I agree, I only call once I have the go ahead from the affiliate in question.
Personally I would appreciate being contacted about an issue before I read about it on a forum…
If I don’t give the service you deserve flame me or Referback if you will but with multiple email addresses, toll free numbers on Referback.com, my office and mobile number in my signature (both in my emails and my forum posts) it would be great to get dropped a line which says “I have …. problem”.
A big thanks to Dom and Engineer and many others who use pm’s and MSN as a first point of resolution – you guys and gals rock! 