Dobbies Garden Centres Reviews 

DO NOT GO TO DOBBIES RIP OFF RESTAURANT! ABERDEEN
What an absolute disgrace. I took my elderly 83 yr old mother, just out of ARI for 7 days, for a what I thought would be a few hours of out time and a spot of lunch.
Dobbies was always lovely but had not been there for several months.
Had a bit of a wander round the store then went for “LUNCH” what a huge mistake!
The food looked reasonably presented and mum went for soup and roll and I decided to have baked potato with BBQ pulled pork.
I asked for my potato and went to get 2 glasses water with mum sliding the food trays forward.
I met mum at the till and looked down at my plate, OMG is that it i said to the very young checkout “YEAHHHH” was her seriously just about plausible response.
I was disgusted £18 circa for a small bowl soup, half a bread roll and a “3”BAKED POTATO WITH AN ICE CREAM SCOOP OF FILLING” if I wasn’t with my mum it would have gone straight back. I mean it was almost laughable the potato was no bigger than the ones i cut up for chips at home and 3 forks later the filling was gone. PATHETIC DOBBIES JUST PATHETIC.
I didn’t realise that the food bill included a fee for walking around the store as that’s the only logic I could see for charging circa £11 for this pitiful poor wee spud and baby food amount of filling ..
DESPERATE DAYS FOR DOBBIES.
Save your cash you’ll get a much better breakfast brunch lunch in Cafe 83 in Kemnay where we were the previous week, I only wish i’d travelled the extra 15 mins than waist £18 in disillusioned Dobbies.

Absolute piss takers. I've used their Altrincham sight it was amazing. Then they closed down, was gutted had to ask back for my money on a membership I just bought. .that should have been first red flag but thought genuinely nothing off it.
Then June 2025 I order geranium cashmere white paid in full online as you do, ordered x2 2L pots it's now August 1st 2026 and just been told after requesting information over 8 times on my order being told can I wait till next year 2027... are these people for real.
They will only issue me a refund in cheque form as its over a year...who ever uses cheques still? They said it will take 14 days... . I won't hold my breath.

I didn’t have a good experience with this store, I purchased pug plants online, the parcel came very little soil in the tiny pots had spilled out everywhere leave bare dried roots, they all died even after me trying to recover them, reached out to customer service, passed here and there then ignored. I won’t be buying from here again

Normally I love shopping at dobbies garden centre, however on my recent visit I was looking for sale plants. I eventually found them outside, i chose 2 to buy, one pot was bit heavy and the one negative about the centre is you can never find trolley outside. I saw one and asked if I could use it, I was shocked when staff member shouted NO, it's mine. I walked away, another shopper heard him and said to me he was just loud I replied and rude. The staff member then was shouting something to me but I ignored him. I struggled but got to till put plants down while I went outside to come back in with a trolley so I could use it to go to my car. I didn't say anything in store, mostly the staff are polite. Fortunately most of staff are lovely so it won't put me off going again.

Been to Dobbies at Barlborough today, stood in a queue for drinks and cake for 25 minutes, this is ridiculous!
One member of staff serving, which is ridiculous!! Every time we come here it is the the same. I feel sorry for the staff who are trying their best. Your prices you charge should pay for enough staff to provide an adequate service. Got to the till and there was confusion about birthday free cake and drinks so the young girl had to leave the till to find out about this!! It really isn’t good enough 🙄

We booked afternoon tea to celebrate an 80th birthday at the Ayr store. Unfortunately something had gone wrong with the booking and it was set up for 4 people instead of 6. Staff were apologetic and despite it being very busy they sorted it out for us. Staff were very helpful and friendly throughout the visit.

The food was great and we will definitely come back. The kids tea was especially nice and was a great hit. At the end we were given boxes to take left overs away with us.

A huge thank you to the staff for making sure we had a wonderful birthday celebration!

Dobbies, Orton Grange, Carlisle. Went there with a friend today Friday 24th July. Tea is self serve, only 1 small tea pot, we wanted 2, milk jug empty, no saucers for our cups, we had to ask a very nice man that was taking orders / making coffees, he gave us what was needed. Only about 5 fresh cream cakes available. The black man that took our payment was very nice. Very few tables to choose from because most were still cluttered with crockery and a mess, tables needed cleaning. In the short time free he had he was trying to clear tables, we took it that they were who we saw the only staff! When we were leaving the black man was in the kitchen doorway obviously asking 2 young female staff members to help, explaining what was needed and not done, I was shocked to see one of the girls back chatting him and appearing quite put out she was being asked to earn her wage!! I have never seen the restaurant looking so bad and badly run. More staff that are happy and grateful to EARN a wage are needed

