This review is specifically about Thomas Eckeard and I cannot comment about any other artists from this store. My friend asked for a tiger tattoo on his hand and he liked Thomas' style so he decided t... Read More
This review is specifically about Thomas Eckeard and I cannot comment about any other artists from this store. My friend asked for a tiger tattoo on his hand and he liked Thomas' style so he decided to make an appointment with him. Given the fact that he needed to wait for 2 weeks, my friend asked me to keep in contact with Thomas because he had some ideas about the tattoo but his English was not good enough. After Thomas accepted the deposit, he welcomed us to communicate with him about any question or idea, and that was what I did during the wait. I sent him the first e-mail on the second night after we met, which included reference images and I asked him to let me know if he had any idea (since I knew tattoos really depend on the artists and sometimes they have their own thoughts). He responded yes the next morning and told me he would start working on it when he had a chance.The second e-mail I sent to him was a week before the appointment, in which I asked him if he could show us the drafts he came up with. He did not respond. But I decided to wait because I believed he probably had a busy schedule. Finally, I decided to call him 25 hours before the appointment and he said he would send the draft via message. 7 hours later, I got the draft and I sent it to my friend. My friend wanted the bigger cheeks on the tiger, and he also wanted the tiger to have pupils. I texted Thomas the feedbacks along with the reference image I had previously sent. He responded by telling me that would not be really possible for him to do, because he was not comfortable with the feedbacks, and he suggested that my friend could take the deposit back if that could not work out. At the end, we decided to take back the deposit on the same day when it would be the appointment. Despite any artwork by Thomas, I am very disappointed in his lack of responsibility as well as his unorganized work system. 1)My friend asked a day off to fit in his schedule, which kept him waiting for 2 weeks. People like and trust one artist's work enough to make a deal with him/her, but of course they would like the artists to help them express their ideas, too. I respect that artists keep their essence in their work but it is a business when it is involved with money, and not to mention the fact that you have already accepted clients' deposit and asked them to wait for a period of time.2)Waitlist is not the main problem that upset me, moreover, it is the broken promise that did. If one artist gives a promise on welcoming clients' ideas or concepts, then he/she should stick to it. (Honestly, any vocation requires a strong commitment)3)If one artist could not follow anything from above, then he/she at least needs to make it clear in the first place or have an effective system to respond immediatly so that no one will waste time and energy on a unworkable deal. In summary, if one person cannot work or does not want to work with another person, then they should say it clearly as soon as possible, and therefore it would save everyone's time and this Yelp review. Again, this review is regarding one artist, Thomas Eckeard, and does not apply to any other artists from this store (since we did not interact with them). Anyway, Thomas is still a man of manners. Read Less