ARUDIO — Attraction in Singapore

We signed up for the trial handbuilding class and the glazing class to have a hands-on experience with glazing our works rather than having Arudio glaze it for us.

For the handbuilding class, it was evident that the staff were not adequately informed of the student numbers. We could see some confusion between the staff over who should sit where, especially with the safe distancing measures due to COVID-19. However, the staff only gave us a brief explanation on pinching, coiling and slabbing techniques. Granted that it might be a trial class but we were kind of expecting a bit more educational content.

The real nail in the coffin for us was the glazing class. We were offered a 3 hour glazing class at the end of the handbuilding class. After arranging a time slot for the glazing class with the owner, we arrived at the studio shocked to find out that it was obvious the staff were not expecting us. We were initially directed to the wheel throwing class which caused us to be confused as we were there for the glazing class.

A staff who was glazing the other works at the studio came over and told us what glazes we could use and that was it. Yes you read it right. That was the glazing class that we paid for. Bear in mind that for the handbuilding class, glazing is included and the staff will glaze your works for you. So we basically paid extra to do the glazing ourselves when it was already included in the original handbuilding class. Don't want to sound like a broken recorder but once again, we were expecting some actual education content. There was clearly no one expecting us to turn up for the class, much less a lesson plan for glazing. No techniques on glazing were taught, no information on the firing of glazes and properties etc that you'd otherwise expect from a class that should last 3 hours but ended in less than an hour.

Furthermore, we provided feedback to the owner through WhatsApp about our disappointing experience. There was no response. Previously, the owner responded very promptly for enquiries on lesson timings and payments. At the time of this review, about 4 days has past but still no response received from the owner. You should not be charging for a class that's supposed to be 3 hours long when you don't teach anything other than telling your customers what glaze colours they can use.

TLDR: Don't sign up for classes with Arudio. You'll be better off watching YouTube and getting some clay to...

Went for the couple wheel throwing workshop. We thought the ratio of the staff to customers was a bit off. And there was only 1 single demonstration which they expect you to remember from start to finish. So a lot of us actually don’t remember the steps half way into the class and needed some form of help from the staff. And overall I feel like 3 hours is too short to make 2 pieces of work without close guidance

Coming to the collection of work. Was being notified that 2 out of 4 pieces of our work has uneven glazing. The consistency of the glazing was lumpy with many empty unglazed patches. We tried to find out more what resulted in uneven glazing but their response was generic and more of a PR reply. Tried to clarified again during collection but the response and attitude was rather dismissive. This is not the quality expected from a studio charging for such workshops. We appreciate that they offer one replacement piece of pottery for us. But what we wanted was just a good piece of pottery made by ourselves. What’s the point of making the pottery when they end up being ruined by them anyway. For professionals to do the glazing job so terribly is unacceptable. On top of that to have awful customer service attitude about it makes it even worse. If this is the quality of glazing, the works would’ve looked better left unglazed. Even though they say it’s safe to use for consumption, we don’t think we would want to use it, not even as decorative piece. What a waste of money. Feel like there was a lack of effort in their glazing probably due to the high volume of work they are experiencing.

Overall, would definitely not recommend people to go there unless they do not mind ugly work pieces. Even though they might be one of the cheaper course out there, I think it’s really a matter of you get what you pay for, so would recommend to go to other studios with better reviews even though it might be more expensive. We would not have written this had their attitude about the ugly glazing job been better. Hope by sharing our experience others can think twice before...

We went for the couples deal. Our booking was 7pm we were alittle late and we were done within 845 pm. Even though the session was stated to be for 3 hours. The instructor was very impatient and went through the instructions so quickly. It was as though she was rushing to close the place, we were the only couple there. There was no one else except in that studio.

During the wheeling she and her collegue even mocked us jokingly when we did something wrong. This was our first time and we should have been given the patience and chance to complete our own product ourselves. Even if we screw up the first clay maybe a new clay could have been given to us, since it’s a 3 hour class And called the “beginner trial class”.

Our product were mostly done by instructor as whenever we bend the clay alittle, instead of demonstrating for a short while or telling us how to fix it, she finished the whole stage of that product. We didn’t really get the chance to do it ourselves fully.

As a whole it was a very disappointing experience for us as for the $130 money we paid we were expecting to play and mold the clay longer by ourselves and not just let someone else do the work for us... Too pricey for a workshop that rushed us and don’t really let users to complete their work fully or provide extra clay to trial and error when we make mistakes. Only one clay per product is given and cannot make mistake if not u only get to bring home the one item. Hopefully our final product will be...