I will get famous when I invent a technology that allows me to stab people in the ear over the phone for being stupid. Then, I can license it to 911 (for free), and others (nominal charge) as my contribution to humanity.

Since there are so many cases, I hope they start putting people in jail (for a couple of days not weeks or months or years) or they give them some huge fine for being an asshole.

The customer abused 911 but the employees use was reasonable: some guy wouldn't move his car and was hitting the windows.

But I'm curious. Did they really mess up his order or was it something else?

dumbass. Oh, you guys got that covered in the picture...ok cool.

Apparently though it's legitimate to call 911 if a customer blocks the drive thru - as opposed to the simpler solution of giving him the disputed $1 (retail) orange juice. If there is an order dispute just tell the customer you'll call 911 if he doesn't move along. Nice. I'm lovin' it.

So now you can really say "Every time you call 911 about McDonnalds, you kill a kitten"?

Dude spent a night in jail. Good. But its also NOT an emergency for the drive through lane to be blocked. McD's needs to train their workers and managers that this kind of issue can be handled by a call on the non emergency line. A cop will still show up. This is just a needless tragedy waiting to happen...

@IfThenElvis: he was attacking the window at that point, which would yes make it a legitimate call. The minute a situation escalates to violence it becomes a emergency matter.

@Snarkysnake: you missed this line "knocking on the restaurant windows." While knocking makes it seem minor, its a act of violence being taken by a person upon the premises which makes it a emergency issue.

They threw a small scene recreating/paying homage to the chicken mcnuggets 911 lady in Southland last week.

@Snarkysnake: Depending on the area, 911 may be the number to call for ALL requests for the police. You used to have to call 911 around here if you wanted the police, no matter how non-emergency it was, until the city implemented the 311 system.

And I'd say for the workers, it would be a 911 worthy call either way. They have a guy refusing to move from the drivethru, potentially blocking in other people, as well as acting crazy so you there's a chance the guy could flip out more and hurt someone.

@BigFoot_Pete: Pete, that is awesome. I support such an invention. I'm sure there's plenty of other stupid things that can fill the space on Consumerist that these ridiculous 911 calls take up.

Some areas 911 is the non-emergency line as well. And do you really expect people to know the non-emergency number to every town and area they drive through? And since cell phone companies have a screened 911, its just as useful as the non-emergency line.

@Snarkysnake: read the article before you type next time: the driver and the people with him escalated the situation to banging on the windows.

@BigFoot_Pete: In lieu of that, how about punching someone in the mug over IP?

[tgiokdi.blogspot.com]

@silver-bolt: Yeah but should he be calling the police over a drink?

@BigFoot_Pete: *sigh*
Dude, when you stab someone in the ear over the phone for being stupid, then someone nearby will just call 911 to get some help for the idiot with the blood pouring out of his head. The problem is only going to get worse. Teleportation, man, teleportation. That's the key. Press a button and zap them to some remote island in the Pacific. Or to outer space.

@silver-bolt: It's not that hard to call 411 to get the nonemergency line. It's a nominal charge but if you're really that pissed off/concerned, it doesn't matter that much. 911 is for emergencies and emergencies ONLY.

Why didn't they just give him the orange juice? What right did they have in calling 911 over a customer dispute if the customer doesn't have the right?

I brush my teeth and then drink the orange juice. It's terrible.

Maybe if we slip "..don't abuse 911 either" into our schools drug education programs this madness will end.

Madness!

@dave_coder: The guy called to complain that he didn't get his orange juice, so I think they probably either forgot, or there was a delay in filling it.

@Corporate_guy: Feel free to read either of the two instances in which your question has already been asked and answered in this discussion.

@BigFoot_Pete: I think a variable electric shock would be more feasible

Wow. I personally believe both people and that particular McD's managers need to be lined up and smacked across the face 3 Stooges style. First, an employee who refuses to hand out an OJ? How much does that cost? Even if the guy didn't order one, it would have been so much simpler just to give him one and get him off of the property. Besides, admitting fault can be a sign of weakness, but if played correctly, can make a customer for life.

The managers need to be slapped too for not training their employees for all possiblities. Or, I may suspect this may also be the case, the managers might have put black and white rules down without room for slight deviances that the employee had no other choice but to NOT hand out an OJ. Thats the biggest failure of all.

And as far as the "consumer" goes, its an OJ.

@h3llc4t: Like silver-bolt said, some areas don't have a separate non-emergency line that accepts calls. I once had to call the cops over some trivial matter. I looked up their phone number in the white pages. They told me they couldn't help me and that I should hang up and dial 911.

@morlo: Tele-tasing. That's the way to go.

@LegoMan322: Most "legitimate" calls to 911 are hardly necessary either. Filling up the legal system punishing idiots is a greater evil.

I believe that the article also stated that the drive thru clerk was laughing at the way Mr. Osman's brother talked.

[www.oregonlive.com]

@h3llc4t: Isn't 411 the general code across the country to reach the $1.89 information service? I thought 311 was a nonemergency number. I'm not about to call to ask.

Yeah- customer is always right. Just give out the OJ and be done with it. What's the deal?

@MerryLifeAndaShortOne: If he didn't order one and it was given to him to avoid a scene that would encourage other people to act like assholes to get things they aren't entitled to

@MerryLifeAndaShortOne: Dude have you ever worked in fast food? You start giving out free stuff you'll never stop.

If there was a mix up the guy should have:

1) Found out why there was a mix-up (i.e. perhaps the order wasn't heard correctly) and fix it.
2) Get out of the drive-thru, go into the store and talk to the manager. He probably backed up several cars with his little stunt.

But no. A business should not have to hand out free product. When have you ever gone to order something, paid, realized that you're missing $2 in change and thought: "Oh the heck with it".

