Technology has given business a powerful tool: the ability to transfer some of the work of handling orders and complaints to Web sites.

Automated functions on the site force customers to do most of the work for themselves. In theory that’s not a bad idea. If it saves money for the business, it should bring down prices.
But it also opens the door to what my friend Clark Howard, the consumer advocate, calls “customer non-service.” It can be complicated to reach a real person, and extra fees may be involved.

When online service works, it’s fast and efficient. When it doesn’t, it feels as if you’ve poked your finger into an electric pencil sharpener.

These days most folks have a tale of online service woe; I’ll give you mine. I was trying to book a trip to Nova Scotia with a 15-day stay. I wanted to fly into Halifax, stay one night in a hotel, and then head to Cape Breton.

I used a travel site to book a flight, but it insisted on also booking my Halifax hotel room for all 15 days instead of just one night. Maybe I missed something or made a mistake, but I needed human help. The first human I got politely said she had to transfer me to someone else.
That person told me she only worked with corporate customers and that I shouldn’t have called her. I explained I had been transferred and asked if she could just quickly explain how to change the hotel reservations.

“Oh, no,” that’s not my job, she said in effect.

I hung up and resorted to a secret weapon I’ll reveal at the end of the column.

But, here’s what I could have done instead: Called again and reached a different person more willing to help. You’d be surprised how often that works. One thing that often doesn’t work is getting mad and letting it show. Polite people get better service. Seldom does an insult advance your cause. You needn’t be a marshmallow, but be businesslike.

If the person you are dealing with can’t help, ask to speak to a supervisor and restate your case.If you keep moving up the food chain, you’ll probably find a person who understands it’s better to resolve complaints.
Unfortunately there’s that qualifier: Probably. Sometimes there’s just no help. If the problem is worth the time, put down the phone and go low tech: Write an old-fashioned paper letter explaining your problem and asking for resolution.

The letter should be no longer than a page -- although it’s fine to include copies of receipts or other info to support your case. And get a good proofreader. Rambling letters filled with mispelled words won’t get as much attention.

Send your letter to the company’s marketing chief or president. The big shot may never see the letter, but some companies have people assigned to deal with complaints that reach the president’s office. Use google to find executives’ names, usually in the “about us” part of a company Web site.

Now I’ll tell you the secret weapon I used to solve my problem with the travel site. I turned the telephoning over to my wife, who is Irish with a gift for blarney. Before long she was on a first name basis with one of the service reps in India, chatting about the weather, and booking my trip just the way I wanted.