TL;DR: I ended up surrendering my deposit today because the artist (Jiji) arbitrarily added $75 to the quoted price range without being able to justify it beyond "policy says we can after 30 days". Original appointment vs quote was already outside the 30 days to start, and we had to shift twice (once at my request, once at the artist's due to a double booking/conflict), all no issues on either end until she said "as a heads up, the new quote is x" ($75 more). When I asked her to honour the original quote/justify why more was being added when no alterations had been made vs the original request, their reply was a screenshot of the policy and "you technically agreed to this." No other explanation (eg. She just finished an upgraded course so her hourly is higher now, etc)
This was/will be a commemorative piece (for a deceased loved one), so ultimately I decided to prioritize a good relationship with the artist doing it vs the deposit.
What's worse? When I explained this (even adding I anticipated it being higher vs quoted once Jiji and I actually spoke), they were extremely nonchalant and dismissive. Had they come back with any other solution (another artist, for example), I would have entertained it. Clearly don't need new clients/don't really care about the people they're tatting, if this is their attempt at problem solving.
So just be aware, borderline-arrogant people working here. read more