09/17/09

I feel taken advantage of

by stumpyJUICEbox

I'll probably get slammed here as AON has a very loyal following. And the following is thanks to the owner, Brandon Bond. Brandon is arguably one of the most talented artists working today. I've been on his calender three times now and thanks to a job lay off, a divorce, and medical issues, I've had to cancel all three times. But I still want some of his work. He is amazing. And to be fair, most of his artists are equally amazing. I've talked with Brandon several times through email and he seems like a great guy. Now I'll get to my bad experience with AON.

I decided to lose my tattoo virginity at AON based on the recommendation of a friend. I drove almost six hours to be there and was stoked to do it. I won't name names but the artist they gave me (I didn't know to ask for a particular artist) was one of the lesser known guys. I met with him on the first day and showed him some reference materials and told him where I wanted the piece. I asked him if he charged by the hour or by the piece and he told me it was by the hour at $100/hour. I was cool with that. He told me to come back the next day and he would get it on me.

When I walked in the next day he immediately put his hand out and said "$700." I was kinda surprised and told him that I had only budgeted $600. He seemed very annoyed and told me to come back in a couple of hours and he would have something drawn up for $600. Since I wasn't local and had already eaten, I sat in the lobby for almost two hours. Finally he comes out with a new drawing and demands $600 right away. I was kinda put off by this because I expected to pay when the work was done based on how long it took him. But he made it clear I had to give him the money up front. So I did.

I got in the chair and he literally worked for about 30 minutes and then stopped to go smoke and make a phone call. He was gone for almost 30 minutes. He came back and worked another 15 minutes or so and then took another break. Long story short, he kept me in the chair for six hours but he only actually worked on me for about three hours. The rest of the time, he was outside smoking and talking on the phone.

The work is beautiful. It was exactly what I wanted. And at the time I didn't really know better. But since then I've gone on to get a lot more work in other shops and not once have I paid upfront and been ripped off like that. Basically I paid for six hours and got three hours. I guess he thought since I had no tattoos and was a noob, he could take me. And take me, he did.

What's the old saying, caveat emptor?

I still think they have some amazing artists and Brandon is amazing too. But that incident left a really bad taste in my mouth and because of it, I will only go back to get tattooed by Brandon.

• Pros: Awesome artists, great counter staff
• Cons: One bad artist

03/02/09

Is this the write place for me?

by Doubledz

Now i've been wanting a tattoo for a while, and i've always said that if i get one i'm going to go all out... and i looked at the all or nothing tattoo shop website and plus i drive by it everyday. i hope this is a great place for me to get my first couple pieces. please let me know if i am making the right decision.

02/17/09

Great first-timer experience

by ithinkilikeit

I recently got my very first tattoo at All or Nothing and was totally pleased with both my experience in the studio and with the final result. A tattoo was something my boyfriend and I had been talking about for a while, but we went here on a whim, and had no appointment. I figured we would go in, get some sort of estimate, and only be able to make a future appointment. But they were able to fit us in, and we were only waiting for just over an hour. During our wait, I was able to explain what I wanted, give them my information, and look around the shop. The studio itself was interesting to take in, and just generally chill. And, for those concerned about seedy tattoo parlors, this one was not. It was pretty clean and whatnot.

Eventually we were taken back and introduced to my tattoo artist, Tim Orth. The tattoo I wanted was a drawing my boyfriend did, and I told them I wanted it to stay as true to the original as possible. Tim showed me the design he came up with, and it was almost the exact drawing my boyfriend had done, just a little larger. I wasn't incredibly nervous to begin with, so I didn't need much calming down, but was reassured by how calm of a guy Tim was. He explained to me what was about to happen, told me to be still, and started working. It was pretty painless for the most part, and only took about an hour to complete. We let Tim decide how to color and shade the piece (it was a robot), and he did a great job. It looked great.

What I would like to praise the most is the quality of the job. When I got home, I got online and read horror stories about the healing process. Scabs, bleeding, colors running onto clothes... and I got nervous. However, my tattoo has healed beautifully, in just over a week, with only minimal peeling, and even right out of the shop, there was no bleeding or irritation. I would recommend this place to anyone, and will definitely go back for any future tattoos.

• Pros: Great talent, reasonable and accurate price quotes, fun dudes