Dobbies Garden Centres Reviews 

Purchased online 2 bench cushions/pads in February this year (2026) & used them from June until September so 4 months. They cost £110. By September I noticed the sun had badly faded them & they were also wet inside. I bought them as weatherproof. I wrote to Dobbies & then supplied photographs. After weeks of going to & fro. They decided that they can not replace or refund as they are only showerproof & as for the sun they must be removed from the bench when not in use so in & out all day long. It's a mess, I'm left with 2 useless bench pads after 4 months of use.. I wrote to the CEO David but to no avail. So it seems they are not up to purpose. They wrote back with the usual 'I will be disappointed to hear they can be of no help'. & its not the outcome I expected. Of course not. It leaves a bad taste, who removes their seatpads everyday etc., & me out of pocket with 2 useless bench pads.

We went to Dobbies in Thornbury for breakfast on the 18th of October 2026. What a treat. From the moment we walked in the staff were welcoming and took our breakfast order. The food was perfect even to my request as to how I like my eggs. After the breakfast a chef, Georgia she said her name was came out to ask how we had enjoyed our meal. What a lovely added touch to the meal. She chatted to us all as we were from Bournemouth and made us feel so welcome. What a lovely team. Would recommend to all. Thank you Dobbies. We will be back

Went to restaurant to have some lunch but when i saw the queue on both sides waiting to get hot drinks i did not bother. This was in nuneaton, if you are going to serve speciality coffee serve at one bar whilst the other can do tea and normal coffee. I feel as this branch is going downhill.

We used the restaurant to day for Sunday Lunch at 12.00 told no 3 meats for Sunday lunch gave me wrong drink then they were unhappy to be told, when the lunch came it was cold and probably enough for a child no yorkshire pudding , nothing like the picture on your menus, the stuffing balls you could not eat as hard as rock. So sad as regulars the staff were not pleasant and everything seemed too much trouble for them, the hygiene in the cafe was far from good, hope it improves soon.

Went to Dobbies Perth yesterday. Disappointed with the stock in the shop as little choice and sometimes poor displays of goods. There was a row of cardboard boxes with Christmas baubles for sale. The carpets in the store were badly stained at parts. The restaurant did not appear to be that clean. One wall had drips of food running down it. It was an area where you could put your tray. The staff are very good and there was likely too few of them. The interior of the store badly needs an upgrade. The Dobbies store in Inverness was far superior and it was closed a few years ago

Shopping area badly arranged, Christmas displays not all in one area etc.
Cafe was awful. We had cheese scones and asked for them warm. Absolutely tastless, no cheese and very stodgy/pudding like. Tea was tasteless too and only luke warm. Never again!

I loved shopping at Dobbies which was all lit lovely with the Christmas decorations. I bought a few bits too, but the very next day I received an invite through the post for the special evening where you scan a code and get placed in the draw and if you spend £30 you get a £5 giftcard.....but it had arrived the day AFTER the event. Had these been sent out in enough time we could have been placed in the draw and we would have spent more and got the giftvoucher. I spent over an hour trying to phone customer services but its just a continuous engaged tone. I persevered in reaching out to Dobbies and filled out the customer contact form. Received an answer very quickly.....there's nothing they will do. Surely there is something Dobbies can do? Maybe its company service as opposed to customer service, but whatever the customer service team is there for it seems they aren't bothered sbout resolving the issue let alone getting valuable feedback that their mailing literature is not reaching customers in time. This has really put me off shopping there now. It feels like they don't care about their customers at all.😥

First time visiting the cafe at Marple and we definitely won't be going back! Hardly any food we asked for from the menu was available and they'd run out of decaff coffee (this was lunchtime). So we had to order toasties. Never had such a dreadful lunch. The 'toasties' were cold soggy bread, with cheese on top and barely grilled....greasy and floppy and can't even describe the effort of salad on the side. The teapot clearly hadn't been washed. The staff looked bored which clearly reflects on the food they're serving. Whilst I was waiting for the drinks I listened to other customers placing their orders only to be told "sorry we haven't got any of that" ! Seriously need to employ a proper chef who is trained to cook and have a total overhaul. Most expensive waste of food I've ever paid for! Having said that the two ladies in the pet department were absolutely delightful and friendly and really helpful with my elderly parents.

Purchased an 8 seater Ratan garden furniture at more than £1000. The resin weave under the glass softened during successive heat waves, drooped under its own weight and came apart. Dobbies refused to do anything as the item was just outside its maximum warranty (3 yr). In my opinion completely disregarding their responsibility under the consumer rights act to arrange a repair or replacement for an item that failed within its reasonable lifespan, probably under the misguided belief that being outside the warranty period negates their responsibilities under the act. The furniture was a Dobbies brand and sold by them. I will never purchase from this company again and will be getting my planned hot tub and garden cabin from one of their competitors.