The employees should have just given him an orange juice regardless of whether or not he actually ordered one. It would have dis fussed the situation and nobody would have abused the 911 line. Neither of the people involved should have called 911. I would say they are both crazy because there is nothing illegal about blocking a drive thru line and knocking on the windows. There is also nothing wrong with showing them the receipt that you should have received while paying for your order to prove you ordered an orange juice...assuming he had it handy or they even gave it to him.

@MerryLifeAndaShortOne: You obviously didn't read the article.

Nowhere in the article did it say the McDonalds worker refused to give him juice. It just says that the worker didn't give the customer the juice he ordered, which signifies that the worker probably just forgot about it. The customer also says the worker was "rude" but given the customer's behavior of blocking drive through lanes and knocking on windows, I think he doesn't have much ground on which to stand.

Why is it management's fault that a customer becomes irate over something so simple? If the McDonalds employee forgot the juice, okay, you ask for it again and remind them. There's no need to block lanes and knock on windows, or call 911 because you didn't get what you wanted right this very second.

Am I alone in being relieved that this latest episode didn't take place in Florida (Flori-duh) for once.

"Some people really take this fast food stuff seriously... Maybe we should implement a special emergency channel just for those calls-something like 7838 (STFU)."

Yah, because police should never get involved in theft committed by a corporation. They should only go after deadbeats who share plates at all-you-can-eat buffets.
/sarcasm

For everyone who thinks this guy had no right to call the police (and yes, he should be calling 311 first -- but don't forget 311 is not implemented in every town, many towns only have a 911 response line), should the reverse be true? If he had stolen an OJ from McDonald's should the employee spend a night in jail for calling the cops? Should the employee be allowed to call 911 instead of 311? Is theft of the same item (in this case an orange juice) an emergency when committed against a corporation and an inconvenience when committed against a customer?

@Kimaroo:
Best comment so far this year!

@MerryLifeAndaShortOne: Who wants to maintain THIS customer? All you'ld be doing is demonstrate that throwing a tantrum and holding your drivethru lane hostage yields results - free food. At the point he was told to move on and didn't it becomes a trespass no matter how wronged the customer felt. They were right to call the police. It qualified as an emergency call- the customer was striking the window and holding customers hostage (there's no way to back out of a full drivethru line)

@edwardso: True, but I wouldn't act like that just because I saw some butthole ahead of me doing it. I hope most people are like me and realize how easy it is to forget something in someone's order at a fast food place. I worked at McDonalds when I was in high school and after a few months of working there you get used to people ordering the same things over and over and you sometimes just grab the wrong thing or don't grab something that may have been ordered but might not be usual.

@MerryLifeAndaShortOne: Do you really think that the employees are empowered to give out free food? I know that the managers are but as soon as the customer is becoming all haughty and demanding, most managers I know will dispense with generosity and hold the company line - if you haven't been charged for it, then you aren't getting it. Is an Orange Juice really worth a night in jail, let alone the fine that probably accompanied it?

@CubeRat: The article linked by Consumerist is from an AP feed. Your local article has a lot more detail. Consumerist, can we get the Oregon Live article linked instead?

@pecan 3.14159265: I use goog-411

A stiff fine should be in order.

@jeffbone: This is what I desire for my superpower.

@dave_coder:

Unfortunately, I've never worked in fast food. However, I manage and work the front desk at a hotel (Hampton Inn). We have a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, where if you are not satisfied completely, then we don't expect you to pay. That can range from bedbugs to you not liking the color of my shirt. Yes, we occassionally get the obviously feigned "problem", but giving back the money, even if it is $149, is a simple solution. Fighting about it doesn't help because the person will stand at the desk creating a fuss, inconveniencing other guests.

And guess what? It happens maybe 2 or 3 times a year. Even though we are in an industrial area, we don't get but a handful of people trying to pull the scam. Most people want to do the right thing. Heck, most of the guests who have had problems at our hotel didn't want their money back, all they wanted was for us to fix the problem. Of course, we give them something extra for the inconvenience, but most people do want to cheat the system. Bad apple in a bushel and all that, the whole give an inch is way overblown (enough cliches in that sentence? =D )

@Gokuhouse: Most people probably are, but in my retail experience, letting someone get away with something often leads to them coming back and doing it again and again (i'm talking to you, lady stealing from the salad bar thrice weekly)

@MerryLifeAndaShortOne:

Wait... I meant to say, most people DON'T want to cheat the system.

Sometimes 911 is the only line to call. A few years back, when my condo was in unincorporated county land, I called the nearest local municipal police department to report a guy sleeping in a van in our parking lot and urinated in our bushes.

I was told to hang up and call 911. I told them I didn't think it was an emergency, and asked for the non-emergency line for the county sheriff. She replied that 911 was the only way to make sure the proper jurisdiction was involved. We didn't have (and I don't believe we have now) a 311 number.

CubeRat linked to this upthread, but I thought it might get lost. There's a much more detailed article at Oregon Live: [www.oregonlive.com]

The article outlines which McDonalds it was, the circumstances for the customer's comment that the worker was "rude" (the worker was allegedly making fun of the customer's brother for not speaking English very well) and the subsequent policeman who arrived on scene to explain why 911 was not for nonemergencies, such as not receiving a cup of orange juice.

The officer apparently informed him that he could look up the nonemergency number on his BlackBerry, or consult a phone book, or any of the payphones, but the customer didn't want to listen and insisted that it was a matter of "free speech" that he be able to call 911.

It looks like this is a case of a 20 year old kid who was just not very bright. There's no reason to ever call 911 over a nonemergency if there is in fact, a nonemergency phone number to dial.