To be honest, I'm on the fence between a 2 and a 3, but considering I have something on my skin forever, I think it's fair to score on the harsher side. I read the reviews below and feel like everyone... Read More
To be honest, I'm on the fence between a 2 and a 3, but considering I have something on my skin forever, I think it's fair to score on the harsher side. I read the reviews below and feel like everyone is giving kind of bits and pieces. I'll try to be a thorough as possible. I was looking at shops in VA (where I'm from) and Chicago (where I live now) and decided on Hybrid because I was into Hossein's work. I waited until I was back in Woodbridge to call and make an appointment. Although that seemed to go smoothly, there was some confusion about what I wanted when I arrived and I ended up not getting a tattoo that day and just treated it as a "consultation" which was fine and probably better in the long run. I left Hossein with a list of things and pictures specifying what I really wanted to be included and what I really didn't want. I specified down to the font. When I came back a few days later it looked great, but he had clearly not referenced my list because the Jerry's Girl I asked for had knives and such for "her" tattoos and I said I didn't want any weapons. After seeing it I decided that I liked the final result even with the weapons so I didn't have him change it. I had to sit for a bit and the rest of the staff around were really nice to me, but Hossein was super cold. I mean, maybe he's just not a naturally talkative guy, but it would have been nice to at least have him try? Good thing I brought my friend and good thing his apprentice was around or I'd have been bored out of my mind. It was seriously like night and day when it came to the friendliness of the other artists compared to him. I mean, you go with the artist whose work you appreciate, but you're still a customer paying a good amount of money. Moving on, after everything was done, I looked in the mirror and to my disappointment, he had changed the font I asked for in the text portion of the tattoo............. Honestly, the tattoo is pretty big and besides that everything was to my liking so I didn't make a fuss about it. It's not like he could have erased it and redone it right there. But, again, if it's going to be on my skin forever, I'd have liked it to be exactly what I said. OR, if he had some good reason for changing the font, he should have told me beforehand. It was correct when the stencil was on me, but the final, permanent product was different. What happened in between?When I was finished the rest of the staff had a look and said they were impressed that I sat through and got such a big tattoo my first time. But, my experience ended with Hossein getting annoyed at me for not being able to pose my body properly to take a photo of the tat and me paying and leaving. Again, good thing my friend was there or it all would have be so awkward. Actually, she ended up making an appointment to get work done by him too (which he oddly didn't seem happy about). Maybe he just didn't like us? But for +$300 and more business coming in, you should fake it. I want more work done, but I don't plan to go back there. Lesson learned. Read Less