For TATTOOERS ONLY, what's your biggest pet peeve?

[dari]

I hate the dude that wants Dollar signs and references to Big Money and Ballin' tattooed all over. Then the jagoff haggles with you and is broke as fuck.

Hey, fake it til you make it, right?

[tattoosbyfox]

1. People bringing their kids to the shop. Nothing pisses me off more.

2. People canceling the day of the appointment OR them "forgetting" they had an appointment. Thanks for the deposit and wasting my time.

3. Asking how much "a rose" is or how much "some letters" are or a how much a "medium tattoo" costs. Fucker, how much is a new car or a bag of groceries? I don't know!

4. Trying to get me to price match with other shops like Im Walmart.

5. Parents that bring their kids in to get tattooed, even though they dont approve, and act shitty to me when I do the tattoo.

6. When a client's friend is with them while getting tattooed and they tell their friend, "its almost done"... um... did i say it was? no... it isnt.

7. Clients who talk with their hands or keep moving their head fast when Im tattooing them.

8. Clients I dont know on a certain level that think Im their therapist.

9. People who think I love L.A. Ink. and "have to get a tattoo from Kat Von D before they die".

10. Clients that put their friend's opinion before their own.

I was bitter towards people before becoming a tattooer from working retail... it only got worse. I could go on all day. Im really not an asshole.

[Mr. Frog]

I actually love getting a free deposit and then taking walk-ins. Usually end up doing more work and the prick that blew you off paid for your lunch that day. Unless it's a design I was really stoked for.

[The Hyena]

People who's spouse, significant other, or loud tattooed friend does all the talking for them. "Oh, he want's it like this, not like this.", "we would like something that goes on her wrist. so she can read it. because, you know, this one is for her...."

The fuck outta here with that shit.

[mario desa]

i hate that, too. i always blatantly ignore the loudmouth know-it-all and talk directly to the customer. then i don't let the loudmouth come past the wall for the tattooing.

[tattoosbyfox]

FUCK I hate that shit. I've flat out told people it isn't there tattoo and to please let them (the client) talk for themself.

[Chad Smith]

For me it's the 90lb 18yr old kid who wants this huge detailed tattoo down his ribs, I say, "Man thats a big tattoo for your first one, you sure you can hang"? I proceed to tell him that maybe he should get it somewhere more tolerable. He says, "Aww yea man, I aint no punk"! So I say, "Ok Skeeter, lets go". In the first 2 minutes he pours sweat to the point the stencil is almost gone, so I draw it back on, do a few more lines and he says, "Man I don't know....can I come back later to finish this outline"?

[Kevin Campbell]

For me it's the 90lb 18yr old kid who wants this huge detailed tattoo down his ribs, I say, "Man thats a big tattoo for your first one, you sure you can hang"? I proceed to tell him that maybe he should get it somewhere more tolerable. He says, "Aww yea man, I aint no punk"! So I say, "Ok Skeeter, lets go". In the first 2 minutes he pours sweat to the point the stencil is almost gone, so I draw it back on, do a few more lines and he says, "Man I don't know....can I come back later to finish this outline"?

I have had that happen a bunch recently. So far, nobody's come back after I finished the outline.

[MrJefferyPage]

My biggest pet peeve is how everyone now specializes in tattooing because they have happened to see an episode of Miami Ink or LA Ink... I still have no idea what I am doing yet they do... Fuck it... I have seen an episode of Dr. 90210... Anyone want a nose job or a face lift... Just saying... I am now starting to hold consultations for breast augmentations...

[Dan Martin]

People that want to put their life story and a shout out to everyone they've ever met, loved, or encountered in their life into a tattoo the size of a quarter.

[conor blue eyes]

*flips through portfolio for a minute* "yeah this stuff is cool, but i didn't see any Japanese letters...can you do those"

"is this your only job?"

"what needle ya using? round three mag?"

[conor blue eyes]

omg, this! haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS5Mp900cno

[CaptCanada]

I have wondered if this could be a common question or if it bugs tattooers, but say tattoos on the lower leg where the customer has a good reach if thing, does anyone ask if they may try and tattoo themselfs on a few lines? Would you take offence to that sort of question or have no problems but still not allow them too or be alright with them trying it out?

[Julio Avila]

jerk offs that insist on watching you tattoo every line on their arms with their face all up in your work area.

i just move my machine in a manner so its up their fucking nose. cool out homie, you got the rest of your life to look at your inspiring dreamsicle tattoo.

people that give you five pages of a book and want you to draw a representation of said shit pages.

[mario desa]

jerk offs that insist on watching you tattoo every line on their arms with their face all up in your work area.

i just move my machine in a manner so its up their fucking nose. cool out homie, you got the rest of your life to look at your inspiring dreamsicle tattoo.

julio, i read a story about a tattooer on south state street, chicago in the 50's who also hated that. so he would wear a big sombrero while he worked so the dude couldn't look down! the brim was between him and the tattoo!!

[Julio Avila]

shit! im gonna steal that move!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Josh Carter]

Know it all Tattooers, That dont know anything.

[xjamestravisx]

julio, i read a story about a tattooer on south state street, chicago in the 50's who also hated that. so he would wear a big sombrero while he worked so the dude couldn't look down! the brim was between him and the tattoo!!

Sounds like he had the right idea.

