I don't usually leave reviews, but I feel the need to warn people: PLEASE CLARIFY WITH THE ARTIST THE EXACT PROCESS. I had my first tattoo done at this place in early December 2017--and get me wrong: I absolutely LOVE the art made by Fraser!
But to really explain why I had such an awful experience I need to give you some context. It's a long story:
It started off as a very standard interaction. Fraser was very friendly when giving me details about the procedure, discussing what I wanted, etc. I learned that there was a $100 deposit, no receipts and he charges $120-something an hour. (Which was cool, my budget for this was about $300) He was nice enough to write a little blurb on a scrap piece of paper as a "fake receipt" for me too, when I asked him! :)
Fast forward to the day of the tattoo.
His art is fantastic. Perfect.
I was blown away by just how much I never knew I wanted something a certain way until I saw how he drew it with his style. He made sure I was adjusted to the level of pain before going on to the more detailed sections and was overall quick and precise with his work.
After it was all done, he said it was $80 or something like that and I thought: "Okay, he spent a little over half an hour on this, that makes sense. With tip that should be about $100, and that should be covered by the deposit." Because deposit implies something given for safekeeping that you get back at the end, like the security deposits in Airbnb.
So I told him "thank you", with the tone of voice implying that I was about to take my leave. Then his face twists; in the way someone does when they get offended. He looks at me and says: "Well, pay me first!!"
This is the part where I probably should've said something like "can't the deposit be used for the fee?"
But nope. I was being dumb and the only thing that came out of my mouth was: "Oh." I was too scared/shy/whatever to say anything back to him at the time which is why I'm here. And how could you even say anything mean to someone who's drawing permanently on your body?
So I paid him another $100.
To this day I do not know if I actually paid the correct amount or not, but I was still willing to pay $200 for the thing so... it's all good I guess.
BUT THE STORY DOESN'T STOP THERE.
After a couple of weeks I realized: There are some lines missing. Fraser didn't finish his own stencil. So I emailed him.
No response for a couple weeks. I called the shop; guy on the phone was very friendly, and told me to re-send the email in case he missed it. Still no response. After one or two more phone calls, I decided to just physically go to the shop and ask him.
He seemed busy, which was okay. I brought a book along with me, because at this point waiting for a few hours was nothing compared to the months I've been waiting. I could tell that he didn't want to deal with me at all--which I understand.
Maybe in this industry, he's dealt with too many people who didn't want to pay him properly, or expected to practice his skillset for free and thought I was one of those people too. Except in reality, I'm just a girl going through her first tattoo and literally knew nothing about how all this worked, I just thought his art was pretty. :(
Fraser told me to come back in 2 weeks. It didn't make sense, because all I needed would take him 5 minutes max, and I really didn't want to come all the way back here since it takes me about an hour to bus from my house--but OK. What can I say when I'm half-pissing my pants from this guy who's been purposely ignoring me since 2017? And whose entire body language screams: I don't want to be dealing with you. Get out.
2 weeks later. I come with a friend for back-up. I'm scared.
I just want my tattoo to be finished.
I don't think I could put to words how much Fraser terrifies me. Never, in my entire 22 years of existence, have I ever experienced ANYONE like him before. Fraser could beat up my whole family with his tone of voice ALONE. Pretty sure I had a very embarrassing nip slip at some point which I apologized for, even if he didn't see--I was tripping over myself trying to just get this experience over with, because I just so, so, terrified.
But even with his whole touch up, I noticed there was a line still missing. Thank goodness I asked to keep his original stencil, because he had thrown it in the trash (likely so I can make no more comparisons, and I dug it out to show him the missing line) and he did it. It's slightly off from the stencil (he clearly wanted this over with) but at this point all the balls I had in me had evacuated, and it was time the rest of me did too.
This time, I made sure that everything was all good even before touching my jacket. My friend and I were quiet on the way out, and I WAS SO GLAD I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE TERRIFIED. ITS NOT JUST ME.
5 stars for awesome art and craftsmanship.
-1 star for making me cry in the car after.
I will never come back here ever again.
(But at least I have a cool tattoo) read more