Dobbies Garden Centres - Preston Reviews 369

Staff pleasant but felt not really valued.

As soon as entered we were greeted by friendly staff! We had a delicious lunch and again the staff were fantastic! Great selection of plants and I can always use another plant haha! I love dobbies, best garden centre around!
Shame the fish shop is closing, but if you fill that space with more plants I’ll be even happier

On May 21st I bought some Ronseal Ultimate Protection Decking Oil from the Preston store for £64.99. When I applied it, it was very "sludgy" although I had shaken the can well. It only covered a two thirds of a small area. It turned out that not only was it overpriced (on line it is between £39.95 and approx £45), it was also out of date. I complained and was advised that the store manager would contact me. After 2 weeks of hearing nothing, I contacted the CEO and received a refund and apology. There was no explanation or word of apology from the store manager.

Nice bright atmosphere. Staff very pleasant

The shop is very good but the garden centre is a mess.plants strewn around and dying.not been watered .support benches and stands that are rotting.
It is a disgrace yet it used to be lovely.

Purchased the £5 pack of bee friendly wildflower seeds… nothing came through…only weeds, no flowers… no bees, absolute rip off. Do NOT buy 😢

Replaced a plant that had died with no problems.

Good value and staff always friendly and knowledgeable. Restaurant good too and we visit regularly for coffee and cake.

Visited Dobbies Preston a couple of days ago. Not been for a couple of months and was shocked at the decline in the centre. Firstly the outside planting areas were full of weeds, pretty poor for a company whose core business is plants and gardening. Then the restaurant outside which was weedy and had rubbish moving about in the wind. The plants: selling off dry and dying plants instead of giving them a drink of water. And yes, to echo someone else’s comments on this store the toilets do smell bad and have done for years, seems to be a problem with sewerage or something. I completed an online feedback form and haven’t had a reply from the company, very sad to see this decline of a once magnificent store.

I was impressed buy the range and quality of goods available, some of the plants looked sad and in desperate need of a drink though.
The waitrose concession was a little underwhelming with some empty shelves.
The staff at the checkout were sullen and curt, I felt a bit of an inconvenience to be honest.I can’t see waitrose standing for this level of service for long.
Now to the cafe, I made the unfortunate mistake of ordering an elderflower coffee! who ever thought this combination would work is sadly mistaken. There were a selection of cakes available but all looked dried up and as if they had been there for days, but by far the worst thing were the toilets … the smell was reminiscent of an open sewer and I felt I needed to rush home and shower.
In these days of saturated markets with retailers vying for custom then Dobbies Preston needs to go a long way to up their game!
The store was almost deserted so something is off and whatever it is smelled like it died in the ladies!
I won’t be rushing to return despite the sparse waitrose range.

helpful and informative staff. professional service always

Visited Dobies near Preston today for the first time.
Appalled at state of plants, most suffered from lack of watering, Because pots were dry, many had blown over, but passing staff just ignored as they walked past.
The areas of clothing & household goods looked well managed , but most certainly do not recommend the plant areas.
The cafe looked ok, but did not bother to stay long enough to need a drink

Disappointed plants either dead or dying over priced. Cafe run down unwelcoming.

A very uninspiring visit today. The plants looked sad as they were dry, dying or had fallen over.
No staff out with the plants. The staff inside at the till were helpful and friendly but the main product - the plants were uncared for. No one available to ask for help and guidance. I shall go to Tesco in future.

This is a big site but there is about 5% plants and the rest is expensive items from franchises, don’t bother visiting here if you want plants.

Efficient service in the restaurant. Having a Waitrose in the garden centre is good

Still very poor service in restaurant. Dirty tables, very long delays for food.
Waited 15 mins for a cup of tea. Special offers all gone before start time even!
Not changed since a year ago. Buck your ideas up Dobbies!

My sister and I both bought coffee and lemons and poppy seed and cheese scones before Easter at Stockton Dobbies and they were rock hard and inedible .. the cafe was extremely busy and nobody was available to complain to , absolutely fuming as they are close to £3 each