Went to Walsall for the weekend, travelling down from the 'north', lovely shop, but the toilet/washroom area totally disgusting, my husband found the gents blocked and filthy not what we expect from Marks and Spencers, the ladies had a nasty 'odour' and not very clean.

i was in ballymena M/S cafe today 29/9/2012 i ordered a coffee a slice of caake and a pure orange first there where no clean glasses second the coffee was freezing in all it was a total sad effort of a coffee break the whole set up is disappointing

I usually go to a cafe for a rest and a relax but the cafe in the new store at Cheshire Oaks left me stressed and with a headache. First you have to queue to get in. Then you don't know where to go to. Lots of different islands and stands.Decided to have a platter of foods and assumed it would be a platter of cold meats/cheeses/ pickles/ salads but no it was a platter of a selection of hot meals.Odd. Left that station to find something else and decided on the pasta. Where was it? Ah, order your hot food at any till I went to three different tills to order my food. The first said she didn't take orders, I was almost at the front of another till when an assistant moved me to another saying it would be quicker and it wasn't. The assistant didn't know what were the sauces or pastas of the day were and left the till area to go and find out. I was there ages. Then I had to queue at another area for my tea and the assisstant didn't know about loose leaf tea. Again it took me ages. I finaly reached a table and my food came fairly quickly but the server placed his tray on the table next to mine and almost knocked the lady's tea into her lap. The food wasn't worth the wait. Pasta overcooked. Minute portion with a pile of random rocket leaves on top.

Having visited a number of M & S cafe's can honestly say they are generally very good. HOWEVER HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH THE CURRENT CUPS AND SAUCERS IN GENERAL USE FOR lATTE COFFEE OR HOT CHOCALATE. I have noticed that the centre of the saucer is domed and if the coup is not sat perfectly in the middle the cup tilts and if full some hot liquid spills. Recently had bad experience with young grand daughter where cup tipped and hot chocolate spilled onto her leg. Luckily not hot enough to burn her. Pointed this out to a manager but not very helpful stating that these cups and saucers were in use throughout the country at M&S cafe's.

We arrived in Eastbourne looking for somewhere for a light breakfast. Decided M&S has a good reputation. Staff were great, cafe clean, food appalling. We had a bacon roll and the breakfast roll which come already packaged and handed to staff to microwave. I have never eaten such a horrible bacon roll in all my life. The bacon was dried out and so tough I could hardly eat it. Having struggled through it I was annoyed with myself for not returning it as unfit to eat. It's not the fault of the staff but how on earth can the management allow such food to be served? I would like to challenge the management to a taste test. I'll bring in a bacon roll from a fast food van & they can eat one of their own. I know which will win hands down and at half the price. Coffee was dreadful, I couldn't finish it, unknown for me. All in all an extremely disappointing experience.

I visited the new cafe in Manchester on Saturday to see what it was like. It is very large -the full width of the store. There are plenty tables and very comfortable chAirs,also some little booths. I only wanted a coffee but long wait in the queue. I walk with a stick so I found the longish wait quite tiring. However when at last it was my turn the assistant noticed my stick And asked someone to take my coffee to a table for me which was very nice. There are obviously many more people like myself who find queuing.difficult-I realise Saturday is Always a busy dAy but is the only day I an get into gown-but wonder if you have any thoughts on this problem.

I visited marks and spencer in donegall place belfast today and as usual the place was dirty tables are left uncleared one lady iI noticed at the counter lifted no fewer than 7 side plates before she got a clean one for her scone ,come on M&S pull your socks up in your cafes, belfast is not the only dirty one,, sprucefield cafe is worse please employ enough people to man the cafes without putting the staff under pressure, another complaint is about the toilets in belfast and sprucefield are filthy only 2 of the 3 toilets in belfast is working goodness knows M&S want our business but wont put in the resources please address these problems

