The dispute over a couple of missing hash browns escalated quickly — I mean, it really got out of hand fast — at a Mesa, AZ, McDonald’s recently, with at least three different people calling the police and claims of assault-by-tossed-food being made by employees.

The couple say they had each ordered a breakfast combo at the McDonald’s, only to realize after receiving their food that they were lacking in the hash brown department.

“It’s a meal,” the wife tells ABC15. “Just like you should get fries with your hamburger, we should have got our hash browns with our breakfast sandwiches.”

That seems like a sound argument to us, but apparently didn’t go over so well with the people at McDonald’s, who the couple claim refused to provide them the fried potato products they had ordered or give them a refund.

That’s when the wife threw her bag of food at the person behind the counter.

“And that was out of frustration which I probably shouldn’t have done, but I did,” she admits. “Fighting over $2 of hash browns is ridiculous. It is ridiculous to have to fight that hard just to get customer service.”

Oh, but it gets more ridiculous, dear readers.

The husband then decided to call 9-1-1, saying he had no choice. Meanwhile, an employee at the eatery also called 9-1-1 to deal with the upset customers.

“We need an officer here right now because I was just assaulted by a patron,” the worker tells the 9-1-1 operator. You can listen to the whole call below.

“They’re getting very belligerent up front right now,” he continues, after clarifying that no weapons were used — aside from the bag o’ breakfast food — and that no paramedics were needed. “The customer is behind the counter. We need an officer right now.”

The customer’s call can also be heard below, with the husband telling the operator that the McDonald’s employee is “basically trying to rob me,” adding that the man behind the counter refused to give back the food that had been thrown at him by the wife (or perhaps fiancee; the caller refers to the female customer using both terms).

“The customer’s not right in this store and I’ll be having a war with this damn… executive, whoever I need to talk to. This is getting crazy,” says the man involved in the incident.

“I just was barely able to hold myself back,” he tells ABC15. “And if not for the 911 call operator calling me back, I probably would have went berserk on him.”

ABC15 says that another customer at the McDonald’s also called 9-1-1, though that call is not included in the recording below.

Police did arrive at the McDonald’s and reportedly charged the couple with disorderly conduct and assault.

Here are the two 9-1-1 calls, first from the employee and then from the male customer:

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.