We visited this Costa on a Sunday around lunchtime. The fact that most tables were free should have been a massive clue that all was not right with this outlet.
Despite their being 3 members of staff behind the counter as well as 2 extra who later emerged from the back, the queue moved incredibly slowly and quickly built up to stretch outside. We soon realised that many customers were just giving up the chance of being served in any reasonable time and leaving: hence the empty tables!
We waited 10 mins to be served and this was for just 2 coffees and 2 packaged Costa biscotti. My latte was nice, but warm only...Hubby's mocha was similar and overly sweet with no hint of coffee at all..more choc than moc! The biscotti were VERY dry and the whole almonds were rock hard and uneatable.
I noticed that this outlet only appears to have one actual coffee machine and one flavours machine. This may explain the queues, but the attitude of the staff was laid-back to say the least and no one was breaking a sweat here in an effort to reduce the long queue for service. Even the 2 staff who came through from the back made no effort to muck in to clear tables or give a hand. This said, 3 men behind the counter shouldve been more than enough to deal with the customers if only someone told them to get a move on!
In all, disappointing. Handy if you need a cup and have PLENTY of time to hang around to get served. read more