Dobbies Garden Centres Reviews 32,071

The Heritage afternoon tea, The staff were very helpful and understanding.I couldn't have asked for more,I accidentally arrived on the wrong day with my daughter and granddaughter, We were meant to arrive on the Sunday,but they were fantastic and managed to fit us in so a massive thank you to Paula,and her team.from Amanda Presland.

What a Wonderful Afternoon Tea with a church group of 14 . The Table was set and looked so lovely and inviting offering delicious sandwiches with very generous fillings, scones and cakes were yummy and a refreshing lemon mousse was very good too.
The staff and Manageress were excellent very attentive , very professional and our orders for drinks came promptly . We all had such a wonderful time and would certainly recommend this event to friends and family . Well done to you all and Thank you so much .

I received a birthday card from Dobbies as I do every year last year I was told you didn't get a slice of cake and a free hot drink for me and a friend you only get a biscuit? only on the card it clearly shows a piece of cake. so this year I went for my "free birthday treat" again couldn't have it because this time I didn't have the card with me??? I thought I would of came up on my dobbies card??? but no it doesn't so once again I had to pay for my "free" birthday cake it's a bit of a joke tho??? I do go occasionally to meet with friends who also have a Dobbies card and if I were to go every month it would be worth it

I must admit it's been a while since I visited Dobbies restaurant for food. But I fondly remember the great hot food at fair prices - particularly the breakfast.
Well today I thought I'd treat myself as it's pay day and took myself over for some food. I was utterly disappointed, indeed disgusted, at what was on offer. Cold, overcooked meats Inc sausages and bacon and breads that had obviously been sitting for quite some time along with dried scrambled egg and dried out, days old beans in a pot. I asked that my breakfast be prepared fresh and I was willing to wait. Well 20 minutes later I was presented with exactly what I'd seen on the open counter. I asked for a full refund and was very begrudgingly given one. Never ever will I be back to this once thriving business and restaurant. It's a real shame it has been allowed to fall into such low standards. The store itself was empty and half the floorspace had nothing on it but empty racks. How sad. Do not go here. It's a shell of its former glory and that shows in that it was practically empty and lifeless

I found that Elisa was quite rude when I asked to fix my salad. She gave me dressing when I didn’t ask for it and I could be allergic.
Shrugged her shoulders and rolled eyes!

Wish I’d checked the reviews before ordering and travelling to it. Really is poorly run and in need of overhaul.
We had a click and collect order. They charged us for the items but when we got there they didn’t have them despite confirming they were ready for collection via email. Apparently they gave them to someone else in error. Not too surprising given all the orders were just piled up in a trolley by the tills.
Whilst I can accept mistakes happen the Customer service from Dobbies central team and then finally the garden centre themselves was really poor afterwards and after a couple of weeks of getting nowhere I’ve had to charge it back via my card provider to get my money back.
We definitely won’t use Dobbies again. The reviews are pretty accurate for this one judging by our experience.

A Sunday drive out and a stop in at Dobies, Carlisle. Appreciate its after Xmas (Jan 25th) and stock change over is in progress. Decided to have a little lunch at restaurant, which actually looked closed as most of the hot food counters were empty and no lights on. Not at all inviting. Only one member of staff serving this area. If you wanted Sunday lunch you were sorted. Only other options on show were a scone, or cakes, the displays were so untidy. Yes there were options on the menu, a toasties, a sandwich, but the wait for this was unreasonable. Teapots were dirty, and its self service with milk jug sitting out of any refrigerated unit. Tea cups were dirty, and only 4 on the stand. This needs seriously managed, it could be a wee gold mine for food. You only have to look at your competitors and see how busy they are. Come on Dobies don't destroy what was once a great garden centre/restaurant.

I called in at Dobbies Garden Centre near Dorchester yesterday with my friends and as well as the staff in the cafe being very friendly, Angie at the till on the way out was very helpful and told me how to take care of my plant. She was great fun and we all got a hug. Thank you Angie.

Had a nice hot coffee and a scone in Dobbies Gillingham today.
Dan & Michael were serving, they are always friendly and chatty.
Well done boys 😊

Sunday lunch today was not edible beef I could not cut the portion they served vegetables were cold . Did tell a number of staff no
Apology was given to me

The place was very grim indeed!

Only came for a cup of tea with my husband, cup was filthy, teapot was filthy! I noticed this when I sat down and lifted the lid to stir the tea.

The place is always leaking, dripping, and in a bad way.

It’s never a great experience when visiting!

The shop floor looks greatly neglected, cleanliness an issue all around the shop.

With such a premium they charge for all the items, you would think that basic upkeep would be something they can accomplish, for the most part you can source what they sell cheaper online or in other local stores like home&bargain, you can have better tea/coffee in a Starbucks or Costa and better food in a cleaner place, even tobys is cleaner.

They have competition all around them, doing what they do better/ cleaner or cheaper so you would think running something that stood out would be a priority but the place has no USP.

