Riverside Retail Park Reviews Summary

Shop Variety

Pros:

• "A great selection of shops for sports enthusiasts, homewares and for bargains!"
• "Good choice of retail shops that are not in the town centre however needs longer parking time."
• "Our regular go to retail park for Home Sense, Dreams, Smyths Toys, Matalan, Home Bargains."
• "A good range of shops to choose from plus eating places."
• "Good selection of shops."
• "A wide variety of shops on offer here with something to suit all tastes."
• "Good for sports shops and home furnishings."

Cons:

• "As an out of town centre retail park it's a pretty horrible place to drive into and around, the roads are narrow and twisting with sharp kerbs on every tight corner."
• "The only downside to this place is the lack of cash machines and facilities."
• "Shops are good but parking situation is a bit rubbish you either need more time or be able to pay for parking, impossible to have lunch, and go shopping without getting a ticket."
• "Has an ok selection of shops, not great."
• "With the loss of Decathlon, there is little reason to come here."
• "Possibly the most unappealing retail park in the UK."
• "Unfortunately over the years the number and variety of shops has diminished."

Parking

Pros:

• "One of the few places in Chelmsford where you still get free parking."
• "Free parking."
• "It's usually easy to find parking."
• "Plenty of parking."
• "Not to forget the ample free parking with around 500 spaces, making your visit hassle-free."
• "Lots of parking spaces here. You can park for up to 2 hours for free."
• "There is also plenty of parking."

Cons:

• "Watch out for these. As others have said, stay 10 minutes over your 2 hours and you'll be fined."
• "Don't go, Parking trap!"
• "Parking is a nightmare here, no pedestrian walkways to get from parking places to the shops."
• "2 hours parking time is not enough to do shopping and eat at mcdonalds and have a coffee at costa."
• "The car park isn't great always busy at peak times and not well designed so can be big queues."
• "Parking is time restricted which means shopping is rushed."
• "Parking is camera based and timed so don't get caught out."

Customer Service

Pros:

• "The Iceland food warehouse is massive, and Homesense is worth a visit, the staff are very nice."
• "Went in the home bargain store, good items at great prices, very helpful and friendly staff."
• "Central, accessible, affordable and with very friendly, efficient helpful staff and with the added distinction of having Shopmobility on the ground floor to help with anyone with a mobility Problem."
• "The sales staff are so friendly and helpful in guiding you to the right solutions that suit your personal needs."
• "Staff excellent, very helpful, patient and kind."
• "Visited here for a little retail therapy. Those shops that we entered were very clean and well laid out."
• "There's a small Costa Coffee that on Saturdays has a constant queue but the staff are good."

Cons:

• "MacDonald's very busy and poor service, no electronic ordering, all seemed very old fashioned and disorganised."
• "I went to the sale on in matalan which was good but service was very slow and waited a long time to get served although there were 3 staff on the tils they were not efficient."
• "The guy at the till... waste of time."
• "Two members of staff were noisy Calling a Cross the cafe to each other One was cleaning but calling and laughing loudly with her colleagues Our visit to Costa for a relaxing coffee and chat completely ruined,,"
• "Went to Smyths toy shop, staff had no idea about sensory toys for autistic kids and generally seemed lost in the store they worked in."
• "He was not helpful at all."
• "They was doing everything they could to work in a covid friendly way but having to simply stand in lines in the rain was uncomfortable maybe if this is the way forward some of the shops could invest in shelters/lean to's to keep their customers dry whilst waiting ?"