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WHERE ON EARTH DO CARAVANS PARK?Went to this Service Station Northbound for the 1st time on way to Northumberland as we were dropping my Mum off to stay with a friend nearby. There were NO caravan signs so we ended up in the coach bays as we couldn't go back & could only go back on A1. There was a sign on the coach bay saying we would be fined £100 but there were 3 other vans there and we only noticed the sign on leaving. Nothing in post so far. There were also caravans in the car bays across two parking spots. I didn't see if there were any in the lorry park. They had the same signs as Weatherby etc so why no caravan sign? If not allowed it should say on the motorway like it does with lorries at some.
Jo Ball, Mon 12 Oct 2015
if you want bad service stop at mussellbourgh
kevin north, Mon 1 Jun 2015
nice friendly site ,clean and tidy .pity it has lost its edc restaurant but there room on the south bound for another unit maybe an m&s .....
Don't be such an arse. These services are fine. ..I use very regular..
James thompson, Sun 15 Feb 2015
We stopped off north bound on our way to Edinburgh and had the experience of burger king. We were well impressed by the way the staff presented to food being very efficient and friendly. Ashleigh took our order and was very friendly and professional and served us with a smile on her face..nice too see someone enjoying her job so much. We will deffo stop off again when travelling north....Thank you.
James thompson, Fri 13 Feb 2015
Amazing friendly staff in the costa sue and sarah gave me exceptional service a credit to the company
brian watson, Fri 13 Feb 2015
This service station is the most depressing hell hole the north I will NEVER EVER stop my car here again ! I have seen better services in 3 world country's than this one . No toilet seats . I will be using scotch corner from now on
Barry Bradshaw, Thu 27 Nov 2014
Absolutely rubbish... burger king food was cold and vile, the worst services ive ever came accross, hgv parking rubbish, dull and dilapidated. ..defo will avoid at all costs
anonymous, Tue 19 Nov 2013
terrible food my guts are knacking nowim gonna sue them for this eventyou will pay price for eating this poison
bad belly billy, Thu 17 Oct 2013
I wont use this dump ever againStaff very rude and miserable.Ripoff prices.Think i got food poisoned also.NFG!!!!
gerry, Tue 10 Sep 2013
Although I agree this is an old dated building I found it absolutely spotlessly clean. We had coffee's and snacks at Costa which were pricey but expect that in Motorway service. We were served by Valerie who made the whole experience very enjoyable. We then went into the WHS shop and were served by Lesley and Debbie, who were pleasant, funny and incredibly helpful. It was a pleasure to see two girls so cheerful in their job and so happy to serve and please. We will always stop at these services when we pass.
Phil, Tue 20 Aug 2013
Yes agree with prev commentsThe manager is a twitI went yesterday and found it a bad experienceAVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!
Davey, Thu 25 Jul 2013
arribved on friday 6th julyput fuel in car ,went to pay fuel card was declined even tho valid for another yearhad no other means of paying as after using fuel cards for 25 years has never happened beforeso genuine error with fuel card company(since been resolved)manager Michael England was a disgrace to humanitythreatening to report me to police unless paid to which i explained i couldnt pay til following dayeventually foned police myself to try to resolve thisall of a sudden he says you have 24 hours to pay after police involved
will never use this garage againcomplete utter disgrace
twincoil@hotmail.co.uk, Tue 9 Jul 2013
horrible disgusting service stationfilled up car therestaff the rudest ive ever come across in 30 years drivinghad a genuine issue so had to see the manager who was the most ignorant excuse for a human being ive ever came acrossabsolute nightmare
phil, Sat 6 Jul 2013
Probably the most filthy and depressing service station that I've ever had the misfortune to use. Not only that but the exit back onto the motorway in either direction is dangerous - heading south you have just 200m to go from a standing start turning onto the exit sliproad for the next junction then branch off and immediately merge with 70mph motorway traffic - heading north you join the motorway just as all the traffic is trying to get into lanes 1 and 2 and it's always busy - god help you if you're heading for A194 and you've got to get across to the outside lane...
Stevie D, Mon 4 Mar 2013
Washington services, formerly cheerful and buzzing, is now a wreck. There are broken windows covered with plywood. The roof leaks. Moto's name appears but the operators apart from Costa and WHSmith seem to have died. The supplier of hot meals, EDC, seems to have closed completely quite recently. Grotesquely overpriced Ginster's sandwiches appear to be the only food available. This is a national disgrace on a major route.
ttleeds, Mon 25 Feb 2013
I must say that out of all the services in the whole of the UK, this one has to be the worst by far. Not only does the whole service station look like a complete dump, but it is in serious need of a major refurbishment!
The whole place is completely run down and scruffy, with bits hanging off the walls and the bridge that goes over the motorway is leaking water so there is a number of random buckets all over the place to catch the leaks - probably to avoid someone slipping over and breaking their necks - which is only a matter of time.
