The frustrating process of trying, and failing, to use coupons at Burger King has sent plenty of people over the edge. Just peruse the archives for stories of fistfights, gunplay and arrests over the years, as Burger King cashiers angered customers by denying their coupons.
And now a Burger King coupon confrontation has happened again. But this time, the customer didn’t take the law into his own hands – he kept his cool and called police.
And then he got banned from Burger King.
It happened around lunchtime yesterday in the city of Lakewood, in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. A 73-year-old man went through a Burger King drive-through with buy-one-get-one-free Whopper coupons. So he ordered his Whoppers, drove around to pay for his order, tried to use his coupons, and was told the coupons were not valid.
The man was not about to pay 4 bucks apiece for extra Whoppers that he expected to get for free. So an argument ensued. The cashier refused to accept or even give back his coupons, and asked for him to pull forward so other customers could pick up their orders.
Instead, the man stayed put and called 911.
“I’m not moving anywhere until you give me back my coupons,” he’s heard telling the cashier in the 911 call released by the Lakewood police department. “I’m calling the police.”
He went on to explain his conundrum to the emergency dispatcher. “The guy took my coupons and he won’t give them back to me and he won’t give me the free Whopper that they call for either,” he said.
Since the man had called 911, police were duty-bound to respond, whether or not they thought it was a real emergency. So an officer headed to Burger King to help get to the bottom of the situation.
According to the police report, the man said he “received the coupons in Texas and was advised they are not good in Ohio.” They managed to convince the cashier to give back the coupons, since they weren’t counterfeit and were still technically valid – in Texas.
No charges were filed, but the man could conceivably have been charged for making a nuisance call. “911 lines are for emergencies, and that was not an emergency,” Lakewood Police Captain Gary Stone told Cleveland’s WOIO-TV. He said such complaints “should be called in on the non-emergency number if it is something that is not life-threatening.”
That said, it’s probably safe to assume that police in Lakewood, or anywhere, are unlikely to get a similar 911 call over Burger King coupons.
And it’s unlikely the man in this dispute will make another call like it again, either. The police report notes that he was “advised he is not allowed to return to this Burger King”.
It doesn’t note whether he received any of his Whoppers. But considering he’s now forever known as the guy who called 911 over a Whopper coupon, one thing he’s definitely received – is lasting infamy.
You missed the obvious punch line: In the end, this was not exactly an example of “having it your way” at Burger King!!!
There have been so many Burger King coupon stories over the years, I think I have already used up all my Burger King puns. But yours would have been a Whopper of a punch line!