proudcabaret.com Reviews 76

Cancelled by email 4 hours before the event we paid over £1600 for a party of 8 staff for Christmas, then no contact no reply to emails no refund!!!! The reviews show it now has a closure notice on the door and a known scam, so i assume they have gone under and taken everyone's money. Luckily we paid by Amex and are in process of getting our finds back. Be warned.

I’m writing this not as a review, but as a honest warning to anyone that even contemplates buying tickets to any of Alex Proud’s current events or any future ones for that matter, as he makes it a bit of a habit when it comes to liquidating businesses and starting new ones up….

Onto the night itself…… we bought Cabaret Expose tickets with the premier 3 course meal package at £125 per person, and based off everything that we had seen on the website, we were genuinely very excited for it, it sucks you in with the extravagant sexy photos that look cabaret related….. but when you get there you’re greeted by what seems to be a really awfully lit, completely smoked out comedy club with some charity shop style picture frames with the occasional picture of a half naked women,

The food is absolutely diabolical, when you’re paying that price per person, I’d expect something that is at least edible, but no instead you’re served a gelatinous mess of potatoes and egg with some spices as a starter
Half a rotisserie chicken with freezer food potatoes served on a bed of pre packaged vegetables for the main
And finally For The desert you can expect a slice of what seems to be store bought vanilla cheesecake

Then onto the drinks, they’re just god awful and you pay at least £16 per cocktail for something that tastes like it’s Ben hauled out of drip tray at your local night club not much more to add on the drinks front.

Oh and when you get the bill you’re added a £4 cover charge per person at your table alongside a £25 entertainment fee ???
I’m sorry but can someone explain to me what the £125 per person price tag was for if I also have to pay for an entertainment fee,
All the guests where a bit taken aback by the bill and it completely shattered the already deflated mood when people realised they were being forced to pay hidden fees that are just handed to them out of the blue

The acts are all absolutely sub par, for some context the night is structured in such a way that it seems to revolve mostly around one women or “the host” as she seemed to put it…. She sings between almost every act, the singing is nothing special but is bareable at least
For our Expose experience we had
-5 minutes of a genuinely good fire breather
-5 minutes of a man dressed as mr Bean stripping down naked in some sort of strange tantric strip tease
Then you’re greeted by a 35 minute interval where absolutely nothing happens but they pitch it as time to go to the toilet or get a drink….
Followed up by more out of tune signing by “the host”
-5 minutes of some acrobatics by a genuinely talented performer
-5 minutes of an adult man dressed as a squirrel making innuendos about “foamy nut”,
Orgasms, and checking for testicular cancer
And then finally
-5 minutes of the first performer doing magic tricks with a table and a pigeon

However I can’t be too unhappy about the performances as I have learned after digging through Mr Prouds previous endeavours and career that he doesn’t pay his performers at all,
Alongside this he has liquidated multiple companies while owing hundreds of thousands of pounds in wages to staff
And finally to top this all off he has had at least 5 women including an intern of his accuse him of being a sexual predator and bully, which is all publicly documented online to see for yourself, and I highly advise you do this before you even contemplate buying tickets

I have attached photos (on google reviews) of our bill and the corresponding articles around Mr proud

If you read this Alex please be informed that I am reporting your scam of a business to trading standards and will be going to the citizens advice bureau to hopefully stop any more of the poor unknowing people that you prey on from going to your shows .

Regards,
Louis

Horrific scam. I ordered a bottle of Prosecco given on the menu at £48. The bill for one bottle was £74 as there was an additional £4 cover charge and a £22 “Entertainment Fee”.
I would give this company zero stars if I could. It took 30 minutes to get through the doors even though we arrived on time. The one cocktail was “rum punch” which was mainly orange juice, the pizza was straight out of a packet and the “show” started 35 minutes later than advertised and ended a lot earlier than described in the article. Save your money and have a better experience; buy yourself a bottle of Prosecco, some pre-mixed cocktails, and a pizza and watch a Magic Mike film with friends.

