

First, the product they sent was faulty. So, I was prompted to go into my account and process my own return to get a refund. Great, except my account showed no record of the purchase. I trawled the internet for a while and found a number, which I called to get an RMA# and a UPS label. I was expecting a refund, but guess what...today, I got a replacement. I didn't want it so I had to repeat the process all over again. Luckily, ContactHelp.com got me the contact info immediately.

Not unlike the original GetHuman.com, ContactHelp.com gets you the information you need to get to a customer service rep immediately. Both sites have a search engine and instructions on how to reach an actual human, but ContactHelp.com has the advantage of a more user-friendly interface and extended information, incuding email addresses, hours of operation, Top 50 lists for easier access, and a very handy User Comments section. This is a place where you can recount your own experience with the company and see how other people have faired. However, if you prefer your sites with the raw simplicity of Craigslist, GetHuman.com is for you.

Now, the reason these sites are even necessary is down to pure cost-cutting. Even though many US companies have farmed out their customer service operations to India, they still want to keep the call volume down to an absolute minimum. So, first they'll put measures in place for you to try and solve the problem on your own. Next will be a customer service email form. Only after all these roadblocks have failed will the option of a phone call be offered up. And as you know, finding that phone number on a website is more tricky than finding Waldo.

So, keep ContactHelp.com and GetHuman.com in your bookmarks. When you do encounter a problem (and you will...sorry) these are invaluable resources for you.