Top “non-911” 911 calls released by E-Comm

VANCOUVER, B.C- If you want to know which 911 calls to not make, you can check out this year’s list released by E-Comm.

E-Comm is the largest 911 centre in British Columbia, and annually releases top 10 lists of calls that shouldn’t have been made to 911. The list is released in an effort to get people to not tie up 911 phone lines.

This year’s list was as follows:

E-Comm’s top 10 reasons not to call 9-1-1 in 2018

1. To complain a local fast food restaurant wasn’t open 24-hours-a-day, as advertised
2. To complain a store won’t take shoes back without the original box
3. To complain that a gas station attendant put the wrong type of gas in their car
4. To report a rental company provided the wrong-sized vehicle for a customer’s reservation
5. To report a restaurant wouldn’t redeem a customer’s coupon
6. To ask for help turning off their car lights
7. To report their vehicle’s windshield wipers had stopped working
8. To find out where their car had been towed
9. To report a lost jacket
10. To ask if the clocks move forward or backward during the spring time change

While the call about the fast-food restaurant not being open originated from the Lower Mainland, a similar occurrence happened in May in Courtenay.

“This type of call ties up our ability to help people with real emergencies,” said call taker Heather Andrews, in a release from EComm.

“Dealing with a complaint about the opening hours of a restaurant is a call that doesn’t belong on 9-1-1.”

9-1-1 is for police, fire or medical emergencies when immediate response is needed.

“Most people use 9-1-1 responsibly,” said Jasmine Bradley, E-Comm Corporate Communications manager, in the release.

“But calls such as those on this year’s headscratcher list waste valuable emergency resources that would otherwise be available to someone who’s health, safety or property was in jeopardy or a crime was in progress.”