I am disappointed I missed the buff brunch on Saturday as I was a bit late as I couldn’t find the venue as it was in a hidden spot and my friends hd been waiting for me inside. When I finally the concierge lady at the red carpet entrance was the only person there and she guided me to where I should be going. When I finally did I approached 2 ladies who told me to go back out and wait outside . No one came out and I went back to the concierge lady who told me that my friends are inside. I contacted my friends but they had no reception as it was in the basement and was told by them that there are two events going on the buff show and one private event. I got fustrated as there weren’t enough staff to guide me and o would assume someone would be there to take me to the table but they never came out. I ended up leaving feeling frustrated and disappointment and lost my money on t food and drinks

Expensive drinks and food. Average quality.
Guy who owns this night has not paid many performers. Continually liquidating companies and then rebranding.
I'd recommend taking your business elsewhere to support artists who are actually being paid instead of putting more money into the hands of a con man

It was a date night with a twist.
We had a fantastic night at Haus of Cabsret! The performances, service, food and drinks were all exceptional. They looked after us throughout the whole
And the performers - spectacular! Enjoyed every moment
Would absolutely recommend!

I would not even bother giving one star. A group of 6 of us went on 6th December. We booked a table back in August and I was rung up the day before to confirm our menu choices. However on the night, we were shown to a table of 5 stuck right at the back with limited view of the stage! When we complained that it was a table for 5 not 6, they said they could not move us and that they would put an extra chair. The manageress was a so rude. This made the space very small and one guest would have their back to the stage the entire time. We tried to make the best of it but then the MC announced there was a gas issue and that the kitchen was out of use so the food we paid for was not available so they were going to order in pizzas. The show was on them and they would exchange tickets for another evening. It was difficult enough getting the 6 of us together plus we had travelled two hours to get there. We decided in view of the squashed table and no food, we would prefer to get a refund. The manageress we again extremely rude and did nothing to assist us. We then spoke to another manager who assured us that if we were to email in, a refund would be given. We are still waiting for our £660. I have had some email correspondence with Khoury Taylor the Head of Sales who basically wants to give us a partial refund to cover their costs. I think we should get a full refund - we had the wrong table, there was no food as advertised and we did not consume anything on the premises and did not stay for the show. A complete scam and really awful customer service.

I’ve been to Proud (who have now rebranded as Haus of Cabaret) a few times, spent a small fortune each time, but always had a great time.

Booked the Denise Van Outen All Stars show in August for my Mum’s birthday then got an email the day before to say she had pulled out due to personal reasons. We were disappointed but, life happens, so fair enough. Rang them to say we didn’t want to attend any more subsequently, as it’s not the same with just the acts and not the emcee. I was told on the phone by customer services “No worries, they may still charge you a ‘no show’ fee as it’s less than 24 hours before but you’ll have a refund within 10 weeks”. I was annoyed at the no show fee to be honest, considering they’d told us last minute DVO wasn’t coming but in my mind was like ‘whatever, I’ll have my refund and will take my mum to do something else’.

I waited for months and no money materialised so sent them an email - no response weeks later. Emailed again, no response. So I emailed for the third time and CC’d every email address I could find for them online and got a response from someone called Khoury saying they don’t offer refunds, as per their terms and conditions, and they don’t know who would have told me that.

…Why would I have made that up and so long after the fact?! Bizarre.

I said they’ve broken the contract of the show and subsequently their own terms and conditions by not providing the show that was advertised, so on this occasion they should offer a refund. No response again. Emailed again a few days later to say if that’s the case, I’ll go through my credit card and open a dispute to get the money back. Which I have done, sent all the evidence and screenshots in to the bank and luckily got the money back. Never got a further response from Khoury to either email.

Cannot believe this is how you treat customers who pay £500+ per show for VIP tickets and drinks etc. at your shows. Better service in McDonald’s and I can only assume this is reason for the new rebrand. Absolutely abysmal customer service & thieves!

