Hangtown Tattoo & Body Piercing

I'm a researcher by profession ,therefore, I check everyone out before going to them. Having said that I wanted to get a tattoo. I have never had a tattoo before.
I researched several places in person to see if the work areas were clean, organized, and utilized sterilized tools etc... majority of the places I checked failed till I saw Hangtown Tattoo. I watched tattoo artist "Dave - owner of Hangtown Tattoo"  create a design on one of his customer's. He was precise in his artistry, and very  conscientious about keeping everything clean as he worked.  After I left his place I researched him on- line. I found news articles that stated Hangtown Tattoo was  "The Best Tattoo/Piercing place" - Mountain Democrat
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtdemocrat.com%2Fspecial-sections%2Freaders-choice-2011%2Fpamper-yourself-tattoopiercing-hangtown-tattoo%2F&s=7e4d99cb76593be29c2df6ef8e34be5f6fc941544c8e397581b5ebb466ecdcb5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.mtdemocrat.co…</a>
Then I noticed that Hangtown Tattoo was "Nominated for: BEST Tattoo and Piercing" as stated by KCRA 3. KCRA placed his shop on their A list
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fkcra.cityvoter.com%2Fhangtown-tattoo-and-piercing%2Fbiz%2F26606&s=3fea513d8b2379c78c219130c7590b59d7e27de57a71f51bdfc8796c826db7b0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://kcra.cityvoter.co…</a> .
I then made an appointment. I chose the design I wanted and brought it to Dave. I was very pleased to see on my shoulder the design I gave Dave looked was exactly like the picture I brought in. He did an excellent job. After all if your going to have something placed on your body forever... you want it done right!   I recommend Hangtown Tattoo highly.

Something about this place just tells me not to trust getting a tattoo here, but I have been pierced here and they do a good job, very clean and professional.

I'll start with the positive: the shop is in a great location, spacious, and clean.

I visited the shop two weeks ago and was greeted by a man named Ted.. or was it Ken? Anyway, a family member was interested in getting a tattoo that day. She asked for a price on one of the tattoos (a tiny dragon) and was told it'd be $85.. and then the price jumped to $100. He said, and I quote, "You know, most tattoo places don't like doing small tattoos. But I will, money is money. You know?" Can you say TACKY? My family member hesitantly agreed on having the tattoo drawn out - we were told it'd take a few minutes. We took a seat on the bench and waited.. and waited. We waited for Ted/Ken/WHOEVER for over 25 minutes (no, he wasn't drawing out the tattoo) to finish conversing with a guy who wasn't even of LEGAL AGE to get a tattoo. Thankfully, I did overhear the tattoo artist tell the kid that he'd have to wait until his 18th birthday. Needless to say, we took it as a sign to NOT give this shop our business and walked out.

Thanks, but no thanks.