I am a cancer and a bone marrow transplant survivor. Spring 2017 I was diagnosed with a lung illness that has no cure. I decided to cover my entire chest with a meaningful tattoo. I wanted Nicole to t... Read More
I am a cancer and a bone marrow transplant survivor. Spring 2017 I was diagnosed with a lung illness that has no cure. I decided to cover my entire chest with a meaningful tattoo. I wanted Nicole to tattoo me because I've seen her work and liked it. I contacted Tribe & Nicole and was ready to fly to Denver as soon as I could. There were issues. I didn't know what I wanted and we spent weeks figuring it out. The skin on my chest is severely damaged by radiation, surgery and chemotherapy. We'd have to go slow. All these issues were laid out openly before I flew to Denver. Nicole was willing to work with me. I flew in for 3 days & got the 1st part of the tattoo. We agreed I'd have to come back to finish another time. My skin was difficult to tattoo and my body couldn't handle more than few hours of tattooing at a time. My skin needed to heal before we proceeded. Nicole and I talked the whole time I was being tattooed. I got a feeling that she wasn't crazy about working at Tribe. She wasn't happy with how things operated and with how much money was taken from artists. She wasn't happy that artists were made to sit at Tribe even when they had no appointments and walk-ins are very rare in that location. I was worried she'd leave Tribe by the time I came back but she assured me that she just moved to Denver and even if she left this shop, she'd still be around. We left on great terms. Fast forward few months... I am on a trial chemo drug & my lungs stabilized for now. I was flying to Boulder to visit my sister Dec, 2017. I had very little notice and was only there for 4 days. I contacted Nicole to see if she's willing to finish my tattoo or at least touch it up. It badly needed touch up. I was told Nicole left Tribe & she moved to another state. I was shocked. Her style is unique and I wanted her to finish. Touch ups are free from the artist who tattooed you. A different artist would charge more money. Before leaving, I gave Nicole a large tip that we agreed would go partially towards finishing the piece. Because of a large percentage that the owner took from his artists, I was charged less 'officially' but tipped a lot, so more cash would directly go to Nicole. I couldn't believe I'd have no way of getting a free touch up. The tattoo is large and going elsewhere would cost me a lot. My first instinct was to speak with the owner. I wasn't sure what I wanted, but I didn't know what else to do. I needed some acknowledgement. I wanted to see what happened in cases like these. I just didn't know whom else to call. I had no expectations, but I was upset over this. I asked to speak to the owner, John. I was asked for the reason of my call, so I briefly explained. I was told John would be in tomorrow, so he will call me. Tomorrow came but John didn't call. I called back. Same conversation with a different person. Was asked why I'm calling. I described quickly & was annoyed that I was repeating this. I was again told that John would call me the next day. Next day he didn't call and I was frustrated to say the least. I felt like he was avoiding me & that I didn't matter to him at all, even if I was his customer and he profited from my tattoo. I called again and again. Each time they asked for reason of my call & each time they promised that John would call back. Because I've talked to so many people and had to retell the story, people started getting my words twisted. I got a text message from Nicole one day, "...Tribe just gave me a call to tell me you are demanding free work from them....". The message went on, admonishing me for words I never said. I was stunned. I wanted one thing... for the owner to call me. Acknowledge that what happened to me sucked and just apologize. One lady apologized on John's behalf. She agreed that John was wrong for not taking the time to call me & said that she'd talk to him. Few days passed when a woman called me. She said she was John's wife and he hasn't been able to call me because he rarely comes to the shop. I thought it odd, as a call can be made from any location nowadays. First and foremost she started explaining that no one will be tattooing me for free. Again, I made it clear that I never asked for that. She was demeaning, rude, sarcastic, and patronizing. She seemed very annoyed to be talking to me. After talking to her, I knew I'd never hear from John. He just doesn't have respect for his clients. A bit later, the wife calls back saying that some artists volunteered to touch up my tattoo for free. I don't know why after all this an offer for a free touch up was offered to me. I never even asked for it. I said 'no thanks'. I will never visit this place again. John cares nothing about his artists or the clients who come to his shop. I think to John, its all about greed. People mean nothing. I got bullying messages from John's wife who called me "crazy", "ungrateful" & "delusional" after this review was posted. Read Less