Save your money and find a better show to see.

Was due to have a VIP five course meal each and got told after 1hr 30mins of sitting down and having a few drinks that the kitchen had a “gas problem” so they ordered pizzas for everyone. For 7 people due to have five courses each we had 3 kids size pizazz’s to go around us all instead resulting in 2 slices each, absolutely appalled and disappointed! When went to collect my jacket before the show ended I received my fur jacket wet and sticky as it had got dropped “in water” (my coat is still sticky and definitely was not water). They had explained at the start of the show that the WHOLE night was due to be free then when we went to leave early to go eat else where because we was hungry from 2 slices of pizza each they turned around and said we had to pay for our drinks. They are a scam and do not trust the company.

I wish I could give this a 0 but this is not an option.I tried to give this the benefit of the doubt, despite the number of negative reviews. The show sounded fun, so I went ahead and booked it as a surprise for my partner for our anniversary. However, when we turned up to the venue, we found out that the show was cancelled by chance, by two members of staff who were outside smoking. This of course came as a surprise, not only because we were not informed of this prior to making our way into Brighton, but also because I was speaking to a member of staff on the cabaret's web chat on the same day. I was following up because I did not receive a pre order link, something which I requested a week prior and was told this would be emailed to me, but it never did. Despite speaking to a member of staff about this on the day of the show, not at any point was I advised about the cancellation. I was provided with a business card when I learned that the show was cancelled, for the venues manager. They never replied to my email, and so I contacted the head office. From there on the customer service is what I can only describe as shocking, not only due to lack of empathy, but the way this complaint has been handled. Initially I was advised I can either rebook or get a refund. I chose to rebook initially, provided them with a date and never received a confirmation. I followed up a week later to advise that since the rebooking has not been confirmed as I received no response to my email, I didn't want to waste another evening, and I would like a refund. I was then told that they are unable to refund me as the booking was made via Groupon. The big mistake here was also booking this show through Groupon as now no one wants to take the blame and compensate me. To this day I still haven't received a refund. Honestly not book this - it's a waste of your money and time.

Certainly avoid booking with Haus of cabaret! No VIP 5 course dinner, pizza instead. They are a complete con especially, 1 Mark Lane venue.
Please AVOID!!!

Absolutely terrible. We were sold a carnival Cabaret - with aerialist, fun carnival games and the fun atmosphere of the carnival… and in reality we had none of those things. There were two performers who loosely entertained us with a tiny step up from karaoke, burlesque-ish and some comedy. The food arrived cold, and somewhat inedible. Overall don’t bother.

DO NOT BOOK THE DRAG BRUNCH!!!
IT IS A SCAM!!!
I booked this for myself and 14 friends as a surprise for my wife's 30th birthday. Two days before the brunch was supposed to happen I got an email saying it had been cancelled last minute as not enough tickets had been sold, which given it was a Sunday in August I find very hard to believe as it would've been peak season in Brighton and we had 15 tickets in just one group.

I immediately requested a refund and was ignored repeatedly by phone and email, until after MONTHS of chasing for almost £800 I was able to get my bank to issue a refund. I've still had absolutely no communication from Proud regarding the matter, even to try and reschedule if a refund wasn't possible or even to offer an apology.

Other reviews have had exactly the same experience and I'm convinced that the venue never had any intention of running the event and that they regularly run this SCAM!! Even if it's not, the customer service has been diabolical and I would recommend finding one of the other many brunches in Brighton, at least with them you might actually get what you've paid for.

ZERO STARS IF POSSIBLE.

