Well I'd like to start off by saying that I am only here to share my opinions about the experience…read moreI had at A+ Tattoo in Hastings, Minnesota. You may have had a better experience than I did, but this is mine. I felt good going into this tattoo appointment based on the communication I had prior to my appointment with the owner. He seemed nice, knowledgeable, and excited to do my tattoo. With 25 years experience, I felt confident that I was in good hands.
I asked him what his hourly rate was and he said he was going to just bid this job. It was $450 and he justified the price because of all the detail work. I agreed and figured it would take him around 3.5 - 4 hours.
The tattoo only took him a total of 2 hours, needle to skin time, and I felt like he was rushing towards the end. That's $225 per hour. For that price, I expect and demand perfection from someone who has been tattooing for 25 years. At the end of the appointment, he said I would have to come back for touch ups. That all sounded great at the time. As it started to heal, I began to notice a few things.
Here's what I noticed...
1. In my tattoo, there are 2 birds among various other things. One of the birds has no beak and the other one has no tail. The wings are more rounded and didn't show the detailed feather tips like the photo I provided him with.
2. The lettering is all over the place. Some straight up and down, some slanted, and different size letters in the same word. Not at all what I wanted. I feel I should mention that I was perfectly still while getting the tattoo and never flinched or moved around to cause any of the irregularities.
3. The Negative lettering he did was done so small and poorly, it all blended together over the first couple of months and you were unable to read the word.
4. The circles that were supposed to be in the tattoo turned out to be oval. The numbers on the clock are different sizes and the time on the clock is different from the one I specifically asked for.
5. The detail work just wasn't there. Not that I'm an expert, but when straight lines are curved and circles look oval, that is just unacceptable for $225 per hour from someone with 25 years experience. I couldn't be more disappointed with my $450 investment.
6. The red color he used almost looked pink when it finally healed. I wish he would have used a darker red like the one in the photo I provided him with.
Before I noticed all of this, I was trying to talk to him about my next tattoo. I e-mailed him at least 3 times with no reply. I stopped down a couple of times, and when I finally got a minute of his time (a small break from the person he was tattooing), he claimed he never received any e-mails from me.
I told him I wanted to schedule a consultation to talk about my next tattoo, and he told me to just come back sometime and it would be "hit or miss" if he was available. I thought that was highly unprofessional and could not believe he wouldn't schedule a consultation appointment (a blessing in disguise). I have better things to do than continually stop by to see if he can squeeze me in for a consultation. That's just not the way I would choose to do business.
After a few weeks and noticing the above mentioned items, I lost all confidence that he could actually fix any of this mess. He seems like a very nice person, but when someone boasts about winning all these awards for his work, you need to be able to deliver. It was very disappointing to see my end result. I get that nobody's perfect, but I could barely stand to look at my tattoo without getting upset. There was NO WAY I was going back to this guy for "touch ups".
After it was fully healed and some time had gone by, I was referred to an incredible artist that was able to do touchups and save the tattoo. It took her an additional 2 hours to try and fix all of the areas that were poorly done. That cost me an additional $250. So this tattoo has cost me $700, but I absolutely LOVE it now!!!
I know that art is subjective, but I'm telling you, this tattoo looked terrible when the owner of A+ Tattoo finished up with it and it healed. You might think I should have given him an opportunity to do the touchups, but based on what paid for, what I got, and the unprofessionalism I experienced, I just didn't feel comfortable going back to A+ Tattoo. It's really as simple as that.
So that was my experience with the owner of A+ Tattoo in Hastings, Minnesota. It wasn't a good one for me, but it has lead me to an incredibly talented tattoo artist who does amazing work. I'm not here to plug another shop, but she's great. I would also like to mention that several months have gone by since my experience with A+ Tattoo. This is not just a knee jerk reaction review. I have taken time to calm down and put some thought into this review. I honestly don't know what else I could have done to make this a better experience.
