This place is absolutely massive. Sells clothing by makes such as FCUK, Elle, etc. It also has a…read morelarge range of Homeware like plates, cutlery and that sort of thing, a large range of fragrances and perfumes, bed linen, toys, and lingerie. It is a very spacious store with the main walkways being very wide and large enough for trolleys passing as one entrance to the store is straight from the Sainsburys next door. There is a restaurant upstairs which has a good selection of snacks at a fair price, and also a small beauty parlour next to it.

Choices choices choices. Lovely choice in clothes, make up and bags. Oooo I love my bags…read moreLove the Yankee candles to.

You know how when you go to a department store and it's heaving with people (some of obviously…read moreill-er repute than others - get back in your box, peasant, and stop shopping in my Debenhams!), and everything's disorganised, and clothes have fallen to the ground, and the fluorescent lighting makes you look peaky, and the mirrors in the fitting rooms make you look fat, and - now that you mention it - why it is so fucking hot in this tiny cubicle and why does it smell like feet(?!), you have to remind yourself why you thought it was a good idea to shop in a department store in the first place? Well, Williams & Griffin is the exact opposite of that. It is pure class, people. With roots back to the 19th century (historical!) and awards like 'Best Independent Department Store of the Year' under its belt, Williams & Griffin is a cut above the rest. With attentive staff, spacious sales floors and well-selected merchandise (generally brands in the upper echelons of retail), it's always a pleasure to shop in. Definitely one of the premier shopping outlets in the area. If you're ever out in Colchester, it's certainly worth a mooch.

I seriously have to question what is the big deal with 'Williams & Griffin'???…read moreThe only reason you are forced into entering the building, is because on the surface, this great big department store (now owned by fenwicks chain) and due for expansion to almost double the size, seems to be the best that Colchester has to offer. And don't even get me started on the cost of the 'William & Griffin' car park........ £7.50 for three hours parking. EXTORTIONATE!! The women's 'Fashion' department if you can call it that, is dire. Same old stuff that you find up and down the country in every department store. And rails that are soooo crammed with stuff, which gives you no reason to even bother looking! It's NOT fashion, just boring, commercial, mass produced blandness. If you can be bothered, why not venture into the heart of the town centre, where small businesses are offering you something different and unique. Some people need educating into realising that the best stuff is in independent shops NOT boring department stores! On the plus side they always put alot of effort into their Xmas display window. My advise to anyone reading this, try venturing down lanes such as 'Lion walk', 'Trinity Street' or 'Sir Issacs Walk'. You will find hidden treasures. Small shops full of wonderful things and lovely customer service............ Come on everyone, support your independents!!!!

Be careful of pricing. As a member I was offered a special one off 10% off. They auad it was a…read morereward for shopping with them. I used it but the original price was a lot more then everywhere else. So I did the price match form, they said I couldnt do it because I used the reward. This makes absolutely no sense. So even with a so called "special discount" I still paid more then most other places. Also had I gone to other places such as "Argos" "Nectar" "Tesco" etc I would have also got loyalty points. Its a bit of a scam. I did reach to head office but they didnt care less. I wouldnt shop there again now. One thing I hate more then anything is a complany that tries to treat its customers like absolute idiots, all so they can profit.

LIARS!!! Any warranty that comes with the product you've…read morepurchased comes with a warranty that is supposedly transferable. I tried to do this today and I was told the new owners would need all of my personal details should they need to make a claim. I asked what would be needed and it's my email address, phone number and home address. Basically everything that's needed to commit fraud against me! Pathetic policy! Obviously I'm not going to give a stranger all of my details! Another nail in the coffin for J.L. I can't believe as a retailer that you're still open! You certainly won't get my custom any more!

I must apologise to John Lewis, I was young and naive and hopefully I have grown since my last…read morereview. Having experienced some near horrendous customer service from other home stores over the last year (cough Ikea cough shameonyou). I have to say how pleasantly surprised I was by John Lewis' fantastic response to my broken television catastrophe (I was right in the middle of a modern family box set marathon, catastrophe is an understatement). I did not have the receipt and had lost all faith in the decency of human beings when I took my tv to the Tunbridge Wells store I had purchased it from less than two months before. I explained that the tv had already been taken away to be 'fixed' and returned to me still broken by Sony's repair team (cough Sony shameonyou). They said they would try to find the item number for me on their system even though I didn't have the receipt and gave me a voucher for a free tea and cake to use whilst I waited in their in store cafe. Note my pleasant surprise that since my last review they also now provide soya milk. After I enjoyed my tea I went back over to the customer service desk where they informed me that from the item number they could see that the tv was only received by them in store two months ago and so it could not be more than two months since I purchased it and that they would send it away to be fixed, in the interim providing me with a free replacement tv. A week later I returned to collect my now fixed tv and was a very happy bunny. An important lesson many other big chain stores would do well to remember, never underestimate the power of good customer service.

Their customer support is so good that I will never purchase an electrical or large homeware item…read morefrom anywhere else. ~TV replaced, no quibble. Washing machine fixed, no problem. Love 'em.

