Groves Nurseries Reviews Summary

Customer Service

Pros:

• "The Owners and staff are very friendly and they help solve any problems."
• "Staff are friendly and welcoming too."
• "Staff friendly, polite."
• "Staff were friendly, accommodating and helped us to get served quickly."
• "All Groves staff are friendly and knowledgeable."
• "Staff take time to chat and make you feel welcome."
• "Friendly and very helpful staff."

Cons:

• "Dreadful customer service. Only shop here if you want no flexibility on delivery and like to be publicly humiliated by a member of staff/manager in front of customers and staff at the tills."
• "We found most people who work there was very friendly, but came one certain old lady working is very rude and grumpy towards every person she came across."
• "Found the waitresses that served her still lacking in basic training."
• "Service was slow."
• "Bit of a cockup in the kitchen but the manager would not admit it accused us of making the waitress cry which was not true it wasn't her fault."
• "The staff were very unhelpful and seemed put out by the fact that they had to help and serve people."
• "Staff have lost their ability to help or even care."

Restaurant & Café

Pros:

• "The Ivy house kitchen is an ideal place for food and refreshments."
• "New restaurant is really light and airy, lovely place to sit and eat."
• "Good clean café, with a good menu and very clean toilets!"
• "Marvellous restaurant."
• "Beautiful setting for an afternoon tea, the food that we saw looked amazing!"
• "Gorgeous Ivy House restaurant where you can eat in or out in comfort."
• "Lovely well run cafe."

Cons:

• "Took my mother in law for a light lunch. Only problem is her lunch arrived and my partner and my lunch never arrived."
• "Good garden centre but waited 55 minutes for a baked potato in the cafe before getting a refund."
• "However, the down side was the cafe side the coffee was too hot which makes it taste bitter."
• "We ordered our lunches which were served in a reasonable time. My ham eggs and salad had just been dumped on the plate without any effort in presentation."
• "The 'gurt big' breakfast she ordered was not big at all and it was luke warm at best."
• "We were then offered a selection of cakes which appeared to be stale and dried up."
• "Waited 55 minute for scrambled eggs and a waffle! Utterly shambolic set up...we will not be returning."

Garden Centre

Pros:

• "Marvelous garden centre to look around, plenty to look at."
• "Very nice garden centre, plants looked healthy and the prices are reasonable."
• "Everything you need in this lovely garden centre."
• "Their plants are well raised, healthy and sensibly priced."
• "As always vast selection of plants, shrubs etc."
• "Well set out garden centre with a wide variety of interesting plants for sale."
• "This is one of the most well presented garden centres I've ever been in."

Cons:

• "A little tired looking and shelves empty."
• "Stopped for something to eat at the Ivy restaurants ‘all day kitchen’, signs saying ‘come in, wait to be seated’, Place closes at 1700, at 15:10 the kitchens closed."
• "Very disappointed with the service in the new restaurant."
• "Stopped to waste a bit of time and view the goods for a bit. Not bad. A little tired looking and shelves empty."
• "The toast was mouldy and had to be sent back."
• "The fish and chips were raw and tasted very bad, and the drink was overly expensive."
• "The coffee is tasteless and I had carrot cake it was dry and had some cheep Nasty cream stuff on top."

Value & Pricing

Pros:

• "Plants looked healthy and the prices are reasonable."
• "Their plants are well raised, healthy and sensibly priced."
• "Reasonably priced."

Cons:

• "£5 for a small bowl of chips with dips, the dips served were tomato and barbecue sauce and mayonnaise - not homemade. The cold drinks were warm and no ice."
• "The fish and chips were raw and tasted very bad, and the drink was overly expensive."
• "While it was ok the prices I thought were a bit high £9 for a burger and chips."
• "Its a very well stocked garden centre garden shop is also stocked well but expensive, shrubs and plants rather pricey too....no budget area."
• "Thought it was not a great choice of products and very overpriced and expensive for what it is."
• "I bought around 20 roses from them over 2 summers. Never again."
• "The café is first class we shared a ham sandwich and chunky chips two drinks for under £20."

Atmosphere & Layout

Pros:

• "New restaurant is really light and airy, lovely place to sit and eat."
• "Beautiful setting for an afternoon tea, the food that we saw looked amazing!"
• "Gorgeous Ivy House restaurant where you can eat in or out in comfort."
• "This is a fantastic garden centre, it's like walking through some ones private garden the way it is set out."
• "The outside area is large, and it feels like you're walking through tropical gardens."
• "Visited on a beautiful day when it was possible to sit outside, either beside the large pond filled with koi or by the amazing new restaurant."
• "Absolutely brilliant. You can eat outside by the huge ornamental pond, or indoors within a beautiful airy structure which looks as though it ought to be a sports centre reception."

Cons:

• "A little tired looking and shelves empty."
• "Only downside - how short do we need to see waitresses skirts."
• "Long walk to get into restaurant for my husband."
• "What we were able to see of the other food on offer did not appeal and not good value."
• "But the shop layout, oh dear, still no improvement since the cafe moved out two years ago."
• "Only one thing I don't like is the exit/entrance which is narrow and onto a busy junction."
• "We had ordered and paid for scones and coffee only to be told after waiting for some time that the scones had all been sold and on receipt the coffee was cold and had to be sent back."