People are running out of options in fraudulent restaurant activities in Florida and getting themselves arrested out of frustration.
Are these moronic people? On the surface you'd think so. But the underlying problem is the firm "All Sales are Final" policies at Florida fast food joints. Consumers are finding that restaurants use this policy to take advantage of customers. Case number one in February 2009. Jean Fortune calls 911 because his Burger King order was short a 'Lemonade' and he wouldn't take a Coke. With no refund available he settled for dialing 911. You have to wonder how bad customer service has to be for someone to call 911. The operator remind the Mr. Fortune, "Customer service is not a reason to call 911. 911 is if you're dying. Do you understand that?" Fortune was charged by police with abuse of 911 services.
On the surface you'd think this guy is a crackpot and deserved what he got. But then jump to March 3rd 2009... Same state! ...Latreasa Goodman dials up 911 not once but three times in her determination to have McDonalds do the right thing. Goodman's angst centered around McDonald's running out of McNuggets. They offered her two burgers. She didn't want the burgers and again with a no refund policy she was stuck. With no advocate to get her money back she resorted to dialing 911. Big mistake. She too was cited for misusing 911.
Sure on the surface these people are perhaps unbalanced for not handling their complaints in a civil manner. But when you see a pattern such as this... you need to look deeper than just laughing at someone's mistake.
If nothing else, the message should be clear to everyone. 911 is for emergencies and bad customer service is not an emergency.
-Lars Hindsley
