I've given this place two stars instead of one because it did seem really clean, the guy wore gloves, and the staff were very friendly and welcoming. I can't fault the shop on that point. Also, this c... Read More
I've given this place two stars instead of one because it did seem really clean, the guy wore gloves, and the staff were very friendly and welcoming. I can't fault the shop on that point. Also, this complaint is about piercings, not tattoos.On the day I went to exchange my cartilage studs for captive bead rings, there was no qualified piercer on hand to help me. In fact, none of the staff were even able to give me definitive advice on what size rings I would need to buy for my piercings (all common ear piercings - helix, tragus and rook). Once we had found some rings that might fit, a gentleman working there suggested I might need help fitting the rings instead of attempting to do it myself, so I asked if he could do it. Despite a little hesitation, which I thought at the time was down to him being busy, he agreed, and proceeded to try and fit my piercings. The reason I needed them replaced was because the studs had come loose, so the tragus in particular was still not completely healed (6 months old), which was evident. However, I wanted to save the piercing. The helix (also 6 months) was almost totally healed, but had a small blister on the back, and the rook was virtually completely healed at the time, being 14 months old. I am aware that it is inadvisable to change the jewellery on unhealed piercings, but they were not painful at the time, and I had expected the piercer to advise me should it be a risky procedure.The member of staff then proceeded to very painfully and roughly handle each of my piercings in turn, because he was unable to get any of the beads into any of the rings. At some point during this very painful process, he told me he wasn't actually a trained piercer, and after he had pulled each of my piercings about for at least ten minutes, to the point where they were bleeding when I got home, I finally asked him to stop trying. He really was trying his best to just help me out, and he was very nice during the process, but future customers should be aware that in Tattoo UK they don't always have a trained piercer on hand, and rather than telling you straight away and recommending a different time to come back, they might attempt to do the job themselves anyway. The guy was just trying to be helpful, but unfortunately if you don't know what you're doing, it's irresponsible. I don't believe my piercings were more difficult than any other to fit a CBR onto if you've done it plenty of times before, and if this had been the case, a fully trained piercer should have known and refused to attempt to carry out the procedure. This was around three weeks ago, and of the two piercings which previously had been completely and almost completely healed respectively, both now require cleaning every day because they have started bleeding frequently, the rook with a new keloid bump, and the helix with a much larger blister than was there before, and all are incredibly sore - very frustrating given that I had spent months and over a year healing each of them respectively. The already sore tragus piercing that had not yet healed had no hope, and is now much worse. As I thought the gentleman helping me knew what he was doing, I tolerated the pain without saying much (though I did tell him it was hurting at the time) as I knew there would be some discomfort involved. I will reiterate that this particular man was not a trained piercer, and this is not a complaint about the quality of their trained piercing staff, as I didn't meet one. The problem is that it was unprofessional for all the staff there (there was around three people on duty at the time) to allow a staff member to attempt to carry out a procedure that they were unqualified and unable to safely and successfully do, which has resulted in considerable damage to my existing piercings. Read Less