Mark, the owner/operator, is the most unprofessional, ill-mannered business person I have ever dealt with.
(Sorry for the long read, I wanted to include all the details)
To start, I had great difficulty even getting in contact with anyone in order to schedule the class that I purchased on Groupon. I followed the Groupon instructions and called the number provided multiple times, never got an answer, left voicemails, never got called back. I then proceeded to email them, still nothing. I emailed in a second time and they finally replied a couple of days later, followed by them only replying every few days until the final few exchanges.
During the email exchanges, I was scheduled for the wrong class and had to provide the same information multiple times. Also, I was told that every single one of my choices of class dates that worked with my schedule were "unavailable," despite the fact that they were clearly available on his website. That being, I end up being scheduled for the date of his choosing which was 3 weeks after the latest date of my choice and over a month out. This is after I had also already spent weeks just trying to get in contact with them. Keep in mind that none of this in the fine print when you purchase a class, he only requires 2 weeks notice yet he was forcing me to choose a class date that was over a month out and didn't work well with my schedule. I expressed my concerns in what I thought was a very polite final email to Mark letting him know that I was still excited for the class but also felt there was some areas that could use improvement for the next customer.
A minute or so after sending that email I received a phone call from Mark (which I find ironic that now he is so quick to get back to me). Before he even starts I ask if I can call him back shortly because I'm in class, he continues anyway saying "as soon as make enough money to quit my day job I'll have someone there to answer the phones 24/7, as soon as I make enough money to afford a babysitter, I'll have someone there to respond to emails 24/7." He is angry and berating me and blaming me for using Groupon, saying that he doesn't make any money using Groupon and essentially that my scheduling difficulties were my fault for using Groupon rather than purchasing through his own website. After hanging up on me, he sent me a text and email commanding me to contact Groupon for a refund and that I was removed from the schedule. I did not respond to any of his messages demanding me to getting a refund and asking if I've done it yet since the day he called so he sent me another email a few days later. In that email he continues with the anger stating "people like yourself tend to assume way too much" "You just don't know how difficult it is to manage a glassblowing business while working a full-time job." He then AGAIN explains how he makes nothing using Groupon and if I would have just paid full price I would have been able to get my day of choice but since I used Groupon I have to wait until they fill up a class so they can put me in that class. (A. I didn't even know this place existed before finding them on Groupon and B) it doesn't say anything on Groupon suggesting you have to go to a class of their choosing). He also adds "I don't like long emails where people tell me how to do things better." He then tries to tell me that if I can follow their flow he'll honor my reservation? Overall, this business owner is extremely unprofessional, apparently very short-tempered, and treats his Groupon customers like garbage, despite the fact that he was the one who chose to put his company on Groupon. I was ready and willing to look past the difficult scheduling process, that's annoying but minor. What's not minor is when you call and berate your customers over the phone because they used the platform that you put out there for them to use.
(I would've posted this review sooner but I just now finally got my refund from Groupon) read more