Nick C.
Yelp
I tried to keep this short and didn't do a very good job.
My first impression after hunting for parking and climbing the very steep stairs (if you're in a wheelchair, stop reading here and find a different shop) was that the shop was pretty nicely decorated with a stereo system playing Clutch. I liked the atmosphere. I really wanted to like this place.
They pretty quickly undid that. Someone ahead of me had come in for an estimate and was told that her art would have to be modified to work as a tattoo - and that's fine, I understand that. She left, probably so they could rework their art, but the staff proceeded to verbally trash that customer after they left. Everyone in every business talks shit about their customers, but for christ's sake, do it somewhere that I can't hear you.
Had a piece done by Misty last summer. She barely gave me a chance to look at the artwork before starting. Fine, I trust her, she's a professional, I told myself. I shouldn't have let her rush me.
My experience, though, was a different story. Maybe 45 minutes into what I think was a three hour session (I really don't recall), one of Misty's friends who said he'd just gotten out of prison or something wandered in. They talked for about an hour, during which time Misty kept working. What am I, chopped liver? You're not doing me a favor, I'm paying you a significant amount of money for your undivided attention. You didn't see the guy for a couple years, you can wait another hour.
We did chat about tattoos a little bit, which was pleasant until she mentioned that she really doesn't like text tattoos. Really? I have two text tattoos, and I know she saw them.
So she finished up, her friend crawled back into whatever hole he came out of, she bandaged me up, and I left. To her credit, Misty went over the aftercare instructions pretty thoroughly.
Got home, looked at it, wasn't entirely happy with the shading. It's an entirely black and white piece with very simple geometric shapes, and it wasn't filled in enough for my liking in some spots. But hey, at least it healed right!
So I made the mistake of going back to Misty to finish it! She seemed offended that I wanted her to modify it, but cash talks. $100 and half an hour later, she's filled in about half of what I wanted, and the other half she refused. She explained it in terms of shape of tattoo vs shape of arm, which I accepted as truth for a while.
I had another piece done recently at the shop that did my text tattoos Misty hates. I showed my artist what Misty did, and he didn't seem particularly surprised to hear how it went down. Dude finished it how I wanted and treated me the respect I paid him to. So after all that, a fairly simple piece that I expected to have finished in a single session for $300 ended up costing me $500 across three sessions.
Unprofessional, impolite, disrespectful. I'd sooner do my own with a dried-out Sharpie and a thumbtack than go back.
EDIT: Received a message from James Marlowe apologizing for my experience. That simple gesture alone smooths out a good deal of ill feelings toward the shop, and I plan to see a different artist here and post another review once I have another idea worth committing to skin.
