Look, it doesn’t matter how important it is to be up to date on the latest happenings on “Dexter” or “Breaking Bad” before you get to the office on Monday. When your cable goes out, the proper reaction is to wait for a few minutes, then (perhaps) to call your cable company to make sure it isn’t just you. That is not how the good people of Connecticut reacted last night. [More]
9/11
McDonald’s Customer Arrested After Calling 9-1-1 About Mixed-Up Order
By 8.2.13
A man in Georgia decided to call 9-1-1 after not receiving everything he ordered during a recent trip to his local McDonald’s. His plan backfired, however, when he was the one who ended up behind bars. [More]
Using 911 As A Hotline For Help Ordering Chinese Food Is A Guaranteed Way To Tick Off The Cops
By 4.1.13
It’s not always easy figuring out what you want to eat, or how to navigate big menus. But if you’re feeling stuck, lost or otherwise confused about ordering in, don’t do what one woman allegedly did and call 911 for help. Unless, that is, you want to get charged with a misdemeanor. [More]
Sprint Glitch Repeatedly Directs Police & Angry Customers To Home Of Innocent Retiree
By 1.14.13
You know how annoying it is when you keep getting calls or mail for someone that isn’t you? That’s nothing compared to the Las Vegas man who has spent two years trying to convince police and angry Sprint customers that he does not have their lost phone. [More]
Is This 9/11 Casino Promotion A Nice Tribute, Or Just Tacky?
By 9.10.12
Reader Bearcat44 spotted this ad in the Spokane, Wash. Spokesman-Review. It’s from an Idaho casino running a promotion tomorrow, September 11th. To honor the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, they’re offering special rates to law enforcement, medical personnel, and other first responders in order to honor “heroes who protect and serve our community.” [More]
Man Claims He Couldn't Have Called 911 To Ask For A Ride To Get Beer Because He Doesn't Own A Phone
By 8.7.12
The funny thing about calls that come in to 911 dispatchers? The number you’re calling from is displayed. That’s not new, of course, it’s kind of like caller ID before anyone else had it. So if you call 911 repeatedly and at least once ask for someone to give you a lift to pick up some brews, claiming later that you don’t have a phone isn’t going to fly with cops. [More]
To Clarify: 911 Is Not A Sandwich Complaint Hotline
By 6.15.12
Here are some valid sandwich-related reasons to call 911: An obstructed airway; anaphylactic shock; poisoning. For some reason, a Connecticut man thought the meat-to-mayo ratio of his sandwich was another justified reason for calling emergency services. [More]
Woman Sues Wells Fargo For Telling Police She Was Contemplating Suicide
By 2.7.12
An elderly Oregon woman has filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo, alleging that a bank employee harassed her by telling the police she was threatening suicide — and running up a $1,055 hospital bill in the process. [More]
Do Not Call 911 Five Times About Your Broken iPhone
By 11.11.11
911 emergency services are a very helpful community resource, but they have their limits. They cannot, for example, deliver you a pizza. Or transfer you to AppleCare when your iPhone doesn’t work. That didn’t stop a man in Illinois from doing the latter…and then getting arrested for it. [More]
Do Not Call 911 Because Taco Bell Won't Serve You When You Walk Through Drive-Thru
By 9.16.11
No matter how bad you need a taco late at night, and regardless of how miffed you are that Taco Bell will not hook you up via its drive-thru when you’re on foot, your plight is not an emergency that warrants a 911 call. [More]
Woman Calls 911 Because Her Chinese Food Order Was Wrong
By 6.15.11
Savannah police have released the recording of a call a woman made to report that she got the wrong food in her Chinese food delivery. They published the call as a reminder to the public that it’s a misdemeanor to call 911 unless there’s an actual emergency. Here is a transcript and the audio of the call: [More]
United Reinstates, Quickly Withdraws, 9/11 Flight Numbers
By 5.18.11
An oversight by someone at United Airlines ruffled more than a few feathers this morning when it looked like the carrier was set to reinstate flight numbers UA093 and UA175, both of which had been out of use since jets associated with those flights were used in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. [More]
FCC Asks Verizon To Investigate 911 Calls Dropped Amid Snowstorm
By 2.23.11
When several thousand Verizon customers needed to dial 911 during a January snowstorm in the D.C. area, they were left hanging by the provider. The FCC has asked Verizon to investigate why an estimated 10,000 911 calls were dropped. [More]
There Is No Good Reason To Buy These 9/11 Commemorative Coins
By 2.4.11
If you enjoy commemorative coinage, and want something tangible and shiny to mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, wait for the official coin coming from the U.S. Mint later this year. Skip the neat-looking coin currently being hawked on cable TV. That coin comes from a company with an untrustworthy past when it comes to 9/11 coinage, headed by the same man who brought us the Bedazzler. [More]
Family Claims Comcast Let Grandma Bleed To Death On Thanksgiving
By 10.28.10
What happens when you have phone service through Comcast and you dial 0 for the operator in an emergency? A family in Florida claims that Comcast’s negligence killed their grandmother. The elderly woman bled to death next to her phone while waiting for the Comcast operator and emergency services to figure out where she lived. Now they’re suing Comcast. [More]
Cab Driver Locks Doors, Holds Passenger Hostage For Trying To Pay With Credit Card
By 8.30.10
There’s a driver for Pittsburgh Yellow Cab Company who doesn’t like it when you try to pay with a Discover card, even though the company’s website says they accept it. When Adam tried this, the driver accused him of trying to avoid paying, then locked the doors and initially refused to let him go to an ATM 15 feet away unless he left all of his belongings behind. While Adam called the cab company to complain (he was routed to a voicemail inbox), the driver called the police. Twice. [More]
911: Driving You To The Liquor Store Is Not An Emergency
By 8.4.10
Frivolous 911 calls are a serious waste of time and resources and authorities have little patience for those who dial the emergency number for petty grievances. So when a man from Florida thought the best way to get a lift to the liquor store was to call 911, he ended up behind bars. [More]
Passengers Removed From Orlando-Bound Flight For Watching 9/11 Clips Before Takeoff
By 7.27.10
A father and his son were removed from an Air Canada flight in Toronto last Tuesday after another passenger saw the boy watching footage of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks on his iPod, reports Canoe News. The airline says the pair were determined not to be a security risk, just people with a really bad sense of tact, and it cleared them for a following flight. [More]
