Dorota Chojnowska, who runs the “Ale Piękny Świat” website, writes for travel magazines and also appears on “Pytanie na śniadanie” and the radio station “Czwórka.” She went to Bolesławiec, attracted by the town’s ceramic fame. Her post about her visit to the city of ceramics is very favorable, with one exception: the Living Museum at Manufaktura. The woman tactfully described two less-than-pleasant situations.

The blogger wanted to take photographs during the tour of Manufaktura, but, as she claims, the guide firmly prohibited her from doing so, informing her that “GDPR prohibits it”. Before the blogger could retort that GDPR concerns the storage of personal data, she noticed a couple coming from the opposite direction with cameras in their hands, photographing everything that moved. When she asked whether GDPR did not apply to those people, she was told that they were allowed to do so because they were bloggers. If she had obtained accreditation, she could have taken photographs, entered for free and even received a personal guide. The woman first regretted it, then thought that perhaps it was better this way, because at least she had learned how a person from the street is treated at this place.

Another incident occurred when the guide was talking about defective goods discounted because of minor damage caused during firing. The guide explained which labels were used to mark defective goods with low prices and immediately warned the people not to even think of transferring those labels onto full-value, more expensive vessels. According to the blogger’s account, the guide said: “We monitor your every move in the shop and, if we catch anyone red-handed, we immediately call the police.”

“What can you do? You have to honestly buy whatever falls into your hands and leave, because I will learn nothing more about Bolesławiec ceramics in this place,” the blogger summed up her visit to Manufaktura and went to see Bolesławiec’s market square and the Museum of Ceramics.

We asked Manufaktura about the situation. Below, we present the response from board member Paweł Zwierz.

At the Living Museum of Ceramics, we provide tour and workshop services with full commitment and our acquired knowledge, informing visitors about the tradition of producing Bolesławiec ceramic goods. Thousands of tourists from various countries visit us, and we always follow generally accepted standards of conduct. Therefore, we are all the more astonished by the situation and emphasize that such an event has never taken place here. To see for yourself the professionalism of the services we provide, we invite you to the Museum.

Paweł Zwierz

In responding to this comment, Dorota Chojnowska did not conceal her disappointment with the level and tone of Paweł Zwierz’s statement. We present her comment below.

Mr. President Paweł Zwierz is defending his company’s good name, and his statement could not have sounded otherwise. Unfortunately, he did not witness the situation I described. I understand that his company makes every effort to raise the standards of service for visitors and customers; however, it is known that various things can happen at such a large workplace. Mr. President cannot be everywhere, and when I was touring Manufaktura, he was most likely in his office. Therefore, I do not understand where the certainty comes from that “such an event never took place.” Unfortunately, it did. I am a reliable journalist and I describe real situations. I had dreamed of visiting the Manufaktura Museum of Ceramics for many years. I went there hoping to learn the secrets of my beloved tableware. I forgot to obtain accreditation as a journalist, so I bought a ticket and joined an ordinary group. If my curiosity had been satisfied, I would not have looked for further information at the Museum of Ceramics. Unfortunately, my visit to Manufaktura was a huge disappointment. I do not doubt that the Museum strives to maintain the highest level of service and does everything to ensure that visitors are satisfied with their visit. It does not always succeed, as I describe in the text, and I would rather have expected Mr. President Paweł Zwierz to make a statement in a somewhat different vein. For example, that he is surprised by his employee’s conduct, apologizes for the situation and assures everyone that he will make every effort to ensure that nothing similar happens in the future.

Dorota Chojnowska

We are curious what you think about the standards of customer and tourist service at Manufaktura Bolesławiec.