Rochford Wines Yarra Valley — Restaurant in Melbourne

I will NEVER be returning here. A few weeks back I attended the venue for the Matchbox Twenty concert and the bands were basically the only thing that was good about the experience.

This greedy venue decided to send out emails stating for everyone to catch the bus instead of driving because the buses had priority leaving after the concert; and that would have been fine however on review of the buses travelling to and from, it would have ended up costing more than the concert ticket just for that.

So you think okay maybe we will just drive instead? Okay well they also mentioned that you would need to pre-book a car parking ticket for $20! A bit rich but what choice do you have right? Well, try getting there only for not even 1 staff member checking anyone for car parking tickets and thousands arriving most likely having pre paid to get in, what a scam. $20 X 1000 = $20,000 you start to see why they did this.

Then after I tried to get in contact with them via email they tried to tell me that, no actually, me and dozens of people around me who spoke to each other about how ridiculous it was to pay for parking and try to do the right thing only to find out you could have just drove straight in, well all those people must have just been the minority and didn’t get checked, well we were in line for a LONG time and guess what? No one checked. Anybody. Liars, thieves and scumbags.

Upon arriving (early) we were greeted to around an hour wait just to enter then horrible conditions to park in with massive pot holes and unsafe space for both cars and people, the fact that they were “supposed” to be charging $20 for this should be deemed illegal. Cars were squished in as much as possible making it impossible to leave if you tried after being herded in there like cattle, and like cattle the first thing you were able to notice after stepping outside was the stench, toilets and sewage storage right at the entrance…line up and smell the stench of thousands for $20! And your ticket price? Yes please! Said no one.

Foul, disgusting, oversold venue with no screens, no ability to do anything such as eat, drink, use the bathroom or even sit in a modicum of comfort because as it turns out all the chairs were zip tied together making it impossible for people to even sit down.

We had to leave our seats and move 8 rows back to find a patch of ground with what one could consider breathing room in a place like that. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be stuck in a horde in a zombie apocalypse that was about as close to that experience as you could get.

Did I mention it also took from 10pm to Midnight to finally get out of the place because of the terrible organisation and lack of any directing of traffic. When the concert was over all the staff were GONE, they got out of there quick thanks to their convenient staff parking and then left everything to go to chaos cause y’know they’ve made their money already.

Oh and if you’re wondering if I ever got my money back for the car parking, nope, they ghosted me after I told them I had dash cam footage which shows no one checking hundreds of cars for the entire time we were in line to get in. Horrible customer service, but I don’t care anymore about getting the money back because they’ve lost not only my chance of ever coming back but also anyone who ever asks my opinion of ‘Rockford Wines’ you’d think they’d value return patrons rather than $20 but yet here we are. What a joke of an establishment.

Do not go here if you have any respect for yourself and don’t wish to be ripped off for whatever they can try weasel out of you.

Also if you look for Faye Harper’s recent review it couldn’t have summed...

Came here for The Corrs Concert with my sister and my friend. Disappointed is an understatement. It was our first time attending an event here and probably the last. The concert was fantastic but everything else was just a let down.

It was a scorching day of 37C. The gate was open at 2pm but we decided to come a bit later because of the heat. When we arrived and found a spot to park, there were two men who checked for parking ticket, but they only ask if we paid already. As an honest person, I showed the receipt, but I saw the next car they just simply said yes and then the men just proceed to the next without validating which means they could just let people in for free! The parking area was in a dry bog area that has an awful smell. Paying for $20 parking fee was a bum out for first impression. The other thing, no sign or numbers that we can use so we can remember where we parked. We used the big tree on the side as our guide.

When we got in, our negative impressions just continued. We were gutted the venue was not prepared for an all-weather event. The forecast was dangerously high, and this is an outdoor event, there were NO SHADE of some sort apart from if you go under the trees which aren’t many and its way back or if you go inside the restaurants which were fully booked. The queue for toilets were ridiculously long and again no shelter. I saw at least two ladies who collapsed near the toilet area. Thankfully, there were First Aiders on standby.

