XS Espresso Bennetts Green — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

Xs Expresso Bennett's Green

I have been a customer at your Bennett's Green store in recent months.  I found the food and service to be excellent. However I have an issue with the store since the night of the 6th of October.

I was parked at the BP service station at around 10.20pm to fill the air in my tyres.  Owing to disability I am unable to do this task myself so I had with me my adult daughter who is also my carer.  My daughter was filling the tyres while I stood by the car.  I had my back turned to your store while telling my daughter that an employee in the service station was mopping in the dark.

As I was speaking, there was a sharp knocking sound on the glass of your store window behind me.  As I am also diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder the sharp noise, was very alarming and set my heart racing as I spun toward the window in time to see a young woman in black running away from the window.

It was apparent that she did not realise I could see her as she ducked through the doorway and beckoned another young woman to the ante room she was in, gleefully gesturing towards me.  One young woman, she who beckoned,   had very long curly hair which seemed light brown and the other seemed to have shorter dark hair. I cannot be certain which one knocked.

Still alarmed,  I remarked to my daughter that they must not realise they were visible as they were cavorting around happily. I made a concerted effort not to look at them.  As we were about to get back into my car, movement drew my gaze toward a rear window behind which seemed to be a desk in an office at the rear of the Cafe.

Although there had previously been nobody sitting there, I then saw a dark haired man with facial hair, wearing a hi- vis shirt sitting at the desk looking straight at me who was definitely also having a great laugh at my expense.

It might have been a great laugh for them,  but at the expense of scaring an already fragile person,  late at night in an already risky area I find it disgraceful.

Now I can only be very disappointed at this behaviour while I don't suppose they will know or care that they have lost a previously...

What a complete nightmare this place is! Went there for a simple sweet treat with my friends, and mind you, we were literally the ONLY people there the entire time! Yet, somehow, it STILL took a full hour to get four desserts. After waiting 20 minutes with two of the desserts still nowhere in sight, we finally spoke up and were met by the EXTREMELY RUDE male manager. He casually tells us that our order didn’t go through because their computer “went down”—NO apologies, no acknowledgment of their mistake. They put the order through again, and 15 more minutes pass. Finally, one of the desserts is practically thrown on the table by this rude manager, and STILL, there’s no mention of the last dessert.

Another 15 minutes go by, and we go up to ask for an update. At this point, we’re fed up and ask if it isn’t ready, we’d like a refund. The manager YELLS from across the counter that it’s coming. Not a single apology, no sign of any professionalism. By the time the last dessert finally showed up, it had been a full HOUR.

The young girl who made the initial mistake did apologize, and we gave her some constructive feedback, but the “manager” was a complete disgrace. This guy is rude, disrespectful, and totally unfit for a role that requires customer service. Honestly, he should reconsider his career if he can’t treat people with basic respect and hospitality. We weren’t rude, we weren’t confrontational—just normal customers who expect decent service. This experience was completely unacceptable, and I’ll...

My partner and I dined here today. We asked for 2 plates to share the next level waffles.. one of the plates that were brought out still had chocolate from the previous person on it (seemed to have been washed but I still had to wipe excess off - which I did without causing a fuss) we asked for a table water and it literally had floating bits in it 🤢 and to top it all off I got a cronut shake and as I was trying to take it off the plate to drink it the cronut fell off onto the floor before I had even had a sip or a bite of it. I was embarrassed and shy about this, obviously it was an accident. We apologised to the staff cleaning it up and they basically ignored us. I know it was my fault but as someone who used to work in hospitality I would have offered a replacement especially as I hadn't even had any of it yet. I was not offered a replacement at all. My entire cronut and all the toppings had hit the floor and that was it. It ruined the whole experience for me. Had the staff offered a replacement I would have been very appreciative and this review would look a lot different. I don't think...