I got a beautiful tattoo from Katzen tonight. If it were only Katzen I was reviewing, I would give 5 stars...but... THE PARKING LOT IS CRAP. So, I take away one star. Ignore what the building looks like on the outside, and deal with the parking. You'll be glad you did. The inside is a clean, professional, sterile tattoo shop. They have comfy tat chairs. Katzen was able to take my basic idea and fit it into my price range and create a lovely tattoo I am always going to love. I would definitely send my friends here. read more

I got my front helix and second lobe piercing done. The wait was kind of long, but that's what is to be expected for their $15 day on Sunday. Daniel was really nice and quick. It didn't hurt at all! read more

i dont get why there's so many bad reviews I fucking loved my new piercing customer service was chill as fuck and fast I recommend going here read more

I went to get my nose repierced today by Drew. Drew was great. He gave me an information sheet with all the aftercare instructions. The only negative thing I have to say is when I first came in I wasn't greeted until my friend went up to talk to the people chatting at the counter. All in all, it was a good experience. read more

After much research and many recommendations, we decided to go to Platinum Ink, and we're happy that we did!! Laguna did an amazing job and put us all at ease with his quick wit and quirky humor. If you're looking for an awesome tattoo and even better service, Laguna is your man! read more

My friend and I went to get our first tattoo there. The place was clean, and organized. As we walked in we got a friendly greet from their personnel. The guy that took care of us was so nice and made the experience so much fun. We arrived there pretty late and were the last ones there but even then Laguna, the artist that took care of us did not rushed or made us feel rushed for been there after hours. We are in love with out tattoos and we are definitely coming back. read more

So the work I actually had done here was amazing! If I had just dealt with the piercer, Drew, It would have been great. I'm giving it 3 stars because the cashier (guy with bald head) was a complete jerk. He talked down to me, questioned my choice, and in general was incredibly rude. Barely took a second to deal with me and basically ignored me after. The peircer was great though, quick and really nice! He gave some good aftercare instructions and did a great job. Sorry to leave a 3 star, but the cashier was rude as hell. read more

We came in from Houston and remember this place from our college days. We were surprised to see the changes to the place, and it looks great! You guys up front were very nice and helpful, and your piercer was awesome and very accommodating throughout the whole process. I would definitely recommend these guys for piercings. I can't comment on their tattooing because I didn't get tattooed here but definitely are go to piercing place for the price and a combination combination factor. read more

$15 Sundays. . . Thanks Platinum Ink tattoo for making my second tongue piercing an epic fail. Not only was it rushed poor customer service though, I didn't mind that. But what did mess me up was you went through a vain in my tongue. Once I took the tongue ring out a blood vessel popped up and I had to go to the hospital that was $50 and up. You're lucky you make people sign liability waivers read more

I got my nipples pierced not to long ago and turns out the guy who pierced them fucked it up. The experience was cool and chill but I came to find out that he pierced it with a 16g when 14 or 12 is standard. So, now I have to keep an eye on them because my body could reject them or the could start migrating. I'm gonna either have to take them out and re do them, or stretch them out to a 14g. I feel like it would have been easier to just do it right the first time. I regret coming here just for the price. read more

I went to Justin Redsky for a fairly simple tattoo which was placed crooked. Then he just started adding elements that weren't sketched or agreed upon. Now I'll need to laser off everything he did. Don't go here if you want precise work that is done the way you want it. read more

I was happy with these guys. I got my left tragus pierced here, and it was painless as cartilage goes. I think I got it pierced by the assistant manager at the time, and he did a good job with making sure everything was sterile, and clean. I also was happy with the price. $35.00 was decent. He even remembered one of my friends when I had mentioned that she had told me about this place. read more

