Clayart — Attraction in Plymouth

Overall a great experience. Myself and a small group of friends went for a pottery painting evening as part of University's Societies events to strengthen friendships & bonds.

However, sadly this trip was spoiled 30 minutes before our time slot was up. Myself and a friend went to find the toilets together and, whilst waiting, moved out the way of an employee by the name of Suzanna. This was meant to be the end of it but she was very quick to turn around quite aggressively and raised her voice - stating that we could not be where we were and that it was 'not appropriate'. My friend and I quickly apologised, not realising that I had accidentally stepped into the kiln room whilst trying to get out of her way.

However - Suzanna was not here for apologies and continued to raise her voice at the two of us, even when we tried to explain the situation. This gained the attention of her co-workers and the group we were with, which immediately painted us in a bad light.

I would like to state that I have severe social phobia and it took a lot to come to this event - so to be told off like I was a young child and demeaned in front of an entire store was not only humiliating but downright wrong. Stating that we should have seen the 'clear' sign (paper tied up in a corner) that said no entry, whilst refusing to look at us and continuing to talk angrily about how disrespectful we were despite us trying to explain and de-escalate the situation.

Despite Suzanna ruining an otherwise decent time (not the best, not the greatest) I would like to say that the employee Bella was lovely and welcoming. She handled everything beautifully and it is a shame that the older staff seem to have a distaste towards their jobs. I am interested in seeing what risk assessments were taken place and if it was truly cleared for children - as I seriously doubt it with how the elder staff were handling boxes and how the Kiln room was completely open to the public (not even a thick rope to block it more obviously).

tldr - okay experience ruined by...

This is a nice place to do pottery painting, however the older lady with the brown hair (I believe she is the owner) is incredibly rude. I have been here twice and both times had a negative interaction with her, she talks to you like you are a child and completely ruins the experience. I went in 2 weeks ago to paint pottery and then a few days ago was in the area with family and thought I would pop in on the off chance that my pottery was ready to collect. I had 0 expectations that the pottery would be ready, but thought as I was in the area, what is the harm of going in and checking if it was ready? I originally asked a younger staff member who kindly checked my receipt and confirmed it wouldn't be ready for a few days. Then the rude owner jumped in and started almost berating me, she gave me a disgusted look and said in a horrible voice "you only came in two days ago, of course it won't be ready yet". How was I meant to know if this would be ready yet? I am unsure why the owner was so utterly offended with a paying customer coming in a few days early to see if their pottery was ready, but I think this owner should treat her customers much more kindly. My query was being dealt with by the younger staff member and there was absolutely no need for her to jump in, I suspect she is the kind of owner who feels she needs to be involved in every single interaction. I also noted in the negative reviews for ClayArt, all of them mention her and her rude and dismissive attitude.

She has completely put me off ever going again, I went to paint the pottery as a birthday treat and will not be going again because of this and the previous interaction I had. I'd like others to know how rude this owner is to customers, I am surprised her business survives for how awfully she treats customers. I will be going elsewhere to paint pottery...

Painting was enjoyable but unfortunately was ruined by an unnecessary situation. Went with a few group of friends for a university event and while the painting itself was an enjoyable experience, the way we were treated was not.

Around thirty minutes into the event, I had to use the bathroom and we went to find it. While waiting to use the bathroom, which is at the end of a small hallway with boxes everywhere, an employee had to walk past us with a big box, this employee being called Suzanna. We moved to the side to be polite and get out of the way and during this my friend stepped backwards to stand in the doorway of a small room with no door.

Suzanna quickly turned to my friend to tell her that room was for employees only and was really rude and disrespectful to her, over a small mistake. My friend instantly apologised and instead of quietly redirecting my friend out the doorway and explaining it was employee only room, she proceeded to raise her voice at the two of us and wouldn’t even give us time to explain what had happened. She rudely told us that there was an employees only sign (a very unclear sign!) in front of the door. She very loudly stated how our behaviour was not appropriate, but what I think is not appropriate is causing a loud scene over a small mistake.

This also attracted attention of other staff members in the store as well as the group we were with which painted us in a bad light. As someone with ADHD I get overwhelmed really easily, and this went from what was an enjoyable experience for me, to me being overwhelmed and upset and just wanting to leave. It was really a shame for what was an enjoyable trip for us to be ruined by a staff member who couldn’t deal with a situation...