Methinks you're looking at the wrong issue here.

There wasn't even a need for him to call a non-emergency number about not receiving orange juice. He should never have been on a phone about this, except to call McDonald's customer service.

[www.bash.org]

"i'm going to become rich and famous after i invent a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet"

@Red_Flag: Neither party is correct in the place. Dude should have handled it more appropriately and McD could have just given the OJ over. If it were my business, I would have given him the juice just to get rid of him! That is legitimate business action :-P

missing persons reports etc... you just can't win!

Because not getting your orange juice is not a reason to call 911. Some guy beating on the windows and intimidating employees is.

http://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/index.ssf/2009/05/aloha_man_calls_911_over_botch.html

That's exactly what they do here. I have this huge hangup about calling 911 for something trivial so I don't call.

I just handle it myself. >:)

Apparently in Florida, even if OJ is out of stock, or in this case non-existant, all you will have to do is reach through some empty shelves, no, really reach without looking through the shelf, and some farmer will hand you a quart of OJ! At least the commercials tell me that.

"I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughtnut... I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I give you money and you give me the doughnut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a doughnut. To some skeptical friend, 'Don't even act like I didn't get that doughnut, I've got the documentation right here... It's in my file at home. ...Under "D".'"

Thanks for posting that! So basically, Osman went back to ask for juice, McD employee refused, made fun of his brother, etc. Osman's actions at the end were irrational, but the employee? Come on... really?

@floraposte: Exactly! Why require the burden of proof over a container of OJ? It's not gonna put them out of business.

Besides, I hardly think someone is going to drive all the way home and back just to rip McDonald's off for a drink. If he had asked them to replace the sandwiches or something, then I could see their reluctance, but a drink? Just give it to the guy already, jeez.

While you're just over the river from us Portlanders, you're in an entirely different state, with very different rule. Here in Washington County we have a non-emergency line. 503-629-0111

Regardless, I think a carton of OJ doesn't even warrant a call to the non-emergency line. Just don't go back.

@Cyberxion101: I've never worked in fast food but 6 years of the grocery store and my husband in restaurant management has proven that scammers are an everyday occurance

Since I live about 5 miles from where this happened, I can assure all of you that we do have a non emergency police number for Washington County (the county he was in).

@Dr. Eirik: You called the local municipal police department to report the guy, then urinated in your bushes? :P

I kid, I kid. I'm not being pedantic out of spite. I was told it was "cute", so that's why I do it. Of course the person who said that did look a little cross at the time...:P

@pecan 3.14159265: Let's say that the naranja juice was sitting on the counter on a tray. A theif grabs it from the tray and leaves, but the employee notices the theft and calls 911. Would the employee go to jail for it?

Probably not, because he'd probably just shrug off the theft and not bother making the phone call. :P

Let's say that he did make that call though. Would he get into trouble for making the call? I wonder. Now I'm going to have to go work for McDonalds, wait for something like this to happen, then call 911 when it does.

I'll report back here with the results! :P

@edwardso: Now while nothing much worthy of noting ever happened when I worked at McDonalds, I did encounter a lady when I worked at Alberton's who brought back a package of steaks that she had bought because it was "spoiled when I bought it".

The problem was that nearly 2/3 of the steaks were missing, and that according to her receipt, she had bought the package of steaks well over a month before. The lady had obviously eaten the other steaks and brought the one back hoping to get a refund.

We gave it to her, no questions asked, but we all laughed about it at closing.

@edwardso: Does it really though? When I worked in fast food, we rarely ever encountered folks trying to cheat us.

@fantomesq: Sure they are. I did it from time to time when I worked at McDonalds back in high school.

Now I wouldn't say that you could get away with giving out 20-pieces of chicken nuggets, but an orange juice isn't going to cause most managers with half a brain to pitch a shit-fit.

@kevjohn: Outer space - I'd do something seriously brain-damaged to get teleported to a remote island anywhere.

@PunditGuy: I'm probably the last person to call other folks out for being a dick, but to my credit, I generally try to keep my assholish nature relevant by actually answering people's questions or responding directly to their posts while I'm being a jerk. :P

@Jim Topoleski: How convenient! You doubt he's right...for what reason now?

That's an entirely plausible scenario. I've had to do it myself when my order came out incorrectly. I know it's anecdotal as far as you're concerned, but hey, it does happen.

@mrsultana: I agree! It's been a slow year... :(

@chris_d: Yes, damnit! I ordered my sammich' with no onions, and I want it without onions! Who cares if my frivolous call ends up killing someone in some round-about way, I want it my way!

"You used to have to call 911 around here if you wanted the police, no matter how non-emergency it was, until the city implemented the 311 system."

Are you referring to NYC? If you are, then that is incorrect. In the past, you were supposed to call your local precinct for non-emergency incidents. Which I still do.

1: People make mistakes.
2: Stupidity seems to be epidemic.
3: Screwed fast food orders are not an emergency.
4: Calling 911 has NOTHING to do with free speech.
5: NO ONE has the right to be an asshole in public;
it is a crime called "disorderly conduct."