Platinum Ink has a sizeist jerk working for them. I've gone to Platinum Ink for my tattoos and a lip piercing. I've never had a problem. Until this Sunday. I went in with a friend to get her nose pierced. The man at the desk was friendly and we sat and waited for her to be called. She got called and we went into the room. I went to sit on the chair and they piercer said "you don't wanna sit there the chairs are brittle." Seeing as I had JUST sat down in on an IDENTICAL chair in the lobby I knew that he had taken a jab at my weight. That does not fly with me. I wish I had gotten his name but he was the short guy with curly hair and smartass attitude. I will NEVER go back to Platinum ink and will warn all my curvy friends. Platinum managers: if you read this, fix this problem, I'm sure I'm not the first or last person he will alienate and put down. read more

Had JW tattoo a tribute tattoo on my chest (one of many tattoos I have gotten over the years). The color and lines are first rate. I would strongly recommend Platinum Ink to anyone looking to get a high quality piece of artwork that they will be proud to show off. read more

Great place to go for piercings but I definitely wouldn't suggest them for tattoos. I got my first tattoo there just over two years ago but it looks so much older, I'm planning on getting it completely redone because I'm just not happy with it. The lines aren't the same thickness throughout, they don't connect where they should, and the ink quality just isn't that great. Had I done more research on artists I would have gone somewhere else. read more

I've had several tattoos and two piercings done at the North Platinum shop. I've never had a bad experience there. The artists are professional and friendly, and the work has always been good for me. Their prices are good ( $15+ piercings if you go on Sundays, and fair pricing on tattoos) and I've always been happy with the work I walk out with. Easily recommend to anyone looking for quality, affordable work. read more

I've been here several times and never had a real bad experience. I did have issues with irritation of some acrylic jewelry i picked up from here but it was inexpensive and I got what i paid for. Staff seemed a bit short but then again they are always busy and I understand that they must try to move it along so i can't really complain. Nothing spectacular, nothing horrible. Thats why I'm giving it 3 stars. I was content with what I got and the price I paid for it. All around not bad. read more

Came in today with 3 other females wanting to get a SIMPLE tattoo one in which was just 2 letters and the artist said NO that he didn't want to do it because on the finger it will fade. I understand that tattoo fingers may fade over time. Let me deal with that touch up later. The fact that he straight up said NO then went on to say "I'll do something I don't want for the right money, I can charge you $200" is absolutely ridiculous!! He was so unprofessional it's disgusting. Then we asked about a name tattoo with a small halo for the lost of our niece and another artist said the price depends on how we want the halo to be done. I asked him can you sketch me up a couple so I can see and he said "I can draw 1" with attitude. I have no idea wth is wrong with these artist they obviously don't want the business. Another worker said we came in on the busiest day and they don't have time to draw. I understand they are busy but I did call before I arrived and the guy said he had 2 artist that are available right now for walk-ins. So if these artist are sitting on there ass doing nothing anyway why can't they draw up a sketch?? Makes no damn sense!! read more

Earlier this week my girlfriend and I each got our first tattoos here. We had looked around and this one was recommended to us and had good reviews. We ended up just walking in on a Tuesday afternoon and had a great experience. Katzen Hobbes did both of ours and did an incredible job! She was also super helpful as far explaining aftercare etc. I'm sure now I'll be getting additional tattoos and I am positive I will return here and ask for Katzen the Tiger Lady. read more

I wish I could rate this place negative stars. I went on there "Sunday Special" that was my first mistake. Piercings are $15 each, sounds fine, been here other times with friends so I decided to go myself. The place was packed, in fact every Sunday its packed. I went to get my gauges upgraded and mannn did they faux up. I got a diffrent size on each ear..NOT what I asked for, my ear bled alittle they told me they fixed it. Next day both my ears won't STOP bleeding....and of course there closed mondays to avoid complaints. I had to run around town before I found a shop that would fix it. I won't mention the shop so I don't seem bias, but they have a huge scrapbook on people they had to fix on mondays from platinum. This other shop was so helpfull they pierced me for free. WORST PLACE EVER TO GET PIERCED. THERE CLIENTEL Isn't knowledgable there mainly teens, newbies, or strippers. The staff is cool its not there fault , we all need a job, I blame there boss pushing all these customers on them and there cheap jewelry that infects. From my take AVOID THIS PLACE your drunk friends can pierce you better. read more

