Dobbies Garden Centres Reviews 32,069

We booked Breakfast with Santa at Dobbies, but our 3 year-old became seriously unwell after routine childhood immunisations the day before. She was ill all through the night and into the day of the booking.

We responsibly chose not to take her and contacted the store to ask if we could rebook or transfer to another Santa experience. We weren’t even asking for a refund initially — just some flexibility.

The response was that because we informed them on the same day, they would not refund or offer any alternative. No compassion. No discretion. Just “sorry for the disappointment.”

This was a medical situation involving a sick toddler, not a change of mind. The lack of understanding and basic humanity shown has been shocking. We are now completely out of pocket and our child missed a special Christmas experience through no fault of her own.

I would strongly advise parents to think twice before booking — if your child becomes ill, you will lose your money regardless.

Dobbies Tewkesbury
Had to do this review today to thank ‘Lou’ in Tewkesbury Dobbies cafe- it was very busy and she was so helpful and organised making sure our customer experience was a positive one!! Coffee was piping hot and the cakes were amazing!! Thankyou Lou- credit where it’s due you are an asset to your company 👍🏻

Stopped for breakfast. Greeted in the restaurant by a mature gentleman who was unfriendly, no welcoming smile, very direct informing us there was a 30 min wait to eat which we were fine about.
Stopped here 2 days later for a quick coffee on our travels & the queue in the cafe was very long & very slow. It was obvious they needed more staff making drinks rather than 3 members serving cakes. Waited 40 minutes to get our lattes only to find they were lukewarm. At the end of the queue I had noticed there was no queue in the restaurant section but Was informed you can’t get a drink only in there & you must have food & drink in there. Common sense would dictate that you free up the cafe queue to help customers get their drinks quicker.

Dreadful Grotto experience with our 4 year old grandson. Shabby and unorganised tour through tatty set ups with a £15 charge for a photo with Santa with no lights on his tree!!!

Took our son to meet Father Christmas, what a sorry excuse for a grotto. So underwhelming and just, naff. Really disappointed, £15 for 10 minutes, then they dare ask for another £15 for a photo with Dobbies branded all over it?! Do better Dobbies, youre letting down children here.

The 2 star is based on the cafe , we opted to have the festive lunch as it looked nice on the picture , we were very disappointed, definitely not worth the £16 ! Each they charge , you get 2 slices turkey, 1 pig in blanket , 3 roast potatoes ( no mash no Yorkshire pudding no peas ) small portion of parsnip and carrots and about 5 sprouts. We very disappointed and we don’t mind paying but definitely a rip off !

We were booked for a Santa experience and given a time slot at 11.50 at Dobbies Tewkesbury, we were 10 minutes early only to find approximately 50 other people in the queue ahead of us. The queue snaked halfway round the shop and didn’t move. After 15 minutes we went to the Customer services to be told that they were running late as customers were taking longer than expected to go through the experience. We were told that we would just have to wait. There was no-one checking the queue to see what time slots people had and no information about the delays. After more than 30 minutes we spoke to customers at the front of the queue who had been waiting over an hour. The grotto had only been open since 10.30 so why the long delay no one knows. We went back to customer service and were offered a refund which we have accepted but not yet received. We had to go home with a very tearful little 3 year old. Shame on you Dobbies you couldn’t organise a p**** up in a brewery. Future customers be warned.

Ordered online and parcel came looking like had been used as a football being kicked and thrown about, contents weren’t packed great and items spilling into the box and all damaged and broke, would not be ordering online from Dobbies again.

My review is around the cafe/restaurant we visit fairly regularly my wife has a dobbies card that gives you 2 free drinks a month and our experience is similar every time we visit always a long queue very slow service never many staff serving hard to find a table without pots on staff seem to have no urgency they do a 2 for 1 on fresh cream scones after 2pm daily it's always busy surely they know it's going to be busy staff it accordingly IMO it's the worst cafe service I've ever experienced as in it's consistently the same every time we visit!

