...has this ever happened to anyone else? :confused:

yes it has happened to me before but sadly there is not much that can be done. A lot of the calls do not need to be 999 and take up valuable time. i am intrigued, why did you need to call?

Originally posted by savbaby
yes it has happened to me before but sadly there is not much that can be done. A lot of the calls do not need to be 999 and take up valuable time. i am intrigued, why did you need to call?

Maybe she was testing to see if they would put her on hold :D

I used to manage a call centre where roughly 10% of all calls were referred to 999 ambulances; it really does happen quite frequently! Scary isn't it?

Hi,

Yeah happened to me ... crappy really!

Originally posted by savbaby
i am intrigued, why did you need to call?

Well, last night whilst myself, duffman, adaline and rizvan were walking back from the pub, a car slowed down to a crawl along side us.

We all thought they were asking for directions until the guy in the front passenger seat shouted "hey gorgeous, you're looking good today" and then gleamed this big kitchen knife at me! :mad:

Naturally we all carried on walking away and quickly picked up our pace but I was worried that some other poor innocent soul would be attacked or abducted by these b******s! :rant:

i have never been put on hold before and i ring them all the time for a friendly chat.

Sparkle did you manage to take down the number plate and report the incident to the police in any case?

Originally posted by DaBouncer
Sparkle did you manage to take down the number plate and report the incident to the police in any case?

Didn't manage to get the number plate unfortunately as I was too busy running away! :D

The incident has been reported to the police so I guess it's left in their hands now :rolleyes:

Whilst this was a nasty incident, I don't really think it was a 999 *emergency* call incident either, which is probably why you were put on hold. I would've reported it directly to the local police station.

PS. I've never dialled 999 so can't vote in your poll or even see the results.

Were you in town? did they put you on hold so they could contact the CCTV control room to try and pick them up on that?

Originally posted by t020
Whilst this was a nasty incident, I don't really think it was a 999 *emergency* call incident either, which is probably why you were put on hold. I would've reported it directly to the local police station.

PS. I've never dialled 999 so can't vote in your poll or even see the results.
Someone brandishing an offensive weapon in a car like a kitchen knife is an emergency I'd say.
They were hardly taking it from one house to another by the sounds of it.

Hey! Thats some scary sh*t... bloody hell that aint on at all!

That was last night? Whereabouts in Sheffield?

Scary :(

Originally posted by t020
Whilst this was a nasty incident, I don't really think it was a 999 *emergency* call incident either, which is probably why you were put on hold. I would've reported it directly to the local police station.

PS. I've never dialled 999 so can't vote in your poll or even see the results.

I forgot to add an option in the poll for people that have never rung 999 before but I think Kristian is going to add it for me.

I dialled 999 because it's the only number I know for the police?!

I got put on hold after they asked me if it was for fire, police or ambulance so they didn't know what the situation was until after I had been put on hold!

Originally posted by burny
That was last night? Whereabouts in Sheffield?


Yes, it happened yesterday evening at about 8:30pm.

It was on the main road that leads to Crookes from Brookhill roundabout, we heading towards town. It was also in broad daylight! :o

I got put on hold after they asked me if it was for fire, police or ambulance so they didn't know what the situation was until after I had been put on hold!

Yeah thats when I was put on hold... that was on two seperate occasions actually... both a couple of years ago though... thought it *might* have got better :0(


I was actually in Crookes yesterday so that is scary :( ... did you get a good look at them then? Get any details? I hope the police do something about this ... was the car full of people? who goes out with a kitchen knife for gods sake... GRR

Originally posted by DaBouncer
Someone brandishing an offensive weapon in a car like a kitchen knife is an emergency I'd say.
They were hardly taking it from one house to another by the sounds of it.

I would say it was more a case for contacting the local station than 999 (though if sparklesista doesn't have the number for that then perhaps 999 was the best option, but I'm not surprised she was put on hold either). 999 is generally for immediate danger.

999 is generally for immediate danger.

I though the issue is that they never asked her what the emergency was... just what service she required... for all the operator knew she could have been stabbed... she still woulda been put on hold :(

Originally posted by burny
I though the issue is that they never asked her what the emergency was... just what service she required... for all the operator knew she could have been stabbed... she still woulda been put on hold :(

True. Only just seen that post.

No prob... I just think its scary that you might really need someone that instant one day and be put on hold.

Its annoying enough when bloody insurance companies and the like do it... we pay our taxes for this stuff DAMMIT!

Originally posted by t020
999 is generally for immediate danger.

It was immediate danger!

I rang the police whilst I was running away as the guy with the knife looked like he was about to get out of his car and run after me!

I have had to dial 999 on a few occasions, for an ambulance.

The last time, I was put through to London Ambulance, and the person on the other end of the line, who was supposed to stay on the line talking me through things, apparently put me on hold ~ I thought she'd hung up on me....basically, I was in a complete panic at the time....so I ended up having to ring back.

When I complained to London Ambulance, I got a letter back saying that this (stupid) woman had said "hold on", which I never heard. The letter did say that she would be told that she shouldn't have put me on hold, and that she should have stayed on the line the whole time. As far as I know, and the letter didn't say so, I was not abusive, just panicking....I won't go into detail here; needless to say it was the worst day of my life!

:rant:

The service is suffering due to the amount of hoax and non emergency calls that people make (I do think that a man brandishing a knife could be viewed as an emergency) but genuine callers are disadvantaged because of the mindless morons who dial 999 for "a laugh" and the people who imagine that loosing their house/car keys or some other trivial matter is a police emergency.

