An Aberdeen woman who was let down by a Willy Wonka ‘experience’ in Glasgow said she thankfully received a refund “within minutes”.
Emma-Louise Coyne, 34, bought two tickets for herself and husband, Hammad Ul-Haq, for an event advertised as a “world of pure imagination”, based on the Roald Dahl classic.
She said: “I was so excited for it – I’d been singing the Willy Wonka songs all week.
“I told all my staff at work, ‘no you can’t be off on Saturday because I’m going to the chocolate factory!'”
However by the time they arrived for their time slot at 3.30pm on Saturday, the now-infamous event was being shut down.
The Willy’s Chocolate Experience had been billed as “a journey filled with wondrous creations and enchanting surprises at every turn”.
The organisers, House of Illuminati, had hired Box Hub in the city’s west end, but the scores of attendees were disappointed by what they found inside.
The underwhelming displays left crowds of angry parents, who had paid £35 per person for a ticket.
Police even confirmed that officers had been called to the venue following complaints.
The resulting outrage has attracted international media attention, with articles even in the New York Post.
Families travelled from north-east for Willy Wonka event
Mrs Coyne, originally from the north-east, said she heard of families who had travelled from Aberdeen and Dundee for the event, paying for hotel rooms.
She said: “I’d actually invited my niece and nephew to come, which I’m glad they didn’t.”
‘You just need to laugh about it – what else can you do?’
Mrs Coyne was able to report the purchase using her online banking app.
Luckily, she received a refund from her bank “within minutes”.
With the day-out cancelled, the pair went to visit family in Glasgow instead.
She said: “You just need to laugh about it because what else can you do?”
Other families are still waiting for refunds.
A post on the House of Illuminati Facebook page on Saturday 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.”
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