yelp & tattoo shops

[Jake]

do you do it when you're drunk?

god i hope so.

if so I would follow that like one follows a blog. it'd probly be pretty hilarious

[Kevin Campbell]

I use yelp pretty frequently for eating out, everything else on there is crap. We've got a shop down the street that gives their customers discounts to write good reviews for them, as well as offer 10% off if they mention yelp...However the fuck that works. The shop owner wrote a bad review about me on a fake profile that happened to only review tattoo shops...All one star reviews except for his shop, and when I called him on it, he said "I have no control over what yelp publishes". I told him he was a fucking liar, and that I was going to come down to his shop to have a word with him, and mysteriously the profile disappeared. Such a bummer.

[MsRad]

if so I would follow that like one follows a blog. it'd probly be pretty hilarious

great minds think alike.

[Lochlan]

is anyone still using yelp for tattoo shops? or is it still a bad service for tattooers and shops?

[Reyeslv]

is anyone still using yelp for tattoo shops? or is it still a bad service for tattooers and shops?

I check in and review. I'm a yelp fan, but I'm not a business owner. Most bad reviews on tattoo shops are from people who don't understand them. They expect the people in the shop to fall over themselves to help them. I look for the 1 star reviews for the laughter it creates.

Here's one for Saved "Their work? Absolutely gorgeous. Their artists? Absolutely top notch, I'm sure. But that's as far as I got. Their customer service? Notsomuch."

So her ass wasn't kissed and she didn't like that. But she did like the work.

EVERY bad review for a shop reads this way. I haven't read a bad review yet that sites crappy work.

[sboyer]

The yelp for Ny Adorned is comical. One review was complaining about someone suggesting they use a rose for a cover up and the customer was insulted by this and wrote some cry baby review shitting on the shop and shop employees. What a joke. Opinions really are like assholes.

[slayer9019]

Let me say first that I used yelp to help come up with my first shop. Not so good.

If you look at the best shops in NYC most have little if any reviews so I can stand by it is not a good gauge of a shop plus helpers usually are harsh as all hell about anything outside of food

[David Flores]

I am just happy the Yelp people have stopped calling trying to sell advertising to us. Good shops, bad shops and mediocre shops all have good reviews on yelp. There is no way to tell how to get a good tattoo from a yelp review. Even if a shop has bad reviews, if they advertise on yelp,those reviews get filtered out. I don't hate yelp, I just think it's useless for tattoo shops, I do sometimes find myself on the site to get addresses and phone numbers to places that don't have their own websites.

[Kev]

E-xtortion

[slayer9019]

E-xtortion

the internet Mafia exists!

[jinxproof1996]

weve talked..i hate the yelp, i dont agree with the way they conduct business, or try to strong arm businesses into advertising with them. I hate that if people have an issue with me or anyone who works with me they cant take it up with me, but they can go bitch and moan about it on yelp and i have no recourse. Ive had a bad review from a lady who thought she paid too much for her tattoo weeks after getting it. Said the tattoo was fine but after thinking about it she thought she paid too much..whatever..its a societal issue, the last generation of people are a bunch a whiners and complainers who take no responsibilty for their actions and they are constantly trying to shift the blame onto someone else for them being pussys..

but unfortunately we have to play ball

ive said too much i might get another bad review

agrred, yelp can lick by balls.

we had a chick actually try to barter a tattoo price with us, told my partner she would "give us a great yelp review" if we came down on the $$. we said no thanks of course. then we saw a day later that she gave us a BAD review and that our prices were too high. we complained to yelp and got no where. if you do good tattoos, people will find you. i can't please everyone so fuck them.

[slave]

Because I am a consumer, I like Yelp. I think with everything, there will be pros and cons, honest as well as shitty reviewers. Those who get tattooed regularly will surely give their local artists the best reviews, which in turn brings more business to that artist...which can only be good, right? Everyone has a different experience & perception when getting tattooed. I want people to know who tattooed me, just like you want to share your favorite food spots with friends.

Those who bitch and complain are probably not regulars and have no clue how it goes when getting tattooed; I also think sometimes they expect too much from the artist, like expecting them to talk to them (blame the tv shows). Or want the cheapest price. Sometimes you gotta educate them, by giving a good review. The best tattoos spots in LA, SF & SD, have excellent reviews.

[tatB]

bumping this old thread for 2 reasons:

1. as a reminder to newer tattoo collectors to ignore yelp reviews

2. because I want to post a few "outstanding" reviews I came across:

Review #1:

"Maybe it would help my review if I had made it into the shop to get some work done, but my experience didnt even make it there....

