Costa Coffee - Maidstone

We popped into Costa, Headcorn, yesterday as were limited for time and wanted a quick coffee and something to eat. We 've been there before, but haven 't been in a while because we found it grubby and uninspiring. It hasn 't changed! The food is very limited in choice. There were six customers, including us. There were crumbs under all the tables where we chose to sit. The low coffee table in the window was filthy bits of food, and sticky marks all over it. In general, the whole area looked dirty and uninviting. There was a sign placed on the floor saying Cleaning in Progress , but no evidence of any cleaning taking place. I visited the unisex toilet for the disabled and there was no lid on the toilet. The soap dispenser was empty and virtually coming away from the wall. I reported this to one of the young ladies behind the counter. If this is an example of Costa coffee restaurants in general, then I won 't be returning in a hurry even though I have a Costa loyalty card. We could have gone to one of the other eateries in Headcorn and got a better quality, made to order, sandwich for less money but as I said before we were limited on time so chose Costa. If you have unlimited time, don 't go to Costa go to one of the other coffee shops in Headcorn.

Sometimes this Costa can be nice , but at other times it can be disappointing. Today I went and once again there was barely any stock. This is quite a regular occurrence in this store. I really fancied trying the new autumn Maple iced latte and I’m sorry to say I won’t be purchasing again. In all honestly I think it was ruined and overpowered by the amount of syrup put into the drink, it was so sweet and sickly. On this occasion the service was really slow and the order I walked away with didn’t make the wait worth it. The toasty was overcooked on one side, but not cooked on the other, and the panini was cooked too much on the outside, but the centre was still raw/mushy. Unfortunately on this occasion I opted for takeaway so I didn’t realise this until I had left the shop. I think maybe some regular training on the grill machine and how to make specialty drinks would be beneficial. I’m not normally one to moan. But a few times it’s been really crappy and mostly I do think it is heavily dependent on the staff that are in there at the time, although I do believe it isn’t their fault about the lack of stock. It’s not cheap, therefore a certain standard should be upheld. I never experience this in any other Costa’s, I think maybe this one gets neglected due to it being out of the way in Headcorn. It’s a shame because it’s a great amenity to have. It always has such a chilled atmosphere in the seating area which I love, but what’s the point it’s running half heartedly. That’s probably why its quiet.

I have visited this restaurant three times recently. On two occasions, the coffee was undrinkable and had to be thrown away, and one time it was lukewarm. During the third visit, the cash registers were not working, so nothing was available for purchase. Isn't it common knowledge to accept cash payments? This Goldex franchise seems to be following the same path as other Costa outlets. The staff showed no enthusiasm, there was a high turnover rate, and the premises were filthy.

We went to the Costa coffee shop in Headcorn for coffee and a snack. The premises was so dirty that we decided not to eat there. The lavatories (both uni-sex) were filthy with urine flooding all over the floor, no paper towels for drying hands and no lavatory paper. So the facilities are obviously not checked regularly or this would have been noticed. Despite the shop being almost empty, the tables were dirty and covered in crumbs and the residue of the previous occupants' food and drink. Instead of cleaning the tables staff were gathered behind the counter chatting with each other. The seats of the chairs are stained and grubby. Surely they should have the wit to go over them with an upholstery cleaner to remove the dirt and stains? There is obviously no effective Manager overseeing the running of this coffee shop! WAKE UP COSTA!

The restaurant, like Costa, was exactly as expected, but in a pleasant setting. The service was friendly and the coffees were as described. The only downside was that the toilets were a bit messy.