I must include the price for drinks is overly priced. I paid $5 for a Pepsi can. WOW! I didn’t bother to look for more drinks as that was already a clear indicator this business is greedy!

We paid gold reserve seating tickets of $300+ each and chose/booked our seats so we can clearly see as we are not tall ladies. A lady ushered us but could not find our seats. She explained the seats were rearranged that day which made us feel even more bitterly disappointed. She offered us to sit in some empty chairs but with a disadvantaged view. We knew those empty chairs someone has booked them as it was full seats. She said she will check, left us standing on the corner but she did not come back as we saw her ushering other people who were confused just like us. As there were a few commotions due to disorganisations, we ended up helping ourselves by tracing out seat numbers and when we found our seats, there were people already sitting in them. It was embarrassing to have to approach people and tell them they are in our seats. It was not just us, we saw many people who were upset. We feel sorry for the ushers as that may not be their fault, but they are the first person on the ground to hear complaints.

During the concert, there were already intoxicated people dancing.

The event finished at 9:30pm which made us confused as their website showed 10pm. More misleading information. Trying to get out of the car park was a nightmare! No sign to follow so people walk everywhere trying to locate their cars, no personnel to guide the traffic and there were drunk people, making it more dangerous.

I'm in for supporting local businesses. I suggest Rochford need better management during events. I wouldn’t recommend coming here....

I paid for a VIP Restaurant Package to see The Corrs at Rochford Winery. I had never seen a concert there before and was relieved (months later after booking) that we would at least be inside on the 35+ degree day. However, we queued up for well over 45mins in the blazing sun to get into the restaurant. We were told we were table 1, but led to table 2, and noticed upon being seated that there was only 2 waiters catering to the entire restaurant, and everyone had to go to the bar to get the drinks, yet only 1 bar person serving! We were told we could have our appetiser then and there along with the other courses, or have appetiser and leave to come back at a later time. However, given the blazing sun/heat, and how long we had to queue for originally, we chose to stay. We were then advised that there could be no gaps / wait between courses and it would come out one after the other. Far from classy! However, they failed to note that my original booking stated that I would be opting for Pescatarian, so to bring out a meat oriented appetiser was questionable and thereby sent back....which bought some time as my friend was STILL in the queue for drinks! The main dish was quite ordinary and lacking given the Gold package / premium price paid (which we later found out did not even include a complimentary glass of wine at what is supposed to be a winery) ! BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! There was ONLY 1 Dessert which was Pannacotta. I asked what the vegetarian option was, and he advised the only other option is Tapioca. I asked what that was, and was informed that it is a coconut rice pudding (so an Asian dish)! As I did not like the sound of that, I just ordered the Panncotta with aim of just eating the coulis on top. Yet when it came in a jar, I realised it was far from Pannacotta as even under the Coulis (and all the way to the bottom of the jar) was simply cream ! I have had Pannacotta before, and I know what it looks like, and what it tastes like! They clearly did not care for ensuring a memorable and enjoyable dining experience, and were only in it for themselves given 1 staff member only at bar, and 2 staff members total in restaurant area. What restaurant only has 1 dessert on menu only? What restaurant delivers you a jar of cream when a Pannacotta is ordered (given other non menu option of tapioca) ? THEN at the end of our questionable dining experience, I went to the ladies (as always judge a place by the bathroom), yet of the 5 toilets, I was shocked to find that 3 were blocked with a mile high in toilet paper in them, 1 had no toilet paper, and the other had urine on the floor. Not to mention, there no force of water coming through when one went to press the flush button. So, it appears they have a sewerage issue, and given how bad it was it too appears to have been ignored! 1 Star is for the white table clothes and presentation of restaurant ONLY given how bad experience was overall inclusive of food, service,...