Crystal Club London

*PLEASE DO NOT BOOK YOUR EVENT WITH THIS COMPANY* Please excuse the lengthy review, but I wanted to provide as much detail as possible. They used to be highly rated among many other catering and décor firms, being the top option for Asian occasions, and now regretting not going elsewhere. We booked Crystal Events and Management (Crystal Clubs Wembley) for our mother's 60th birthday to provide their catering, decor, DJ, and venue. The owner of this company, KIRUBA, confirmed our booking and then phoned us three days later to tell us that the day was already booked and that we should do it on another day. After a long discussion, we decided to do it the next day, on a Sunday. The entire reservation was confirmed in May 2023 and the deposit was paid. Later in August, just less than 2 weeks before the event, we called Kiruba to ask when we should come in to select the food and pay the remaining balance. To our surprise, he replied that he couldn't accommodate us for the booked date because there was an event happening at Wembley Stadium that would cause huge barriers and prevent anyone from entering that road. He basically advised us to either let our guests walk or reschedule our event for the following weekend and showed no remorse for booking us knowing there would be an event at Wembley Stadium. He was very defensive, claiming that Wembley Stadium had scheduled that event on short notice. When I called Wembley Stadium to find out when the wrestling event was first promoted, they told me that they started selling tickets early this year (ca. February 2023), months before we called Kiruba to secure our date. We informed Kiruba that he messed up and that he should be responsible for finding another venue because we had already invited our guests and only had less than two weeks left for our party. We called him numerous times for updates and he simply wouldn`t answer our calls. We had to use different phone numbers to actually get through to him. When he finally answered our call, he told us to look for a new venue ourselves as he didn't have time to do it. We spent 4 days looking for another venue and when we finally found one, Kiruba demanded that we pay half the price of the new venue hire, saying it wasn't his fault. We disagreed and told him it was his responsibility to make sure we got an alternative and pushed this back as much as we could. After much chasing and escalation, he found another venue for us. He told us to come the next day to pay off the remaining balance and insisted on just accepting cash as payment and no other means of payment. I told him that I couldn't bring cash for that huge amount and that the contract didn't state that I could only pay in cash. He eventually agreed to card payment after another lengthy debate. When we arrived, Kiruba was not there, but we met with his son (Jas), who professionally took us through the meal choices and other necessities. On the day of the event, I actually stopped counting the number of issues we had, and Kiruba's sheer ignorance went beyond any professionalism, as if he was attempting to take revenge on us since he had to pay for the new venue out of his own pocket. When I made the final payment, I told them that I needed everything done by 5 p.m. When I arrived at the location at 5:10 p.m., the décor team was just unloading the items and estimated it would take an hour to complete. We had many people waiting at the entrance around 6:00 p.m. for them to finish the tables. No welcome drinks were prepared and the waiters were surprised when I showed them the contract and only then did they call Kiruba who's team then delivered the welcome drinks at 6:25 pm. We almost had 15-20 people standing because they did not put enough tables and chairs. The background with the word "Happy Birthday" on it didn't work properly as shown in the uploaded picture - the 2 letters did not light up and were defective. They didn't bring the correct tablecloth we asked for and even had tables without any decorations. Our family members had to step in and assist them with their setup. Photos were shared with Kiruba as evidence via WhatsApp. Finally, once the starters were served, we noticed that individuals were concerned, disgusted, and unhappy with the food's quality. The Mutton roll smelt so awful that guests got up and returned it to the waiters. The waiters tried the mutton rolls themselves and immediately took them off the table and confirmed it was spoiled. Imagine how uncomfortable it was for us as hosts to have to urge guests to stop eating the Mutton Rolls. People were so concerned, they even asked the waiters to check the remaining food prior to serving. I literally had both hands on my head and couldn't believe how this company screwed up my party. Not stopping there, they just didn't bring enough food overall. We had 70-75 people and the food was not even enough for 50 people. Desserts were a total joke, not only did they provide dessert for roughly 35 people, but they also had 3 large loose fruit platters of grapes, pineapples, and strawberries, plus 70 cups of Biscoff and Oreo cheesecakes, not exactly what we ordered or paid for. I was on the phone with him countless times until he delivered more food, but our guests didn't bother to return for more. Not a single guest said anything positive about Crystal's service that night. The waiters were under a lot of stress, and Kiruba didn't seem to care. When I requested him to come over, he stated he wouldn't waste his time fixing a low-budget event and would rather accept the bad feedback than issue a refund or compensation. This entire review represents my perspective and experience with this company and the named individual - I have dealt with hundreds of business people, but this KIRUBA person is one of the biggest liars, money greedy, and most importantly one of the biggest scammers I have ever encountered with. Other individuals at Crystal Clubs such as staff, waiters, decorators, and DJ were all friendly and handled the situation very professionally. The entire party would have been destroyed if they had not been present, a big thank you to them. PLEASE DO NOT PAY CASH TO THIS COMPANY - Their record keeping is so awful that I nearly lost £5000 a couple of years ago if I hadn't shown KIRUBA an email from one of his employees confirming the amount I paid (different event). However, the story didn't end there... Happy to connect with anyone who wants to hear a thorough story about my experience(s) so you don't make the same mistake I did.