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A shopper called 999 to complain about two bottles of fruit squash, prompting a warning from police about wasting staff time.
The woman rang Northumbria Police to say Morrisons supermarket had not applied the correct amount of discount.
She told the call-handler she had not been able to get through on the store's customer service line.
Ch Supt Neil Hutchison said such calls might seem "harmless and even funny" but create a "huge demand" on staff.
It was "completely unacceptable" to call 999 and waste the time of call-handlers who "could otherwise be busy dealing with genuine emergencies", he said.
In the call, released by the force on Twitter, the caller can be heard complaining she had tried to get through to the supermarket but "they just keep hanging up".
The call-handler replies that shopping discrepancies are "not a police matter and certainly not a 999 emergency".
She tries to persuade the reluctant woman that the problem is an issue for the shop, not the police, before finally ending the call.