‘We lost £1,300 on Christmas dinner after restaurant shut without warning’ | UK | News
Hundreds of families were left devastated after a popular steakhouse closed without warning on Christmas Day, despite customers paying more than £100 per head for the festive meal.
Customers who booked to dine at Miller & Carter in Hockley Heath, Solihull, said their Christmas plans were thrown into chaos after the restaurant announced it could not open due to a power fault shortly after 1pm on December 25. Many had booked the chain’s Christmas Day set menu weeks in advance; this menu usually costs £105 per person.
Hundreds of families were left devastated after a popular steakhouse closed without warning on Christmas Day, despite customers paying more than £100 per head for the festive meal.
Customers who booked to dine at Miller & Carter in Hockley Heath, Solihull, said their Christmas plans were thrown into chaos after the restaurant announced it could not open due to a power fault shortly after 1pm on December 25. Many had booked the chain’s Christmas Day set menu weeks in advance; this menu usually costs £105 per person.
In a statement posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page at 1.20pm, Miller & Carter said an “unexpected electrical issue” caused the entire extractor system in the kitchen to fail, making it unsafe to operate. It was reported that engineers worked throughout the morning but were unable to solve the problem.
“There is no easy way to say this,” the post read. “Our engineers worked all morning to resolve this issue but unfortunately they were unable to do so. This means we cannot open our kitchens today.”
Some customers said the announcement came after their booked dining hours had passed. One diner, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Mirror that “hundreds” of people had already paid in full and were relying on the restaurant for their Christmas dinner.
“This is a disaster,” they said. “People won’t be able to find food for their own Christmas dinner and their plans have completely fallen apart.”
Among those affected was James Munro, who said he lost nearly £1,300 after booking a 12pm Christmas dinner for himself and 12 family members. His sister had traveled from Devon to spend Christmas with her family but her plans were foiled at the last minute.
“We heard the news of the closing about half an hour before our reservation,” Mr. Munro said. “We thought they might be able to fix this problem, so we went downstairs anyway, but were told the extraction unit had failed and they couldn’t get the part. Apparently the furnaces wouldn’t work without it.”
He said staff claimed they tried to call his sister, but the girl did not receive any missed calls or messages. “We were not offered any solutions; not even a drink or food to take home. If we had known sooner, we could have put something together ourselves.”
After the announcement, comments poured in on the restaurant’s social media page, and some customers suggested that the prepared meal could be distributed to customers who made reservations. While others expressed disappointment with the timing, a minority were more understanding, saying technical issues were sometimes unavoidable.
Miller & Carter said senior management would contact affected customers in the coming days, but many families’ Christmas celebrations had already been damaged.
