PickUp Cafe — Restaurant in England

We (a group of 7 of us) came here for some refreshments today - a Thursday afternoon. The server outside who was clearing tables was so unfriendly when we asked about putting tables together. I fully understand that this might not be possible due to needing to keep access free (not that she explained this, instead just muttered something) but the woman / girl and actually ignored when people in the group were addressing her. Despite this unfriendly welcome, we decided to stay as we were looking for a cafe with outdoor seating in the shade. A few people ordered iced cappuccinos, but it was a first time for them and they didn’t like them that much, but this might not be any reflection on the drink itself, which was well presented. My friend ordered a mango smoothie for me and at £4.25 I imagined it would be made with fresh or a frozen fruit mix, but it was nothing like any smoothie I’ve had: not thick, but watery and warm with a few ice cubes in it. I couldn’t even finish it and I hate to leave food or drinks. I can’t believe it was being sold as a smoothie - fruit juice, possibly, although it was more like squash. I did take it inside to double check that I had been served the right thing, and expressed my disappointment and the guys behind the counter were pleasant and apologetic but nothing more. I shan’t be...

I ordered a coffee and a donut from an impatient-looking server, who took my payment and then glared past me towards the next customer, clearly waiting for me to 'get the message' and move out of the way. No clear indication of where to, nor even if I actually should, wait - or if my order would be brought to my table. So I found a remote corner and waited. It was left totally up to me to watch the trays being loaded and coffees being made, nothing was called out, so I had to deduce which one was mine from the three similar orders in the serving area. Meanwhile, the barista and my server continued having a heated exchange behind the counter, with the barista giving me a terse nod when I carefully interjected to ask if one of the trays was mine. I couldn't get out of the line of fire fast enough! I went and sat down, quickly drank my coffee and chewed laboriously thru the warmed-up, chewy (yesterday's?) donut, then left with a real sense of relief. I won't be seduced by the cheery-looking yellow seats outside next time and I'll go somewhere else!

2* awarded because the coffee was actually not bad, but it did not make up for the rest of...

If you’re not a smoker and want to sit outside, forget it. Every outside table seemed to be occupied by smokers, sadly. We had teas, novel presentation but tasteless. The toilet door had a coded lock on it and just seemed locked when I went to use it, so I asked a member of staff what the code was. Sadly, being hard of hearing I didn’t fully catch what she was saying, and explained this. Her snappy terse response “There’s someone in there!” did not score highly on my personal customer service meter. As a retired Hospitality Industry Trainer may I point out a golden rule which is: “often, the only difference between your product and that of the competition is the quality of Customer Service you provide and you ignore this at the expense of your business success as bad news travels much faster and wider than good” I’ve gone to the effort to tell you this as feedback is valuable particularly when it gives you the opportunity to improve and therefore boost the...