The prices on the pieces of bisque ware at Pottery Piazza are on moveable plastic tags under the pieces on the shelf.
Oddly, a piece that I picked to paint that had a $21 price tag on it before I started painting somehow had the tag switched to a $60 price tag by the time I went to pay for it. The tag was 100% without a doubt switched during the course of the three hours I spent painting the piece. It was blatant misrepresentation of the price of the piece. In the half hour discussion I had with the (honestly very nice) employee, it was suggested that I should have questioned the price under the piece, and thought or even known that it was an incorrectly labeled, and I should have known the price was for a smaller piece. This is ridiculous, as the piece was set apart from all others on the shelf, clearly not in a position to be confused with any others.
I suggested that perhaps to avoid this type of situation in the future, Pottery Piazza should have customers pay for their pieces before they start painting it. This is not their policy right now - it is almost as if this last-minute change in price is figured into the business plan.
If you absolutely must paint a piece of pottery here, insist on paying for your piece first. Otherwise you risk being put in the situation I was in tonight.
I was told that if I did not pay the price that was almost three times the actual labeled price of the piece at the time I picked it out (when I noted the price aloud, multiple times, clearly within hearing distance of employees), it would be considered theft. Basically they were threatening legal action against me for their blatant mislabeling of their product and my refusal to accept that.
The owner of the store was called about this situation, as the employee was, as I can well understand, powerless to resolve it. If she let a supposedly $60 bowl go for $21, it would be on her head. I understand this. I sympathize with her, and am really sorry that I had to make my point clear and give her a hard time.
However, the owner did answer the call and did discuss the situation with the employee, and still opted to do nothing to resolve the situation. She understood and accepted that the price under the piece was moved, and her argument was that I should have known the price originally under the piece was incorrect. Why should I assume that a very plain bowl, with absolutely nothing special about it, would be more than $21? Especially when nothing else was near it to possibly be confused with it.
I am so sad that Pottery Piazza had to pull this horrific stunt tonight. I was really looking forward to returning there, as I enjoyed my time there until they attempted to extort money from me via switched price tags and threats of accusing me of theft if I refused to pay the almost-3x-as-high price they now demanded. Instead of returning as the happy customer I had hoped to be, I had to come home and write this review.
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