7 ink tattoo

Peter is a great artist, no doubt about it.  When I first met him, I thought he was a kind man, one I'd like to do business with - he spent nearly an hour with me, reviewing my art, talking about where I wanted the tattoos, etc.   He indicated at that time demand was growing, and booking typically are needed about 4 weeks in advance.   I explained I wasn't quite ready, would need a few months - his response, "No worries... we'll be here."

I was really happy to find him.   I watched his work on Facebook for nearly a year.    

In the interim between that first meeting and booking the appointment, I've shared his work with EVERYONE I know considering a tattoo.  Folks have been very interested, as they know I don't recommend people to goods and services lightly - when I say, "This is the person/place for you" they know they can trust my word.

Last March, I decided I was ready and contacted him on March 7 for a weekend appt.   after some back and forth, the best he could do was Friday Apr 26.    He agreed it was a large tattoo, but he'd be able (and would prefer) to do the work in one long session.  I decided I'd use a vacation day and get it done!  And I booked.

I reviewed what I wanted, sent the art.   He indicated he remembered and all was good.    I asked more questions about organic ink,  and what I needed to do to prep.   I didn't get a response, but I assumed that he was a busy guy, and we'd talk closer to appt.

Last night, I received the long awaited text, confirming my appointment for Friday...   I was thrilled!  I reminded a) first time, b) large dragon on my butt/hip and thigh.  c) I was nervous, but excited.  

Then, Peter responded saying, " I won't have time - I've got another appointment at 3pm".   Then he tried to tell me that my chosen area was very painful...  esp for a first time...  Then he said there won't be time for my chosen art but there would be time to do something smaller...    [WTF?!]

I reiterated that I had booked seven weeks ago for this appointment and that I had taken a day off from work.  None of this seemed to matter, as he didn't respond.  

This morning, I asked for an update on the status of our appointment.   Silence.

This afternoon, I asked again and was told, "We will have to reschedule."

I was crushed.   I indicated this was the wrong choice.   That I would be writing about this on Yelp and Facebook...   I waited for a response.  Nothing.   Tried to call.  He answered and immediately hung up.  

So, here I am, writing my review.

Why is this critical?   Well, this is my first and only planned tattoo.   I've been very concerned about trusting someone with this.   The image is very meaningful to me.   It is a tribute to my favorite author - whose work I've been reading for over 20 years, and who died last year.   It's the only image I can really imagine having permanently installed on my body.   Consequently, I wanted to find an artist who would work with care, and really produce a beautiful work of art.         I've seen so many awful tattoos of portraits that are cross-eyed, or look possessed...   or images that are poorly rendered in terms of scale and perspective.   The awful misspellings...  or artists who's work is so very dark and evil - focused on skulls and devils and dark things...

This image is very special and intimate to me.   the process of getting a tattoo feels very intimate to me.  I needed to find the right person to trust and share that intimacy...  

This cavalier experience has totally destroyed trust, and any chance that I would allow this person to tattoo my skin.  

Yes, this is intensely personal to me, but consider the situation from a business perspective:   tattooing is a personal service...  Service industry thrives on word-of-mouth referrals and personal experience.   The more intimate the service, the more crucial the referral.    I cannot, in good conscience, allow this service provider to have anything resembling a good referral no matter his skill as an artist.

So, the worst rating I can give sticks...