Although technology gives Internet retailers an inexpensive channel for customer service, most online customers prefer to use in-store customer service to resolve problems, according to a recent report from Forrester Research.

Forrester found that 74% of retailers used a retailer’s in-store customer-service department, compared with 40% using the phone, 16% using e-mail, 5% using regular mail, and 3% using a live chat.

In addition, 71% said they were satisfied with in-store customer service. That compares with 55% for phone customer service, 44% for e-mail, 43% for live chat, and 40% for regular mail.

Among those encountering problems with customer service, 5% said the information on the web site was inaccurate, 3% said the store didn’t have access to the information they saw on the web site, and 3% said the call-center representative didn’t have access to the information they saw on the web site.

Forrester based its report on a mail survey of 12,115 U.S. and Canadian households.