I visited the Dobbies café at Tewkesbury recently and ordered a pot of tea. Unfortunately, I noticed that the spout of the teapot was chipped, which was disappointing. I would hope that chipped or damaged crockery would be removed from use and replaced.

Had cake and tea in cafe the cups were dirty and the tea could not come out of the spout it was filfy they a visit from food council

Love the garden center but the cafe at the otterspool center needs some improvement.
Food is ok but the time to get is served is terrible.
Rolls are not buttered, queue time was around 20 minutes to work through approximately 10 customers.
Some serious bottlenecks somewhere.

Did some shopping at dobbies in ashford today so while we were there we thought we would have breakfast I'm sorry but that was the most disgusting breakfast I've ever had first burnt sausage curled up bacon rubber scrambled egg dehydrated black pudding shall I go on. The best thing was the cup of tea

We went to Dobbies garden centre today for a browse, snack and brew. I hadn't been for years and it was a case of somewhere new to go. The garden centre is OK, not exactly well planned out, but oh dear, the cafe. The serving counter and the preparation area at the back of it was a shambles. I can forgive the extreme age of the fittings - I assume/hope it is planned to do a refurb - but not the mess, the dirt, and the overall feel of negligence. Empty packets strewn on the prep area, coffee grounds all over the place, dirt ingrained floor and filthy skirtings. Running out of clean cups, saucers etc and trays. Even the cable for the till had cake debris all over it. The staff were miserable and argumentative amongst themselves. The cake area was a mess, the serving slicers covered in buttercream and hardened crumbs and no-one had done anything about it. One attendant only was on duty to clear a large cafe area and they were not using a tray or trolley, just wandering to and fro to the kitchen with a few used utensils and then coming back for a few more carried in their hands. What a waste of time. I did not see one dirty table wiped in my time in there, which I can promise anyone who reads this, will be the last time. Compared to other chain garden centres in the area it is a slum.

My husband bought a steak from Dobbies Butchers in Gillingham, Kent on Saturday. He opened it the same day to cook it, and it stank. He had to throw it out. This is the third time he has bought rotten meat from them. I emailed the store and got no response, phoned the store directly and got no answer, then rang the customer service number and, after being put on hold for several minutes, it cut off. £25 down the drain. Dobbies doesn't respond to bad reviews here so they obviously don't care about customer's experiences. Never shopping there again.

I use Swindon Dobbies and I am member of their loyalty club when my membership needs renewing will decline the reduction of choice on drinks not worth it

I have been a Dobbies plus card holder for years. It's due for renewal and I've been told it's on automatic Renewal. As I have not given my card details I was surprised and annoyed. I rang customer service and was told when I renewed last year by contactless they kept my details which I wasn't aware of. If I renew again I'll make sure I pay cash

Dobbies in wallington Surrey. Lovely garden centre BUT your management of the Resturant is awful. Never many staff, two/ four trying to seat people take orders and bring food out. Hugh queues and lots of empty tables as always running on a skeleton staff. Wait ages to get someone to take your order and even longer to get the bill. Ordered the roast dinner, arrived and looked and tasted cheap. Your closing time of 3pm is ridiculous, especially at the weekend. Families are looking for somewhere to eat and you close the Resturant at 3pm Dobbies is a popular place to visit and would probably do well if they left the restaurant times open till 5 o’clock, it would attract a lot more people and families after school to come and have a meal there. More staff and better closing times would be great 🤞🤞🤞

A nice garden centre but I have a complaint I have been going for breakfast for a long time, on my last visit they have taken the black pudding off the breakfasts it is now £1.50 extra. Your penny pinching has lost you our custom. Another day went to order reduced price BBQ none in stock why put them on display if they don't have any.

On Wednesday this week 02/09/2026, 4 of us went to Dobbies for cake and a cuppa. I nearly fainted at the extortionate prices charged. A tiny slice of cake /brownie was had by my Brother. It was really very thin and terribly expensive. How can you justify £5 for a scone with 4 currants in and an extra small pot of jam for and extra 90p? I would be very interested to learn your disgusting prices compared to any where else. If the cakes were enjoyable, would have been something, but all our cakes were dry. The Service is a joke, massive queues, which took forever as there were two people serving, making drinks, and getting the pitiful cakes. I will never recommend Dobbies to anyone. You should be ashamed. Try putting feed back forms on the trays regarding Price, Service, condition and quality of food.