So, I got my helix pierced here a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday when it's super cheap. It looked way nicer than I expected, staff was friendly and overall the experience was pretty good. It was crowded but I was in and out in no time. I didn't love the giant fake diamond stud that they put in my ear and asked the guy if it was an appropriate type of earring for my helix (it looks like the kind that one might put in an ear lobe) and he assured me that it would be fine. When I first came in I asked the guy at the desk if they could put in a curved barbell that I already have and they said I could only use their (shitty quality) jewelry. He didn't really talk much about aftercare but I didn't think much of that since I have several comparable piercings so I'm not totally ignorant as to how to care for a cartilage piercing. Anyway, a couple weeks later and I realize today that I couldn't see the stud at all, it was covered by a scab. The scab came off easily but I could still only see a bit of the stud but couldn't move it at all. It had dug into my skin at a sort of weird angle. I tried to push it out a bit with no luck and there was no room to bring the earring back further away from my ear. Basically, the jewelry is was to small for the location and for a new piercing that is obviously going to swell. I called to explain my problem, was given a couple one word answers and was told to come in so they could look at it. And then hung up on. When I got to the shop I was already pretty irritated about the rude service I got on the phone AND the fact that the jewelry in my ear totally sucked. Nevertheless, I wasn't rude. I just showed some dude at the front what was going on and he instantly gets a super condescending attitude and tells me it's not embedded, I just need to try to push it out (um, I did?) and tells me how ridiculous it is that people are afraid to touch their piercings, ect. And he told me I shouldn't have tightened the earring back (ummm, I didn't?) He also complained because I wasn't the first person that had this problem today. As if having a question about a piercing that they did is the most insufferable thing ever (um, sorry? maybe, just maybe, people wouldn't have this problem if they were more responsible). Basically, he told me he could help me but that I should just do it myself. I questioned their choice in jewelry, like why they wouldn't use a piece of jewelry that allowed space for swelling and he never really answered my question beyond saying that this was just the type of jewelry they use. At this point I was so incredibly irritated that even though I would have rather had a someone who is supposed to know what they're doing try to fix it, I just needed to leave. In summary, their bad reputation is totally warranted. Don't go here. The customer service is the absolute worst that I have ever experienced. The prices aren't worth the crap service. I'm sure it's perfectly fine if you have no problems during the healing process but to me, that's not a risk I will take again nor will I recommend it to anyone else. There are many quality piercing places in Austin that provide much, much better quality jewelry and service. I have never had a problem like this. I've had the original earring in my rook that I got at a much nicer shop downtown over a year ago and it still looks brand new. The stud I got from platinum ink is already super discolored. Save yourself the trouble. read more

Everytime I've came in I've always been treated well and everyone is very professional. Daniel is the piercer I'm always gonna use! Really awesome dude , answers my questions, even my dumb ones! Gives me options and lets me know they can special order jewelry! I was super nervous for my piercing but he made me feel comfortable and prepared. Always been satisfied. Coming back for more and bringing friends ? read more

The people at platinum ink are really nice and willing to help. I went in on a Sunday when they were doing discounted piercings. The lobby was full of people and they were knocking them off in no time.I originally had my double nostril pierced and I was getting it re-done. In the rush they were in my piercer re-did my double nostril and pierced my left one at the wrong angle. My jewelry sticks out of the side way too much now, and more time should have been taken to make sure it was done correctly. They were very nice and I even tipped the piercer $10. Sadly enough I regret going there to get repierced. I know they were busy, but now I have a piercing that is basically lopsided. I mean, how many nostril piercings do these guys do every day? One star rating. read more

