Earlam's Community Store And Cafe — Restaurant in Styal

My sister and I decided to pop in for coffee and cake after a visit to Quarry Bank. We arrived around 3pm, selected our cakes by self service and ordered our coffee. The young girl behind the counter didn't seem that pleased to be there and was quite abrupt. We paid £12.80 and decided to sit outside at the back. At 3:19pm a different young girl came over and said that they needed the plates to clean up ! We asked what time they closed and she said 3:30pm, we hadn't taken any notice of the closing time when we arrived and nothing was mentioned when we ordered that they were due to close in less than 30 minutes. We said ok, but she actually stood at the side of me and waited for me to finish eating my cake !! We couldn't believe it !! I ate it quickly, as I was in shock and felt very uncomfortable. We had not finished our coffee at this point, but as they were in paper cups there didn't appear to be the same urgency for those as the plates. At 3:23pm another lady came to the door and stared at us, which to be honest made us more determined to take our time finishing our drinks especially after the plate incident. A man then came out and started sanding down the railings behind us !! I understand this establishment is run by volunteers, but they shouldn't volunteer if they are appalling at Customer Service and have no idea how to be polite and respectful to customers. They were quick enough to take our money, no matter what time it was but then were not prepared to let us enjoy the experience. I can see from other reviews that people have had similar experiences, such a shame as it is in a nice spot but we will not return after...

Agree with other comments about the welcome & service at the cafe (no stars given for service). A real shame as the cakes are great and it could be a much more pleasant experience. However, on both occasions (came back for the benefit of doubt, both on a Saturday) there's a real reluctance to serve customers (to the point of being ignored so that someone else had to serve us) and the cream tea has twice been served with such a miniscule serving of cream, it was barely enough for one scone let alone two. When questioned, I was told "that's the cream serving for two"... I would advise that whoever manages the cafe staff should make sure they actually enjoy being (volunteering) in a customer service role, because the staff on both occasions obviously don't...

Claim to be dog friendly, they are anything but. You can’t take your dog into the cafe so you can order and they don’t come to the tables in the lodge to take an order. The lady serving was very aggressive and when informing me about the rules. The sign that says no dogs was on the back of a door that was closed so no way to see when I entered. There are no facilities to secure a dog whilst ordering so only good if you have someone with you. Their reasoning for no dogs in the cafe was because of food preparation. We go to many dog friendly cafes where this is never an issue. Henry’s in Prestbury, Plums in Macclesfield and Nose cafe at Teggs Nose. If you’re going to claim to be dog friendly make it easy for dog owners. Will not be...