Dobbies Garden Centres - Gailey Reviews 270

I have just experienced probably the worst customer service I’ve actually ever come across. The restaurant had a queue so I got in this and was told that I had to wait in the queue and food was ordered at the till, for 35 minutes I was waiting to get to the till and when I got there I was then told food would be another 30 minutes. Unbelievable and from what I can see on the pricing of what they were offering, It was well overpriced anyway. If you go here and want a meal, expect to wait an hour at least before you eat.

A poor relation to the other Dobbies sites and quickly going downhill.
To access the toilets, you have to walk through the "dog friendly" area of the restaurant as some of the rest of the area was cordoned off - Constant yapping and barking dogs which was very off putting to the extent that several people walked straight out. (and I'm a dog owner!) One dog owning couple walked along the food aisle, choosing their meals WITH their dog - Not a single staff member asked them to remove the dog from the actual food area - How hygienic (NOT)
Huge queue to order food so a staff member asked that all food be ordered by the till instead of at the counters. 12.35pm and I asked what the soup of the day was only to be told it had all gone but I could "wait about an hour and there will be some more" .
Seriously? Staff had already taken the rest of the food order, so where they really expecting me to sit there while the rest of my party ate their food and then wait until my food was ready? - I ended up with nothing rather than have to go back down the line of waiting customers to see if there was anything else I might want to eat (there wasn't I already knew that, that's why I wanted the soup)
Waitrose fridges downstairs were empty and the outside garden area is covered with leaves. Paving slabs are so uneven signs are everywhere but you can't see where it's uneven due to the leaf cover.
Despite visiting often over the years, this store is now one to avoid

12.30.5/10/2025
Cafe: All 11 table needed clearing.A mess and was dirty.We will not be coming here again.

Really disappointed at this store. Not well organised overall.
Although plants looked healthy and well looked after, there wasn't a great variety and no real attempt to direct purchasers into what they should be buying now.
The upstairs clothes section only had coats, wellingtons it socks, as far as I could see. They used to have good quality, unusual designs of ladies' wear. I've bought several tops and blouses from there. On the past.
Ladies rest room. Although clean, Only a dribble off boiling hot water from any of the taps, only one of which had a proper top. One hand dryer out of order.
As tables had not been cleaned off we chose not to start for the planned morning coffee.

Waited half an hour in line to be served for a drink as service is very slow....over half of the tables not available due to not being cleaned which is disgusting, probably won't renew membership

While shopping for new plants for our garden, we hadn’t noticed that they had the sprinkler system on, no signs to say they were watering visit Tim 9:45 our backs were to the back when the water cascaded over us we were both soaked, I couldn’t see my glasses were dripping, instead of purchasing several plants, compost we walked out asking for tissue at the tills to dry glasses. And us, very annoyed why wait till customers are browsing before watering

Restaurant only.
On arrival ordered 2 jacket potatoes from the menus showing on the wall. Advised there werr no deli foods available only hot food on display. Ordered sausage, mash and beans, twice. Advised waiting for more sausages as only 3 available. 25 minutes later I went to the food counter. I plate of said sausage, mash and beans and one with mash and beans only was sitting there. I asked about my order to be told the sausages would be another 10 minutes as the kitchen had not made any more. As my wife and I were tight for time I just took what was prepared (no idea how long the plated food had been sitting there)

If you want coffee/tea and cakes then yes this is for you. If you want a variety of food choices and hot food (not tepid) this is not for you. Never again for us!

Went yesterday and have nothing but praise for the staff. The shop is well laid out with plenty of room to move about if you have a wheelchair. Lift to the cafe and the staff there deserve praise. Food was delicious.

Good prices, spacious area and a wide range of products.

Staff service was great at Gailey Dobbies - always friendly but today with a heavy purchase they went above & beyond helping us.

Always look forward to a visit to Dobbies. The Gailey store is always clean and tidy and the staff are great. Reasonably competitive prices and lots of stock.

Visited Dobbies at Gailey today with a view of lunch in their restaurant. This used to be a lovely garden centre to visit and eat before they made the restaurant dog friendly. Today there were dogs constantly barking for over half an hour with the owners completely oblivious to the fact; so we left as did others. There are plenty of other garden centres around where we will eat in future, as this isn't the first time.

Dreadful customer service! I joined Dobbies Club PLus at the counter one day and continued to use the temporary card until I got the actual card. They signed me up for basic membership so lost out on the perks when I was buying all my summer plants etc and when I called customer service who I had to coach through the process of helping me I eventually convinced them to send me the right card out. Now that has issues and the customer care line has a very long wait and I am getting nowhere. No other way to contact them and have tried going in store but they wont help as I need to call the phone number that either doesnt get answered or gets eventually answered by untrained staff. At this stage just want my membership money back.

Waited in a slow queue for a breakfast and before I could order they closed the breakfast bar without asking !
Even the staff said it should be on all day.
Went elsewhere 2mins up the road and guess what….that’s right all day breakfast 🤣

Long waiting time yet again in the restaurant 20 mins to get served with cake and coffee. 3 couples left the queue in disgust. Spoke with a young lady in queue next to me who stated she had worked in the restaurant 20 years ago and she said it was never like this and they used the 2 counters not just the one. Needs a good re-organization because current set up doesn't work. Have emailed the store manager on several occassions in the past - but nothing ever changes !!

did not like to be told 1 queue not 2 knowing i asked everyone in the queue if they minded if i could have just 2 cups of tea

Staff always pleasant and helpful. Restaurant food good quality. Children eat free at breakfast. Well done

A comfortable and pleasant experience when you enter my local store either for a coffee or a plant or two.Nice .Keep those tables clean.

I recently visited the Gailey/Penkridge branch and was really disappointed. Many of the plants looked in fairly poor condition and very expensive compared to the privately run centers which are nearby. We also visited the cafe where a 330ml can of Coke was an incredibly expensive £2.55! Can't see us returning any time soon.

This is my local garden centre which I visit weekly. The customer service from the staff in the garden centre is fantastic, nothing is too much trouble. Today I was helped by Craig and Zak with a heavy planter and have been helped by Craig several times in the past.
I do however, think the restaurant either needs more staff or a better system when it comes to taking orders.