Karen's Diner on Tour: Rudeness taken to new levels as "fake event" leaves Portsmouth customers scorned

It was no laughing matter for people who splashed out for Karen’s Diner on Tour at Drift Bar in Palmerston Road on Saturday night after the event never materialised. Drift was unaware of the apparent booking at its venue in what is a familiar story across the country from disgruntled customers who have been left high and dry after forking out.  

Karen’s Diner, which prides itself on providing customers with the worst service possible, had returned to Drift on December 16 as part of its UK tour last year providing a menu boasting New York style food. The News covered the event and was told by the company it was returning to the venue on April 6 and 7, and on August 3 and 4 this year after its successful outing last summer.

Tickets for the events are still being advertised and can be bought at £25.50 per ticket at www.tickettailor.com/events/karensontour/1012230#

The News has contacted the company but has not had a response but for a generic automatic email reply that said: “Hey up Mother Kazza here, I will reply within 48 hours if I can be bothered! Maybe in less time if it interests me.”

The News has now contacted Portsmouth City Council’s Trading Standards over the complaints. 

One customer who shelled out £250 for Saturday night’s event said: “I bought tickets and was having concerns after recent reviews about venues not being booked. I contacted Drift in Southsea to confirm the dates and if it was taking place on Saturday April 6 and the response was, ‘no that’s not here’. I feel I may have been scammed.

“I spent £250 buying 10 tickets…got tickets and a confirmation letter but I’m concerned I’ve lost my money.”

Another woman said she paid £100 for tickets before suspecting she had been duped. She said: “It appears there was a fake event created at the Drift. Drift said they never had a booking for them.

“My concern is others have booked too and lost money. Still waiting on hearing back from the credit card company on my money…£100 is a lot of money. Hopefully they will sort out a refund. Gutted, though, as this was for a friend’s birthday and was paid back in December.”

Meanwhile on leading review site Trustpilot people across the country also said they had been scorned. One person said of a booking in October: “Turned up having spent hundreds on tickets and it did not exist. No venue had ever been booked, we lost hundreds. 

“They sent an email after the date we had booked saying it had been cancelled due to sickness. However, the venue we spoke to said they’d never been booked. There were lots of others there too in the same position, no response from company - do not give them your money.”

Another person wrote: “I turned up to the event, only to be told that it had been cancelled. It is now seven months on and I still haven't had a refund. They have also stopped replying to my emails. Please save yourself money and hassle - do not book.”

A third posted: “What a total con…booked last September for the October Bristol tour and it got cancelled because apparently they got Covid. It was postponed until December and I then got another email saying they postponed until February and guess what? No show, no email, no nothing, no replies from the many emails I’ve sent.”

A fourth person added: “They are an absolute shambles. I have been waiting for a refund since July 2023. I have sent email after email, I have tried to contact them, I get nothing back.

“It just makes me so angry that I trusted this company for a fun day out with friends, then they changed venues from Bristol to Wales. And I was told I could have a refund. Still no refund. Angry doesn't actually come close to how I'm feeling. Avoid at all costs.”

According to the company, Karen’s Diner has risen in popularity over the last year with videos captured at its restaurants in Australia, America and the UK going viral on social platforms such as TikTok. Waiters or waitresses are known to deliver to the wrong table, throwing menus on the floor and barraging people with expletive rants.