Most people understand that calling 911 is for emergency, life-or-death situations.
But, unfortunately for some of British Columbia’s E-Comm operators, that wasn’t the case in 2025, with some people calling the emergency number to simply complain.
E-Comm is reminding residents across the province that if a store refuses to return your air fryer, or if an airline fines your oversized carry-on, or your dishwasher breaks, 911 is not the appropriate number to call.
The provincial dispatch service has released its annual Top 10 reason not to call 911 list to remind the public to keep 911 lines free for emergencies only, and not for consumer complaints, general questions or inconveniences.
Based on actual calls received by E-Comm police call takers throughout 2025, some of the reasons topping 2025’s list include calling 911 because they were unhappy with their haircut, wanted help getting a hornet out of their apartment, or because a non-electric car was parked at an EV charging station.
By sharing the Top 10 list, E-Comm aims to reinforce the importance of keeping 911 lines available for those who truly need urgent help from police, fire, or ambulance for an emergency where immediate action is required, a release noted.
“No matter how absurd a call might be on the surface, we have to treat every 911 call as an emergency, until we can confidently determine otherwise,” said E-Comm police call taker Bailey Mitchell.
“Every second we spend fielding questions about traffic, hornets or bad haircuts is time that could otherwise be helping someone in a life-threatening emergency situation.”
Top 10 unusual calls on 9-1-1 in 2025:
1. Their luggage exceeded the carry-on limits.
2. Walmart wouldn’t return an air fryer.
3. Their dishwasher was broken.
4. Someone parked at Starbucks and went into a grocery store instead
5. A non-electric car parked at EV charging station.
6. They wanted to complain about traffic.
7. They got locked out of their Airbnb.
8. They left their iPad at the SkyTrain station.
9. They wanted help getting a hornet out of their apartment.
10. They were unhappy with their haircut.