THIS IS A SCAM. I PURCHASED 8 TICKETS, THEY EMAILED ME A WEEK BEFORE THE SHOW AND SAID THEIR IS NOT ENOUGH TICKET SALES SO IT WILL BE CANCELLED..I TRIED TO GET A REFUND AND THE LADY SAID "HAHA GOOD LUCK". NEVER EVER HAND MONEY TO THIS COMPANY

I am giving one star due to the disappointment of the new, much smaller venue, the disappointment of the much smaller range of acts from just three entertainers, the disappointment of the cost of it all and to top it off, 15% service charge just added insult to what turned out to be a thoroughly awful evening of 'entertainment'.

There was no sense or burleseque, no class acts other than the host that tried his best. The crowds enthusiasm audibly dwindled throughout the evening and seemingly the only answer to lift moral was to offer free shots, so long as we filled in a 5 star review midway through a show that was fast becoming embarrassing to attend. We literally could not believe how cheap this trick was.

Awful show. We went twice at the embankment venue and it was good. New venue and show is a shambles. Alex Proud refuses to come forward and discuss. Simply put, don’t go

Show was cancelled 4 days before we were due to attend. No offer of a refund, they wanted us to attend another show. Which wasn’t possible. I asked for a refund. To be told it will take up to 10 weeks. I’ve wrote to them many times stating that it’s not acceptable amount of time. To be ignored. The first person I spoke to was Saffron. I’m not escalating this to Trading standards & will now go to social media. It’s disgusting. I will never go to a show now. The customer service is appalling.

I'd like to point out that the host and performers were amazing, and this review is solely directed at management, not them.

My friends and I had a disappointing experience with Proud Cabaret City. We planned to attend the Exposé show on June 15th, as a birthday gift for my friend’s 40th. However, an hour before the doors opened, we received an email saying the show was cancelled. We came from out of London and had spent a good amount of money on trains to get there.

After contacting Proud Cabaret City, Ola responded and kindly rescheduled our booking. They assured us of the best seats and offered additional free drinks to compensate for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation.

Last Friday (26th), we attended the rescheduled show. While we had good seats, we were disappointed to find out we were booked for the Secret Burlesque show instead of Exposé, which was the show we wanted to attend. Although the performers were great, it wasn’t the experience we were looking forward to, knowing how different Exposé is (as I've attended Exposé before, which was a very good experience, unlike this one!).

During the final act, our server brought us the drinks bill without accounting for the promised free drinks. When I raised this, he was dismissive and instead offered us another round of drinks "to enjoy with the final act" (which was over by the time he left our table), distracting us from the show. I missed part of the act trying to sort out the misunderstanding.

Afterward, we approached staff about the issue, but our drinks were still being prepared while most guests had left and the show was fully over. Despite leaving my email with the staff and contacting them myself, I haven’t received any communication back. We are 400 pounds out for this, which is a lot of money for such a disappointing experience.

I'll be reporting the business to Trading Standards.

The show was brilliant. However I had booked for a large group of 13 and we all had pre booked tickets with dinner. At the end we had all paid for drinks and service separately and there was an additional charge of £250 which they claimed we had to pay. The waiter bright the receipt over and circled it. My sister ended up paying in not realising the we had also paid the rest and was confused the next day when I said that it was incorrect.there. Was also additional payments for “cover charges”. I think they did it on purpose for the extra tips at the end. For the last 3 months I have called, emailed every week with 1 response saying they are “looking into it” and then have been ignored since. Really terrible. It’s a lot of money, happy to pay too for the 5 people on the table but after this level of service it’s absolutely not deserved and we need it returned.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! I am very disappointed with the service. We booked a table for the drag brunch on 27th April, only to have it canceled three days prior due to overbooking and our table blocking a fire exit. They didn't even call to ensure we received the cancellation. We requested a full refund as we couldn't rebook for another day. Despite calling and emailing, they said refunds take 12 weeks, which is unreasonable since the cancellation was their fault. It has now been 13 weeks, and despite multiple calls, emails, and live chats, we have still not received our refund. Do not waste your money here! All the reviews from the last 6 months look like they are scamming people out of their money by taking bookings when they do not even open their doors!