I have visited a number of M&S cafes and restaurants throughout England and always with the expectation of receiving reasonable service and good quality food and drink. The food and drink is fine, usually pleasant and tasty but the palaver involved in getting it is unbelievable! I don't wish to be unkind but in all the stores I have been in the staff seem to be totally out of their depth in managing simple food and drink service, they all seem to be on top of each other; no order to what they are doing, totally inefficient in being able to heat food in a microwave or grill and make a cup of coffee or tea. I am completely noneplussed whenever I go there as to why it always takes so long to make a cup of coffee - so long that if there wasn't a queue beforehand people are soon trailing out of the door waiting for service. It's unbelievable. When eventually you do get your drink, finding a clean table is another story. They are always piled with dirty crockery and tables stained. Why?? They have the staff I have seen them milling around all looking extremely busy but obviously not very productive. My recent visit with my two sisters was so unpleasant, the waiting, the running out of soup (why? they sell it on the shop floor), the poor service, coffee slopped in the saucers, no salad offered/provided with the toastie, no clean tables, tables cramped so close together, that we vowed never to visit another M&S cafe again. Rather than it being a relaxing experience we all felt clausterphobic and tense. Never,ever again in fact we went to Debenhams for coffee, etc. the next day and the contrast was so great that we made a point of complimenting the staff for their efficiencies, great service, clean tables and pleasant atmosphere. Sorry M&S you really need to get your act together.

Can you please tell me why you advertise Soup with Gluten free roll but whenever I have tried to order you NEVER have any GLUTEN FREE ROLLS? This is most annoying & it happens all the time I am always having to grumble to the managers but I don't think it makes any difference. Also why can't you do any other Gluten Free Food which is savoury? Most frustrated Mrs Watson

My wife and I went to the Cafe at M and S Liverpool yesterday around 1700 hours. The service from the young lady behind the counter was awful. Such as the milk jug slammed down after we had to ask for the milk for our coffee. She was very surly and I think she has forgotten who pays her wages. The sitting area was disgusting. Plates, cups and all the other crocery piled up on the tables. The floor was as if a bomb had hit it, rubbish everywhere. There were a number of staff out the back doing absolutely nothing, but talk to their chums. One member of staff was making a token effort to clear up, but badly. I could sort these cafes out within a matter of weeks across the north of England, there is no leadership or management as far as I can see. Liverpool is not the only one that I have had this experience, you hope it is better the next time you buy a coffee, but it just never is. These Cafes do M and S a deep misservice, to them and their name.

As many others have said , the wait to be served , much too long .Three people seemed to be involved with my ordered two coffees with a pack of biscuits .
On 'finding' a table - which was very dirty as well as uncleared no room to put down our tray .
I saw two ladies 'dealing' with trays at a tray station , I went to them and asked please could they come and clear our table . The retort was " we are getting around as fast as we can, we are very short staffed " suggesting they would get there eventually . I WALKED AWAY ! the second lady immediatly followed me and asked where our table was , she also found it difficult to clear since there was no space to do it .
I thanked _ she I believe was new and being trained by the other lady !!!

I will not try and go there again , in fact later that day I found myself in Mcdonalds , for the very first time ever !!! and have to say speed of service and cleanliness were far in front of Marks and Spencers in The Willows Torquay

This is a small cafe which is extremely busy, particularly on weekdays during the lunch hours. The service is very poor, expect to be at least 15 minutes at the counter before you get your order. The tables are very rarely cleared. I met 3 friends in there last Thursday, we had to clear 2 tables ourselves and the dirty crockery was left on the allotted table during the whole of our time there. For a self service cafe M&S is not cheap. I do expect to be able to sit at a clean table. I have telephoned this store about the same complaint on two previous occasions and have been told they were short staffed. Not good enough for M&S!

having a loyalty card and bought 9 coffees the manager wouldnt let me have the 10th free, instead said the policy was to stamp a new card and then get the next free WHY!!!!!! I now have two cards one full! the other with one stamp and so far no free coffee.

Dire service; I was second in the queue at 08.55 this morning and has to wait NINE minutes to get my coffee; the queue gradually built up behind me and the amateurs that they have behind the counter seemed oblivious to the needs of customers. On top of that, I asked for a skinny latte and they did it with regular milk. Avoid at all costs. I shall go back to Pret or Starbucks whihc are next door where the service is rapid.