Dobbies Garden Centres - Dundee Avis 290

Everything from goods to staff

Met friends for coffee and a look at the shop. Enjoyed both.

Around 4 weeks ago I visited Dobbies in Monifieth in order to buy a couple of autumnal plants. I ended up spending £140:00 due to the assistance of the very knowledgable Kevin who gave me advice which was greatly required, 3 trees and various plants and some time later I was on my way home. Well done Dobbies for employing this lovely gentleman. I was then directed to checkout where I was relieved of my money by a chap whose name escapes me but once again was a great help. I was helped to my car by a beautiful tall blonde young lady who made sure all my booty did not fall off the trolley. Thank you all and I’ll see you soon…..Mo Hervé

I enjoy the restaurant but it is getting a bit expensive so cutting down on visits.

Kevin in plants was most helpful and went the extra mile to help in my choice . He is very pleasant, cheery and made my visit a happy experience. He is in the Dundee /Monifieth store. Thanks Kevin 12 out of 10 from me. 👍

Restaurant was clean and tidy. Service quick and friendly. Items we needed were available and reasonable. Till service was also quick and staff very helpful.

Poor to no choice for those with Dairy or Poultry allergies or have a preference for vegan option
Only alternative milk was soya, no oat almond or coconut milk
You used to do vegan scones with flora vegan spread
Good point staff were very helpful and empathetic

not much updated from my previous visit selection of plants in general no change or none

First class service, taken step by step through placing order

Visited the external garden centre today at 1315 hrs and witnessed an elderly member of staff going round with a hose watering the plants !
Correction its obvious this staff member is not plant trained or a Gardener as the plants were still bone dry !
Waste of his time even doing this if he can't do it right !!

I'm presently sitting in Dobbies restaurant Dundee. The hot food counter is not open, well, at least not staffed and the food looks like it's been sitting for several hours, there's a sausage meal that the sauce has congealed. The queue for drinks is enormous and people with hot food are waiting in that queue. Other customers are just as furious as I, there's no way to bypass the queue as they are serving drinks and there are no tills open and so you have to wait for drinks and make your payment at the drinks counter, no way can you take a soft drink and just pay. It's a queue of at least 15 mins and 9 more people are behind my partner now. The customer in front is just as annoyed and says she’s made several complaints to management. The cutlery drawer is almost empty and is dirty. Young members of staff are working hard but this is a management problem and they need to resolve it.
It's a miserable affair, goodness knows why I keep giving this company a chance ? The store is starting to look tatty, outside in the garden bit, some displays that used to be well kept are pretty much empty, sale prices don’t entice because it’s clear the produce was over priced in the first place. Customers are not daft Dobbies, they know the prices and overpricing then pretending reductions don’t wash. After the food debacle I went downstairs, the food hall, now run by Waitrose, has empty shelves and gaps, the garden equipment section has similar gaps. Clearly something is wrong, I suppose if Tesco couldn’t make this work what chance another company. The place looks finished to me…. That’s it for me, no more, you are appalling Dobbie’s, there are plenty of other places which will gladly accept my money and make an effort. I can’t see you surviving this !

Thanks for your reply Karen, unfortunately this store has been poor for a long time and complaints don’t improve things perhaps the new CEO should focus on this store first ?

I didn’t find the plants I wanted which was disappointing as they are relatively popular cottage garden.

However I bought a selection of others.

I’d recently bought other kitchen items and hoped to buy some again but they had been removed. I didn’t see any alternatives.

The checkout was swift and the man was smiling and polite which always makes a difference when you’re spending a lot of money.

Wasn’t the best. My little boy got a metal nut in his tuna panini. He could have choked or swallowed it. I did get a refund for the panini. But really I should have received the whole meal refunded.I didn’t make a fuss but after I came home and thought about it and how he could have choked realised how serious it could have been. Or if had swallowed and gone in insides could have been very serious. I probably should have had some sort of compensation. The person I was with thought I should have made more of a fuss but I’m not that sort of person. Just when I thought about what the consequences could have been made me think.

I did enjoy the coffee and scones but this was marred by having to wait more than 15 minutes for cutlery. The ladies in the cafe tried their best but they could only work with what they had. In the end we had to spread our scones and stir our coffee with fork handles. Not good enough.

Fantastic staff

Visited Dobbies Dundee with my dog to choose a new collar and lead.
Lots of colours and sizes available and tried them on him to say which was the best size.
Very competitive prices