Hi,
Are we the only one who feel the service in West Dulwich Bakery is getting worse and worse?

They removed the entrance bell, and the bell by the till, so if it is not busy and everyone of the staff is at the back, you enter and stand and wait till they eventually manage to see your reflection in their mirrors. Is you "Hello!" to them to let them know you are there, they shout "I am coming" and then serve you with such an unhappy face as if you are begging not buying. The other day I was buying loaf of bread, and the lady at the counter put the bread in the bag with her bare hands, which I thought was okay as she anyway possibly puts some things in the oven anyway, but then she took money and gave me the change. And her hands were in flour. Really? Is this level of hygiene we expect in West Dulwich?

I was very sad to see this post, and felt compelled to join the forum and give an adequate response! I have lived in West Dulwich for more than ten years, and have been a regular at the bakery for more than seven. Prior to it’s current ownership, this bakery was a simple, no effort, no frills, “working mans café,” contributing nothing to the betterment of the area, offering nothing more than a road side greasy spoon! Since new ownership, it has come on leaps and bounds, continuously striving to meet the high expectations of it’s surrounds, and (in my opinion) consistently providing a service and product it can be proud of.
I frequent the bakery daily, and the hardworking girls are always smiling and polite, remembering my order, and always make the effort to enquire into my day (or recently my holiday season), which I am yet to find in any chain or shop in near surrounds or further afield.
A few months back, I used the bakery to assist catering an event and became aware that the same staff that serve are also responsible for the baked goods and food supplied in the bakery. And it was also delicious and wonderful, as expected!
I, of course, cannot account for every interaction or exchange in this or any establishment, however I can attest to seven years of genuinely warm and welcoming service, and delicious, homecooked food!
This small, family run business is not a Starbucks, Costa, Greggs, that is over stocked with mass produced, poor quality items, run by uncaring employees. It is a local, hard-working business, that has delicious food cooked by it’s long standing staff, that deserves more than such a petty review.

I would also like to add, that I extend this support and appreciation to all the local shops in the West Dulwich area, and wish all a happy new year.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2017 21:49 by LouMum75.

This is a super place with an eclectic range of food. LouMum75 is right with the turnaround from many years ago.

DiGio has raised a concern and would be good to get some feedback about it online from the bakery such as:

'Ouch, got it! will make sure its sorted..... or..... this is a one-off incident and apologies.'

For me, I love their door-stopper sandwiches - Yay!



fM.

I have to say that I have definitely experienced what DiGio is talking about. A couple of times I have gone in there and the lady at the front counter looked like she would be happy to be anywhere but where she was getting my order - I was my usual polite self with a "Good Morning" etc. and barely got a mumble in return.

A few other times service was fine, but nothing to write home about. I get it that it's privately family run and love to support places like that over the big name brands, but not at the expense of being made to feel like someone is doing me a favour taking my order. I don't have any grand expectations of customer service usually, but a smile and hello shouldn't be a high threshold to meet.

I've only lived in the area for 3 years, so can't speak to how it used to be before. I now just head the other way and drop in at Blackbird Bakery, which is much busier and usually has much nicer staff.

If you want bad service, actually appalling service, go to Gail's!

Hello,
I moved to the area 2 years ago and have to say I now don't use the bakery. I understand the challenges of a small business- but the service i have had there is not good. Whether it was ordering a coffee while waiting for the bus and being left waiting for 15 minutes (and missing 2 buses) while the staff finished their chat before they even started making the coffee, or my partner having had someone sigh heavily and roll their eyes when he asked if they wouldnt mind heating up his sandwich. Neither of these are huge offenses but ultimately anyone in the service industry should at least be polite and try to deliver good service. Perhaps the people who own the bakery aren't aware?

Hi chdb,

A friend of mine spotted your post and mentioned it to me earlier.

I am sorry to hear that you have had poor service and totally agree with your expectations regarding customer service. A smile and hello costs nothing and goes a long way with customers. Staff are the front line of any business and despite training and our desire for them to act in a certain way, their actual performance is not always within our control. I would encourage any customer who feels they have not received the product or service they expected to speak to the duty manager, ideally at the time. Only then can we as a business rectify the problem and implement improvements based on the valuable feedback.

As it happens we have recently taken on a new experienced manager, Konrad, who is making improvements across the whole business. Please consider giving us another try and introducing yourself to him when you are in. Our aim is to offer value for money, good quality produce, ideally with a smile.

We do rely heavily on local support and would love to win you back to being a local regular customer.

All the best, Rick

Hi Rick
Thank you for coming back to me.
I will give it another go as I appreciate it can't be easy getting the right team in place and feel strongly about supporting local businesses.
Great news about Konrad- I will introduce myself.
All best wishes and thanks for taking the time to respond.
chdb