In a quick summary the visit was let down by the incredibly rude owner of the cafe. Which you will be able to see for yourself below, the owner has provided a very professional response, not dissimilar to how they speak to their customers on site.
In full, We paid £22 to enter the site which included an activity of pumpkin carving in the small indoor section where the soft play is. As the website clearly states that families are welcome to bring a picnic with them we decided we would as the only choice on the menu for anyone with a milk allergy and who is vegetarian or vegan was a jacket potato with beans (2 members of our party were vegan and 2 were veggie with a dairy allergy).
Unfortunately for us when we arrived it was raining which soon after turned to very heavy rain so we had no choice but to go indoors to allow the kids into the soft play and so we can buy hot drinks. They did have soy milk for the coffee which was good to see. Whilst inside we had our lunch as it was like a tropical storm outside, the cafe was really quiet and there were several available tables.
That's when the owner walks up with a horrified look on her face and went ridiculously over the top about eating our food in there (despite us buying drinks), she even complained that she had "eight tables do the same yesterday" so clearly this needs some signage to advise people and cant be that shocking to her. On top of this she went so far as to practically accuse some members of our party of lying! in her words "Coopland's don't do vegan food" (maybe she should pay a visit to one and she will see they have way more options than what her cafe was offering).
Now, I do understand her point and fully appreciate that if we were seated in the cafe area that was reserved for the cafe only, then we shouldn't have been there. However, there were lots of empty tables and there are no signs to say you cant eat your own food inside. Given this is the only indoor part you can use while raining and that you have to pay to be there you should be able to eat your own food somewhere inside during bad weather.
If the cafe owner had come across and pointed our mistake out to us like a civilised person we wouldn't have had such a negative experience but the way she spoke to our party was very berating and we were all shocked at the verbal scalding we received, even after apologising. We remained calm and apologised, asked where else we could go eat our food to which there was nowhere (!) and we also went on to buy cakes from the cafe for the whole party, as well as the drinks, but it's safe to say we will never return to Let Loose again. In the future please put up a sign to advise that although part of the attraction, own food cannot be consumed in that area to avoid others being humiliated and put off your setting.
Additionally, we had paid to do the pumpkin carving which when we asked about this we were informed of a time limit that had passed (which again was not very clearly disclosed beforehand). We were able to get 2 of the kids to do the activity however it was on 2 pumpkins that had already been partially done by someone else earlier in the morning which was quite disappointing.
Overall the day was spoiled by the cafe owner, and she should probably go on a customer relations course to help her learn some people skills and how to communicate to others without being rude. Her issue was the not the problem - her...
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