***A MESSAGE TO THE Owner's)*** Yelp makes me give one star, otherwise I would have put down a ZERO. Im not sure if you take the time to read these posts (if you care about your business and the patrons that skim it, I hope you do), my experience at Platinum Ink was laughable and a waste of my time. Here's why: The artist the I spoke with was incredibly rude, not helpful and reluctant to give me the time of day. I had priced out the tattoo I wanted (which was/is incredibly simple and would have only taken about 30 mins of his time) at a few other shops in Austin and scoping out other artists. He was $70 over the price of about six other shops. I understand that price varies between artists...but his was absurd. He refused to work with me on the font of the script i wanted and tried to get me to "add more" to the tattoo to get me to do the payment plan system Platinum Ink offers. I asked to speak with one of the two other artists that were there at the time, and he told me no, they would say the same thing. Despite his attitude and disposition, I was incredibly nice to him. Yelp makes me give one star, otherwise I would have put down a ZERO. This is my first tattoo, and I plan to have much more in the future, but not with Platinum Ink. My Wife, Two friends and a family member are looking to have more ink done as well, I will be more than happy to tell them to not waste their time at your shop. You can offer all the weekends specials, and daily deals you want, but it doesn't mean much if your staff cant be professional enough to have respect for the customers that walk through the door. This guy tried everything he could to make me feel like i was stupid for the design that I wanted and that I wasn't welcome at the shop. Might I add, there were no other customers there at the time. I really hope things change there, I like to root for local business' and respect the craft of tattoo artistry (I'm an artist myself, just not tattoos), but my experience was so horrible that i had to voice my concerns and post this so others can save themselves the headache I had. ****TO POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS**** DONT waste your time with this shop, talk to the peeps at Atomic, they are HANDS DOWN much nicer, more professional and genuinely care about the work they put out and having repeat customers that they treat like family. read more

The people who work here are rude and don't care about the customers. I came in for a tattoo and the guy at the desk literally rolled his eyes and couldnt care less. He then gave my tattoo to the apprentice there who was barely 18 years old. And he did a horrible job. Dont risk it guys, go somewhere better read more

Awesome shop, with great people. Tattoo artists are great. Daniel the piercer is amazing. Showed us all the jewelry. He answered all our questions, even the dumb ones. He was professional and made us comfortable with the entire experience. We why'll definitely be back and recommend to others. read more

Me and my sis went over the weekend i got 2 piercings she got one they did a great job in my opinion

DO NOT GET PIERCED HERE! I got my cartilage pierced on a Sunday over a year ago. The piercer did not mark my ear. He just said, "is this where you want it?" and then stuck the needle in. I do have a low pain tolerance, but I nearly fainted after getting this piercing. There is no way it should have hurt this badly. I got a tragus piercing later at a fantastic, well-known piercing place, and I could barely feel it. I took care of the cartilage piercing diligently. When I first took the earring out a few months later, after days of trying, I had to resort to pliers to unscrew earring out of my ear (excruciatingly painful, I might add), because they screwed it in so tightly. I couldn't get it back in, and had to buy a new earring. It hurt so badly to put in, the piercing had obviously not healed yet. I couldn't put it in myself, so went to another tattoo place, and they had to force it in for me. I got reoccurring bumps on the piercing throughout the last year, and there are weeks when it gets incredibly sore and red. Over a year has passed, and yet again, I have another infected bump on the back of it. I have been spraying it with a high quality piercing solution fairly regularly the past few months, since it gets sore easily. Please go to a reputable piercing parlor. After the amount of money I had to spend replacing jewelry and going to piercing shops to get the earrings to go in, I spent more money in all than I would have just going to a better shop. read more

I had my nose pierced on half off Sunday. I had a great experience. The guys at the front desk were helpful and friendly. Dan was patient and calmly walked me through the process. Then, explained how to take care of it after and answered a couple of questions I had. Cool and down to earth place. Plus, it was a quick process. I love my piercing!!! read more

