Bad haircut? Don’t call 9-1-1

E-Comm, the communications company that handles the hefty majority of 9-1-1 calls in the province, is once again reminding residents of what does and does not warrant a call.

What does should be obvious – emergencies.

However, some people seem to still not understand that, as evidenced in E-Comm’s top 10 nuisance calls of 2023.

Here are some things that real people in BC phoned 9-1-1 about this year:

1. To ask for directions home from the Drake concert
2. The traffic light was taking too long to turn green
3. They lost a nose ring down the shower drain
4. Their AirBnB host cancelled their reservation
5. Their UberEats order was taking too long
6. A burger joint wouldn’t let them in before opening
7. They couldn’t find their cell phone
8. To complain about a pothole
9. Their McDonalds order was taking too long
10. The barber gave them a bad haircut

“No matter how absurd a call might be on the surface, we have to treat every 9-1-1 call as an emergency, until we can confidently determine otherwise,” explains Alaina Milicevic, police call taker at E-Comm.

“Every second we spend fielding questions about AirBnB reservations or complaints about UberEats orders, is time that could otherwise be dedicated to helping someone in a life-threatening emergency situation. We can’t help you with consumer complaints on 9-1-1, but reaching out to an appropriate customer service agent, or filing a report with the Better Business Bureau might help resolve your issue.”

There have been more than 2.1 million 9-1-1 calls placed in the province so far this year.

E-Comm provided some tips for properly calling 9-1-1:

• Know your location at all times
• Don’t program 9‑1‑1 into any phone
• If you call 9‑1‑1 accidentally, stay on the line and let us know
• Lock and store your cellphone carefully to prevent accidental 9-1-1 calls
• Do not text or tweet 9-1-1
• Call takers cannot transfer your non-emergency call from 9-1-1, visit nonemergency.ca for a list of alternate resources for reporting non-emergency matters