Royston is my local Dobbies and I pop in all the time as it’s on my way home from work - and actually spend quite lot of money with them. They have clearly invested a lot in the shop over the last year, however I have a massive issue with the appalling customer service. A couple staff are good, but the vast majority treat you with complete distain (like even your existence is spoiling their day) and some are just outright rude. This isn’t just one off, this is a common occurrence. I’m sorry Dobbies, there are plenty of other garden centres in the area, I can choose where I spend my money and I’m fed up with this. Whoever is in charge of the Royston branch needs to take a long look at what is happening!

A poor experience trying to deal with their customer service team to resolve a membership issue. Repeatedly told me I was not a member when they had taken payment. Then blamed a 'store error', Customer Services Manager was charmless.

I called in at a dobbies on my way home from birmingham last week and decided to try the bargain priced pensioners special
I had fish chips and peas and a superb lemon cake
Oh my goodness!what a delicious meal!the fish was absolutely wonderful,hand battered with crunchy coating and superb white fish inside,the whole meal was a fantastic experience from start to finish,I’ll definitely be going back again,and at only £12 I can afford it every week if I want to.

Bought some shoes from here and Rachel was so helpful, informative and friendly!

My friend and I had a roast dinner it was Luke warm not nice at all. I complained all the guy said was oh I will let the kitchen know

I visit Dobbies Dunfermline regularly.

I also use the centre to collect and return parcels. I collected a parcel on 21st December and informed the lady at customer service that my second parcel needed to be returned as not required. John Lewis had given instructions not to collect it.

After 2 phone calls to John Lewis,
2 phone calls to Dobbies Dunfermline and a visit to Dobbies, my parcel hadn’t been returned as requested!
It should have been returned on 22nd December.
Yes it’s been a Christmas holiday but even so it’s now 12/13 days !!

Yesterday phoned Dobbies again and was rudely told I had to collect it before it could be returned.Turned out I was speaking to the General Manager. If she’s rude to customers there’s no hope.
First excuse was that they’d been busy. I’d been in the day before and it was very quiet.

Even John Lewis confirmed Dobbies should have returned the parcel after not being collected when 7 days was up. General Manager just kept speaking loudly over me.

John Lewis have even spoke to her but the only thing she’s done since is put it through that I’ve collected my parcel!
I’ve not collected it and it’s not been returned.

We popped into dobbies Beaconsfield today because we were in the area, it was freezing not just outside but inside, we looked around very quickly and picked up a few items, when we went to pay the staff were completely freezing, they said they haven't had heat for 4 years in the winter, even their printer wouldn't work it gave an error of too cold.
They were having a delivery of house plants while we were there, and the staff were having to cover them in fleece it was so cold.
There is no way we could spend anymore time browsing it was so cold, but expecting staff to be able to function in that temperature is dreadful, dobbies...you need to do better

firstly re christmas our local dobbies boston tried hard they even got the dulux digby dog to come so kids could see santa and have pictures with the lovely fluffy dog (a real one) sadly i dont think there has been the footfall of kids around this year but it was a lovely try.
re the restaurant. i see quite a few adverse remarks and felt i would like to address some. we go frequently often several times a week. currently the team at boston led by Sarah are really friendly and helpful. its almost like a club as we generally see same faces so cant be bad or we wouldn't all keep regularly returning. not an easy job and as some mentioned probably not best paid but at boston they do try hard. i love soup and sandwich deal but often we take the pensioner £12 meal and cake deal which is a bargain. fish and chips is also really nice crisp batter and good fish not the white fish served in some places to save cost. there are peeks and troughs so its hard to manage the peaks and sometimes there a wait. they might say 30 minutes but its never been more than 10-15 for us. i think sometimes their supply deliveries let them down as occasionally some item not available but we are happy and keep going back as I said so do many others. good overall selection. excellent team

I have visited Dobbies in Wendover for the past few years and have always enjoyed the experience. 3 kids under 6 yrs old. However, this year we chose to visit the Beaconsfield store, which is closer to home, and the experience was extremely disappointing — especially given that it cost us over £50.

The walk-through area was much smaller than expected, despite there clearly being space for a larger and more engaging experience. The grotto where Santa sits was also far too small and could not comfortably fit our family inside.

I had booked months in advance to ensure a good time slot and had completely forgotten that I had pre-paid for the photo. This was not mentioned or offered during the grotto experience at all. Instead, a single photo was taken on our mobile phone by one of the elves. I only realised after leaving that I had actually pre-paid for a photo package that we never received.

Santa himself was very unconvincing. He spoke in a strong Cockney accent and did not stay in character, which made the experience feel inauthentic. He also pulled his beard down while talking and then insisted that Nanny sit on his lap, which made us very uncomfortable. As we left, my six-year-old was visibly shocked by Santa’s behaviour and began questioning her belief in Santa, which was upsetting for us as a family.

The elf who took the photo could clearly see my reaction and spent much of the time apologising for Santa’s behaviour.

Overall, the experience was not what we expected or paid for and was a significant let-down compared to previous visits to Dobbies.

Visit date: 20/12/25