A Dundee dad has hit out after travelling two hours for a Wonka-inspired experience in Glasgow that turned out to be a “total con”.
Stuart Sinclair, 29, had taken his two sons and four-year-old daughter to the £35-per-person Willy’s Chocolate Experience at Box Hub on Saturday.
The city centre venue had been hired by organisers House of Illuminati, who promised “a journey filled with wondrous creations and enchanting surprises at every turn” inspired by the recent musical movie.
According to its website, the experience promised “captivating live performances featuring charming characters singing original catchy tunes” featuring “extraordinary props, oversized lollipops, and a paradise of sweet treat”.
It added: “This event guarantees an immersive and delightful entertainment experience”.
The event listing on Facebook also said families should expect an “immersive experience” and “a day of pure imagination and wonder”.
However, Stuart, who lives in Douglas, said it turned out to be “far from that” and that the family was met with a near-empty warehouse with just a few Wonka-themed props.
The event has since been cancelled following several complaints, with the organisers pledging refunds to all customers.
Police were also called after “things started to get quite aggressive”.
Dundee dad says Wonka event promised ‘magical experience’
Audio-visual engineer Stuart told The Courier: “It was sold as a proper experience – a magical experience.
“We drove from Dundee so it took us a couple of hours.
“When we turned up it was just a warehouse – I did expect that as I knew the venue.
“I thought they would have transformed it.
“We walked through and were told to sit down, the guard opened the front gate.
“There was a guy wandering around apparently dressed as Willy Wonka but he didn’t seem interested.
“You then got inside and there were a couple of props and a plastic chocolate thing.
“In the next room they had test tubes with Jelly Babies.
“I said to the kids at least they would get a bag of sweets but they gave them one single sweet each.
“We came out of that bit and there was a guy and people gathered around trying to get answers.
“They were saying they would get it sorted and refunds.
“That’s fair enough but there were people there from Newcastle and Aberdeen who had travelled too.
“It’s not the money side, it’s the disappointed children.”
Visitors cleared from venue as families ‘disappointed’ by Wonka experience
Stuart said security cleared visitors from the venue – run by Box Hub – during his visit as claims started to circulate online that the event was not as expected.
He added: “My two boys are nine and ten and they just laughed.
“My wee girl is four and was the most excited, she was disappointed.
“That was the biggest thing, it wasn’t so much money side, it’s the fact you’ve wasted the day and there’s disappointed kids.
“We were there at 12.15pm and after that, they shut the doors and there’s now a sign saying it’s cancelled.
“We went away to Build a Bear in Braehead Shopping Centre and made the most of the day.
“There were loads of disappointed kids outside it was a shame.”
A post on the House of Illuminati Facebook page said: “Today has been a very stressful and frustrating day for many and for that we are truly sorry.
“Unfortunately last minute we were let down in many areas of our event and tried our best to continue on and push through and now realise we probably should have cancelled first thing this morning instead.
“We fully apologise for what has happened and will be giving full refunds to each and every person that purchased tickets.
“We planned a fabulous event and it just did not take shape as planned and for that we are truly sorry we are devastated at how this has turned out and understand people’s anger and frustration that everyone has had, refunds have already started being issued and the rest should be over the coming days, again we are truly sorry to everyone.
“Refunds can take up to 10 working days.”
Hired venue ‘fully on side with families who have been let down’
Matthew Waterfield, operations manager at Box Hub told The Scottish Sun: “As a private event hire company I was approached by House of Illuminati number of weeks ago.
“They had detailed to me this wonderful immersive family day out. They were going to run this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-esque event.
“It sounded great on paper. They dressed the venue yesterday. It looked incredibly underwhelming. People arrived today.
“They were very unhappy with the amount of money House of Illuminati had been charging for admittance. Things started to get quite aggressive.
“The event organisers decided to cancel the event.
“They were responsible for promoting, organising, advertising and the actual operations of the event. All we did was hire the space to them.
“I’m under the impression they are intending to give a full refund to every customer who purchased a ticket. I am fully on side with the families who have been let down.”
A police spokesperson confirmed officers were called to the cancelled event and gave out advice and assistance.