The toilets in the services on the northbound side are a disgrace, not only did they smell really bad but the cubical's for the toilets were so compact you could barely get in, the floors were soaked in urine, and is disgusting.
If you go to Burger King, pay close attention to the resteraunt itself - wall paper hanging off the walls, rubbish EVERYWHERE, and just the feeling of complete dirtiness...
The prices for everything is extortionate, it really is worth avoiding these services at all costs!!
Anth, Wed 12 Dec 2012
Really appreciated the baby facilities, particularly the baby change room and microwave. A big help. Thanks
A McCubbin, Thu 8 Nov 2012
Awful place. We had to stop-over here as the Shearings feeder-coaches meet the tour buses at the site. The 'food' was dreadful. We had warm soup and a cup of indifferent coffee. Prices are astronomical.
Before our return visit, we bought a decent flask and a couple of pies from Gretna Green visitor centre(wonderful place) and made ourselves coffee in the bus.
This was the worst part of an otherwise lovely holiday
Anonymous, Sat 13 Oct 2012
The worse Service area ever. Nothing to do. Food crap. Dont bother
Alex, Thu 8 Mar 2012
A rundown, bleak, depressing place - stop for petrol and toilet - but apart from that it's totally unappealing and overpriced.
There's a 2 hour limit on the parking, but that makes little difference - because 10 minutes is enough.
tt2xr@yahoo.com, Wed 22 Feb 2012
I don’t know which site these other guys have been at but in my experience there are no parking restrictions at this site or any other Moto site I have visited. Parking is free for the first 2 hours. I didn’t intend on a day trip to the services so 2 hours was more than enough time to grab a meal and fill up with petrol. I only wish all car parks give you the first 2 hours free.
john, Tue 3 Jan 2012
Stopped at Washington, typical site with the usual on offer BUT!! Filled up at the petrol station, what a snip, the fuel is the same price as the supermarket. Unleaded and Diesel?? Gotta be the cheapest on the A1...
C. Hills, Sat 31 Dec 2011
i stopped here yesterday with a friend, and we decided to eat at burger king! a mistake i will never make again, whilst the place wasnt dirty, it certainly wasnt clean (and that goes for the whole service station, not just the burger king) After eating part of my burger, i began to notice that it was slightly pink, so i split it in half, and the burger was completely pink in the middle!. To add insult to injury i heard some of the employee's talking and one of them was apparently being sick in the back of the premises, in the bin! instead of going home he decided to carry on serving food. It was at that point me and my friend left our uncooked burger and quickly left, needless to say neither of us are feeling particularly good this morning. Oh and 2 hour parking restriction is ridiculous!
Ruth Long, Sun 29 Aug 2010
I found the service was poor, grumpy staff and the parking restrictions were a joke, customers are not welcome after two hours.
Mr. Buckler, Mon 19 Jul 2010
it not a good services no guard in the shop there were shoplfter not clean and or tidy and it is to small loos to small aswell
simon walker, Wed 21 Apr 2010
Visited it in early September '09 - Dramaticallymproved since our last visit a few years ago. No complaints, the food was good and plentiful
T Foster, Wed 16 Sep 2009
As a HGV driver I stop there occassionaly and on my last stop was really disappointed with quality of the meals available for the prices asked.
Michael Steenkamp, Mon 24 Aug 2009
I visited this service area mid afternoon on a Friday prior to the May half term week. This place feels like it could do with a good spruce up, very small and compact, and although reasonably clean, feels tired and shabby. Burger King as always overpriced, but food cooked fresh to order with reasonably cheerful staff. Toilets being cleaned whilst I was there, so reassuring.
The site isn't ever going to improve, however unless a major refurb, or even new building is put up, which needs sorting out asap. Also, the car park looks like it could do with resurfacing as the tarmac is breaking up in places.
I've been to worse, but MSA's can be much better. However, you're pretty much stuck with Washington if you are going further North on the A1, as there is little else on the road except for some small independent services in Northumberland and East Lothian. If you're going South, then Durham is only another 14 miles further.
Mountain Man, Sun 31 May 2009
Yet another MSA with a badly designed lorry park. Why do they insist on building them so lorries have to reverse into the parking space?
Andy, Mon 28 Apr 2008
went up there late last year to take my car to it's new owners in newcastle and went inside the services and found no cash machine the place was empty apart from the staff cars RUBBISH AND VERY SMALL
phil causeway, Wed 25 Apr 2007
Squeezed into a deceptively small area. They have been doing work on the passenger bridges over the motorway for the past year (as of August 2005), however they still remain open.
In general these services are not somewhere you want to stop if you can possibly go somewhere else. Although they are 'cleaned' everything in there looks like it hasn't been renewed since the place was orginally built, all extremely worn with inground dirt. The Burger King on the Northbound side is even worse.
This is the only Moto services I've actually been moved to send a complaint to Moto about.
Mark, Fri 19 Aug 2005
Washington Services A1(M) is a 2 burger rated service area.
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