Waterstones - Cotswold

I informed the woman at the checkout that I had a Waterstones plus account as I entered my pin in the machine, but she just shrugged. When I asked if she could apply the discount, she continued to shrug and said it wasn't really possible. I mentioned that another employee was able to do it, but she still showed no effort. I then asked if she could apply the discount if I provided my Waterstones plus account number, but she shrugged again. I tried to log in on my phone, but forgot my password and eventually gave up. When I returned home, I discovered that this discount was not actually possible. She could have made more of an effort to explain this to me, but instead she seemed indifferent. Overall, I found her behavior to be charmless, unpleasant, and ill-mannered. It was a disappointing customer service experience.

We stopped into this coffee shop for a coffee and tea cake. For a start the tables are made of slatted wood- the muck between the slats is absolutely disgusting. On top of that they wanted to charge us 40p extra for a de-caf coffee. We have coffees daily and we’ve not been to another coffee shop where they charge extra for de-caf. We definitely will not be using this establishment again.

The cafe in Waterstones was not worth the visit. Very poor food, almost inedible, crispy bacon roll was cold and certainly not bacon, and the avocado on toast was on bread and certainly not fresh. The surroundings were not great either.

We still call in regularly, the cafe is very welcoming and the staff are, in the main, lovely. Coffee is good and a decent choice of cakes (although sad to see that Lavender Bakehouse is no longer the supplier) but what we do find quite off putting is that 90% of the cakes are not covered up as well as keeping the cakes and pastries fresher, it would surely be more hygienic to have some form of clear covering, especially as the cake trays are right next to where customers are standing in the queue. It isn't self service, so there doesn't seem to be any reason for the lack of covering.

Waterstones in Cirencester is a joy. Staff are exceptional and I can’t praise Olivia enough. Her knowledge and enthusiasm was infectious and the energy she brought to locating the right book was gratefully received. Bought several books on sound advice from her. Also a huge selection of Paperblanks which have been difficult to get elsewhere (Guildford).