Carriages of Cambridge — Restaurant in South Cambridgeshire

Nice place but unfortunately our experience was severely marred by the lack of availability and lack of flexibility on bookings, as well as the total lack of sympathy in what turned into quite a difficult situation. Beware that vouchers are only valid for 6 months and they are closed on Sundays, so there is a crazy long wait list for Saturday slots that will likely take you beyond this. I'd bought the voucher for my mums birthday last August, made the mistake of only ringing up to book a bit later in autumn, and then discovered that the first Saturday they still had available was in May, 3 days before the voucher expired. When it came to that week, my 2 year old came down with a horrendous vomiting bug. I called up before the 24 hour cancellation period and was told I wouldn't be able to rebook because the voucher was about to expire. When I told them this was the first Saturday I'd been able to get, I was told I should have come earlier during the week - with a group who all work and were travelling from various locations across the country! At that point I asked for a refund, but vouchers are also non refundable. The best they would offer was that I could come and collect the food if we couldn't make it, but that seemed poor compromise given that the main attraction is the setting. I had a few hours to decide whether to have a refund on the other 2 people who we'd paid for on top, but given as the voucher was non refundable anyway this didn't really help, plus they were pushy about the deadline for cancelling those places. Their reasoning was that it was getting too late to rebook our table, but given as they were refusing to refund the voucher anyway I didn't see what difference this made - did they want paying twice?! I never managed to call by the deadline anyway as our 2 year old hadn't kept anything down for over 48 hours and ended up severely dehydrated and in A+E all day Friday and also the Saturday morning we were due to go. He was exhausted and subjected to 2 different blood tests during that time. When he was finally discharged we went straight to Carriages, even though by this point none of us felt like afternoon tea. It was that or lose ALL the money we'd paid and the experience, and it was just so stressful that I regretted buying the voucher. Throughout all this Carriages were utterly unsympathetic, unwilling to help and officious. I'd like to suggest to Carriages that if their Saturday slots are so busy, then they need to either open on Sundays as well until the backlog of bookings is cleared, or sell vouchers with a MUCH longer expiry date. They should also be more understanding particularly to working families of small children where difficult situations can appear at the...

I am extremely disappointed with my recent experience at Carriages in Cambridge. I had booked afternoon tea for Saturday 23rd August to celebrate my 30th birthday, something I’d been looking forward to for months, especially as this would have been my first special outing after having my baby just 8 weeks ago.

When I originally booked on 29th March, I called ahead to explain that I would have a pushchair with a newborn baby as I wanted to book a private carriage for my birthday to make it extra special. I was advised to book the Lancelot carriage, as it had wheelchair and buggy access, and I followed that advice and booked. The booking was made 5 months in advance.

This morning, just three days before my birthday, I received a call telling me that my booking was being cancelled because a larger party required wheelchair access. I was told they wasn’t enough room for our pram and ideally pushchairs aren’t allowed on weekends and was offered a weekday instead. This completely defeated the purpose, as the whole reason was to celebrate my birthday on the day itself.

Not only was this last-minute cancellation upsetting, but the way it was handled was appalling. When I called back to cancel, the staff member was rude, argumentative, and insisted it was my responsibility to call to confirm that I would need pushchair access despite the fact I had already done so at the time of booking and followed their advice.

According to their own website, the Lancelot carriage is specifically designed for wheelchair and buggy access. It is deeply disappointing that my booking was pushed aside for another group, and it raises the serious question: would you ever cancel a wheelchair user’s booking in the same way? I would also like to mention there is no information about this on their website only a small section on the booking form which you have to scroll down to see. There was no genuine apology or attempt to make things right.

Carriages of Cambridge completely ruined what should have been a special milestone birthday for me, and their lack of care, empathy, and professionalism was shocking. I would not recommend them to anyone, and I certainly won’t...

Very disappointing today..... 4 ladies treating ourselves before Christmas. Booked well in advance and advised that 1 x gluten free and 1 x no chocolate, it makes me very ill. (We have been previously with no issues). Lady confirmed on arrival and again by another member of staff in our compartment. Tea ordered and arrived quickly. Then it all went downhill. My (chocolate free) arrived and it was the little sandwiches and 4 scones and a tiny mince pie. I asked if this was really what I was supposed to have,? No alternative, that was what they had to offer me! I said that I did not wish 4 scones.... would anyone? If that was all I was being offered I would have the regular offering and take them home. Next server can in...she was chatty and said she totally understood. By this time gluten free has arrived and had a egg custard tart with raspberries..... oh I could eat that! Asked if possible. She went to ask and sadly no, not possible at the time, the cook would come to speak to us. I said I'd rather not as all the experience was to be with my friends not going over this again to everyone. It was really not comfortable rehashing what couldn't be changed. Chef appeared and basically told us that the menu changed seasonally and we should have been told limitations when we booked. We certainly were not advised of 4 scones!. Next another lady popped in to say we had to go to 'the barn' to pay. We finished our 2 hour session, collecting boxes to take bits home. Went to barn to pay, usually pay on train. When asked lady said that this was new method they were using. Paid. Whilst we were saying our goodbyes in the car park... no other guests went via the barn. We asked and all had paid at their table. Popped back into barn and lady said 'no I decided you should come here'/'to ask how your afternoon tea was'........ She never had asked as I would certainly have told her my total disappointment of my experience. When a booking is made in advance, with dietary needs, please do NOT accept it if you can't cater for it. A relaxed chilling time with friends became just quite awful and spoilt totally by the '4 scones' or nothing and...