When I spoke to the receptionist (read: never actually tattooed someone, just a tattoo groupie) she was condescending beyond all hell. I asked for 2 small lightsaber tattoos on the outsides of my index fingers, and she proceeds to tell me:

"we'll do a lightsaber for you, but not on your fingers, that just wont work"

Is that right?

Hmmm....why is it that Ive seen a ton of people with finger tattoos? Were the ones I saw fake?

I guess the tattoo artists over there dont care if their crap receptionist loses them appointments."

Review #2:

"I went in to Temple Tattoo to get a piece I had wanted for some time, Yelp even directed me there. After simply explaining what I wanted (somewhat delicate but not wussy Shakespearean script) the tattoo artist I was talking to instantly said "No, that's not going to work with the space you have, you need to choose somewhere else to put it." I understand that after time tattoos bleed out, and can become fuzzy if it's too small, but what this guy was asking me to turn my tattoo into was ridiculous. He didn't even TRY to make it work. I did not at all appreciate the over-all attitude of the place.

In all honesty, I think he was just telling me that because he was too intimidated by the idea of having to do a tattoo that actually involved thought process and work. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they do great traditional "tattoo" style tattoos. So if what you want is a Sailor Jerry pin up girl or "Love kills slowly" in a big ugly font across your chest, or something you picked out of a tattoo book, go ahead and get tattooed here.

But if you are looking to get anything unique, original or out of the ordinary, you are completely out of luck; they will probably try and scare you out of anything interesting and tell you to "go simple". That was my biggest problem, there was no appreciation for originality or anything beyond what they had displayed on their walls.

By the way, I got my piece done elsewhere, EXACTLY how I wanted it, and in a way that won't fade and destroy the tattoo over time. And I love it."

[Pugilist]

Hahahaha

One of our favourite reviews is for a local street shop (the one next door to where we grabbed beers during the convention), where the person complained that the tatooers would not let them try on stencils of all the various designs they were interested in before deciding what to get.

[slayer9019]

bumping this old thread for 2 reasons:

1. as a reminder to newer tattoo collectors to ignore yelp reviews

2. because I want to post a few "outstanding" reviews I came across:

Review #1:

"Maybe it would help my review if I had made it into the shop to get some work done, but my experience didnt even make it there....

When I spoke to the receptionist (read: never actually tattooed someone, just a tattoo groupie) she was condescending beyond all hell. I asked for 2 small lightsaber tattoos on the outsides of my index fingers, and she proceeds to tell me:

"we'll do a lightsaber for you, but not on your fingers, that just wont work"

Is that right?

Hmmm....why is it that Ive seen a ton of people with finger tattoos? Were the ones I saw fake?

I guess the tattoo artists over there dont care if their crap receptionist loses them appointments."

Review #2:

"I went in to Temple Tattoo to get a piece I had wanted for some time, Yelp even directed me there. After simply explaining what I wanted (somewhat delicate but not wussy Shakespearean script) the tattoo artist I was talking to instantly said "No, that's not going to work with the space you have, you need to choose somewhere else to put it." I understand that after time tattoos bleed out, and can become fuzzy if it's too small, but what this guy was asking me to turn my tattoo into was ridiculous. He didn't even TRY to make it work. I did not at all appreciate the over-all attitude of the place.

In all honesty, I think he was just telling me that because he was too intimidated by the idea of having to do a tattoo that actually involved thought process and work. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they do great traditional "tattoo" style tattoos. So if what you want is a Sailor Jerry pin up girl or "Love kills slowly" in a big ugly font across your chest, or something you picked out of a tattoo book, go ahead and get tattooed here.

But if you are looking to get anything unique, original or out of the ordinary, you are completely out of luck; they will probably try and scare you out of anything interesting and tell you to "go simple". That was my biggest problem, there was no appreciation for originality or anything beyond what they had displayed on their walls.

By the way, I got my piece done elsewhere, EXACTLY how I wanted it, and in a way that won't fade and destroy the tattoo over time. And I love it."

Big blocks of famous quotes/books/poems are very original/unique. Bahahaha

[MadeIndelible]

It's sad because we all know, here and amongst close friends, that this is a tightly knit community, and that that feeds what we do as a culture. It's sad that most people are too reckless to understand the structure.

[Dan]

is it bullshit? is it a waste of time? scam?

what do people think about yelp and it's effect on the modern tattoo business

I take online reviews with caution. I saw this the other day on this topic.

A.G. Schneiderman Announces Agreement With 19 Companies To Stop Writing Fake Online Reviews And Pay More Than $350,000 In Fines | Eric T. Schneiderman

not that I think tattoo shops do it necessarily ,but hell ! it's the internet :rolleyes:

[tatB]

revisited my guilty pleasure of reading bad yelp reviews of good shops/artists.

