Don’t call 911
Parking stall spats, bad food and even woeful nail colours — annoying, yes.
Reasons to call 911? No.
Teachable moments, lessons learned, or just plain WTF? scenarios, those are just of a few of the lowlights featured in the E-Comm 911 service’s top 10 nuisance calls list for 2017.
Released Thursday, Dec. 28, the annual ranking is highlighted by this headscratcher: a complaint over a salon that wouldn’t change a customer’s nail colour.
“Spending time on calls like these takes me away from being available to help someone who is [in] a serious emergency situation,” said E-Comm call taker Christie Duncan in a news release. “And believe it or not, this isn’t the first time I’ve received a call about the colour of nail polish.”
E-Comm is B.C.’s largest emergency communications centre and receives more than 1.3 million calls annually. The emergency call service covers 26 regional districts and communities from Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Island to Alberta, and from the U.S. border to north of Prince George. E-Comm is also tasked with dispatch services to 36 police agencies and fire departments in southwest B.C.
Outside of the salon fiasco, the following calls from across Metro Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»round out E-Comm’s top 10 list.
* Car refusing to move forward at a gas station pump
* To report food was inedible and restaurant refusing to provide refund
* Complaining tenant moved without returning keys
* Calling because someone parked in their parking spot
* Wondering if a washroom closed sign at a popular beach was legitimate
* Complaining gas station wouldn’t accept coins for payment
* Calling to ask if raccoons are dangerous animals
* Asking if there’s a law preventing washing clothes at 6 a.m.
* Calling to check the time following the fall time change
“As you can see by our 2017 list, some people believe 9-1-1 can be used as a customer complaint or general information service,” said Jody Robertson, E-Comm’s executive director of corporate communications, in a news release. “While these calls are absurd, they're more common than you might think. The fact is, every time a 911 call taker handles one of these calls, we waste valuable resources. We’re asking the public to help us help.”
If nothing else, releasing the year-end list gives E-Comm staffers a chance to hammer home a poignant reminder: 911 is for police, fire or medical emergencies when immediate action is needed. Otherwise, call your local non-emergency line. Locally, the Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Police Department’s non-emergency line is 604-717-3321.
“Non-emergency lines are for important police matters. None of the items on our list is a police matter,” Robertson said.
