Clay Cafe Studios — Attraction in Falls Church

This place was way too expensive. When we arrived the lady at the desk asked if we had been here before. Being my first time here, I said that I had never been here before. The woman said "Go pick out a piece and start painting". When I asked about pricing she said that you pay the price of the pottery. This was not the case. You pay the price of the pottery plus tax and a sitting fee. This was not mentioned to me, so I ended up spending way more than I wanted. The children I was with ended up spending way over the money they had with them because we were unaware of the sitting fee. The woman at the front desk was very rude towards everyone. A customer called and after the woman got off the phone the lady at the front desk was bad mouthing the customer who called in. One of the girls asked if she could use the bathroom and the lady at the desk was extremely rude towards her when she asked to use the bathroom. The three girls I was with went into the one person bathroom to wash the paint off their hands and the lady from the front desk barged into the one person bathroom to grab something, instead of waiting until the children were done with the bathroom. Overall, this place is not worth the money when you have such poor...

I was really excited to visit, the painting experience itself was fun, and everything went smoothly until I came back to pick up my pieces.

They say pieces take about a week to finish, but when I asked in person on Sunday, I was told they’d be ready by Thursday or Friday. I even called on Wednesday to confirm and was told everything was ready. When I showed up Thursday, only two out of my three pieces were available, which was already inconvenient. I asked the staff member when the last one would be ready and was told it just needed 5 more hours in the kiln, so I came back Friday morning.

That’s when the real issue started. One of the staff members (I think her name was Bailey — long ginger hair) was genuinely trying to help me find my piece. But then the owner stepped in, and the way she treated her employee was shocking. pretty passive-aggressive. She dismissed her right in front of me.. even though she was the only one actually helping and ended up being the one to find my cup in the end.

I won’t be coming back. Customers deserve to be treated with respect, and so do employees. It’s a shame, because the experience could’ve been great, but I can’t support a place that treats...

Horrible customer service. My parents took my daughter here to make a piece. It took me over 30 days to pickup the piece (busy working mom), which cost $55. So, they threw it away. $55 for a small CAT. Pricey. I understand they do not have space to hold onto pieces. However, I was refused an opportunity to have her make a different piece as a replacement or receive a discount (I was willing to pay something for a replacement). $55 in the trash. Small businesses thrive on loyal customers and management here does not understand this. Will never return.

UPDATE 12/28/23 I completely understand you cannot hold onto pieces and acknowledge that I am extremely late in seeking to retrieve the item. I am not upset about that. The upsetting aspect was the refusal to find a reasonable compromise for my daughter to create another item. The employee told me I would have to pay full price plus a studio fee if I wanted to come in again. I will post a photo of the receipt.

Update 1/23/24. I never heard from the owner. They told me they would reach out to me and never did. See above comment re: horrible...