Dozens of families faced a ruined Christmas Day after a popular Midlands pub descended into what has been described as 'utter chaos', leaving guests without their booked meals and one relative 'in tears'.
Christmas Meal Descends Into 'Complete Chaos'
The incident occurred at The White Horse pub on Kenilworth Road in Balsall Common. Rebecca Martin, who had booked and paid in full for a festive lunch for eight people, said the experience was 'extremely disappointing'.
"On arrival, however, we were met with complete chaos," she explained. "Before even entering the pub, other diners in the car park informed us the restaurant had been closed and customers were being turned away."
Inside, the scene was reportedly one of distress, with a restaurant full of angry diners all being told that no-one could be served. Rebecca stated there had been no prior communication from the venue about the problems, and no refund had been issued at the time.
Manager Blames 'Domino Effect' of Technical Issues
In a post on the pub's Facebook page, a manager named Daejon issued a sincere apology and provided an explanation for the catastrophic service failure. He blamed 'major technical issues' at the start of the day with the pre-order system.
This required a last-minute manual input of all orders, causing significant delays. Daejon described a subsequent 'domino effect' from which the kitchen and front-of-house teams could not recover, compounded by ongoing staffing issues in the kitchen.
"I understand how it may have seem 'management' were staying away but with all honesty, it was ourselves trying to keep it afloat and organised but to no avail at that point," he wrote, expressing that he felt he had 'personally disappointed our village'.
Refunds Promised After Festive Fiasco
The manager confirmed that full refunds would be issued to all impacted guests, though he noted delays due to the bank holiday weekend, with funds expected by the following Monday. He also extended an invitation for affected diners to return at a later date once the kitchen issues were resolved.
Other customers echoed the distressing experience. A reviewer named Jack B posted on Tripadvisor that their 2pm booking resulted in no allocated table, unclean areas, and reports from others of inedible food and two-hour waits for starters. After a 40-minute wait, they were informed the kitchen had closed.
Thankfully for Rebecca Martin's party, their story had a happier ending. After frantic calls, Toby Carvery at Stonebridge Island managed to accommodate them at short notice, a gesture she praised as 'absolutely fantastic'.
The event has raised serious questions about contingency planning for venues on one of the most important dining days of the year, leaving many to question how such a systemic failure was allowed to unfold.
