There is nothing quite like an unprofessional tattoo artist. *sigh* A few months ago I went to my local tattoo shop that was home to my favorite tattoo artist in the world. We had hit it off since day one. Not only do I love his artwork, but he is also one of the few people that have ever made me felt instantly 100% comfortable around them. When I walked into the shop a few months ago, something was different and I was overwhelmed with this uncomfortable, "unwanted" feeling, but I shrugged it off (or at least tried to). The people who worked there at the time were all up at the front counter talking and laughing, but when they noticed I was there suddenly everyone got really quiet. The receptionist finally spoke up and said that my artist was gone. I asked where he was not to be sticking my nose into things, but they also have another location on the other side of town so I assumed that's where he was. To sum up the whole situation, he moved out of state and no one would tell me where he went.
I went to another artist who I had spoken to a few times before who also worked there. I gave him all of the sample photos I had brought with me and we discussed how the sleeve would look. I gave him and the shop my contact information, and then I went home.
A few months had passed and I was starting to get a little impatient because I hadn't heard from him. I'm a terrible judge at "time + drawing = completed", but several people told me to just call or go up there once to see since I had not been pestering. Today I decided to finally go up to the shop between classes and find out what was going on. I walked into the shop and I was treated very poorly. After being there for about 15 minutes, finally someone was willing to tell me that he was at the other location. My friend and I then drove across town. At shop #2 the only people there were the receptionist and the artist working on my sleeve.... or so I thought. For 15 minutes he looked through his papers for my tattoo that he had apparently "never heard of" all of the while telling me that I was lying about the appointment and that he did would have never "lost" a tattoo sketch. After he sorted through his papers he slipped up and admitted that he did know who I was and he remembered that I wanted a sleeve done, but apparently I never actually gave him anything...
I understand that people get busy and that they can forget things sometimes and make mistakes. but really? Calling a customer a liar and incompetent because you don't want to admit to it?
Needless to say, I will be hunting down my favorite artist.
I went to another artist who I had spoken to a few times before who also worked there. I gave him all of the sample photos I had brought with me and we discussed how the sleeve would look. I gave him and the shop my contact information, and then I went home.
A few months had passed and I was starting to get a little impatient because I hadn't heard from him. I'm a terrible judge at "time + drawing = completed", but several people told me to just call or go up there once to see since I had not been pestering. Today I decided to finally go up to the shop between classes and find out what was going on. I walked into the shop and I was treated very poorly. After being there for about 15 minutes, finally someone was willing to tell me that he was at the other location. My friend and I then drove across town. At shop #2 the only people there were the receptionist and the artist working on my sleeve.... or so I thought. For 15 minutes he looked through his papers for my tattoo that he had apparently "never heard of" all of the while telling me that I was lying about the appointment and that he did would have never "lost" a tattoo sketch. After he sorted through his papers he slipped up and admitted that he did know who I was and he remembered that I wanted a sleeve done, but apparently I never actually gave him anything...
I understand that people get busy and that they can forget things sometimes and make mistakes. but really? Calling a customer a liar and incompetent because you don't want to admit to it?
Needless to say, I will be hunting down my favorite artist.