Willy's Chocolate Experience promised a Wonka wonderland — guests found an empty warehouse

In February 2024 House of Illuminati, a London-registered experience company run by Billy Coull, sold tickets to 'Willy's Chocolate Experience' at the Box Hub warehouse in Whiteinch, Glasgow. Promotional material promised a 'journey filled with wondrous creations and enchanting surprises', with chocolate fountains and optical illusions. Tickets cost up to £35, and families travelled from Aberdeen, Dundee, Fife and Newcastle.

Attendees found an almost empty warehouse: plastic cups of supermarket lemonade on a bare folding table, one jelly bean and a quarter cup of lemonade per child, a 'Jellybean Room' that ran out of jelly beans, and a figure in black with a silver mask — 'The Unknown', a made-up villain — that made children cry. One guest walked the whole event in five minutes against a promised 45-minute to hour-long show. Actors said they had rehearsed scripts for months, then were told on the day to improvise.

The event was cancelled midway through its first day, Saturday 24 February 2024. Police Scotland were called and gave advice; Glasgow City Council's Trading Standards received a complaint. House of Illuminati apologised on Facebook — 'we were let down in many areas of our event' — and promised full refunds. Coull blamed technical issues and said he was 'so, so sorry... for the sheer and utter disappointment'. A 'House of Illuminati scam' Facebook group gathered 3,000 members, and the 'sad Oompa Loompa' photo went viral worldwide.