Ok so recently I have been going through some struggles...mentally and emotionally which frankly has effected me physically....so ultimately just not feeling all that great (if you read my post about being rejected and the apology post you have a very rough idea of what could be going on) non the less the lesson I learned is NEVER date your tattoo artist!
All I will say is we went on a few dates had a falling out over a difference of opinion, me being well me it got a little heated cause I'm not one to back down when I feel I'm being attacked as a person. So all said and done we just agree to pretend that we don't exist to each other, cause well I have another artist in the same shop who is currently working on the other piece I have. I go for my appointment things go great, no drama, everyone was laughing and joking and I finished my appointment paid and left. Keep in mind that the piece is not complete it requires one more sitting. Anyways days go by (3 to be exact) and imagine my surprise when I get a message from the artist I dated making accusations of me talking badly about him. This is false, rumour, no fact to it....I try to explain, and he doesn't believe me. It ends by him telling me to never contact him again and pretend we never met (not a problem since I'm pretty sure I was already doing this, but we will let him pretend that he's the one calling the shots here cause that seems to be important to him).
Well this is where it gets interesting see within about 20 min from this altercation with said artist I get a private message on Facebook from the owner of the shop who tells me I am banned from the shop for "harassing her artists". Well first off pretty sure it's only one artist not artists and secondly he messaged me not the other way around. I explain this to her and she stands by her decision so, this time I'm not just going to sit by and let this loser bash me and get me banned now leaving me with two unfinished tattoos! Well after going back and forth with the owner of the shop trying to convince her to allow the other artist to at least finish the tattoo he's doing she tryes it intimidate me telling me that any further discussion about her shop or her artists is slander! LIKE WHAT!? I haven't slandered anyone and in fact if anyone has slandered anyone it's this ass hat of an artist who bashed me to his shop owner and got me banned for no reason other then he does not like me anymore.
I've been bullied a lot in my life and well I've developed quite the fight response when I feel I'm being attacked and in this instance I feel ganged up on by a bunch of high school bullies. So lucky for me I have a basic education in the Canadian legal system and some friends in high places.... I do some research. Well turns out as long as I am speaking fact and not lies it is not slander! So I proceeded to write a review about their business, on their business page, warning others that if they choose to be tattooed there, the tattoo quality is phenomenal and the artists definitely have talent, BUT heaven forbid you end up in a disagreement with an artist or they just don't like you for personal reasons...be warned that you will be left with thousands spent and an unfinished tattoo (that lets face it in the tattoo world no other artist will finish another artists work!)
This review spread like wildfire! Turns out not too many people think these actions are professional at all. To ban a person due to one artists personal feelings about that person is not only bad business it's a personal attack and bullying! They all banded together like a high school clique by banning me, and well my Facebook friends and Instagram followers felt the same as I did and shared and commented on the review. This lead to the owner telling me she was calling the cops for a cease and desist order (for those that don't know she has no grounds for that...it is in my constitutional rights within the freedom of speech to review her business for the services I received or in this case did not receive)
Well turns out a friend of a friend happens to be a reporter for a local news paper, and he is interested in my story.....so I guess everything happens for a reason right? Going to be interesting to see where this leads. Oh and for the record I gave this tattoo shop an option to fix this, and prevent me from telling my story to the media, by either finishing the tattoo or refunding me money on the unfinished piece....she said they would get back to me in 24hrs but then blocked me, so I assume I'm not going to hear from her.... It's sad that in this day in age people behave this way.... Before I made the mistake of dating my artist I viewed them as a fun bunch, a group that honestly I wanted to be a part of....I don't make friends easily and I felt like I found a good group of people who I might fit in with....man was I wrong!
It hurts me to know that people, grown people, can act like this and treat someone so badly based one one difference of opinion..... Bullies suck!