[William Burgess]

While I can relate to being pissed off about general rudeness, I feel some things tattooists need to lighten up on. Basically being unknowledgable about tattoos in general, asking questions we have heard a million times before, bringing references on phones, wanting stuff that is too detailed or won't work. A gentle approach goes a long way.

The way I look at it, I patronize a lot of business where I don't know jack, and I don't appreciate being treated like an idiot for not being in the know. A good example is when I went back to my local print shop. I was asking why I couldn't open a certain file which was a flash sheet I had scanned to a tiff file. The print shop guy snapped at me "ITS A MULTI PAGE TIFF FILE!! YOU CAN'T OPEN IT UNLESS YOU HAVE PHOTOSHOP!!" I am like ok, can you change it to a file that I can open? Again snappage "I CAN'T DO THAT! YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE ORIGINAL IMAGE!" I am like "ok, I have that, could you please scan it again?". I also had them saved as PDFs for easy printing. So he was like "I am just going to change these PDFs into JPEGS". I said I would prefer to have both, as the PDFs print original size and all. Even more snappage " UNLESS YOU ARE GOING TO PRINT THEM OUT, THERE IS NO USE". I calmly explain to him that they are commercial art, of course I am going to print them out. Then I ask if I have the jpegs and alter them, they can be saved into PDFs again, right? More snappage "ONLY IF YOU HAVE PHOTOSHOP!" The guy was literally yelling at me. Needless to say, I won't be doing business there again.

Think about that the next time a customer says asks about things that seem readily apparent to you. A lot of times people are not trying to be difficult. You are the expert, not them. Try and take this into consideration.

[G.Uristti]

i hate to when someone walks in and says "how much for a tattoo right here?" so i tell them what kind of tattoo and they say "you know just a plan old tattoo right here"

im annoyed just thinking about it

[MsRad]

While I can relate to being pissed off about general rudeness, I feel some things tattooists need to lighten up on. Basically being unknowledgable about tattoos in general, asking questions we have heard a million times before, bringing references on phones, wanting stuff that is too detailed or won't work. A gentle approach goes a long way.

The way I look at it, I patronize a lot of business where I don't know jack, and I don't appreciate being treated like an idiot for not being in the know. A good example is when I went back to my local print shop. I was asking why I couldn't open a certain file which was a flash sheet I had scanned to a tiff file. The print shop guy snapped at me "ITS A MULTI PAGE TIFF FILE!! YOU CAN'T OPEN IT UNLESS YOU HAVE PHOTOSHOP!!" I am like ok, can you change it to a file that I can open? Again snappage "I CAN'T DO THAT! YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE ORIGINAL IMAGE!" I am like "ok, I have that, could you please scan it again?". I also had them saved as PDFs for easy printing. So he was like "I am just going to change these PDFs into JPEGS". I said I would prefer to have both, as the PDFs print original size and all. Even more snappage " UNLESS YOU ARE GOING TO PRINT THEM OUT, THERE IS NO USE". I calmly explain to him that they are commercial art, of course I am going to print them out. Then I ask if I have the jpegs and alter them, they can be saved into PDFs again, right? More snappage "ONLY IF YOU HAVE PHOTOSHOP!" The guy was literally yelling at me. Needless to say, I won't be doing business there again.

Think about that the next time a customer says asks about things that seem readily apparent to you. A lot of times people are not trying to be difficult. You are the expert, not them. Try and take this into consideration.

i know this isn't relevant to this thread, but i think you need to find a new print shop. that guy sounds like the idiot.

[William Burgess]

i know this isn't relevant to this thread, but i think you need to find a new print shop. that guy sounds like the idiot.

But really its just the same as a lot of attitude people get from tattoo artists. I was asking a question that was obvious to him, but not so much for me. If a person a) has money to spend in my business, and b) is not being rude in general, I try to cut them a little slack for asking the "dumb" questions.

But anyway, one of my pet peeves, which I don't think falls into the general ignorance area is one someone says "you better do a good job" or "you better not mess this up". Like I am going to fuck it up or not do my best without the threat.

BTW I really like the "how much is a bag of groceries" retort to the question "how much is a tattoo". I will use this the next time I am asked. With a cheery tone of voice of course, as this does fall into the general ignorance area.

[Dan Martin]

Hey man, I know you spent hours drawing my tattoo up and it's stenciled and ready to go... But.... Could you sneak in my five kids initials? And maybe change the roses to Lillie's and the panther into a portrait of my pug?

[Carranzairons]

Man lol #1 the stinky feet, I mean why in the world would you come in and get something tattooed on your foot wearing flip flops that look like they been threw WWII with years of foot funk smelling like vinegar foot jelly. #2 would be the famous person coming in asking for a price on the piece they want to get knowing they been to the other shops asking the same Question and saying " oh... well the shop down the street said they would do it for this much") and the #3 yes the infamous phone reference lol, just print it out and save us a few.

[missStark]

I had a kid come in today who had printed out a reference picture at home then took a picture of it with his phone to come in and show me. Ughhhh when I asked him why he didn't just bring the actually picture in he said because the picture was in color and he wanted it black and grey so he changed it on his phone. Really dude?! Do you think I don't know how to turn something into black and grey!? Beside the fact that he could have even just printed it black from his computer. The picture of a picture just looks like complete shit. I couldn't even make out what the damn thing was supposed to be. I was of course polite and just asked what exactly it was he wanted and told him I would just draw it up.

I feels really good to vent though. I am so sick of people coming in and showing me their phones. Its just so lazy