GAIL's Bakery - Horsham Reviews 14

Visited today , 4th April ( Bank Holiday ) about 2pm. The shop was not busy when we arrived. Sat outside , tables were dirty, the customers whom sat at the adjoining table asked a member of staff to clean their table, one would assume this was an opportujity to clean the remaining 3 empty & dirty tables .
This was not the case. Nor was there any offer to wipe the table we were seated at. My wife then decided to have a second coffee.
When I walked back in the shop there was a family of 4, 2 adults & 2 minors at the cake display in conversation with a member of staff.
I approached the counter where another member of staff was standing ( not serving, not carrying out any task )
The young lady ignored me, mumbled some words to her coleague and walked away from the serving area.
Her colleague whom had by now served the family with their cakes and one assumes was about to get their drinks stopped in front of me and ( I kid you not ) asked me " are you looking for something "
I asked for a coffee and she informed me I should be behind the 4 / 5 people whom had now arrived in the shop .
The first guy standing there even stated I was waiting at the counter when he entered the premises.
The young lady was not remotely interested.
If as a company Gail's feel employing young people with limited ability to speak English is the way forward , Good Luck with that.
I have visited Gail's in London many times.
Branches that are very busy for long periods of times on a daily basis.
The staff are courteous, efficient and helpful.
The two young ladies working in Horsham at 2pm today were unfriendly, rude and contributed to one of the worst customer service experiences I ever experienced anywhere in Horsham.

We went to Gail’s in Horsham. The coffee was small and very expensive £4.55 per cup. I asked for some additional hot oat milk as my wife likes a weaker coffee than I do but the young girl barista said I hadn’t paid for extra milk and poured the remaining oak milk down the sink. If this is company policy then Gail’s will very shortly lose out to the excellent independent coffee outlets around town. Rude and unnecessary even if it is company policy. To charge so much and then not give a satisfactory coffee is very poor customer service.

Really sorry to read some of the experiences on here. I've got to say my own reception, since beginning to visit the branch just this year, has been nothing but warm, amiable, informative, and generous. It almost sounds like a different bakery. Granted - I only pop by once a week, but admit myself always find both the lovely produce and staff refreshingly commendable.

The bakery/cafe looks inviting from outside, but once inside you immediately notice how grubby the place really is, coffee or tea stained seats, scuffed paint work, dirty toilet area, and I was served a coffee in a chipped cup. Value for money is also poor, £16 for 2 coffees and 2 croissants, and the almond croissant was so rock hard it was almost inedible.

A group of 5 of us ended up in Gail’s in Horsham. This is the WORST coffee place I have ever been to in my entire life. I certainly will never attend another. On complaining to someone there was not even an apology. Thank goodness there a number of other lovely places in Horsham.

This is the second time I’ve tried Gail’s in Horsham and again had a bad experience. So on both occasions I’ve experienced very rude and unpleasant staff, dirty tables and unclean eating areas. The staff could barely be bothered to serve me (on both occasions) and were unhelpful to the point of being extremely rude. I asked for a ham and cheese croissant to be warmed and I was very abruptly told they can’t warm anything! Call yourself a cafe!!
I’ve been to the Gail’s in Guildford and had a totally different experience and they are always helpful and pleasant.
I have now learnt my lesson and won’t try again!!

I wrote a review some weeks ago on the Horsham branch and I had a reply from Gail’s saying if I need to discuss this review further please contact us !!! I phoned and left a number and asked for a return call back !! Nothing no calls returned …so tried again same answering machine please leave a message ! Again nothing ! Really good customer service !!!!

This company does not operate a good customer service department !

So if you are looking for a brake whilst shopping do try and visit the other coffee and cake outlets whilst there .

It was great to see Gail’s coming to Horsham. But it’s not the Gail’s I’ve seen before. The few friendly, expressive members of their young staff are the exceptions, with most being mono-syllabic and disinterested. One female server, in particular, was wearing what looked the same old faded jeans and t-shirt on both my visits. There’s a difference between young and casual and just a really bad look. Tables uncleared, minimal atmosphere. I won’t be back.

3 staff standing around behind the counter on a quiet Thursday afternoon.
. Tables not properly cleaned
. Staff member offhand and borderline rude
.we were the only customers waiting for our drinks but the staff member didn't offer to bring the tray over
.one table apparently used for staff items and cleaning equipment so customers couldn't find a place to sit when they came in
.milk for my tea supplied in a little bowl (which dropped everywhere) when there were little jugs sitting right on the counter.
.cookie was nice and tea was acceptable but mocha was very poor.

Considering the premium cost of the products in this venue, the service and quality were very lacking. Sort it out Gail's - your Hove store is so much better!

This is the second time we have visited Gail’s in Horsham. The first time my husband complained as he only wanted coffee, but had to queue behind others who were ordering food. When he asked if he could go to the till to order coffee he was rudely told to ‘wait his turn’. I wondered if he’d overreacted, and thought we should try again, which we did today. What a disappointing experience. The staff seemed clueless and confused. Service was extremely slow, despite it not being busy, and although there were four or five staff behind the counter, there seemed to be no organisation or system. Obviously training is totally lacking. What a shame, as bakery items appear excellent. We won’t be going again.

The coffee and pastries were good but the tables are not cleared and cleaned. The floors and stairs are grubby.

We had just had a fantastic experience in Gail's Bakery, Horsham, and I wanted to thank the staff who served us by writing a review. The cookies were the best we have had in any cafe for years, and the fresh ginger and lemon tea was divine. The two servers were incredibly attentive and couldn't have been more helpful. We will certainly be returning.

Very disappointing as the coffee was weak and Luke warm and my pastry dry and tasteless. I have been hearing the same from others too.
They need to up their game if they want to stay afloat and compete with the other 20 plus cafes in Horsham!

Was looking forward to visiting the new Horsham branch of Gail’s but was very disappointed. The decor is uninviting, stark and basic - not a place where I would want to meet friends for an enjoyable coffee and get together. It felt more like the decor of a fast food outlet. The range of food seemed quite sparse compared to how I remember it being in one or two other branches I’ve visited over the years. There was a huge counter with only one poor chap working behind it trying to serve people, heat food, make coffees, deliver to tables and clear tables. Consequently the tables weren’t clean. I waited for ages ( we had finished our coffees and my husband had eaten his bagel ) for my toast, butter and chocolate spread. I reminded the chap I was waiting and he said he was waiting for it to come from the bakery upstairs. The cafe was nowhere near full so I don’t know why it took so long for someone to toast ONE slice of bread. Eventually it arrived without the butter! I don’t usually feel compelled to write bad reviews but it was a shambles and we won’t be visiting again. It seems ridiculous that Gail’s have spent a lot of money opening this branch but are not putting in the correct amount of staff. We were told the staffing budget has been cut. This branch is helping to ruin Gail’s reputation and probably putting people new to the brand off from visiting others. Luckily there are numerous other cafes and a really good proper bakery in Horsham ( Gwyn’s ) so we have no need to choose Gail’s in the future.