Wonder Workshop - San Mateo, California

Jennifer B.

As an educator, I want very much for the Wonder robots, Dash and Dot, as well as the apps they come with, to live up their promise. And they do have some advantages: they are relatively inexpensive, the apps are colorful and engaging, and students enjoy working with Dash on some tasks.
However, I have encountered poor customer service on several occasions, and the usability of the apps in a school setting is quite limited. Educators, please be aware of the following information when considering purchases from Wonder.
Here is why I give Wonder only 1 star:
1) Misleading responses regarding pricing: as a person off the street, I can shop at Wonder's website, add items to my cart, wait a day, and receive an email offering me 10% off my purchase price, on a small or large purchase amount. But as an educator, wanting to spending thousands of dollars for my school, I was told by Jem Catapang, "We don’t normally offer this much discount [10%] with this type of order. But we’ll go ahead and make a one time exception for you...", making it sound like this was some great flexibility on their part. This is misleading and disappointing.
2) Low Priority Placed on Educator Feedback for Apps: The biggest obstacle to students using the apps for the robots is the fact that the apps do not allow multiple users. So students are stuck with starting where another student left off, when this is not where they are in their progress. So they are single-user apps, not workable in a school setting. There are free, high-quality apps out there for other uses (one example is the Math Planet apps) which allow multiple users and work well for different students using the same iPad at different times. But Wonder replied to this feedback, "To be honest this is a request that we have seen before, and something that we do want to do. Unfortunately the programming involved is a lot of work to get this up and running.
It is on our radar, but unfortunately we do not have a time frame on when something like this will be released." So the apps will continue to be unworkable in a school setting, unless we happen to be a school that can afford one iPad for every student: we are not.
3) Inflexibility in working with the realities of public school payments: Currently, my school is on summer break. My secretary mailed a $1,400 check to Wonder to purchase robots in late May. But Wonder is saying they did not receive the check. In late July, one month from now, the secretary will return, and she can clarify to what address she sent the check. Wonder did not note who spoke with the school and to what address they instructed the check to be sent. I have asked that Wonder keep the quote (with 10% discount) active for another month so that we can find out what happened. But Jem Catapang, from Wonder's Education Accounts department, responded by saying that she will not extend the quote past its original date. I have asked her to reconsider. Schools close over the summer, and if there is a problem, we need a little bit of flexibility in timing to work out an issue such as this.

Gizmo G.

A great brand!!
They make the best robots ever!
I love programming them!

Mia L.

Alex O.

Stacey K.

Joseph T.

Fisseha B.

Chris