Waitrose & Partners — Local services in New Forest

I have been a Waitrose fan for many years and so I regret finding it necessary to have to give my local store (Lymington) the big thumbs down for the service I received this morning . I shop at this store 3 or 4 times per week and this morning I was accompanied by my 2 yr old grandaughter. She saw the gingerbread men in the cake department and immediately asked for one. I scanned the item, and along with the other shopping , I paid at the self service till. I had arranged to meet my son in law in the cafe and I went there to buy a coffee and a cake for myself and drink for my grandaughter. I was astounded to be told by the serving staff she would not be able to eat the gingerbread man in the cafe as it was against the rules. I could , however, take trolley, 2 yr old and tray outside the front door(difficult to manage!) and eat and drink at the tables just outside the front door (still on Waitrose premises).Said table and chairs are approximately 2 metres from the busy exit from the car park and there are no highchairs,so this was not a sensible option. When I complained to a manager I was told this rule was in force because food served in the cafe was subject to VAT and the store would fall foul of HMRC if a 2 yr old consumed a £1 biscuit purchased previously.She also said the store did not want people having a picnic in the cafe. I understand food served in the cafe is subject to VAT but would like Waitrose to confirm it is an HMRC rule which prohibits the consumption in the cafe of food or drink bought by the customer in the store or elsewhere and not a Waitrose rule to prevent customers using the cafe as a picnic site. Of course the cafe has overheads, and items sold in the cafe cost more than in the store. I can understand Waitrose wishing to prevent customers stocking up in the store and simply using the cafe as a place to sit and eat.However, if this rule is a Waitrose rule, and not an HMRC one, a little discretion would not go amiss. I am not allowed by this site to give zero stars,...

Great size store with free parking for up to 2hrs in the large carpark.

Great range of everything you could possibly need for all your day to day home needs, such as fresh fruit & veg, tinned goods, frozen items, bakery selection, plus toiletries , household items, newspapers, confectionery, tobacco, alcohol etc, etc, they even sell babies clothes & bits, plus I found the staff to be nice too.

Unfortunately I am not as impressed with the staff in the cafe, as I chose my sandwich, then some miserable young lady came from out the back to serve me, I ordered my cappuccino, went to pay, but by this time another young lady came from out the back & they spoke the whole time I was standing there, she then put my drink at the side, snatched the money, but didn't address me the whole time, I walked away & they were still talking, so rude!!

The end result is they paid so much attention to their conversation & none to my poor drink, that it was tepid & watery, plus it looked the strangest cappuccino I've ever seen, a weird colour, sadly the sandwich as lovely as it looked was rock hard stale bread, I wish I'd of not bothered, as I was enjoying my visit until then!

I will return, as shortly after I sat down, a lovely friendly looking lady came from out the back, & served everyone that arrived with a very courteous, but warm smile, I'm jealous!

Update - Just visited the cafe again today and what a difference, lovely professional, but friendly welcome and my cappuccino was made...

We visited this Waitrose store when we arrived in Lymington for our self-catering holiday. In our opinion, it is one of the best Waitrose stores we have been in and was far larger than our 'local' Waitrose stores back home. It offered a good variety of quality produce and we found everything we required even though it was not long before the store was due to close on Good Friday Bank Holiday. It was a pleasant grocery shopping experience in a good environment with friendly, helpful staff. Although it wasn't open during our visit, we noted that there was a pharmacy instore which is not something we'd seen before in a branch of Waitrose. My son who always uses Waitrose for his grocery shopping was very impressed. My husband and I said if we had a store like this close to our home then we'd shop there. It rivalled the larger supermarket chains for choice but offered Waitrose quality. Sadly, our branch of Waitrose in Staines-upon-Thames closed down a...