Had a heritage afternoon tea in Woodbridge restaurant very good service and new staff member on only his 3rd day he’ll be a bonus to you all . Well done all .Two weeks later had another one but festive and savory very disappointing re savory very disappointing. Think we’d think twice next year .Staff were good and offered more sandwiches and scones. Not a sausage roll in sight. Description needs to be clearer and consistent with what they offer.

Went for breakfast this morning with family we had 4 traditional breakfasts. Two of us didn’t even have a full rasher of bacon and instead of grilled tomato they put two hash browns on instead but didn’t even speak to us only one waitress in the whole restaurant wasn’t offered salt pepper or sauces and they weren’t on any tables felt the waitress was to busy to disturb most disappointed

Avoid the Restaurant, the food is not very good and usually cold. Also they have a weird annoying rule, that they cannot serve hot, cold or Alcoholic drinks after 3pm.
They take your money for food without explaining all the rules. We won't be going again.

Well, IF you have all day to queue for a hot drink, try it. Afraid we didn't, put our tray down & left as did others in front of us.
The set up to order for drinks only or hot food needs separating or employ more staff.
It's the last Sunday before Xmas, we went 10.30 ish about 15 customers queuing but queue just didn't move for 10/15 minutes.
Shame, 'cause with better organisation, could be a great visit.

Love dobbies, the children were so excited to see Santa and the whole event was well worth the price, the store has a very Christmassy feel with decorations and gifts , used my voucher for a coffee and bought a treat, 🎄🎅🎁🎄

My friend and I attended a Christmas wreath making workshop with afternoon tea.
We were shown how to make our wreaths by Melissa. She is a florist who works for Dobbies and was brilliant! She was helpful, informative and encouraging with our wreaths.
The afternoon tea to follow was superb! A vast array of sandwiches, savouries, scones with clotted cream and jam, and a good selection of cakes with lots of tea or coffee.
A perfect way to spend a long afternoon with a very reasonable price.
Thank you!

Father Christmas experience not great only team Member that was super helpful was the girl at the desk.
Last ones apparently in on the day even though it was lunch not sure why , didn’t let my little girl finish making the reindeer food after a story and told about what it’s for !!! Was told
There was no time . I then had to request they filled it up before I left as no child would understand why you wouldn’t have it.
Father Christmas had no idea who the child was couldn’t find her on the
List and no mention of any of the info that you give in advance didn’t even ask What they wanted for Christmas I had to say and prompt !
If you don’t want to bring children Christmas cheer don’t do the job and employ someone who can. Woburn sands emporium much better so disappointed that we choose here this year . Little girl upset on the way home and confused !

We come here because it's local to us and we enjoy the garden centre. One of the worst things was seeing the empty upper part of the store where Costa used to occupy it some years ago. A super mezzanine area.

The Dobbies coffee shop has now made use of this space, with the old Costa furniture and wow, what a difference. We like the restaurant, but this coffee shop is quieter and lovely and I'm so glad Dobbies has brought it back! Comfortable sofas from back in the day when shops encouraged people to stay and relax! Great garden centre and seems to be running a lot more smoothly now.

Lots to like about this garden centre. Good cafe , fair selection of plants and most staff are knowledgeable and helpful.
However...
At the till we met a member of staff who lacked every skill needed to interact with customers. No eye contact...not a glimmer of a smile...he was a thoroughly miserable individual who obviously needed training .
It spoilt our visit !
Come on Cadnam - make sure that customer's last interaction with your staff is a pleasant one.

Won't use proper full milk in their coffees yet sell large cakes and biscuits full of sugar. Majority of their customers are older, many with pre or type 2 diabetes,chronic inflammation, Obesity, and one or more symptoms of metabolic syndrome, many of which are caused by these sugar bombs. If the fat in the milk was unhealthy in the first place, then nature wouldn't put it there. It contains all the fat soluble vitamins (especially vitamin D) that the body needs for optimum health.

Dogs in restaurants not good.