I brought in an image and asked it to be tattood by Ryan Federko at Embedded Tattoo in St. Albert. I was told by Ryan that he wouldn't copy it but he would create an original interpretation and I would see it BEFORE my tattoo date. The day before my tattoo he emailed at 8pm at night to say he lost the image and hadn't started the tattoo concept. I resent it, waited nervously and he emailed back with a Shutterstock image of a Kim Kardashian look-a-like that had terrible sailboat tattoos on her arms and had zero creativity and didn't come close in capturing the quality of the original image I asked for. I was crushed, weeks of waiting for nothing and this was going to be permanently on my body. I had zero opportunity to have an original concept crafted before my appointment (which is what I was promised). I emailed and said the image wasn't what I expected and would see the artist for my appointment the next day (without a reply). I chickened out the next day and couldn't chance getting that image tattood on me... I knew there was no effort put into "my original concept" that was promised. The store manager Roxy let me know today that refunding the $500 deposit was not an option.... my only recourse would have been to allow Ryan to do whatever tattoo he came up with on the fly the next day or to work with another one of their artists (neither of which was a suitable option for me after what I just experienced). Ryan does great work according to their Facebook images, very cool guy but a total let down for a newbie like me. I would have loved to see what tattoo Ryan would have created for me, had he put in any time or effort. Any tattoo artist that requires a $500 deposit to trap you into settling for their lack of effort and performance is one you should be wary of. I have never had a tattoo before this but from a consumer's perspective... I was promised an original concept, waited several weeks to see it... the day before I get a Shutterstock image that fell way short of anything I asked for... had zero time to change it before my appointment, zero opportunity to refund a large deposit and then told the responsibility fell on my shoulders to make sure I was satisfied with their service... this is wrong... the tattoo should have been more about me than what was convenient for the shop and the artist. I see another review on here also had a similar disappointment... shop around... let these artists know their earnings should be performance based... its on our bodies for life, don't settle. read more