I had a tattoo done in Skullduggery a few years ago, and I'm glad to have the chance to review the…read moreplace.
It looks great both inside and outside - the exterior looks very individual and arty without being pretentious, and inside is scrupulously clean and tastefully decorated. It is nice too, as Geraldine D says, to see a female tattooist, mainly because they're few and far between in Belfast.
However, personally I've had far better service from muscle-bound male tattooist types (calm down there at the back). I first went in for a consultation as I had a certain type of tattoo I was thinking of but couldn't find a design. The tattooist I saw was certainly a talented artist but I felt she could work on her customer service skills, as she got more and more impatient when the rough sketches she came up with wasn't what I wanted.
And to be clear, because I understand it must be annoying for tattooists to have to deal with people who don't know what they want, I was as specific as possible and was only saying things like 'Perhaps the nose should be smaller' or whatever (I was looking for an elf design). She just didn't listen to me and then got annoyed when I didn't think her sketch was what I'd said . Then I saw a picture I did like in one of the display books and showed it to her, and she said she wouldn't do it for me as she 'didn't think it would suit me'!
For some reason, perhaps because I did want to support a new business, I went back a few months later to have a small Tengwar rune on my right wrist. I gave her a printout of it, expecting it to be scanned and then printed to outline on my wrist, but as the tattooist said she didn't use computers, she drew it freehand. Fair enough.
The first attempt was much too big, which wasn't a big deal in itself, but she actually scowled and tutted at me when I pointed this out. This, together with the same scowl and tut when she asked if I wanted some music on and I had the audacity to say yes please, made me feel like walking out. But, as anyone who has had a tattoo or piercing might also testify, once you get the nerve up to do it, you just want to do it. So I sat on. But I was definitely given the impression that I was inconveniencing her and that my tattoo wasn't 'cool' enough for her to bother with. Maybe it's because it was a small tattoo so pretty cheap, or because it wasn't her own design, but again, not good customer service.
I was happy with the tattoo at first, until a couple of days later when it was starting to heal I saw a mistake where the needle had obviously slipped. Now mistakes happen, even if they shouldn't for something permament like tattoos. But this, coupled with the tattooist's dismissive attitude throughout, means I'd never go back to Skullduggery and have un-recommended it to several friends.
It gets two stars rather than one because I have heard some OK feedback of the place (as well as some negative), but with the plethora of tattoo places around the city I'd recommend going elsewhere.