I visited Platinum on Tuesday night to get my septum pierced. The shop looked and smelled super clean and I was helped right away. It was my first time getting something pierced and I was kind of nervous but the guy who pierced me briefly walked me through it and answered my questions. It was super fast, like 15 minutes total! My piercing looks and feels great and I'm very happy with it. :-) read more

Platinum tattoos was awesome! We were on a bachelorette party with 5 girls and walked into platinum so that we could all get relatively small tattoos. The shop was professional and clean. Brian did a great job and had extreme patience (with 5 girls that's needed). Everyone was awesome. I would definitely recommend! read more

I wish I could give this place 0 stars. I called before I came to make sure they he a glass nose ring and they said they had two. When I went in to get a glass nose ring the guy said they only had plastic.. I said to check and he did. He came back with a glass nose ring and charged me $11. Then I said I need help putting it in.. He then said it'll be $4 I said ok. So a new guy charged me and he said it'll be $10! Just ridiculous. I'm definitely staying with atomic tattoo. read more

I made an appointment and because of traffic I was 20 minutes late but they were so understanding and accommodating. Laguna was the artist there for the day and I told him I wanted a phrase in Italian and handed it to him. He used his own style of handwriting and made it a beautiful tattoo. He was very informative, professional, and easy to talk to. I would recommend this place and even asking for Laguna to do your tattoo because you will not be disappointed. It was a great experience and I am very pleased with my tattoo :)!! read more

We arrived at Platinum Ink (South) right at noon today. The shop is supposed to be open at noon but was not. There were numerous customers waiting outside in their cars and employees waiting to go in. One employee, a piercer came and told us that the manager was running late and should be here soon. The line to get in kept growing longer as we waited outside on this cold January day. Around 12:15 or 12:20 a motorcycle plus up and it's the manager. He walks up and the employees follow him to the door. The piercer tells us he will open the doors for customers in a minute as he has to disarm the alarm system. When the door opened all the customers walked in as the employees scrambled to prep for the day. We were lucky to be at the front of the line and did not have to wait long. The nice young man who pierced my ears told us that he was sorry about our wait. He was being polite but I could tell he was aggravated about the situation with the manager being irresponsible in being so late. I love my new ear lobe piercings and will go back for more but we were disappointed the lateness of the shop opening. The owners should give keys to responsible employees who can be on time, like the guy who pierced my ears. read more

I am writing this wishing I could give it 0 stars.... A friend of mine offered to buy me a piercing for my birthday this year. Knowing it was not my money I decided to take advantage of Platinum Inks $15 Sunday piercing deal (this was my first mistake). Upon arriving we were quoted a 15 minute wait time; after and hour we were finally called back. The piercer looked at me and told me to sit down then proceeded to ask why I was there. I began explaining how I had always wanted spider bites (two piercings on the same side of the lower lip) to which he cut me off, placed two dots on my lip and stated "okay that will do fine". He then proceeded to shove a needle through my lip twice with unsanitary equipment (my second mistake) then shoved inadequate jewelry through his mishap . He had trouble getting the second bar through, to which I asked "should we use a larger piece?"; he told me he has done this for years and it would be fine. After he was finished I inquired as to after care instructions. He told me that a paper was on the table but he had more clients to deal with so I was on my own. I will admit that I was satisfied with the results, however; two days later my lip was swelling profusely. Three days in my lip had swelled to the point that the back of one of the piercings had burrowed its way into my lip and the skin had healed over the top of in. This in turn created more swelling. By the fourth day both piercings had embedded themselves into my lip and the pain was nearly unbearable. I went back to the piercer and he informed me that everything was normal and I needed to calm down. After counseling with a few friends with similar piercings, I asked my birthday friend to take me to a more "professional" shop. Upon arriving they took one look at the piercings and cringed. After 45 minutes they had taken three scalpels, and extreme amount of pain and tears, and a pair of PLIERS to my lip to remove the original piercings. They educated me on the shoddy workmanship and explained that the extreme low quality metal and EXTERNAL threading (any respectable piercer knows this is bullshit) contributed to the cause of the problem then fixed it for free (although due to the damage I lost one piercing). They also explained how the jewelry I was pierced with was FOUR times too small to account for swelling during the healing process. All in all I have now paid over $75 dollars in extra costs in order to deal with and recover from their inadequate service. In short, do yourself a favor and never pay less for amateurs to screw up what professionals can accomplish for less money overall. Platinum Ink, you failed grotesquely and you'll be hearing from my lawyers. Good job. read more

