Bents Garden and Home Reviews 

Please avoid Bents main dining area if you have an allergy. I visited yesterday and I have a severe allergy and carry epi-pens. I asked a member of staff if the soup has the allergen in and he then asked another two staff members who said no the allergen was not in the dish and it is fine for me to eat. I felt like the staff were very vague and not taking my allergy serious so I saw a chef had come out of the kitchen and asked again to be sure. The chef said it is fine and doesn’t contain the allergen. For some reason I still felt anxious that they hadn’t actually checked and just kept telling me it’s fine. When I got to the till I asked if I could speak to the manager to double check if the food was ok to eat. The manager then checked and the food DID contain the allergen and I couldn’t have it. This is so so dangerous for a place as large and busy as Bents to not take allergy’s serious as this could have been a different story, if I had listened to the first THREE staff members that said it was fine. People should not be given incorrect allergen information and I so glad for some reason I asked the manager to check again.

Bents is our first choice for breakfast but on this occasion it was well below the standard we have come accustomed to. In all the years we have been coming here it is only the second time that it has fallen short on the standard. The sausage was tasty but rock hard and over cooked along with the bacon black pudding and hash browns. Probably left under the heat lamp for too long. It was very quiet for a Sunday morning so they may not have been as busy in the kitchen as they normally are. Bents is not cheap so no excuse for getting it wrong your cook must’ve noticed it should not have been served. Possibly edging their bet that it would not be mentioned, not acceptable. Bit of a let down. My son’s breakfast was the same no excuse. Update before I left the shop, I spoke with the manager and they passed me on to the chef who was front of house. I can see why the food is so dry as they run a buffet style breakfast service at the front of the counter, where a staff member adds the food to your plate before it is served from bowels under the heaters. Total let down as it is pot luck if you get the fresh food from the top of the food bowls or get the food that has been in there a while. The priced charged £14 per breakfast, should be for a freshly cooked breakfast if I wanted a buffet breakfast I would have gone somewhere else and at least then I could choose what I put on my plate!! Why cook loads of food to leave it standing, it is not just about making it easy to serve for the staff it is about quality food for the paying public.
Some other people around our table were not happy with their overcooked food. The staff were apologetic but that no excuse. I would not recommend their breakfast and I will now be going somewhere else, for mine, big let down.

Went this afternoon with my elderly mother to have some tea and cake plus to do some shopping. Queued at Caffe nel verde and was served by an extremely surly, uninterested, resentful young woman whose face looked incapable of cracking a smile. I ordered a scone and asked if the butter could be replaced with an extra jam instead. She mumbled sourly that this would cost extra as the ‘butter is free’. Her response to my questioning this was to simply ignore me and move to the next customer. Needless to say that I returned the tray of food and drink and walked out.

Bents need to ensure that staff like this are kept as far away from customers as possible. She is simply uninterested and incapable of providing even the basic expectations of customer service! A truly awful customer service representative!

Food very poor and expensive it's a garden centre for the rich very expensive

Took our granddaughter for the Halloween crafting. Not available so was advised to do garden fairy. Supposed to start at 10 o’clock. Not ready. No chairs for the children just a table. Totally disorganised. Then a manager came along lots of people waiting to say they don’t normally do chairs for children . I said lots of these children are so small they can’t reach the table. Don’t bother sending emails to customers when you just disappoint them. Expected a lot better from Bents

There are so many fantastic things to say about this store. Good food and an out of this world grotto style huge Xmas display. They make you feel like you are part of the Bents family. I was served by Abbie on till 52 yesterday who was brilliant and so friendly. Seriously folks, go and see their Xmas display before it gets crammed in November. Pic opportunities for the kids, a little outdoor mini Xmas market and the rest of the store is awesome too. Well done to you all. My favourite shopping experience.

Just paid £10.99 for a ham sandwich. Very disappointed. Visit regularly and have always had a good experience in the past. But this time the size of sandwich has shrunk, the bread could have been fresher, not much ham. The salad garnish was just a few rocket leaves no onions or tomatoes as there used to be. Decided to have a cake. The carrot cake was burnt but the frosting covered it. Waited ages to pay. Definitely not up to bent’s usual standard. Will lunch elsewhere.

I am a regular customer at Bents I go at least once a fortnight. I know the Cafe is expensive but I always enjoy my visit so don't mind paying extra. This week I had a Prawn sandwich. The price was
£12.99. If I wanted it on granary bread it would cost another £2. £2 extra for two slices of granary bread instead of white or brown bread? The prawns were the cheapest quality you can get, small and hard a bit like supermarket value ones, the dressing was very watery. I then had a carrot cake which looked delicious but was dry and tasteless. This is the first time I have ever complained about Bents Cafe. The staff are lovely so its not them I am complaining about I would give them 5 stars.

