Calling 911 is something nobody wants to have to do.
Unless the fast food restaurant you’re jonesing for isn’t open 24 hours a day as advertised.
Then you definitely have no issue calling 911.
Right?
Um, no.
You don’t call for that. You also don’t call 911 about a store not accepting a return of shoes without the original box.
Those are a couple of examples of consumer complaint calls received by E-Comm - B.C.’s largest 911 centre - in 2018.
E-Comm has released its annual top 10 list of calls that don’t belong on 911.
According to an E-Comm news release, “In addition to consumer complaints, questions about vehicle malfunctions made their way to 911 lines this year, including someone calling to find out how to turn off their vehicle headlights and another caller reporting that their wiper blades were broken.”
You just can’t make this stuff up.
E-Comm featured call taker Heather Andrews, who said these calls mean time is taken away from helping people with real life safety issues.
“This type of call ties up our ability to help people with real emergencies,” said Andrews in the release. “Dealing with a complaint about the opening hours of a restaurant is a call that doesn’t belong on 911.”
So, here are E-Comm’s top 10 reasons not to call 911.
- To complain a local fast food restaurant wasn’t open 24 hours a day, as advertised.
- To complain a store won’t take shoes back without the original box.
- To complain that a gas station attendant put the wrong type of gas in their car.
- To report a rental company provided the wrong-sized vehicle for a customer’s reservation.
- To report a restaurant wouldn’t redeem a customer’s coupon.
- To ask for help turning off their car lights.
- To report their vehicle’s windshield wipers had stopped working.
- To find out where their car had been towed.
- To report a lost jacket.
- To ask if the clocks move forward or backward during the spring time change