First, I'd like to say I am not one to write reviews, but I was honestly so disappointed with my experience at platinum ink I really feel the need to share with others. I went in a couple weeks ago to get a very simple cover up, the size of the tattoo is smaller than my palm. The artist that did my tattoo was very heavy handed and also very slow. When he was finally done, I was happy to see that it looked better than it had before (that being said anything would have looked better than what it had been originally) My initial satisfaion with it was soon to pass. I was given a paper that provided tattoo after care advice which I followed to a t. The following 4 days the ink leaked in massive amounts. Once it stopped leaking, I was relieved. However, the tattoo was still VERY swollen and painful. A couple more days pass and I've started to scab terribly. I notice that there is a golden colored fluid coming from the middle of the scabbing, followed by a fever. So yes, it was infected even after diligently caring for it and being the cautious person I am- it still happened. Luckily this passes without having to seek medical attention. So FINALLY when the tattoo healed, it looked as if I had had it for 10 years. (No I did not pick at it, or mess with it in any way) the ink is extremely faded, uneven, and the red color isn't even noticeable anymore. The once black lines literally look so faded they are grey. I would understand a tattoo would come to look like this over time but it isn't even a month and a half old, and it looks like I already need it retouched/ redone. Anyways, I will not be going back to platinum ink, I was left with much, much more to be desired/expected. read more

In March 2011 I went to Platinum Ink for one of their Sunday body piercing specials. It was a good atmosphere, looked clean, and the people were friendly. I got to pick out my own jewelry for my $35 navel piercing; the jewelry looked questionable, but I was told it was "surgical grade stainless steel". After getting pierced, I left satisfied. For the next 4 or 5 weeks it heeled pretty fine. There was some blood, puss, etc.. what i assumed was normal when you get a new piercing. In May 2011, a red dot appeared directly above my piercing and itched badly. Two days later more dots (pimple-like) began to appear symmetrically all around my piercing. These little pimples turned into large puss bubbles. It hurt so bad i had to go to the hospital. Turns out I was having a reaction to the cheap metal inside my body and was quickly put on anti-biotics and given a topical creme. I took out the ring and noticed the top diamond had turned brown and the shaft of the barbell had discoloration. Lesson: Don't use the cheap jewelry they sell in the shop.. read more

Okay....I've had almost a week to think about this so here it goes. I went to Platinum Ink South last Saturday after work. I decided to go there after researching different shops and reviews in Austin. I also found out about their "starting at" $35 small tattoo prices. The tattoo that I want is definitely small and was described as only taking 15 minutes to do. I was disappointed when she quoted me $65 and told me that my daughter could not be there because she might "accidentally get a tattoo". That's somewhat understandable because she is only 6 but, she did go to work with me that day and really wanted to watch mom get a tattoo. I told the lady that I would take my daughter home and come back. Actually, I went to the other store to see what they had to say. This time it was worse, or should I say the same experience just in the other direction? The gentleman there quoted me $75-$90 for the exact same tattoo and suggested that I go a little bigger because the lines might blend. I thought this was odd since the other lady didn't mention it or seem to mind and/or doubt her artistry. He on the other hand had no problem with my daughter being there. I'm confused and a little disappointed that I was not able to get a tattoo last weekend that would have sentimental value to me. I'm going to try again this weekend with maybe another artist or different time of day. Does anyone recommend a specific artist at either the North or South location? read more