It's your first store - do you provide a phone number?

or do it on the cheap and only use email/snail mail

[lorax]

My first store (of my own) is in the works and scheduled to go online in a few weeks. I work at home and while I really want to offer customers to my drop ship shop a phone number I don't really want to be tethered to the phone on a day to day basis. Partly because I haven't a clue as to how far I should go with setting up a "customer service center".

Could I get by with a second phone line and an answering machine or would that be too cheesy?

I read this post [webmasterworld.com...] and wondered if the opinions have changed since then.

[bekyed]

Yes Derek, our telephone doesn't ring very often but it assures potential customers that they can contact you in case anything goes wrong, leave it on it provides credibility to your business.

Bek

[Mark_A]

Here is another way to look at it.

All the sites I have made for clients have been sites for businesses. They have a street address, email, telephone, fax, employees, tax registration, general liability insurance policies, receptionists, quality departments and quality managers with quality policies, possibly even customer returns departments, sales people, order processing staff, limited liability.

It is always possible to contact people at these businesses. In fact they want you to contact them.

Often all outward looking employees will be listed on the site so people can go straight to the right individual by email, phone or fax. It saves time and gets work done faster and more efficiently.

Ok, now when I want to buy something online, I want to buy from a legitimate businesses with a reputation to protect, one that is not hiding who they are, one who is established trustworthy and who knows what they are doing.

The first warning sign that you are not one of these is when there is no street address and no phone number ....

oh .. I have already left your site

now why should I give you my details (you need a shipping adddress and an email for example usually as a minimum), my trust and my money when you are hiding ...

Sorry mate incomplete details means "bye" in my book :-)