Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/07/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Feb 08/23 date of transaction. ****** for the **** plus ***** for taxes. - product bought was ceramic **** (damp for making ceramics). **** was contaminated with small pieces of metal. This made the **** ****** to use. I made many weeks of work only to find the pieces of metal mostly didn't show up until my pottery was fired. I had to throw all my work out as it wasn't safe for the consumer of my work or for myself (I could shred my hands with the metal shrapnel). Images below of some of the work I had to throw out. Sometimes the metal showed in the wet ****, other times when the **** had been fired once (before I glazed it) and other times after I glaze fired it.- I contacted both The Clay Warehouse and the manufacturer they purchase the **** from. Was told the **** would be replaced free of charge within about 10 days. It's now been about 6 months and I haven't heard a word.-I have since changed to different **** supplier. It is a lot of work reformulating glazes to fit the **** properly. Given the huge delay I have moved onto another **** and have no desire to go back to using the same brand as the defective **** was. I cannot accept more work in changing back to the defective brand of ****. As such I do not want replacement ****.- images of some of the work I threw out plus the original receipt. -more images available if it helps.- I should add that I have been a working potter for over 30 years. This lack of quality control is very troubling. In my 30+ years of making pottery I have never had this very poor quality of **** that is contaminated with metal shrapnel from I'm assuming machinery breakdown in need of repair. (auger or mixer used to blend the **** *****

  Business Response

  Date: 20/07/2023

  Ms. ****** purchased some **** from our shop, The Clay Warehouse, on February 8th, 2023.The **** is manufactured by ************************************, A company that have been producing **** for many years.  Ms. ****** called our shop before purchasing the **** and asked that she receive only the freshest of ****, and made it known that she would like her **** to be soft and not hard.  There are several different **** bodies, all ranging in different firmness.  Ms. ****** picked a **** **** that is inherently slightly more firm than the others.  After receiving her ****, she proceeded to call the shop and inform us that the **** she received was not soft enough for her liking.  While we cannot control this, we offered to give **************** a 10% discount on the original order, which was processed on February 28th.

  **************** called the shop and was quite rude to a few different employees, while we wanted to assist her through the process, we prefer it to come from a place of understanding and kindness.  Filling there were several calls and emails between ****************, us and the manufacturer of the ****, in which she made several claims of "pieces of metal" in the **** ****, which is simply not true.  The manufacturer informed **************** that natural iron is used in the production of this particular **** ****, the mineral, not literal pieces of iron, which at times, can show spots after kiln firing.  The photos in which **************** sent to ******** were in fact due to this iron "spitting" issues that ******** had experienced with a couple batches of this **** ****. the Iron minerals after firing, cluster and present iron spots. again this does not present in the form of actual chunks of metal in the **** ****. The email below from ******** to **************** explains below:

  _________

  ********, 

  I can speak to the ****** batch from April of 2022, as that **** uses a natural iron, which produced an irregular iron spot. Many changes have occurred over the coarse of the pandemic with mine operations and this never occurred with this product in the 30 years we have been using it. The grade of is upgrading , but has been screened to control this problem. As a reminder with **** materials, there is a degree of engineering and refining, but they are all natural materials from the earth. The more highly controlled they become the greater the cost, there is only so much grinding, screening and magnets can remove from naturally occurring minerals and ****s.

  _________

  Following the communication with the manufacturer, **************** initiated a "chargeback" with her credit card company.  We received this request, and decided to ***** it immediately to alleviate any further dispute.  It should be mentioned that **************** requested the chargeback for the original amount before the 10% discount, and we still honoured the chargeback, even though she had already been refunded some of the balance prior.  none of the product was returned, and we decided to take the loss on not only the product, but also the chargeback, and the additional 10% discount that **************** claimed on top of everything.

  We have been selling this **** **** and several others in large quantities for some time now, and ******** is known for manufacturing **** bodies of the highest quality. We have not to date received any sort of complaint of this nature, and honestly have not had any of our employees subjected to the rude nature that **************** came in with.  ****** who has worked with **** for a length of time knows that the materials are of organic nature, and at times there will be flaws present, its part of the expectations that one has when working with ****. Despite our attempts to please ****************, we came to the realization, that no matter what we offered, she would not be pleased with the outcome.  As part of this official complaint to the BBB, **************** requests a refund.  She has received that refund via a chargeback for more than she originally paid minus the additional 10% discount. If **************** chooses not to do further business with our shop, we understand, and do not take it personally.  Unfortunately some customers just cannot be pleased no matter the solutions offered.

