a painting fiesta

First let me say I'm not a reviewer... In fact this is the first review I have ever done. But I am hoping that our experience will save someone the headache and money. A friend of mine wanted to find a fun way to celebrate her birthday with close family and friends. A group of us had participated in an event exactly like this at another studio/company and we had a great time.... so my friend thought it would be a good idea to do this for her birthday. We should have just gone to the place we went to earlier this year but Painting Fiesta was a midpoint location for all the invitees. We go in and the place is small but cute. A gentleman comes to assist us and explains how their process works. My friend points out a picture that she likes and he states the picture would take 2 hours to paint. He mentions that they have several paintings to choose from but will only send the link for her to see once a contract and deposit is signed. At this point I thought it was a little weird that they wouldn't give you all the painting options to choose from at first but my friend was already imagining how great this was going to be. She signs the contract, gives them a deposit and we leave. On a side not I should mention that while we were there the manager/owner was arguing with another customer on the phone (it sounded like she was trying to move the time of her party by 30 min). Anyhow the mgr was yelling and completely unprofessional in my opinion but like I said it was my friend's birthday and she was making the decision. So a day later she receives the link of painting options and the painting she saw and wanted was not there to choose from. She tries to call the number provided and gets a central number (apparently it's one number for all of their locations) and the guy that answers the phone tells her that maybe the link provided to her doesn't have all the updated paintings. Because he had given her an attitude she decided to go back to the painting fiesta studio in Weston and speak to the guy who she had originally spoken to. So we go and she explains that the paintings provided in the link did not include the one that she wanted. This guy (just the worker bee) goes to the office and then comes out to say that the painting she originally pointed out just a few days ago is a 3 hour painting and that he did not recall stating it was 2 hrs. Now mind you I was there with my friend on both visits and I have a memory of an elephant (so this isn't hearsay)... he did state the painting she pointed would fall in the 2 hrs category. Needless to say my friend is extremely disappointed and after a few efforts from him trying to convince her to extend the painting party from 2hrs to 3 hrs, she firmly says no. BUT to his credit he did say that he would speak to the manager and the artist and see if there was a way to condense the painting from a 3hr to a 2 hr by simplifying it a bit. My friend at this point is ok with that..... UNTIL the mgr/owner happens to walk in as we are getting ready to leave. The worker bee tells us that we can ask the mgr now. So my friend explains the whole story to him and he at first tells us that he will call the artist and see if the painting can be simplified and then 3 minutes later states that it can't be done, the painting is a 3hr painting. At this point I'm a little confused so I ask him "I thought you were going to ask the artist" then he states he is the artist. Then he goes into some rant about artistry and how we don't understand the involvement of painting . By this time he's agitated and raising his voice. This isn't even my birthday event and I'm offended and appalled by the words coming out of his mouth. So he then starts to harp in on how we are saving money b/c other places would charge us more for the same thing (that's actually a false statement it's $35/person for 2 hr regardless if you go to this place, painting with a twist or paint cocktails ) and how he's never had a complaint in the 7 yrs he's been in business. I remind him that that wasn't a true statement as earlier that week when we were there he was yelling and arguing with a customer and went as far as to hang up on her. He stated how did I know that was him...to which I replied "it was you b/c I saw and heard you" then he said he could have been talking to his girlfriend. I couldn't help but laugh and I told him "listen you and I both know it was a customer you were speaking to". Then he got defensive and rudely stated that the worker bee who originally told us the painting was a 2hr one didn't know what he was talking about b/c he's not the/an artist. WHAT!? How is it the customers fault when they are misinformed by your employee.... that's when I began to walk away and I told my friend if I was her I would forfeit the deposit she gave and just call it a day. They were pretty adamant about not giving back her deposit. Needless to say they may have been able to keep the $100 deposit but I will never recommend or go here. So buyer beware.... if you do decide to book a party here make sure you pick your painting at the same time and have them write that down within your contract. But truth be told if you want a pleasant experience all around, I would highly recommend you go to either Paint and Cocktails in Plantation or Painting with a Twist in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. I've been to all three of these locations and they are courteous and you are guaranteed to have fun!

I went with some friends for a paint party in the spring. I was worried I would do awful, but their step by step instructions, I ended up very pleased! And we had a fun girls night out!Better yet, my kids (5 year old girl and 7 year old boy) attended a number of camps there over the summer. They LOVED IT!! My daughter didn't want to do anything else all summer. She constantly asked when she could go back. And she was so proud of her work! She also really liked the teacher! I KNOW she will be begging for camp again next summer.

Nine friends and I signed up for a painting party. The cost was $25 each. We knew up front that if one person was unable to attend we would each have to pay $10 extra. So the place was already going to make an extra $90 (including the $25 for our missing friend. ) We offered to pay up front but were told to just wait until the end. When we paid at the end we were told that in addition to the extra $10 we each had to pay (so now the price was $35 each) we would also have to pay $35 for our missing friend, who was unable to come because of the flu. So now we were paying $125 extra for one person not showing up, not using a canvas, not using paint. We were willing to pay the extra ten each, although we thought it was a little ridiculous, but to pay for the person not there on top of that was outrageous. The painting instructor/hostess told us that this had been a problem before but she was unable to just let us pay for our missing friend because "camera's were recording everything and she would get in trouble." If she knew this was a problem before, why did she not say something in the beginning of the session. It may have been in the fine print of the contract our one friend had signed up with but she missed it. One of us would have been able to call someone to come be our tenth rather than pay an additional $125 for a missing person. The art instructor went in a back room to call the owner upon our request, but she came back and told us that the owner said this is their policy and it wasn't going to be altered. A male employee who came in when this was going on told us they did this because they want to have a lot of people in the groups to get the word out about their place and that other places charge $35 to start with. So I'm getting the word out- boycott this studio and tell all your friends to do the same. There are so many other honest painting party studios to choose from.

Unfortunately the owners top priority is money. They have a bad business practice in place - for a small private party of 10 people the cost is $250 - reasonable. If one person does not show, the price increases to $350 for the same party. It is in their contract, clearly stated. The rationale being, each person (body) in attendance is a opportunity for positive free advertising of their business and they want to impose a hefty penalty for the missing person who could have potentially positively advertised for them.

What a shame. One friend was home sick so out party understood we would now be paying $35 per person instead of $25 per person since we didn't meet the minimum of 10 people. Fine that's your policy things happen. What we didn't agree with is we were each charged the extra $10 and still had to pay for the missing member. In other words the missing person who would've cost $25 ended up costing the group $10 each 10x9=$90 +$35. So we paid $125 to use one less canvas and less paint. The policy was misleading. The poor instructor even agreed with us and said it was a problem. She went into another room to call the owner who said that was their policy and wouldn't bother to talk to us. The sad part was we offered to pay at the start of the class and the girl, knowing we were missing one member who was sick and admittedly knowing this had been a problem for her before, told us to wait to pay until the end. We were intentionally mislead and that's poor business practice for sure. How easy would it have been to call someone to show up while we worked and have them pay $25 instead of being charged that astronomical fee if they had been upfront? Shame on them. Especially when we told them we were all teachers and would ensure that we spread the word to other teachers, students and families to take their business elsewhere. A fun experience but I will one if the many other places that offer that service along with better, more polite customer service.