Went to Dobbies Garden Centre, Melbourne, Cambs at the beginning of lunch time. The place looked very spacious, clean, bright but really warm under the perspex ceiling. There was about 10 min wait to order food. Got to the till was asked for a table number. I was on my own with nothing I could leave except my handbag to reserve a table. I ordered paid then had to go back to give them a table number. As I looked around there were no notices saying how the ordering worked and no reserve notices for the tables. I do wish places like this woukd give a little consideration to those users are on their own. The food was delivered promptly, it was tasty and hot and I didn't have to wait long at all. The staff were friendly and when delivering the food asked uf j needed anything else. So the food was good but the ordering process let it down

Dobbies used to be my go to for meeting friends for a coffee and to look at plants but recently not so much.
I got a parking fine a couple months ago after staying to long which was so upsetting £100 is a lot of money for a single person to find when money is so tight. I also have the loyalty card so like to at least enjoy my free drinks but on to many occasions I am let down but lack of supplies my last trip was no oat milk (this has happened before) the food order got mixed up and was very delayed it was not busy! Come on Dobbies it’s not difficult to get it right I hope things improve 🤞

I haven't been to Dobbies Royston for probably about six months. Today, I took my two Grandchildren there today. They both asked for a healthy bowl of Cheesy Chips. Now bearing in mind, that the Café was almost empty, it took 30 minutes for the Chips to arrive. Not very good, I hear you say. Well, it gets better, if you go for Cheesy Chips the cheese element costs an extra £2, I'm being generous when I say that there was about 20p worth of cheese! The standard of service and food has definitely deteriorated in that 6 months, I will not be going back.

Doesn’t seem to have as much stock as in the past
Plus, it says dogs are welcome, but could not find a bowl of water anywhere for the dog

Getting worse ... Lichfield branch.
Only 1 person on the tills on a busy Sunday, carpark a disgrace and so many dead plants. I know it's been hot but the selection of decent plants today was shocking. Very disappointing as I used to enjoy shopping here ...

Ordered garden furniture which did not arrive. Communication was dreadful, still waiting!

We recently bought a water feature and garden coffee set from our local Dobbies Garden Centre in Lelant, Cornwall, the service in the store was excellent, a lot of help from the sales lady. The dispatch and delivery was also excellent, arriving a day ahead of schedule. All in all a pleasant experience and we love the result on our patio.

I ordered my Boston 6 seat table set and Boston corner sofa on the 25/06/26 with a delivery date of 02/07/26. The day came and went. No email, no phone call to explain why it hadn’t been delivered or a new delivery date set.
I had to email on 03/07/26 and the response did not know why it hadn’t been delivered and they would check. Still nothing, I had to email again on the 09/07/26 to ask what the update on my furniture was and they could not confirm delivery date or why it hadn’t been delivered.
I received my order on the 14/07/26 and the order is missing the 6 chairs. I emailed again as there was no explanation as to why part of my order is missing. Again, the response from Dobbies is they are not sure and would contact the courier. So currently as of today 16/07/26 I have no chairs, no idea where they are and neither do Dobbies.
Absolutely shocking service!! As well as no further communication from them.

Been a few days and my online order still hasn't been dispatched.

I've tried ringing up customer service and that was a massive inconvenience aswell.

£6.99 for postage I would expect it to be here within ~3 days.

I will not be ordering from here again.

I ordered £1000 of patio furniture on 26th june and and after a few days item said shipped online but i still have not received any items and not been advised of a delivery date phoned customer service and emailed and was just told they would look into the issue and get back to me in 5 days. They couldnt tell me courier company or a delivery date. I asked for my complaint to be escalated and still no response back. Poor service tracking delivery puts me off ordering anything from dobbies and if it doesnt arrive soon i will be asking for a refund which will probably also take a long time to get back too and soom summer will be over. Also item was in store on display but i had to buy online as no stock in store. I am in Aberdeen Scotland and live near dobbies store so i find this process frustrating and not transparent like normal companies you buy items from

Big shop , nice staff , when people dine in their restaurant / cafe I find (cause I’m gluten free) that the are gluten free options for me and I always find the food delicious

Dobbies Edinburgh ( next to Melville inn)
I had the most lovely experience dealing with a staff member (Jordan at the restaurant) My little girl fell at the entrance to the shop and he assisted very promptly giving my daughter the necessary first aid that was needed. He was kind , calm and patient. He helped settle my nerves too after feeling so upset that my little one had hurt themselves. He went above and beyond to ensure we felt ok before during and after our meal. He is such an asset. Thank you for everything today it really helped an overstimulated and stressed mum!

ABYSMAL...! Re Perth Dobbies... Wanted a 'Baked Potato' with Coleslaw...NO, you can 9nly get Coleslaw with a filling . Well can l pay for a filling, but not put it on..NO...OK....how about a toastie...Oh may l have a Coleslaw pot, NO ....only available with BPs ....??!!! Realised l was in a parallel universe and gave up...Remember 'Manuel' on Fawlty Towers....!!!! Couldn't make it up..!!!! 🌻