Had an absolutely brilliant experience with this company and fully restored my faith in online shopping. Bents Garden and home, clearly go the extra mile and really believe in looking after the customer. I purchased a toy lawnmower for my son online, and it arrived so swiftly and was really reasonably priced. I had an issue with the product itself which was nothing to do with Bents but the customer service I received was outstanding. Nothing was too much trouble in arranging me a replacement and Willcame back everytime with a fast response and resolve. Great reasonably priced company with a magnificent ethos in customer care. They will certainly be getting all of my Christmas shopping custom this year. Thanks again Will.

No vegan options for hot lunchtime menu, allergens not displayed on all signs, no cutlery and having to wait for cold food. Waiting staff were very good when brought up the issues and received a refund, I’ll probably avoid this place in future, very poor effort from the chefs.

Had issues with solar globe lights, the response was very quick after sending the original email. The problem was resolved within 2 days, thanks Will

Booked an afternoon tea with Bents, have been previously and it was lovely sat in the pods overlooking the pond.
This time we we sat right in the middle of the food hall overlooking the water features, with everyone going past, not very private, the lady serving was on her own and had about five table to serve so the service was not good. We had pre-ordered sandwiches with no butter or fish and when they arrived they were very poor quality and they had both butter and fish on both had been stated on booking as being intolerances, when questioned this with the Lady serving just got told that they had been premade and that was that, we could not have any new ones, so I asked for our money back, the Manager came who looked about 12 and said that this was why they asked the question, so I said why ask if you take no notice. What is this was a allergy request, he did not answer me and he did not change the sandwiches my partner did not eat any for the reason that the intolerances were not adhered to, we finished are disappointing afternoon tea and I will never return. the tables were dirty and all underneath was covered in dust and bits from previous customers, we had screaming children just beside us in the cafe and the whole experience was a overpriced joke.

We took my 82 year old mum for a birthday visit. We Went to the cafe 1st & it cost £38 for 3 sandwiches & 3 hot drinks & they weren't wonderful. Absolutely disgusting price for what you got. Service was very slow & the cafe was just absolute chaos. Unhelpful staff & dirty tables. Such a disappointment. We don't think we will be returning. Over priced & over rated.

Popped to bents today for a light snack very poor. soup and sandwiches very salty and expensive for what you got, standards not what they used to be, very disappointed

Spent £109 on roast beef for father's day 16 June 2024. It's appalling as normally the food isn't bad, but today it's terrible as the gravy is very very SWEET! my dad is diabetic and this has raise his blood sugar through the roof. We ate the food as we didn't want the food to go to waste if it gets returned. Anys ways I spoke to the management who was on site at the restaurant and told them about the gravy being too sweet, they said its beef gravy and shudn't be sweet but depends who's made it. I told them to taste it and maybe they put wrong flavouring in and all was said thanks for letting us know?!?. I've been coming to this garden cent for over 10 years before the expansion and each time over £60 - £70 is spent. And the best the they could do is say thanks for letting us know! This customer service is not good enough. Won't be coming here for a long time now.

I made an online order then received an email from the courier to say they have the item but it was never delivered, then said there was a problem. I sent an email to Bents to let them know but then had to wait several more days before anything could be done. I'm not even sure if the parcel got to the courier but I finally got a refund when I managed to get through on the phone 1 1/2 weeks later. Communication was poor from Bents and DPD. The only good thing is that I got a refund quickly!

We come here at least once a week its usually OK apart from toast is barely toasted these days and slices are definitely smaller. Today I was hungry so ordered scrambled eggs on sourdough. It was absolute rubbish. I'm sure the eggs were made from powdered eggs as no taste at all and the sourdough was underbaked and barely toasted. It was packed with lots of queues (but thats usual ) so I didn't complain. I left most of it as inedible. The standards have really dropped while the prices have gone up. Such a shame.

In addition to two reviews below, think it was a case of miscommunication, full refund received and a voucher to spend in store so can’t fault the response

We visited the garden furniture section at Bents and were given informative advice by a very helpful gentleman on that section. We ordered the furniture online and it arrived very promptly, delivered by a very pleasant driver and in a good condition. 5 star service all round

Searching for what I want and ordering was easy my order came well packaged would use again