I always recommend to clients that they put their phone number prominently on every page of their ecommerce sites. I believe it re-assures customers that if they have a problem, the customer can talk to someone.
I just proved to myself that it was the right advice for the wrong reason.
I purchased a print server from a very well-known electronics firm that we have used for years (who shall of course be nameless). It turned up and I could see from the picture on the outside of the box that it was the wrong sort of centronics plug. I didn’t even remove the shrink-wrap. So I went into ‘my account’ => ‘select order’ => ‘returns’ => and the system told be that because I had waited more than 7 days it was too late to return it. This was on the same day it was delivered, the day after I ordered it. But the good news was that there was a form to contest this, which I filled out.
Nothing
A week passed, this wretched box still on my desk, I went back to the site so I could phone them. What do you know – no phone number. Which I hadn’t noticed over many years of visiting the site.
I am sure some accountant thought it was a good idea to save money on support staff by not publishing their phone number, but it means that they have lost my custom for ever because of a £45 item. My experience over many years is that every cock-up is a sales opportunity. A failure handled well can bring you repeat business and recommendations. Handled badly and you have lost your customer.
How can you handle the problem well if your customer can’t talk to you?
In any event I have learned my lesson – I will check for a phone number before I buy anything, no matter how well-known the firm.
Bob Browning's blog 
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