EDIT: Chelsea, I'm not trying to speak ill of your business, I'm sharing my experience and how I…read morefelt treated by you, but you're twisting the narrative for damage control. I never showed up late to the flash event like you claimed; I called your shop in advance to get pushed to the end of the waitlist since I was far out, even the girl on the phone replied "no problem!" I told you how I wished I stopped after Collin's first fine line, and I made the mistake of not speaking up for myself, which I am actively working on. Even then, both his work was still subpar, and Julie agreed. You didn't have any respect for my time when you were late to both appointments with no apology; nonetheless, I was nothing but kind and patient towards you the entire time, so for you to say I was disrespectful is insulting. I'm sorry if I was a "tough" client but your rushed work wasn't to my liking; however, I was nice about it and never "demanded" anything. At the same time, tattooing is a two-way communication and you're putting permanent ink on my body, am I not allowed to share suggestions? You assured me if I rebooked, you can add the details I wanted so I paid, why are you using this point against me here?
As for touch-ups, I know every artist has different policies (some charge and some don't). Your website/profile doesn't have any info and policies weren't shared during our appointment so I reached out - unlike how you framed it, I didn't expect anything free from you. Instead of explaining, you refused to respond because you no longer wanted to work on me. Ghosting shows your character more than anything. If that's your go-to response as a business owner, be more professional going forward. Besides, you were still late(twice), made impolite comments, vaped next to an open tattoo, and made an uncomfortable environment.
Reflect and use this as a learning lesson on how not to treat people. I regret going to you for a cover-up, and your apology holds no weight seeing how your immediate reaction is to deflect blame for my poor experience when it was your doing.
And yes, I found a better shop down the road that's respectful and has human decency.
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Original review:
Chelsea did my first ever tattoos in 2020, and I supported her business for nearly five years, but this recent experience has been so unprofessional and disheartening. Since my last appointment, I've also been ghosted.
I originally came in for a flash event wanting fine line scripts. Collin(Abra) assured me he can do it and that lettering was his specialty, but the result was uneven, sloppy, and not what I asked for. Once healed, the lines were blown out, wobbly, and scarred in areas he went too deep-- plus, one word was misspelled.
Julie was super sweet and understanding about my situation. The owner, Chelsea, was also apologetic and generous to offer a free $250 cover-up, but my experience was terrible. She came 30 minutes late into our appointment, didn't acknowledge the delay, and despite the many references/inspo I sent her a month in advance, she spent the next 40 minutes drawing the design. I didn't start tattooing until well over an hour into our appointment. She also commented Collin's tattoo "wasn't THAT bad." But when another artist in the shop asked her what she was working on, she sighed "I'm fixing Collin's mess," then other artist just laughed - I felt so embarrassed. Any requests for small additions and changes to the design were met with a "no". Overall, the atmosphere felt unwelcoming and rushed, almost as if the cover-up was being done without much care because it was a complimentary session.
She said I need to deposit and book a 2nd appointment with her to make changes and to add the details. Hoping that experience was just one weird off-day, I paid and booked for the next month. Unfortunately, it was a repeat of uncomfortable events. Again, I wasn't acknowledged until about 30 minutes into the visit. Small talk was very minimal and awkward. She took vape breaks while scrolling on her phone while next to me. She was able to add in the details, I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was a burden for simply being there.
2 days after, I've reached out to Chelsea with a question about my tattoo, but my messages and both follow-ups have been left on "seen" for 2 months now. Yet I see her post selfies and memes onto her Instastories in the meantime. It's clear that she does not care to respond. As a client, this whole thing has been so upsetting.