  Please let us know if anything further is required, but on our side we see this dispute as settled, since **************** has received her money in full, kept the product, and held onto the additional 10% discount provided.

  - The Clay Warehouse Team

  Customer Answer

  Date: 21/07/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  With all due respect to ********************** staff  are getting their wires crossed. I have made a total of 3 purchases from this store. There response was in regards to my second purchase of ***** * boxes, Invoice #******  for a total of $103.*3 **** in this purchase was very firm, and I was refunded $33.10 The $33.10 was given as a refund not as a result of a credit card chargeback dispute. This was resolved at the store level very nicely. I repeat this is not the order I am referring to in this complaint.
  My complaint is with the third purchase which was for 6 boxes of **** which contains the metal fragments. Invoice #****** which includes the 6 boxes of **** plus 2 needle tools ($2- each plus tax) to be removed from refund request)

  
  Since ********************** is including snippets of emails from the **** ************ I will include one from them also, second sentence is the relevant one.
  "*********,
  ******* **** has always been a super reliable body since we began making ***** it is one of our original formulas. I'm sorry about the piece of metal, which may have come from the stainless liner in the mixer. It's hard to say at this point. Our machinery is tightly maintained, but things do slip by at times. 
  
  All of your pictures showing the spitting iron are part of the iron problem for which we have screened and no longer see any issues. Can we guarantee that you will not have any spots with either the screened iron or the newer upgraded iron in the future, and not have to 'bin' any future pots? No we cannot. **** does not come with guarantees I'm sorry to say. 
  
  We are replacing the 300 lbs , you can check the batch number and feel it for softness when you pick it up from the Clay Warehouse. Test it . We have not seen any iron spitting since screening. 
  
  If this **** doesn't work for you, you do have have options with the great red body ****s that ********* offers. 
  
  Kind regards, 
  *******"
  
  Anyone from ********************** is more than welcome to some of my pieces with the metal inclusions. As the **** ******** *******, said "which may have come from the stainless liner in the mixer".  **** ********************** is also welcome to the last 25 pounds of **** that I haven't thrown in the garbage out yet.

  
  I  have contaminated pieces in both glazed finished wares and bisque fired ware.
  As we all know steel expands when heated. 
  We also know **** shrinks in the drying stages, a small amount in the bisque and a larger amount in the glaze firing. In my images of bisque ware one can see the edges of metal bits showing through the surface, these metal fragments became visible after the bisque firing. In the images of glaze fired pieces the metal protrusions have expanded further as the ********************* more in the glaze fire. Many many weeks of work was thrown out because of this metal contamination.

  I repeat, there were are actual pieces of steel in the ****body. This is substantiated by the **** ************s ******** *******, in the above email quote. Yes, ************************* has been around for a while but that does't exclude them from having machinery wear and tear. These are not normal iron spots by any stretch of the imagination. This is why ******* offered to replace the contaminated **** as in the same email above.

  
  As I previously stated it's been nearly 6 months and the 6 boxes **** was not replaced.  I just got off the phone with my credit card company and they confirmed the only refund was for $33.10 as noted above. The purchase with the metal fragments was for a total of $329.85 I have started a chargeback dispute with my credit card company.

  
  As a new business I can understand there is a learning curve to customer service so perhaps this is the reason behind **********************'s misunderstanding or miscommunication. Perhaps it is also behind their allegations of calling me a rude person to several staff. I have been in their store a grand total of 3 times, in all 3 visits I made a purchase of **** and my partner loaded the **** into our vehicle and I returned the trolly. I was with my partner and at no time was I rude; confusion with another customer perhaps? I am also at a loss as to why the person who wrote the reply at ********************** is being ****** aggressive and demeaning towards a past customer and isn't standing behind their product. I wish them well with their future customer relations.

  * **** **** **** ******* **** **** **** ******* *** ******** ** **
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************