Working in fast food is NOT EASY. I have done it in the past as an employee and as a manager. Until recently this type of situation would have gotten the cashier AND the manager in duty fired. Now that the courts are holding the companies responsible for unruly customers and their effects on others, most companies now require that the police be called anytime a customer begins to cuss and hit things. Oh, I forgot number six;

6: Being a customer does not mean that a company is going to kiss your ass.

@calquist: let us not forget Ms. "the lettuce i bought 10 days ago is soggy"

The fact that police cars always have 911 printed on them and no other number is a part of the problem IMO. You drill "police = 911" into peoples' heads all the time and it's more likely that this crap is going to happen.

Regardless the article makes it clear they where knocking on WINDOWS. Not one, but many. Last I looked most drivethrus only have one little area.

Here's what probably happened:
1)Worker gives customer food, but forgets OJ
2)Worker walks away from the window
3)Customer realizes that there is no OJ, tries to get worker's attention by knocking on the drive thru window (how else do you get their attention?)
4)Customer dials 911 to complain
5)Worker dials 911 because a customer appears to be belligerent.

I get that you can't just hand out free food, but the guy had a receipt showing he paid for it, and there's no way he can prove he didn't get it. He drove all the way back for it. Is he just screwed? I don't see what honor McD's is standing on or what lesson it's teaching anybody if it says "No, I'm not going to acknowledge we might have missed a juice."

@pecan 3.14159265:

True, but the article doesn't mention if the customer tried to work out the error in a calm manner at first. I agree that his end behaviour is uncalled for and deserves punishment, but I would imagine he looked at his juice and said "Umm... this is not what I ordered..." then the server said "Oh yes it is" or something to that degree.

As far as management, they didn't train their employees to properly defuse the situation before it got this out of hand. I'm sure the dude would have taken off, probably never have gone back to that McD's, if he was handed the juice he wanted.

@fantomesq:

Thats the problem! We empower our line level staff to hand out gift cards, give a free room, etc. as long as they can back up their actions.

I agree that this particular person may not be the one that the McD's wants back, at his state of mind. However, I'm wondering how it got to the point of him beating on windows? Was the employee refusing to back down even a little bit? I highly doubt the guy was given the wrong order then suddenly breaks out into a fit of rage. He probably tried to work it out rationally, then became highly irrational. I'm not defending the dude, even as a consumer you gotta lick your wounds and move on, and he does deserve to be punished for his tantrum, but how many people actually get this worked up the instant an error is discovered?

For the layperson, scamming is always easier if it's viewed as being a) something that won't cost much anyway; b) will take no time (for you or the person); c) is viewed as victimless. Your hotel rooms are hard to fall into these categories - there's a cost, time is a large factor and there are a finite supply of rooms. It's not like Big Macs where one can simply be made again - once a hotel room is rented, it's gone for the night.

You have guilt on your side. No matter what, people can convince themselves that food costs restaurants next to nothing or that restaurants expect to write-off a lot of wasted and free food, so that they're okay in pulling the scam.

Or maybe I'm the only person that's met someone that brags about complaining about food to get free meals? I don't think so - especially when people risk jail time for it:

[laist.com]

@pecan 3.14159265: I really enjoyed reading the comments on the article. Especially those (non-sarcastically) commenting on "speaking English good"

@Gokuhouse: My steak wasn't cooked right. I had to suffer through the whole thing! Can has free?

I'm glad he didn't "hit that"

@MerryLifeAndaShortOne: that's great that the policy where you are is not abused but in places where people frequent weekly (or more) that sort of thing happens much more often

Even if 311 is not implemented in every town, at the very least, have some common sense and find out!

I'm pretty sure employees who call 911 because of stolen juice are not calling because of someone who stole juice, it would be because someone actually hopped over the counter to take a cup, or reached into a drive through window to fill a cup, which - from an employee's perspective - may be looked upon as an attempt to steal from the restaurant. The $1 drink isn't the matter, it's that someone would be trying to take something that wasn't theirs, or didn't exchange money in order to receive.

The article outlines which McDonalds it was, the circumstances for the customer's comment that the worker was "rude" (the worker was allegedly making fun of the customer's brother for not speaking English very well) and the subsequent policeman who arrived on scene to explain why 911 was not for nonemergencies, such as not receiving a cup of orange juice.

The officer apparently informed him that he could look up the nonemergency number on his BlackBerry, or consult a phone book, or any of the payphones, but the customer didn't want to listen and insisted that it was a matter of "free speech" that he be able to call 911.

It looks like this is a case of a 20 year old kid who was just not very bright. There's no reason to ever call 911 over a nonemergency if there is in fact, a nonemergency phone number to dial.

I was told to hang up and call 911. I told them I didn't think it was an emergency, and asked for the non-emergency line for the county sheriff. She replied that 911 was the only way to make sure the proper jurisdiction was involved. We didn't have (and I don't believe we have now) a 311 number.

