I write the FAQs for the company I work for and believe me, they do. Not all of them of course, but I've seen enough visitor stats, search queries (with and wit

I write the FAQs for the company I work for and believe me, they do. Not all of them of course, but I've seen enough visitor stats, search queries (with and without results) and emails to know that some of your clients will go out of their way to look for the answer online before emailing. Customers will give up if a) the FAQs or help system isn't easily reachable, or b) if the FAQs and help system sucks. The best thing you can do if "people don't read the FAQs" isn't to trash them - it's to make them better.