This is a very disappointing experience, especially after seeing great reviews about the shop and Alex. First of all, no paperwork was signed. They did not even ask for an ID. I communicated with him ... Read More
This is a very disappointing experience, especially after seeing great reviews about the shop and Alex. First of all, no paperwork was signed. They did not even ask for an ID. I communicated with him over texts. We scheduled for 7. I waited for a little more than a hr, which is fine because I thought he really paid attention to his clients. I saw the two tattoos before me; those were great. I brought my drawing and said he could make whatever changes to make it look better as a tattoo. He said all was good to go. He was chill and seemed cool. Everything was fine until the end (I don't micro-manage, so I didn't ask him to stop tattooing to check on his work in the middle of the session. Also, I actually do think trust is very important, and sadly this time it did me wrong). First he missed several parts of the design, then I had to point out those missing parts to him. I went back to get my helmet and saw empty beer bottles on his work station--my heart sunk. I knew the tattoo would turn out to be a shoddy work. I went home, looked closely, and realized that there were so many parts of the tattoo that showed a careless work. He said he had been tattooing for 9 years, but I cannot understand why he couldn't tell the differences in shapes, line angles, gaze, etc. The more disappointing part was the lack of basic tattooing skills (setting the ink in, line work, etc.). Pictures speak for a thousand words. I found another artist to tattoo it (for the second time, I changed the font of the words--my drawing progression is shown in attached photos) again on my left arm, and again pictures tell more truths than words. I actually tipped Alex 20 percent. It is cash only, so well; what can I do? The new artist is going to help me do a cover-up tattoo. To be fair, I would say, I had a good artist during a bad hour when he seemed not caring about tattooing during my session. Nonetheless, after having several tattoos done by several artists, this is definitely the only unprofessional and careless work I have ever experienced from getting tattoos. Read Less