Dobbies Garden Centre Cirencester

On our second visit (clearly we were gluttons for punishment), we had to sit in the restaurant because there were no seats available in the café area. Almost immediately, we were told we couldn’t sit there and were instructed to stand in the café queue instead, with the promise of being seated once we were served. This was particularly frustrating as my elderly father-in-law, who is in his late 70s and has spinal issues, really shouldn't have to stand in a queue for 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the staff member showed no compassion and insisted we move. It’s clear that the poor customer service isn’t an isolated incident—it seems to be ingrained in the staff's behavior. Earlier in the week, we also experienced their internet system going down, which prevented them from processing card payments. It’s hard to believe that in this day and age, they don't have a backup system in place. How can a company of this size afford to lose an afternoon’s worth of card transactions? After all, who carries enough cash for a day out at Dobbies? Additionally, I should mention that the dog-friendly and non-dog-friendly tables in the café are situated just feet apart. My son has a dog allergy, and there’s nothing to prevent a family with dogs from sitting right next to us.

The quality and portion size of our lunch were good, but the service was rather slow.

I’ve never waited less than 20 minutes in line for a coffee. It’s always seriously understaffed, which is a real disappointment.

Although the food was nice, the service in the café was extremely slow and they were out of stock of a lot of food, even though it was only 12.30

Very poor service, called for a coffee, had to wait over 30 mins, only one serving, why don’t the open the other coffee machine or get 2 people serving, tables needed cleaning, no seating, food on floor, don’t recommend