You can't actually phone local police stations these days ... the number for South Yorkshire Police is 2 202020 .. and you can be holding for a very long time indeed... constantly being told that your call is very important to them and apologising for the delay ...

Twenty minutes seems to be about the time limit before many people hang up and decide not to bother after all ... especially if they were just being public spirited and reporting an incident not direcrly connected with themselves.

The call system is a mess and has been for a long time. Promises keep being made about sorting it out but very little seems to be actually happening. Maybe this is why the 999 system is being overloaded resulting in people having to be put on hold ...?

Scary incident, Sparkle - you had three guys with you and they still took the chance ... worrying

Originally posted by rubydazzler

The call system is a mess and has been for a long time. Promises keep being made about sorting it out but very little seems to be actually happening. Maybe this is why the 999 system is being overloaded resulting in people having to be put on hold ...?



That's exactly the reason why more people ring 999. It's the same reason that people go to A&E in hospital more and more rather than wait 2 weeks to see a doctor. It's alright for the government to bleat on about people abusing the 999 and A&E systems but they are destroying services by their constant cut backs.

That's exactly the reason why more people ring 999. It's the same reason that people go to A&E in hospital more and more rather than wait 2 weeks to see a doctor. It's alright for the government to bleat on about people abusing the 999 and A&E systems but they are destroying services by their constant cut backs.

HERE HERE to that !!!

I have had reason to phone 999 twice and neither time was put on hold. The first was because my Dad had been burgled and I thought the offender was still in the house. The second time was because my partner was knocked off his bike. Even though I was not put on hold, the response times in both cases were pathetic.

Originally posted by sparklesista
Well, last night whilst myself, duffman, adaline and rizvan were walking back from the pub, a car slowed down to a crawl along side us.

We all thought they were asking for directions until the guy in the front passenger seat shouted "hey gorgeous, you're looking good today" and then gleamed this big kitchen knife at me! :mad:

Naturally we all carried on walking away and quickly picked up our pace but I was worried that some other poor innocent soul would be attacked or abducted by these b******s! :rant:

Well at least we are all ok, it is lucky that whilst on hold to 999 that we flagged down a passing police patrol car, I must say the two officers who delt with the incident were top notch :thumbsup: However, the desk monkeys made a terrible mistake (wont go into details) which didn't fill us with confidence :mad:

...monkeys made a terrible mistake (wont go into details)...

You cant say that ? :( not we are all intrigued !!!

Sparkle ... you've still not taken the hint as to the company you keep .......

Originally posted by MobileB
Sparkle ... you've still not taken the hint as to the company you keep .......

:o I wouldn't say that Adaline, Rizvan or Duffman were bad company!

Oooh errrr Sparklesista, this sounds really scary stuff :gag:

What's the description of the car?

Hmm, i've always felt reasonably safe walking around Sheffield in the past - I won't know though.

Good job you (Duff, Adaline & Riz) managed to flag down a police car. You just never know what's going to happen ...

Glad you are all ok

Fun just never stops in my company ;)

Originally posted by t020
Whilst this was a nasty incident, I don't really think it was a 999 *emergency* call incident either, which is probably why you were put on hold. I would've reported it directly to the local police station.

PS. I've never dialled 999 so can't vote in your poll or even see the results.

Just out of interest, what would you class as an *emergency* which would result in a 999 call, bearing in mind people abuse 999 to inform the police that they're locked out of their homes! If you have actually posted to say what u class as an emergency then i apologise but i don't have time to read all the replies lol!

Originally posted by tinkabel
Just out of interest, what would you class as an *emergency* which would result in a 999 call, bearing in mind people abuse 999 to inform the police that they're locked out of their homes! If you have actually posted to say what u class as an emergency then i apologise but i don't have time to read all the replies lol!

Only rang 999 twice . a couple of years ago. I was walking through town about 11:30pm at night on my own, a lad came up to me begging for help he was covered in blood and his face was all sliced open. He was panicing because some lads had caught him and were now after his mate, he had managed to get away.

It was just outsides HSBC on fargate so I jumped into the telephone box to call 999, they put me on hold after a min or so, I saw a police car coming down the bus lane so left the phone box and flagged the police car and they sorted him from there.

The other time was on new years day in the early hours in manchester a bloke was walking by the bus stop on the opposite side of the road, me and my friends were stood at it , next 7+ lads ran past him smashing bottles and there was a loud bang, the man dropped to the floor. There was blood everywhere I can't remember much as I was that drunk. we rang an ambulance that was there within 5 mins. the police took some of our numbers but never rang any of us up.

I hope that man was ok.

Yes, I've had the unfortunancy of ringing through to the emergency services - it was around 2100, no holding - straight through. I believe it came from Sidcup's hospital, but the patient went to Darent Valley (Kent).

Alex

I had to call 999 the other night - someone was kicking my door in - the operator wanted to know everything bar his pant colour - fact lot of good when my head is being caved in.

total waste of time - she didn't even know where i lived nor my area of Sheffield

it was a drunk who got the werong person - but he went fo rme with some wood

last july when we first moved into our new flat we were burgled. I called 999 in the morning because we had only just moved in and I didn't know the right station number to ring - I was asked which service a required and then the guy asked me what the situation was, he tried putting me through to hammerton road but they were busy so he took all the details and kept me on hold, but he was nice and informative and put me through as soon as he could :) i'm sure if it had been more of an emergency he would have put me through sooner or tried another station - i'd rather be on hold than told to ring back later!

I've called 999 several times.

The most recently was a few months ago when two people started following me and a few others up west street shouting threats and abuse. I wasn't put on hold and the police van arrived within 5 mins.