Bents Garden and Home Avis 

Daniel at Lakeland, was so helpful and such a credit to the company. He couldn’t have been more helpful. Thank you, such a pleasure to deal with :)

Nipped in and bought a couple of cakes. Best Manchester tart I’ve ever had. Delish.

We went there this morning and ordered breakfast. When food arrived I had scrambled eggs in the middle plate and half toasts around the plate. Awful as the scrambled eggs were cooking microwave 🤢 and lukewarm. Toasts far too thick! My friend had pouched eggs but overcook like hard boiled eggs! Never again go there for breakfast. Price are bit high.

Went for an afternoon tea for 2 which is not cheap but it was a present for a special occasion. The food was good but the service was terrible. We waited to be seated but when the server ignored us and walked straight past we wondered if we were in the wrong place. A simple " Be with you in a moment" would have helped. We then tried to book in at the food counter, the server was there and told us "I will deal with you when I have finished this". This set the tone for the rest of the afternoon, the server never once checked in to see if we needed anything or were enjoying the afternoon tea. When we wanted a refill of tea, again we were told "I'll do it when I have finished this" We also had to remind her again about milk. We felt as if we as customers were an encumberance, even though the server was only managing 8 tables, all arrivals were staggered, all meals were pre plated and the only thing that needed to be done was to take them to the table and take and deliver beverage orders, which seemed to be made by another staff member. The Afternoon Tea is usually a 10/10experience but this time it was a 4/10 experience. Very disappointing.
On a positive note a member of staff in the food hall overheard us asking where an item was and immediately offered to show us where it was.
Looking at the previous reviews the main problems appear to be with the dining areas.

Ordered a patio set online leaving specific delivery instructions. Goods arrived on the specified date, really well packed and in excellent condition. No problems at any stage.

I ordered a Weber Gas BBQ from Bents. They initially informed me that I wouldn’t receive the BBQ for 2 weeks, so I got in contact with them to explain that most other websites would provide next day delivery. They responded immediately and made sure to escalate the issue with their logistics team who then reallocated the BBQ to next day delivery.

Thanks for great customer service and for a lovely BBQ!

Absolutely disgusting bents cafe staff. Disabled parents went yesterday and asked for 2 lattes and could someone take them to the table. The lady serving pulled her face and said I got a gammy leg. So why is she working. It took another lady customer behind my dad to help which I thank her for. This place is seriously going downhill and before bents reply the manager was nowhere to be found. The staff are either rude non existent or can't be bothered to serve customers. Absolutely disgraceful

Bought Rhododendron variegated arrived in one day.
Excellent condition, very pleased.

Very poor service in Cafe. Extortionate prices throughout the whole place.

This is a destination for me to meet my family when they visit from Northern Ireland. The service is great. Food fantastic and the staff are delighted to help. Thank you especially to the staff member who helped us find the white bell and personalised bauble. A great experience xx

Truly awe inspiring treat before Christmas! Fantastic display of decoration for the festive season. Am blown away by the choice of colours and styles, definitely going back again

Went to Bents with my family today for the Alice in Wonderland light trail. Given the huge price tag of £154 for 5 adults and 2 children, I was expecting something spectacular. It was abysmal. Totally lacking in atmosphere. The trail is very spread out with lights dotted around in places for the first part of the trail and extremely boring

The grandchildren were extremely disappointed with the majority of the display

The winter food market has definitely gone down in quality and standard of food is awful but with a huge price tag

Pulled beef Yorkshire pudding wrap was appalling with stringy fat and gristle - looked almost grey - priced at £10.50 this was returned for a refund as totally inedible :-(

The Bratwurst - skin was too tough for my granddaughter to eat, another waste of money

BBQ brisket Loaded fries were good
Pizza was good but a whopping £15

Overall, this "trip" out cost in excess of £254 and I feel a tad ripped off

I gave 2 stars as the staff were friendly but overall this was a disappointing experience and definitely not value for money

Wasn’t that impressed with what I’d heard. Especially at Xmas. The queues were ridiculous and only caused purely with bad management. Plenty of staff looking busy but not actually doing anything. I alone would have gladly spent a few hundred pounds that day but unfortunately not really accommodating to actually serve you and take your money.

Booked Christmas globe,food nice,staff friendly and helpful,but the decorations in globes are not as nice too last year,but would still recommend going.

Went there for lunch today and purchased 2 soups with gluten free bread and 2 coffee's was charged £43 this seemed very expensive I asked the lady to check the price which she did, and told me 1 soup was £17. There were no sandwiches on my tray, just the two soups and coffees. Before leaving, I asked a member of staff to check my bill again as £17 seemed very overpriced for a bowl of soup. She got the manager to check and I was charged for specialty soup and sandwiches, even though I clearly stated I had no sandwiches only soup and this was acknowledged by the person who served me but was not corrected until the manager was asked to look. This has caused a lot of concern about the ability of staff to correctly charge customers.

Not a nice experience the layout is chaos you dont know where anything is busy people bumping into each other over priced

Wonderful afternoon visiting Bents seeing all the Christmas decorations & having afternoon tea But the hi light was meeting the wonderful Santa Claus walking around the store he was magnificent x
Would love to include the photo we had with him

wow what a night.
i visited the light trail with my little girl tonight and i wanted to say how amazing it was, not only the light trail but your colleagues, my little girl brought her elf with her as its now elf on the shelf season!!! unfortunately she lost it on the trail and was distraught. one of you colleagues i think her name was Adele saw my little girl upset and asked how she could help. she instantly calmed my daughter down and told her she would find the elf, she took my little girl back around the trail with her to find him. not only was this so special to take the time out to help she also made the experience for my little girl magical. she gave her a torch and a radio and they went off on an adventure to find him. my little girl was so pleased when they found him right at the start of the trail.
i just want to say a massive thank you to Adele who not only made my little girl feel so special she also kept the experience of Christmas magical.
thank you so much.
the pesky elf now must stay at home. no more adventures for him.

This is a special place, certainly at Christmas.
We decided to have some food in the Christmas food area.
Bratwurst was my choice.
I went to sit down with the food and realised it was served on a brioche bun! Butter, horrible.!!!
I suffer from a milk allergy which becomes serious if consumed in a drink, but I'll still have a bad stomach eating this.
The stallholder never ASKED if I had any allergies unlike the others who did.?
I returned and asked for an alternative.
THEY HAD NONE!...What.!
How can they be allowed to operate!
I usually deal with Paul, one of the managers so hopefully a manager will see this.
Disappointed!!!

Entering Bents beautiful wonderland before Xmas was lovely and all put together by the staff. It was exceptional.

What wasn't so great was having to queue for expensive food at the Fresh Approach Restaurant. My friend and I bought a Turkey roast and a pot of tea each. I also bought a way overpriced scone! We received our hot food with metal covers which seemed a good start! However, we spent ages trying to find a table while carrying heavy trays which was tiring! We checked different areas and if it wasn't for a couple moving off and telling us we could have their table we would have been going round in circles trying to find a table! By the time the table was cleaned and we settled into our seats our food was no longer hot nor was our pot of tea! It didn't help that it was a little chilly in the restaurant either! The price we paid was exorbitant for cold food and tea!

I suggest that Bents dedicate 3 staff members during busy times to help people to empty tables! This scouring around for tables was ridiculous! There seemed to be no check on the number of people coming into the restaurant or if there were sufficient tables for these people. It was total chaos. I wouldn't waste my money again to purchase hot food to find it is cold by the time I actually found a table to sit at!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!