This reviewer gave 5 stars (a positive review!): "Called to make an appointment. The receptionist (guy) was polite enough. Definitely sounds like he's capable of being a douche bag but he was informative. I can't wait to go get my tat on Saturday."

It appears complaining about the receptionist/phone answerer is the "cool" thing to do on yelp.

[Tesseracts]

I like to use Yelp for regular businesses like restaurants and stores. For tattoo shops it's not useful, because people who complain never give specifics and their problems usually sound small. They always say something like "tattoos are good but the vibe is snobby" or "very bad service, they refused to tattoo the idea I had, which was a great idea but of course I'm not going to tell you what it is in this review." They don't seem to respect the tattooer's right to not take on work that doesn't interest them/would look terrible.

Honestly, I like the fact that Yelp exists so I can get back at people who screw me over. For example this dog boarding place recently failed to take care of my dog by walking her outside of the enclosure, something they assured me they wouldn't do. She escaped and ran across a highway. They also did many other things wrong but I won't get into it. I didn't actually write a bad review on Yelp for this (yet...) but knowing I have the ability to makes me feel a bit less like a worthless pawn in the system.

[graybones]

Before my appointment I looked up Temple's address on Yelp and came across this review. Gave me a laugh.

I think I've said on here before but I'd never trust Yelp reviews for anything more than finding a quick lunch spot. So many uninformed people making stupid comments, on top of the company's shady business practices and bullying.

[suburbanxcore]

Review #2:

By the way, I got my piece done elsewhere, EXACTLY how I wanted it, and in a way that won't fade and destroy the tattoo over time. And I love it."

I'm pretty impressed they were able to get a tattoo that won't fade over time! Good for them.

Seriously though, I love reading bad Yelp reviews of highly regarded tattoo shops. It truly shows how little people understand tattooing and how insane some people's expectations are. It's often a shame for the shops, though. As evidenced in this thread, and in countless reviews, people throw out shitty reviews for ridiculous reasons, and I'm sure it often costs shop owners money.

[graybones]

Review #2:

"I went in to Temple Tattoo to get...

HAHAHA!! I just went back and read this old post from you @BrianH. Hilarious. Tattooer tries to give them solid advice for their benefit and they act like a brat about it, then go on to insult traditional tattoo styles and imagery. Extra funny to me because I saw almost every artist at Temple do a consult or tattoo while I was there and everyone was exceedingly kind, helpful, and professional the entire time. Would love to check in with this person 10+ years down the line and see how their tattoo "exactly how I wanted it" is holding up.

[misterJ]

can i add this yelp review of a tattoo shop. I saw this before and googled for it now, thought it was really funny.

please read what she says and the details. They are too funny to me. (like the time of her "date")

Hands down the worst experience that I have ever had with a human being. Bad all bad every single review here is telling the truth. 1st of all he is a liar, I met him about a year & a half ago on a dating website & he lured me over by telling me he was interested in me & offering to tattoo me as a 1st date.. awww how nice huh? Nope! l get there & it was not in a studio (like he said it was) it was in a room of a home, nothing professional, I should have left then but some of us have to live it to learn it (me) he started a tattoo & could not finish because it was like 3am & I was tired... good way to get me to come back right? Right.... LONG story short... he wrecked my skin & it cost me over $400 to fix it & I am not finished w fixing the art work of Shane, as the 3rd work of art I have been told that its not fixable & will have to be removed or completely covered up to make it right because he dug so hard on the blotched up eyelash area of eyes that he did on me... THANKS!!!

I posted pix to show what he can do...

THEN the madness that goes along w the mess of ink is priceless!! His unstable explosive entitled pushy attitude is beyond out of control. He harasses & bullies & people should be warned... he didnt even know me like that!!! I should have posted this a long time ago... well actually I did post this a long time ago & he got ahold of me & begged & threatened me to take it down...

I just came from hearing that my tattoo cannot be fixed (again) so I am mad all over again!!!

STAY AWAY!!!!

[Fala]

Wow @misterJ... I get a kick out of people complaining about the guys and gals who work the front desk at tattoo shops, complaining of the cost, etc because it sounds so petty and ridiculous.

[misterJ]

Wow @misterJ... I get a kick out of people complaining about the guys and gals who work the front desk at tattoo shops, complaining of the cost, etc because it sounds so petty and ridiculous.

Having long session tattoos I get to be a fly on the wall for a lot of walk-ins. It

Kills me how many people lead with how they are experts with only a small

Wrist flower tattoo then immediately launch into sticker shock outrage.

You mean the tattoo is gonna be $150!!!!

The whole time I'm thinking how insulted I would be if I was being spoken to in such a way. The guys at the shop handle it with charm and a smile, but I'm sure it's reflected differently on yelp.