On Monday, May 23, James Lewin and his family headed to their local Brewer's Fayre restaurant, The Drove, as a birthday treat for his little sister.
The family, from Newhaven, East Sussex, were looking forward to their food, but things soon took a sour turn and they've now vowed to never return.
Their visit ended with the police being called after the furious customers were involved in a row with staff over the quality of their food and service.
James blasted the pub chain over a £5.79 chips dish which he branded a "monstrosity".
The order was meant to be for a portion of chipotle beef chilli-topped chips, but they arrived at the table without the advertised 'gooey' cheese sauce, soured cream and spring onions.
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The 22-year-old marine engineer shared photos of the dish on social media where horrified users claimed it looked like some had 'pooped on the chips'.
As well as the chip 'monstrosity', James also says they were given cocktails with 'mouldy' fruit floating in them and that the other food served was 'all in all terrible' with every topping but one missing from the 'house fave'.
Brewer's Fayre claims the table was 'advised some items were unavailable' when they ordered - something the family deny and say they would not have ordered the items if they'd been told this.
After complaining, James says he was offered a full refund on the table's £70 order and told that the chef was 'too tired' to remake their dinner.
However he said the offer of a full refund was later rescinded and he was baffled when cops turned up as he claims 'they had no reason' to be there.
Sussex Police confirmed they attended but 'no further action was taken'.
James said: "We'll definitely not be going back, it was a monstrosity.
"Me and my girlfriend got cocktails, it came with mouldy raspberries on the top of it.
"We put it aside and thought 'some fruit does go mouldy'. We told them about it and they came and took it away from us.
"They didn't take the whole cocktail, they just took the fruit that was mouldy out of it and left us with the cocktail. They didn't replace the drinks or anything like that.
"We then ordered food with loads of added extras that you have to pay for, so it's like £1 more some extra sauce. We did about £5 to £10 worth of upgrades.
"As you can see on the picture, the only thing that's on the chips is the chilli. We got two of the chilli chips which were about £6. Both of them were like this.
"The food came out and there was literally none of it was on the food, like the cheese sauce you pay extra for. It was all in all terrible."
He continued to say: "They do a thing called 'build a burger' where you pay for all the toppings in it.
"We [told staff] about it again and they took the food off us, and [a member of waiting staff] told us we'd get a full refund.
"She said she'd just spoken to the manager and that she said we could have a refund for the whole thing.
"When we went to get a full refund, they told us we wouldn't get it. She said we'd only get 20% of a refund but I couldn't eat any of my meal.
"The argument really was that it had none of the toppings it was meant to have, apart from one. You're paying for stuff - you expect it all to be there.
"When we spoke to the management that told us we're not having a full refund [and] she said the chef was too tired [to remake the food].
"This was coming on to about 10pm by then because we waited over an hour for our food.
"It was my little sister's birthday. She wanted to go out for some easy food and we ended up down there.
"All of the staff [apart from] one started to go into the kitchen, one of the cooks came out and was unbelievably rude.
"I’m not sure who called [the police]. It may have been them due to the fact they hid for half an hour in the kitchen, but they had no reason [to call them].Even the police said so.
"We got one meal's worth of refund out of four."
Whitbred, who own Brewer's Fayre, claim James and his table were told some items were 'unavailable' and were offered alternatives.
But they claim James' chip complaint 'escalated' and they were forced to call the police.
A spokesman for Whitbred said: "Due to an issue with one of our fridges we can confirm a party of guests were advised some items were unavailable.
"The guests were informed when they ordered our loaded fries that there was no sour cream or spring onions. They were also offered a refund for their drinks and the items they were unhappy with.
"Whilst not ideal, our team worked to offer alternative solutions, which the guests were unhappy with, and the escalating situation resulted in our team calling the police.
"Whilst we appreciate there may have been disappointment, our teams work hard to provide a great service and abusive behaviour is not tolerated in any circumstances."
Sussex Police also confirmed they attended the pub earlier this week and 'gave words of advice' to both the restaurant staff and James' party.
A spokesperson for Sussex Police added: "We attended the Brewer's Fayre in The Drove, Newhaven following a report of a dispute between customers and staff on Monday (23 May) at approximately 10pm.
"We gave words of advice to both parties and as no further allegations were made, no further action was taken."
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