Costa Coffee Applegarth — Restaurant in England

I've come to this Costa for many years now. There's another Costa on the High Street, but I like Applegarth as it's a little more out of the way and can often be a bit quieter which I prefer, plus there's parking right outside which is usually never a problem to access. There's a short and long stay option as well, which is helpful if you want to shop on the High Street before or after.

The main reason I wanted to write this review is to recognise two members of staff in particular; Jane and Sav. Whether the cafe is quiet or busy, I've always received a very warm welcome. They work with efficiency and really do care about people which, in my opinion, separates them from the rest. I feel like I can have a genuine conversation with either of them, rather than being seen as just another number going through the till. Many other coffee shops, particularly chains that I've visited, focus on taking the order and delivering the drink with minimal interaction. This isn't the case when I'm served by Jane or Sav, and I'm really grateful for it.

For the most part the cafe is clean and tidy, though when it's busy it can sometimes be a short wait before the tables are cleared. This is a staffing issue, in terms of them being low on numbers, though, and does not reflect the hard work that I see going on.

Both Jane and Sav have the ability to work fast yet still have time to engage with customers. It's a consistent experience every time, and I do see that they extend this to every customer who comes in. It's a real pleasure to see.

On the rare occasion that there's a queue with extra waiting times, it does come down to not having enough staff. Every time I've seen this happen, Jane and Sav give the right level of interaction and appreciation for those who wait, while working as fast as possible to serve without compromising the quality of their service and drinks.

I can live with the occasional time when tables haven't been cleared in favour of the warm welcome I get here. Today, Jane, who was working on her own, was juggling all aspects of running the cafe. My table was cleared and cleaned before I even got close to sitting down (before ordering a drink). That's why I'm not taking any stars off.

Thank you, and know that your personality is what brings me back here every time, I...

On more than one occasion recently, I've had poor service from this store. This has ranged from not having ingredients (no ice on quite a few occasions), to staff closing up the store early (was told the store was closed after walking in last week at 15:45 on a Sunday, even though normal closing is 17:00. When I asked what time they closed they said they were closing at 16:00 that day, so I told them there was still 15 minutes left to be open. They eventually served our drinks begrudgingly.). Also think some of the servers need a lesson in customer service, some quite rude in the way they talk. Example today, I asked for 2 frappes and the reply was "don't have any" before I'd even finished talking. Not "sorry I'm afraid we don't have any, but we do have something else". Ended up going to the high Street store and received much...

I asked for a mint chocolate chip frostino without cream and sauce and they gave me cream. I then complained and they scooped the cream off. I also asked for a ruby chocolate and cream frostino small and they gave me a ruby chocolate and cream large frostino. I then complained and they started getting impatient toward us. Then they asked what we wanted in a rude way. So then I asked for a ruby chocolate frostino small without being charged and they rudely made a new one and reluctantly gave it to us. They then gave us the wrong amount of change back. They gave us 30p and we needed 50p. I am very upset about this and do not recommend this so called lovely place. This ruined our day and I do not want to come back...