After contestants complained of “inedible” food, including “soup out of a can,” at a £120 per person party where organisers forgot to present medals before apologising for the “total s*** show,” the event was dubbed a “shambles” and condemned by the media.
The major presenter for the “glitzy” Nail, Brow and Lash Awards (NBL) event in Manchester, which honours salons around England who “provide treatments to perfection,” arrived two hours late.
In addition to paying for tickets and a hotel, contestant Lauren-Ann Lee, a salon owner from Waterlooville near Portsmouth, travelled across the nation for seven hours to be there.
The 25-year-old owner of Beauty by Lauren-Ann spent £120 on a three-course lunch and admission for each of the four employees she brought.
The event’s organiser, Oceanic Events, issued an apology to the beauticians on Facebook.
We anticipated it would be fantastic, said Miss Lee. To us, it was a huge thing. We wasted a tonne of time and money, however.
“I would have returned that meal back, not paid £4 for it at a café.”
It’s the farthest I’ve ever driven, she continued. We had to wait for a very long time in the bar area when we arrived. The line to order a drink was terrible since there were only three persons working the bar.
The awards ceremony was scheduled to start at six o’clock, but they had us wait in the bar until seven thirty before taking us to the main room.
There were about 260 individuals in this little area since there were 26 tables with 10 people at each table.
According to Miss Lee, the group was given a beginning of tomato soup that “tasted like a tin of Heinz and had a coating of skin over the top.”
The chicken in the main dish was really dry. It adhered to the roof of my mouth and was inedible. The potatoes were really firm, but the beans tasted stale. The meal’s four carrots were its high point.
“The meal we got wasn’t up to industry standards in terms of quality.” It was a little bit of a scam for what we paid.
The host informed us that the awards presenter had not arrived and failed to even notice the advancing hour.
People gave up waiting at 9.45 p.m. and walked up to the front to accept the medals without their being announced.
I find it unbelievable that the organisers just left them all up there unsupervised.
The Manchester event was promoted by its organisers as a “forum to honour those who offer high-class services, ensuring customers are left with the greatest of impressions.”
We would like to congratulate all finalists and winners for their outstanding accomplishments, they said.
After the primary presenter failed to appear, an organiser from Oceanic Events was compelled to step in and host the event.
Later, she demanded that the prizes be given back so that the celebration could begin.
The host who took over presenting the awards stepped up and apologised for the “total s*** show” before she began, according to Miss Lee.
It was really a complete disaster. They must have earned a fortune from just that one occasion. We paid so much, I feel like it could be a scam.
Even though the event was scheduled to end at 10.30 p.m., it continued until midnight.
The organisers then attempted to persuade the participants to go to a different location by announcing an afterparty.
Some attendees, according to Miss Lee, took the train to Manchester and missed half of the awards ceremony in order to go home. The awards’ organiser, Oceanic Events, declined their request for a refund.
She sent a complaint and refund request to Oceanic Events through email.
They responded by stating, “You paid for tickets to an event, you got an event,” according to Miss Lee. They’ve now stopped responding to our communications. Because everyone was moaning about their Facebook postings, they turned off the comments.
“We’re all in a rage.” It was a really lengthy trip. I was very worn out. We were all giddy on the ascent. What a complete waste of our time, we thought as we were driving home.
“We appreciate our attendees’ input about the cuisine offered by the hotel,” remarked Oceanic Events. This is something we have never seen previously, despite hosting several events in this space. We sympathise with your dismay.
“With every event, we strive to live up to a high quality. We would love to see those of you who have never attended an Oceanic Event again so we can show you what an Oceanic Event really looks like.
The Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel apologised today and stated that their event space had been reserved for an awards ceremony. The event’s schedule was significantly delayed that evening as a result of external problems that the organisers had to deal with.
As a result, the organisers asked that food service be put off in order to accommodate the revised event schedule.
We regret that some attendees felt the service fell short of our usual high standards as a result, and we apologise for any disappointment this has caused.