Viewers call 911 to report cable TV outage

[Alan C.]

Police: When cable TV breaks, a 911 call is bad

 

People have called 911 to complain about lousy hamburgers and cold french fries, but what happened Sunday night in a Connecticut town may have set a new standard for misuse of emergency calls.The cause of the crisis? Viewers couldn't watch their cable TV programs. And if Facebook posts are any indication, "Breaking Bad" was what the viewers wanted most.A power outage knocked out cable service Sunday evening in parts of Connecticut, leaving Cablevision customers unable to watch television, including the hit show now in its final season.While most viewers chose to wait for service to be restored, others opted for a far less rational course of action: calling 911.The Fairfield Police Department was not amused and took to its Facebook page to post a refresher course on using its emergency system. The message read:"We are receiving numerous 911 calls regarding the Cablevison outage. This is neither an emergency or a police related concern. Please direct your inquiries to Cablevision. 911 should only be called for Life Threatening Emergencies ONLY. Incidents that are not of an emergency nature may be reported to the Fairfield Police Department. ... Misuse of the 911 system may result in an arrest."

 

The sad irony is that, for many people, losing TV really is an emergency.

 

My brother recently got a job in a tech support call center. During training, they listened to some "hall of shame" calls where customers would scream on the phone, make demands and threats, and shout profanities.

 

Years ago, I recall a radio talk show in which a guy called in to talk about death threats that he had received from people whose cable tv had been disconnected due to lack of payment.

[nathanm]

Only call 911 when the 'cable going out' involves a utility pole crashing onto the hood of your car in a shower of sparks.