FURIOUS parents have made complaints to Police Scotland following outrage at an "immersive event" inspired by Willy Wonka - with one child left in tears.
The Glasgow event, Willy's Chocolate Experience, has now been cancelled by organisers after visitors complained of false advertising.
Families were sold a day of "pure imagination and wonder” where “dreams come to life” at the Box Hub Warehouse in Whiteinch.
One advert described "a world of whimsical wonders, enchanting gardens, and the delightful Bubble Lemonade Gallery" telling customers the "offer won't last forever".
However, when families arrived for the experience they found a sparsely decorated warehouse room with props littering the venue and one bouncy castle.
Organisers House of Illuminati cancelled the event mid-way through its first day on Saturday and police confirmed that officers had been called to the venue following complaints.
Tickets cost £35 and one child was reportedly reduced to tears.
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One parent posted on the House of Illuminati Facebook page: "I'm sorry but this was an absolute joke. You cannot blame a few hiccups for the absolute state of what you put on.
"A two-minute walk through of what was likely props from a themed party company who decided to try string out an event from a few polystyrene and plastic props. I was expecting separate rooms, not a small maze in the middle of a room and a tiny bounce house for 4 year olds.
"My 8-year-old daughter was [so] absolutely gutted that she actually cried. Shame on you."
One commented: "Absolutely waste of money. We travelled from Livingston to this event thinking it would be a great day out for my grandson but we were only there for less than 10 mins and all he got was two jelly beans."
Another said: "Attended this event today and was extremely disappointed. I would agree with the above comments it was definitely false advertising. Was nothing like described on website. Lollies were all smashed. You were given five jelly beans in a packet at the end. Staff were telling kids no when asking for more."
While the event was cancelled, organisers failed to notify families which led to several making the journey to the closed venue with a cardboard sign outside.
One woman wrote on social media: "We travelled through to Glasgow this morning for this event as did not know it was cancelled. You really should of emailed us to let us know as we have two very disappointed boys now.
"Not mention the wasted petrol as we are over an hour and half away. I will be expecting a refund of travel expenses as well as my tickets refunded.
"Absolutely appalling and you should be ashamed of yourselves".
Another added: "One heartbroken kid. We travelled from Dundee for this. Didn’t know it was cancelled until we got there."
In a statement, organisers apologised and said that at the "last minute, we were let down".
House of Illuminati wrote on Facebook: "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."
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Refunds are now being processed with the organiser posting a picture showing 850 transactions underway.
Matthew Waterfield, operations manager at the venue where the event was held, said: "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."
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