Excellent place to shop. Easy free parking spaces and some great restaurants over looking the lake…read more House of Fraser. Debenhams. Marks and Spencer. Primark. Many brands such as Hugo Boss,Armani, Ralph Lauren ,Michael Kors , Tommy, Lacoste all in House of Fraser store

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE IN A SHOPPING MALL IN THE COUNTRY!!!! LARGELY ACROSS ALL STORES IN THE…read moreSHOPPING CENTRE: Read HOUSE OF FRASER EXPERIENCE BELOW: WESTFIELD SHEPHERDS BUSH & BLUEWATER BETTER My gosh, we have given this place many chances, went a few times in Dec 2010 an Jan 2011, hoping they would have improved since a year between the last visit. As ever the grumpy, unhelpful, staff throughout e, was appalling the rude looks when you try to interrupt conversations of groups of staff having a chat about the weekend or their hair, was a recurrent theme. Worst: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HOUSE OF FRASER!!!!!!!!!!!! A lady in the jewellery accessories dept who was busy chatting about her weekend with a colleague leaning against the glass arms folded,, when I went to pay for something from the next section at her till, products from (Crabtree & Evelyn) I asked if I could pay at her till, couldn't believe her response, she said couldn't you find another till? I said no actually they are all deserted see and I showed her all the empty tills around? She then said, oh I can't take any cards at the till anyway. It was unbelievable , how rude she was. In the same store I think it was the towels section, two customer service girls were chatting away not doing any work, whilst we stood there waiting to ask the price on something, they then turned around rolled their eyes and gave a fobbing off type of response. In another section I wanted to buy the last sweater that was on a mannequin the guy with a very unusually deep voice, and dark hair took it off the mannequin then shouted at the poor helpful lad working there, and whispered make sure you put a security tag on it before you hand it to them! I think Bluewater is considerably more upmarket and better than Lakeside, I guess a lot of the Essex locals work at Lakeside and maybe haven't attended any customer service training but BlueWater is so much better, and so Lakeside seems really downmarket not just because of the staff, Essex role model Jordan was in that day, so need I say more? If it wasn't for the bargains I wouldn't have gone, but someone really needs to do more mystery shopping and undercover checks across the place, there is no reason why a bit of good decent customer service can't be achieved. Really should become a mystery shopper, Lakeside is shocking Gonna stick to Westfield & Bluewater in future most probably!

Think Honor Blackman, think Young Mr Grace, think Hoopers................read more

There used to be a shop in Brighton called Hannington's that was almost exactly the same as…read moreHooper's. Alas that became a victim of the redevelopment of that part of Brighton so if you're looking for a department store in Sussex then you can't do much better than head to Tunbridge Wells and visit Hoopers. It has everything you would expect in a department store including a well stocked Kitchen and glass department and a fine soft-furnishings department. The hooper's cafe is a good place to go for tea, coffee and a range of cakes or for lunch with sandwiches, jacket potatoes as well as a range of hot meals, all at reasonable prices. It is also fully licensed. It also has a great men's department, although this is outside the main building to the left in a little arcade, and the prices there seem a little higher than in the main store.

Fabulous Dept. store!! Spectacularly laid out, clean, really attractive staff!! Quality of stock is…read moreall you would expect it ti be from such a high quality name. Toilets are quite a long way up and not very spaciouswasn't impressed with them. Don't try and walk up to themvery busy staircase. Restaraunt is bit pricey and has that lingering warmed up pasta smell!

Popped in to buy a jacket in the sales, came out with two - both gorgeous!…read more Basically, if you have a formal social coming up and you're looking for co-ordinates, this is the place. Its all colour grouped like Monsoon, so you dont have to look round the entire shop. Full prices are not cheap, but if you're looking for classics and they have a really good 'petite' range. Have diarised the sale for next Spring. Will need to sharpen my elbows though as I understand it sells out pronto!

This is the most old fashioned department store in Chelmsford it is just a bit away from the very…read morecentre of town towards Moulsham Street. It is a bit of a maze inside with ladies clothes down stairs with concessions mainly catering for the more mature lady. The cook shop is now upstairs on the first floor this is great with hard to find cooking and baking stuff. Also on the first floor is the cafe/restaurant this is very nice and well spaced out the choices of food and drink could be a bit more varied but it usually all tastes nice. They also sell carpet, flooring, curtains and furniture.

This is a large Department store over three floors, They…read morehave a wide variety of womens mens and childrens clothes. They also have a wide variety of makeup and lingerie.

Bluewater is a quality shopping centre. If you're looking for Woolworths, Primark or Peacocks you…read morewon't find them here. Instead there are lots of higher-end stores ranging from designer clothing to designer cosmetics and designer gadgets. Actually, it's not all second-mortgage shopping here - there are some 'normal' shops too, they're just a bit nicer than most high street equivalents. There are oodles of places to get a snack on the way round, like Starbucks etc. and there is a giant foodhall with choices for the discerning and not so discerning among you. On that note, a trip to Bluewater isn't complete without a trip to Ed's Diner - have one of their awesome burgers and a spectacular milkshake to find out why. Just make sure you eat when you're finished shopping though as you will just about be able to stagger to your car afterwards with the feeling in your belly. If you go at Christmas there are some superb lights outside as you approach the car parks - giant deers are among the best ones, but be warned, it can get super busy there too. Ample parking means it's not such a chore to go and the whole place is big enough that you don't feel crammed in - it's akin to a lot of the big malls in the States, and one of the best shopping trips (if there is such a thing) you can make in this country.

If you can't find what you want at Bluewater, I would be amazed! The place is huge with shops…read morelocated on 2 floors in the shape of a kind of triangle. It has main department stores located at each point - Marks and Spencer, House of Fraser and John Lewis. In between these are too many shops to mention, from your high end designer outlets to your regular High Street names such as Next, New Look, Burton, etc. That being said, you will not find shops like Primark and Peacocks. Each part of the triangle has its own name, i.e. Rose Gallery etc and there are maps located at every point of the triangle, if you can't find that particular shop. There are plenty of eateries and restaurants to choose from with something for all tastes. There is McDonalds and Burger King but also Loch Fyne, TGI Friday's, Carluccio's, Nando's etc. The centre itself is light and airy with high ceilings and a feeling of spaciousness, even on a busy day. There is masses of free parking too. Shopping isn't all that's at Bluewater though - there is a multiplex cinema (10 screens I think) and if that's not enough, you can even do some boating outside and feed the fish!