Thursday, January 7, 2010

If You Want This, Punch That

I wanted to ask a question and was directed to the State of New Jersey's Department of Consumer Affairs. It was a simple question, really. This should just take a minute or two, thought I. Full of confidence, I dialed the number. Of course I was greeted by a recording. That's okay. I'm used to that. The recording gave me choices. If I wanted information about this, punch the number one. If II wanted information about that, punch the number two. This went on through the number nine. None of the choices even remotely matched my question so I pushed the number zero to hopefully get an operator. No, zero was not listed in my menu of choices. I see that the State of New Jersey takes these matters seriously. I was disconnected. I redialed. After listening to the nine item menu again, I chose a number at random, pushed it on my cell phone keypad and heard, yes actually heard, a human voice. Seconds later I realized it was a recorded human voice inviting me to leave a message. Okay. I could give that a try. Just as I opened my mouth to begin my message another recorded voice told me that the voice mail box of the person I was trying to reach was full and I would not be able to leave a message. I pushed another number on my keypad but apparently once connected to a full voice mail box there is no turning back. The call was disconnected. I redialed. The nine item menu began again but I had a new plan. I started with one and worked my way through nine each time getting disconnected after learning that the mail box for the person at that extension was full and I would not be able to leave a message. By this time I was on a mission. I went on line and located the web page for the State of New Jersey's Department of Consumer Affairs and scrolled down to the 'contact us' section. I wrote my message and included my e mail address as instructed. Moments later my e mail bounced back with the message that I was not using a valid e mail address. This despite the fact that it was the web page of the State of New Jersey's Department of Consumer Affairs.
At this point in the game I'd forgotten the question I wanted to ask the good folks with their full voice mail boxes and their incorrect e mail addresses. Now I just want to talk to someone at any one of the nine keypad possibilities. I'll keep trying and, since I can't remember my original question, should someone eventually answer I think I'll just ask if they have Prince Albert in a can.

2 comments:

Tom Walker said...

Apparently there are no consumer affairs in the state of New Jersey. Which might not be a bad thing, if you think about it.

Anonymous said...

If I remember correctly, New Jersey affairs operated out of the former governor's office.