I was the only one in the meeting room at my office, and I could hear the rumble of traffic outside. I thought about ordering some coffee or checking my email but instead sat at my desk and leaned back against it, which put my head on a shelf that jutted out from the wall. It made me feel like an astronaut ready to blast off into space.
I picked up the phone handset and placed it under my chin so I could dial and talk to someone at the other end. A few seconds after dailing , a recording began playing: "Please hold for your representative. Your call is important to us." I listened as the recorded voice repeated the same phrase over and over again, each iteration slightly different.
When it finished, I hung up and dialed another number. This one rang several times before going to voicemail, where a woman's voice said, "We're sorry, we can't take your call right now. Please leave a message after the tone." She continued by saying, "If you'd like to reach us quicker, please press 1 for sales, 2 for service, 3 for legal, 4 for HR, 5 for accounting, 6 for IT, 7 for product development, 8 for marketing, 9 for general inquiries, 10 to speak with a human being…"
I held down the pound key for about ten seconds then let go. When I did, the phone rang, and it went straight to voicemail. I pressed three, four, five, six, and seven. Each time, I heard, "Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again," followed by the same robotic voice.
I waited for it to finish repeating itself. Then I hit nine until the phone stopped ringing. A few moments later, it rang again. I held down three, four, five, and six this time. When the automated voice said, "Thank you for holding. Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again," I pressed zero and got through to a customer service rep.
He asked, "What can I do for you today?"
"Good morning. My name is Luke Tanner. I'm calling regarding an issue with your toothpaste."
Image source
The man on the other end paused before speaking. "Uh…it looks like we have no record of that. May I ask what kind of toothpaste you're using?"
I gave him the brand name.
"I see. And may I ask why are you calling about this? Is there something wrong with the toothpaste?"
"No, it's fine. But I am concerned about the packaging. In particular, I've noticed it isn't recyclable."
There was silence on the line for a moment before he spoke again.
"That's not correct. The products you mentioned are 100 percent recyclable."
"Are they? Can you give me the recycling code for this specific container?"
"Sure. Here's the information." He rattled off a string of numbers.
"Can you confirm the expiration date?"
"Yes. It's October 31, 2080."
I thanked him and ended the call.
A minute later, I called back and asked to speak to a supervisor. After waiting for nearly thirty minutes, he eventually came on the line.
"Hi, my name is Luke Tanner. I'm calling in reference to the toothpaste issue. I wanted to know if the company has any plans to change its packaging."
"Excuse me?"
"I just spoke to a representative who told me your toothpaste containers are recyclable, even though it says otherwise on the label and I am wondering if you are making plans to create new packaging."
"Why would we?"
"Well, the current packaging is non-recyclable, so I was hoping you might consider changing it in the future."
Again, the man on the other end paused. Then he said, "Look, I don't mean to sound rude, but if you want to get anywhere with this, you will need to file a complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency. That's the only way it can investigated."
"Do you think they'll care about a couple of years from now?"
"Honestly, I hope they do," he said. "Otherwise, they're letting the planet die."
He seemed to have seen my reasoning. "You know what? You're right. Maybe I should talk to them instead. Do you mind give me a name and number?"
"Of course."
He recited it slowly.
"Okay, thank you. I'll make sure to pass it along."
"You do that. Thank you for your time."
I hung up and immediately tried calling the number. It rang once and went to voicemail.
I repeated the process twice more before giving up. The third time, I got through to a woman named Robin. Her recorded greeting made it clear she was unavailable, but I let her know what I needed.
She picked up on the second ring. I played her the recording of the call with the customer service rep.And she listened to my suggestion the with the packaging
"Are you worried that this could cause problems in the future? Is this related to climate change or something?" Mrs. Robin asked
"Not specifically, but I'm concerned about the impact on the environment, yes."
"So, you're saying it should created to accommodate recycling?."
"Correct."
"Hmm. Well, I guess we'll take it up with the company. And I promise they will do something about the packaging"
"Great. Thank you."