suffolkfoodhall.co.uk Reviews 

We were really looking forward to an afternoon tea after receiving a gift card from our daughter. Sadly, this was one of the worst service experiences we have ever had.

We arrived on time but waited 35 minutes before being served our food. The waitress then seemed surprised when I asked for our pots of tea to accompany it. When I later asked about the tea again, the waitress bluntly responded, “What do you want?” Tea was finally served 45 minutes after we arrived.

We also had to ask for teaspoons to eat our mini Eton mess. We were told to use the teaspoons from our cups of tea - we didn’t.

Throughout the afternoon, we were made to feel like an inconvenience. The service was without a smile, and no one checked whether we wanted a refill until we were about to leave. At that point, we were told the bar was about to close anyway.

It’s a real shame because the food itself was good. However, the overall experience left us feeling annoyed and frustrated. In our opinion, there is a clear lack of training and insufficient staffing to provide the level of service advertised.

We are also sending this review directly to the food hall. I’m not sure they will care enough to respond, but time will tell.

Afternoon tea for 6 people. Service was diabolical. Delivered the drinks in dribs and drabs with no milk or sugar. Asked for them but had to go to the bar and get them ourselves. Scones and cakes were lovely - sandwiches not so.

Nice meal no more expensive then pubs and much better Veiw but disappointing shopping experience. Some tills ‘once you find them are cash only some card only. Nice visit spoilt by some disorganised layouts. Staff are very pleasant. The walk to the restaurant was not elderly friendly re quite a walk. Remember to book for restaurant but cafe downstairs is pleasant but not in the best place as it’s in the middle of a busy shop. Needs reorganising all round.

Expensive restaurant, nothing for vegetarians/vegans . Very poor experience and would never return

Very rude member of staff on phone, who was reluctant to help and extremely rude to the point where my husband, who could hear the lady on the phone speaking to me, almost spat out his coffee! I called to ask about the cooking requirements on some of their unmarked frozen goods, and instead of going to check and help, the lady on the phone wanted to refer me to a website, but refusing to spell it. When asked if the website in question was called Farm Fair or Farm Fare, she reluctantly checked and came back to let me know the spelling was Fayre. This is after asking me “Do I use Google” in a strangely aggressive tone! I asked to speak to a manager and she seemed annoyed by this, asking why repeatedly, and after I said “to discuss the customer service” she didn’t even sign off.

This is such a shame to have unnecessarily rude people on the phone to customers. All other staff I’ve dealt with in my other visits at the Food Hall have been friendly and the model of good customer service. Not sure what happened with this particular older lady on the phone but she was clearly having a terrible day, or terrible life!

I spoke to a manager, who assured me I’d get a call back after she’d dealt with the complaint internally. She was much more helpful and supportive, giving me the information I needed and assurance she would follow up with me. She noted that the rude staff member I spoke to worked upstairs in the office and not on the shop floor - which doesn’t give license for frankly shocking customer service.

A note to the lady who chose to be rude on the phone:
You don’t know who you’re talking to, and what they might be going through. During a global pandemic, where many brands are struggling to stay afloat and even more people struggling to keep their jobs, it is unbelievable that you would represent your brand this way, and run the risk of your work being frowned upon by your colleagues. And for what? To feel good for trying to make someone feel stupid?
Have some bloody respect!