@MerryLifeAndaShortOne:

Wait... I meant to say, most people DON'T want to cheat the system.

@Gokuhouse: Most people probably are, but in my retail experience, letting someone get away with something often leads to them coming back and doing it again and again (i'm talking to you, lady stealing from the salad bar thrice weekly)

@dave_coder:

Unfortunately, I've never worked in fast food. However, I manage and work the front desk at a hotel (Hampton Inn). We have a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, where if you are not satisfied completely, then we don't expect you to pay. That can range from bedbugs to you not liking the color of my shirt. Yes, we occassionally get the obviously feigned "problem", but giving back the money, even if it is $149, is a simple solution. Fighting about it doesn't help because the person will stand at the desk creating a fuss, inconveniencing other guests.

And guess what? It happens maybe 2 or 3 times a year. Even though we are in an industrial area, we don't get but a handful of people trying to pull the scam. Most people want to do the right thing. Heck, most of the guests who have had problems at our hotel didn't want their money back, all they wanted was for us to fix the problem. Of course, we give them something extra for the inconvenience, but most people do want to cheat the system. Bad apple in a bushel and all that, the whole give an inch is way overblown (enough cliches in that sentence? =D )

@pecan 3.14159265: I use goog-411

Yah, because police should never get involved in theft committed by a corporation. They should only go after deadbeats who share plates at all-you-can-eat buffets.
/sarcasm

For everyone who thinks this guy had no right to call the police (and yes, he should be calling 311 first -- but don't forget 311 is not implemented in every town, many towns only have a 911 response line), should the reverse be true? If he had stolen an OJ from McDonald's should the employee spend a night in jail for calling the cops? Should the employee be allowed to call 911 instead of 311? Is theft of the same item (in this case an orange juice) an emergency when committed against a corporation and an inconvenience when committed against a customer?

Nowhere in the article did it say the McDonalds worker refused to give him juice. It just says that the worker didn't give the customer the juice he ordered, which signifies that the worker probably just forgot about it. The customer also says the worker was "rude" but given the customer's behavior of blocking drive through lanes and knocking on windows, I think he doesn't have much ground on which to stand.

Why is it management's fault that a customer becomes irate over something so simple? If the McDonalds employee forgot the juice, okay, you ask for it again and remind them. There's no need to block lanes and knock on windows, or call 911 because you didn't get what you wanted right this very second.

If there was a mix up the guy should have:

1) Found out why there was a mix-up (i.e. perhaps the order wasn't heard correctly) and fix it.
2) Get out of the drive-thru, go into the store and talk to the manager. He probably backed up several cars with his little stunt.

But no. A business should not have to hand out free product. When have you ever gone to order something, paid, realized that you're missing $2 in change and thought: "Oh the heck with it".

@MerryLifeAndaShortOne: If he didn't order one and it was given to him to avoid a scene that would encourage other people to act like assholes to get things they aren't entitled to

Yeah- customer is always right. Just give out the OJ and be done with it. What's the deal?

I believe that the article also stated that the drive thru clerk was laughing at the way Mr. Osman's brother talked.

[www.oregonlive.com]

@h3llc4t: Like silver-bolt said, some areas don't have a separate non-emergency line that accepts calls. I once had to call the cops over some trivial matter. I looked up their phone number in the white pages. They told me they couldn't help me and that I should hang up and dial 911.

Wow. I personally believe both people and that particular McD's managers need to be lined up and smacked across the face 3 Stooges style. First, an employee who refuses to hand out an OJ? How much does that cost? Even if the guy didn't order one, it would have been so much simpler just to give him one and get him off of the property. Besides, admitting fault can be a sign of weakness, but if played correctly, can make a customer for life.

The managers need to be slapped too for not training their employees for all possiblities. Or, I may suspect this may also be the case, the managers might have put black and white rules down without room for slight deviances that the employee had no other choice but to NOT hand out an OJ. Thats the biggest failure of all.

And as far as the "consumer" goes, its an OJ.

I brush my teeth and then drink the orange juice. It's terrible.

Maybe if we slip "..don't abuse 911 either" into our schools drug education programs this madness will end.

Madness!

@silver-bolt: It's not that hard to call 411 to get the nonemergency line. It's a nominal charge but if you're really that pissed off/concerned, it doesn't matter that much. 911 is for emergencies and emergencies ONLY.

@BigFoot_Pete: *sigh*
Dude, when you stab someone in the ear over the phone for being stupid, then someone nearby will just call 911 to get some help for the idiot with the blood pouring out of his head. The problem is only going to get worse. Teleportation, man, teleportation. That's the key. Press a button and zap them to some remote island in the Pacific. Or to outer space.

[tgiokdi.blogspot.com]

And I'd say for the workers, it would be a 911 worthy call either way. They have a guy refusing to move from the drivethru, potentially blocking in other people, as well as acting crazy so you there's a chance the guy could flip out more and hurt someone.

So now you can really say "Every time you call 911 about McDonnalds, you kill a kitten"?

But I'm curious. Did they really mess up his order or was it something else?