Julie P.
Yelp
I registered here for my wedding and have been to the mothership in Quechee as well as several of the stores. I own (or owned) several thousands of dollars worth of Simon Pearce glass and pottery. This review is specifically about the Belmont pottery and the glassware.
Customer service is unfailingly polite and usually works with you to make you happy. However, they are in deep denial about how shoddy their products are. Or else they're well-trained to hide this dirty little secret. So despite how polite they are, at some point you just have to say -- stop, the product is just not that good, please stop pretending that it is.
The Belmont pottery is sub par - we had 8 complete place settings that we ended up selling and replacing with Heath Ceramics (far superior product). We sent back many, many pieces that had cracks (check the unglazed part on the bottom part of the plates!), were irregular (so irregular they wouldn't stack with the other pieces), the crackle glaze was so inconsistent from piece to piece that it was far beyond "individual variation." Plus the pieces STAIN from berries, beets, curry, etc. They don't tell you that at the store.
Most of the glassware is wonderful - except anything with a handle. It will crack, I promise. The handled pieces I bought were discontinued... I wonder why. We don't even own a dishwasher (plus they're supposed to be dishwasher safe) so each piece was handwashed and rarely used. They brag about how strong their glassware is. Not in my experience, sorry.
If you do buy, make sure you personally see every single piece beforehand. Compare the sizes to each other (dinner plate to dinner plate). Look at the finishes carefully. Try to buy sets all together, not one at a time. Especially the celadon (green) Belmont pottery - the shades of green vary quite a bit from lot to lot.
Also, they sometimes sell lines that are not made in Vermont - and they don't do a great job of telling you which is which.
I definitely bought into the "handmade in America by skilled artisans" line and spent accordingly. I regret it now. Luckily the pieces we have left seem to get the job done, and it is nice to have a nice hefty glass goblet to drink from. Just don't buy into the hype. Don't assume it's a quality product just because they keep saying it is. Judge for yourself and return it if you don't agree. For these prices, the product should work and work well!