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AW Pottery
Category: Shopping Home & Garden Nurseries & Gardening Nurseries & Gardening [Edit]
601 50th Ave(at Coliseum Way)
Oakland, CA 94601
Neighborhood: East Oakland
(510) 533-3900
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 9 am - 5 pm
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
Mention YELP and receive 20% off your entire order (please mention before transaction). Visit the Bay's biggest Hydroponics store today!
7 reviews for AW Pottery
7 reviews in English
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Review from Yuki K.
Belmont, CA
8/16/2010 1 Check-in Here
Based on the other reviews, I had a good idea of what to expect.
Expect to get filthy and spend a good long time digging through stuff. At first glance, it seemed like they had a ton of items I wanted. After sifting through things awhile and trying to be more realistic with my skinny wallet (despite their reasonable prices), I whittled my selection down to 6 items. Things are not well-organized, although they are aware of this/admit to it and do claim to be working on it.
The few prices I needed them to look up were found quickly, which kind of surprised me. They knew their inventory better than I would have suspected.
The lady helping me pointed out that one of my pots had a crack in it that I'd overlooked. As it was kind of dark inside, her attentiveness was even more impressive. I really appreciated it. Since I still seemed interested, she then offered me a discount (only with a final sale) if I still wanted it. Even so, I averaged $12 a pot. Not bad, but more than I would have liked. I was looking for something totally different and would have preferred to find more unusual designs, but they probably exist only in my imagination.
I found that I didn't leave with as many large pots as I wanted. Got a lot of mediums because they were more in my price range. I did find a couple of pots in a color I've really wanted for about half the price I've seen them elsewhere. If I'd had the patience/stamina to look longer/harder, I might have come away with some even better bargains. If you're a gardener, you've got to visit at least once or twice, but that might be enough.
I was also expecting more variety in their garden accents, but I guess pottery is their specialty, after all.
The Latino dudes outside and the Asian ladies inside all gave me what I needed -- space to browse, but efficient help when it was requested.
Despite examining it suspiciously prior to purchase, I did buy one pot (not the cracked one) that was exceptionally grimy. Thinking it would be okay, I brought it home and washed and scrubbed it with some decent soap and a brush, but it's still mostly caked in grime to the point where you can barely discern its color. I'll have to put some more work into it.
Needing to hose something down after getting it home is one thing, but I would quickly become pretty irritated if the above scenario were to occur with too many of the items I bought here. -
Review from X Y.
San Francisco, CA
4/30/2007
If you are looking for large or even small ceramic pots for plants or to make your own water feature, this is the place to go. HUGE variety of pots. Lots of sizes, shapes & different looks. The prices are good as well. Definitely worth the dive.
I wish I knew if there was some place comparable to this place on the peninsula, but have not yet found it. If you know of a place, please let me know. -
Review from C B.
West Menlo Park, CA
6/11/2011
Today I went here hoping to find anything nice and not super expensive.
Most of their pots are scraped or chipped. The ones that are not are very gaudy or way too expensive. Home Depot or Lowe's has way better prices and equal quality pots.
After an hour of searching I found one very dirty pot that had something stuck all over it. It was a white pot so I could not tell if I would ever be able to get it clean. I asked them for a rag so I could try to see what was dirt and what was stain. They would not give me one. In the end, they quoted me a really high price for what I was looking at.
So I went back to find something more affordable (another 30 minutes). This pot also had no price tag. I was told it was a sample, basically fee to them. It was chipped, but they still wanted a lot of money for it. They so obviously made the price up on the fly.
The people running the store are very rude and they always give me the feeling they are ripping me off. I don't understand how they can let that amount of inventory sit around this store at those prices.
it is a very dangerous place for kids as most of the pots and triple and quadruple stacked with a thin wire holding them up.
They are even rude to the workers they hire to lift the pots and help the customers.
I will never come back here again. Yelpers do yourself a favor and stay away unless you have no other choice.
This shop has very strict return and exchange policies. So be warned.
ps. Don't try to pick up the pots that are outside as they are likely filled with water that will spill all over you. -
Review from Senor P.
Mountain View, CA
6/11/2011
sleazy return policy
the store offers a three day return policy, but that doesn't mean business days. so if you buy something on a friday, and they are not open on the weekend, you have 1 day to return it. and even then, you don't get a refund, you only get merchandise credit.
we bought something from them we didn't want, and they fought us, then our credit card company, trying to get our money back. in the end they weaseled their way out of taking the merchandise back and lost a customer forever in doing so. really dumb of them.
--
also, i agree with the other posters that this place is total mayhem, dirty, and i believe they made the prices up when i asked. -
Review from R S.
Palo Alto, CA
7/3/2010
This place has a great selection of medium to very large pots. I would have given it five stars except that it is completely disorganized and very difficult to shop at. There seems to be no order to the location of the pots and the aisles are very small or nonexistent. the place is huge so it can take a lot of time to try to find the parts you want. There are many pots in inaccessible locations that you can't even see. Patience is required.
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Review from Matteo F.
San Francisco, CA
3/30/2010
Huge selection. If it's not there, it probably does not exist.
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Review from Bad Ass Chic k.
San Francisco, CA
6/9/2007
if you are patient you will get your 4 stars. but if you can't roll with the pace then don't bother.
-the selection is really good and so are the prices.
-be ready to dig around.
-be ready to get dirty, everything is encrusted in dust and grime.
-they will drill holes in the bottom of pots for free. so there are multiple options for pots.....plants, fountains, rock garden, funky display stuff like in architectural digest or in bad ross commercials, you name it.
-you can't help this one so just cross your fingers....oakland is on a serious fault. you will be crushed under piles of massive pots piled high over your head on either side of tiny aisles if an earthquake hits while you are dreaming lazily about how frickin cool your garden will look when you are back home.
-the owner (?) is a super grump and doesn't bargain even on chipped pots. on the other hand, the worker guys he has working for him are very helpful, polite, efficient and will help you get stuff to your car. with a smile....(ok, maybe not a guaranteed smile but i asked if the boss was always that much of a grump and i got extra 'hell yeah' points).
i came home and cleaned up my grimy pots. i can't wait get me some potting soil and go at it!
