All Fired Up!

We bought two pottery thingies for our children back on July long weekend 2011 while staying at the Squaw Valley Resort. We were told to pick them up the next day at their office on the main drag in Squaw. This delayed our return to the Bay Area but we waited for the sake of getting the work our children had done since the grandparents would get to keep the pieces.
Sure enough the pottery wasn’t ready. I would advise everyone who reads my review to read the filtered reviews ( Unilocal, your filter sucks) to see that missing promised deadlines regarding firing the pottery clients have paid for is typical.
Anyway, they promised to courier the two items to us free of charge. Today is September 20 and we have gotten nothing. They NEVER answer the phone which is typical of companies avoiding their customers or running away from bill collectors.
I wish I could give this company –100 stars. I will also be filing a complaint with the BBB.

Second time going in this business and my review is based SOLELY on the employees working there and the horrible customer experience they imparted. I love this outing… my 3 sons enjoy painting their own pieces and I love spending time with them doing it. It is pricey and takes about an hour, so one should expect professionalism and cleanliness during their visit. Our first visit was uneventful but our second negated the pleasant memories. Our stop this month included two chihuahua dogs sitting on the counters, running through the store, and urinating on a customer’s jackets. The girl behind the counter looked like she was having a hard time holding herself together and was equally rude and seemingly forgot that there were customers in the shop at all. She spent most of the time kissing her dogs that were perched on the area intended for customers to pay and ring out. Small dogs attract small children, right? Apparently, one of her dogs likes to growl and bite and that is just charming for a shop catering to small children. What about the children and adults that are allergic/​afraid of animals? The music was beyond comfortably loud and she and her cohort working that day enjoyed playing DJ about every 3 minutes; changing the music from bad to worse house music ill-​suited to young children (the core demographic of this business.) At checkout, we were told by the girl behind the counter that it would be «easier for them» if we would take half of our work with us while they fired the rest that night. At $ 50 total cost, I should think they would be concerned with what is easier for the customer. Just a thought. As we walked out, we passed another couple putting on jackets and commenting on the noise and disarray inside. Their website online states that they are open «Daily from 10 – 8.» We drove the next day from Tahoe Vista to pick up our pieces before driving home and arrived at 10 am. We waited until 11 am and the shop never opened… Not an easy thing to distract 3 children for an hour. When we called to discuss how to obtain our items now that we are home in the Bay, Marci recommended that we come back up to pick up the pieces personally, as they «are not UPS» and cannot guarantee that our pieces would arrive in good shape. Hmmm… you offer shipping at a charge to the customer, but our pieces will most likely break? Excellent. I tried to speak with the owner and talked to both Ashley and Marci, who said they would pass along my info and have yet to hear from anyone at the shop.2 weeks later. It’s a shame.

This place is awesome and RIGHT in the middle of it all in Squaw Valley.
The studio use fee is $ 7 for ages 12 and under and $ 9 for all other ages. This is a flat fee that you pay in addition to the price of whatever you paint (VERY reasonable prices — ornaments starting at $ 3.50, as well as plates, mugs, platters, figurines, etc etc etc).
You pick what you want and you get to do whatever you desire! Then, she takes care of firing everything and finishing it off — you’ll have a unique work of art! It’s great for kids, but a lot of fun for everyone else, as well. She has a very patient staff and she has no qualms about answering any questions or concerns you may have.
She’ll also reserve tables for you if you call ahead! Private parties are welcome!