A Scottish mum was left utterly furious after splashing out £250 on a party planner for her daughter's 10th birthday, only to be left with six 'laughable' plates of food for 28 children.
Ashley Black from Falkirk claims she was assured by her event planner that there would 'definitely' be enough food for all of her daughter's friends, but when the day came, she was left disgusted by the 'ridiculous' spread.
The display from party planner 'Steph' was so poor that Ashley's husband Stuart had to do a quick run to the local Tesco to spend an additional £45 on pizzas, hotdogs, and crisps so their guests didn't go hungry.
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The selection of nibbles for party guests included a few cocktail sausages, mini sausage rolls, sandwiches, scotch eggs and crisps.
Ashley's Facebook friends were just as shocked as she was when she posted a scathing review of the event company on social media, accompanied by photos of the sad looking spread.
Recounting the experience, she wrote: "I spoke to Steph from the first contact. I was told by Steph, many times, what I would receive for the £250 I was paying her.
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"The party day came and Steph arrived 10 minutes before the party started to set up. My daughter's guests were arriving at the start time and Steph was still messing about with lighting and music. Not ideal!
"It was then that she also informed me that the sequins wall I was paying for was broken so she had replaced it with a £35 cheaper, piece of material with writing on it instead.
"Steph had told me that she would provide all of the food for my daughters 28 guests, this was included in the price.
"I had asked her two times if there would definitely be enough food for 28 children, to which she replied there definitely would be. There was certainly not! I have attached the picture of the food that was provided.
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"After seeing the morsel of food, my husband and I realised we would have to go out and get more!"
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"At the end of the party Steph approached me and asked if I was happy with everything. I replied that I have a few things I was unhappy with and asked if I could speak with her about them.
"I raised my complaints, Steph got upset and said she would speak with me the next day."
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She recalled: "From here Steph went on to act like a victim, she accused me other being threatening, and shouting at her, backing her into a corner (I was in fact standing in the corner of the room when she approached me) and frightening her."
"This of course was completely untrue, the parents who were collecting their children can confirm that."
When the party planner refused to offer Ashley a refund for the items she didn't provide, Steph instead offered to cover "half of the money" they had been forced to spend at Tesco.
"After a further message to Steph as advised by my lawyer, Steph has blocked me. How very mature and again, great customer service!" Ashley claimed.
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Friends of Ashley took to the comments to discuss the disappointing display.
"Looks like she spent about £6 on food and that includes the plates" wrote one user.
"Not even Jesus himself could split that between 28 people" joked a second.
And a third added: "Omg. I’m not being funny that is laughable food for 28 children?? Wow."
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Since the disappointed mum's post went viral online, the party planner decided to hit back with her own Facebook posts, claiming to have contacted her own lawyer.
She went on to say that she has since been inundated with hundreds of comments, phone calls and messages about Ashley's Facebook post.
"All I want to say on the matter is I will not let one customer out of all the customers I have had ruin what I have worked hard to create for kids and adults with their parties and special occasions" she wrote.
"I know in my heart that I do a good job and all I care about I the kids being happy with their birthday."
"I can definitely put my hands up and agree that I'm not perfect and some jobs could definitely could have been better but every day I'm learning like every other human being is."
Former customers of the business rushed to support Steph, with one saying: "Concentrate on all the good you do, the happy faces you see through all your hard work and the appreciation of your work from all us customers who love what you do."
Another assured her: "You're building an amazing little business. You can't please everyone. No one can. Unfortunately, there are some really horrible people out there and karma will catch up with them soon enough."
The event planner was contacted for comment but failed to respond.
Topics: Food and Drink, Life
Ali Condon