Terracotta Pullman — Local services in Pullman

A group of us had booked ‘wheel hours’ in May 2023. No where on the ‘wheel hours’ page does it say you must complete a beginner class at Terracotta, it solely says ‘wheel hours’ are for, “ people with prior wheel-throwing experience” (which half of us did have). Half of us had to travel ~ 1 hour to this location and upon arrival were told we couldn’t throw because we hadn’t taken the beginner class prior. Candace would not allow a refund, or refund in form of a gift card, for us to simply paint something or just sculpt clay, that we had to reschedule for a beginner class. I received this information from the group (as I was still driving to the location) and called Terracotta. Candace answered and when I asked about the rescheduling, she said, “I have told you guys this 10 times!!”. This was this was the first time I had called and inquired about rescheduling. Candace’s tone was very demeaning and hostile. I have never had such an aggressive interaction with a small business from the word ‘go’. She also wouldn’t allow us to reschedule with her, we had to online. The whole interaction left a bad taste. I’m a big supporter of small businesses but I can’t support a business ran by a bully.

Edit in response to Terracotta reply:

I don’t think my first post was understood correctly. I was NOT frustrated with hearing something ‘10 times’(Candace’s words that day, not mine), as I only heard it once after calling. The frustrating part was that I felt like I was being belittled and shamed for calling to simply ask about rescheduling (bully behavior). I was the only one in my group to call (one time) inquiring about rescheduling, so ‘tying up the phone lines’ is a gross exaggeration.

I’m sorry if Candace believed customers requesting information about her policies was disruptive to the one other person in the studio at the time, who also jumped in to help fix the situation. I understand being strict on policies but as my screenshot shows, it is not listed on the ‘wheel hours’ page that the ‘beginner class’ must be taken prior to scheduling ‘wheel hours’. At the least, this should be added to the page to reduce any further confusion. It is listed on the ‘beginner class’ but if you do not consider yourself a beginner, one wouldn’t navigate to that class initially, thus not seeing the policy. If that is the policy to sign up for ‘wheel hours’, then it should be listed on the page as such. Unfortunately, this wasn’t addressed in Terracotta’s reply which was the main root...

I experienced an incredibly unprofessional and contentious exchange with the owner of this business.

In a nutshell, our group booked wheel hours in May 2023. The requirements listed on their website for wheel hours was simply “wheel experience” which a majority of our group had. Despite many of the group having wheel experience we were told upon arrival in a confrontational tone we were not allowed to use the studio that day for any activity and were required to reschedule and pay additional for the beginners class or forfeit our wheel hour money. When we asked about any other options given several traveled more than 70 miles to attend, she told us by not following directions we used up wheel hours others could have used. It’s again worth noting the requirement for the beginners course was not included on the wheel hour website nor in our confirmation email. Additionally we were not informed in the three week time period of booking that a beginners course at terracotta specifically was required.

As I was leaving the studio, a patron even stepped in and suggested to the owner that perhaps we could paint. This resulted in the owner outright glaring at the patron and told in a curt tone that the owner didn’t have the time to set up for that.

Regardless of the outcome of the situation and regardless of my opinion of the unclear expectations on the website, the demeaning tone of the communication was inexcusable and unwarranted.

I see a lot of good reviews for this business and am relieved others have had better experiences. This is such a cool concept and space. There were also several other staff who made us feel welcome during the painting portion after our required beginners class.

That said, I would be remiss not to share this experience and simply cannot in good conscience support or recommend...

For the price you’re paying this place isn’t worth it. Only come here if you know what you’re doing. Not beginner friendly. Too expensive for bad quality classes and bad customer experience.

I’ve gone here 3 times trying in hopes that I would like it. Each time it felt like the place became more and more unorganized. I recently did the fused glass and it was a bad experience. No safety provisions. Our group cut glass without any safety glasses, gloves, or protection. We left with nicks on our hands and small shards of glass in our clothes. Our “instructor” didn’t seem to know what was going on and gave us no instructions. Our starting glass pieces were inconsistent. If we are paying $55 for a size of glass I would assume that each level would have different precut measurements. Not some random scraps they could find and say it was big enough to use. We were told we would get a text saying our pieces were done and when a month went by still heard nothing. Honestly felt like rip off at the...