'She hasn't booked with me again... whoops': 10+ Tattoo artists who got caught talking about their clients behind their backs

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 23, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

If you're in a customer service position, you deal with all types of people. You meet some folks who are super friendly and bubbly, especially if you're working at a tattoo studio, like these people are. Many people are thrilled to be getting tattooed—they might have planned out their design for quite some time, so they're excited to finally be putting the ink on/under their skin. 

Other people have a bit of an attitude problem, as the folks on r/TattooArtists will tell you. Instead of being excited and grateful about their new skin artwork, some people show up and feel entitled to treat the artist however they want. Some act bossy or impolite, while others think it's okay to show up a half hour late to their appointment. 

A bunch of artists shared that they've had their fair share of annoying customers. Sometimes the artists couldn't hold in their frustration, and the customer heard! At least in many of these stories, the client didn't seem too perturbed. I think some customers realize that they're being a little over the top, but then they don't know how to back down while also saving face. These artists have the patience of saints! 

After you check out these anecdotes below, read about the wedding rules that would make at least one person "simply not go" to the event at all. 

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  • 01
    512 2R R EGAN 2.69 EVE
    via Jamakassi on Unsplash
  • 02
    I want to hear your "We thought the terrible client had left, and they heard everything that was said" stories.
    via u/Brilliant_Shock_8634
  • 03
    One of our younger artists was just talking about how horrible it was tattooing a bodybuilders thin skin. Surprise surprise, homeboy was still in the lobby and heard it all. While nothing mean was said, he definitely learned a lesson and felt like a Your turn.
    via u/Brilliant_Shock_8634
  • 04
    Cobalt_bluee I had a coworker do this all the time, never realizing how loud he was talking and how thin the walls are (his booth was on the other side of our back office) he was told to cut it out quite a few times before he was fired. Sometimes people do but knowing when to keep your mouth shut is an important skill lol
    via u/Cobalt_bluee
  • 05
    batgrub Not terrible, but once a coworker had a client come in 30 minutes early. We have a lobby that has a front desk that can be hard to see over. I was sitting on the couch drawing. I thought she had gone into my coworker's room, because I thought | I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned to
    via u/batgrub
  • 06
    my other coworker and said "man I hate when clients show up early" and then looked up and realized she was still there. I felt so bad haha. I dunno if she heard me or not, but I wasn't quiet.
    via u/batgrub
  • 07
    OnsidianInks Someone brought screaming babies with them and then left I said "who in their right mind brings kids to a tattoo shop?" Their mom was getting tattooed.. haha
    via u/OnsidianInks
  • 08
    JamezPS Not quite the same, but could've been. My step-kids bio-dad has had work done at by my artist, but a long time before I started to use him. I was trying to describe him to the artist and he was racking his brain then he finally remembered him. "Ooohhhhh, BO milk guy!" Followed by a look of horror while he waited for me to react. Could see the relief
    via u/JamezPS
  • 09
    on his face when I laughed it off and said it's fine, we aren't exactly close. Turns out kiddos Dad would go straight from a mornings work labouring to the studio and stink the place up. His beverage of choice was always a big ol carton of milk.
    via u/JamezPS
  • 10
    hwestbrooks I shut the artist up before she said anything but before, we had a girl come in for a consult that I scheduled with her. She is a mess and was ADDICTED to her phone so everything I said went through one ear and out the other. She wanted something COMPLETELY different than we originally scheduled.
    via u/hwestbrooks
  • 11
    Anyway she decided to look through our flash and got a Kirby on her chest. She asked if I could do it but I was an early apprentice so I wasn't tattooing torsos so my mentor did it. The girl wanted color and they spent 45 minutes choosing color cause she was picky but darker toned, she couldn't have lighter pastel colors. Anyway half way through the tattoo she kept trying to raise her arms up to be on
    via u/hwestbrooks
  • 12
    her phone and DROPPED HER PHONE ON HER FRESH TATTOO. My mentor was absolutely not having and kept telling her to put her phone down. After she finished the linework the girl looked in the mirror and decided that she didn't want color. Me and my mentor went home really | that night. Flash forward 2 months later, she's at our flash event we were hosting and my mentor was
    via u/hwestbrooks
  • 13
    talking about that night not realizing she's in the room. Thankfully I interrupted her right before she said she "just got a stupid Kirby on her chest". But we still talk about her all the time
    via u/hwestbrooks
  • 14
    Wactout Had a mom and daughter come in for a minimalist Yggdrasil on the back of the necks. And the mom asked me, what needle I planned on using. I blurted out bugpin 7. And she corrected me.... "Ink masters says fine line is only done with a single needle, if you can't do it the right way, maybe you're not the person for
    via u/Wactout
  • 15
    us."... immediately I got I off. But maintained my composure. And didn't want to work with them. So I recommended if that they weren't comfortable with my professional opinion that blown out tattoos is a bad idea, they can go with a colleague of mine who specializes in tiny tattoos. instead. But they needed them now. So I tattooed the HR manager(seriously) of some company, and her
    via u/Wactout
  • 16
    daughter and it came out good. Fast forward a month later, and while the owner is tattooing someone, an apprentice asks me what the most annoying customer I had was, so I recanted the story.... The client getting tattooed mentions that, "Hey, you're the guy who tattooed my wife and daughter a few weeks back! They loved it!"...... and the whole shop got wide eyed. I had to go to the back room
    via u/Wactout
  • 17
    to laugh so hard.... Never saw that family again. I feel bad for the guy. His wife sucked.
    via u/Wactout
  • 18
    Brilliant Shoc... OP Adding to my post! At our shop, the receptionist fills out a sheet for each client with the basic info (location, color or B&G etc) for the tattoo they want to get. These sheets are later handed to the artist right before their consultation, right as the client comes in the door. One day the owners wife was filling in for
    via u/Brilliant_Shock_8634
  • 19
    the day, and filled out a sheet for a particularly difficult somewhat regular client. Our normal receptionist handles her well, but this interaction didn't go as great. Anyway - owners wife decided to write "White trash little " on the clients' paperwork. Long story short - the consultation begins and unbeknownst to the artist (because why would that happen) there was that big
    via u/Brilliant_Shock_8634
  • 20
    note on the paper from owners wife that the client most definitely saw. Nobody knew anything was wrong until after she left and her mom called and freaked out on our (completely innocent) receptionist. We don't switch receptionists anymore.
    via u/Brilliant_Shock_8634
  • 21
    Gy... I had a client show up over an hour and a half late for their appointment. In a perfect world I wouldn't have tattooed her at all, but I was brokey broke at the time so I did it anyway. As soon as she "left" I said to the shop "man when she showed up close to two hours late I almost told her to right off..." thought it
    via r/TattooArtists
  • 22
    was weird when no one answered me until I realized she was still sitting on the other side of the counter out of my eyesight. Awkward but no repercussions, although she hasn't booked with me again either, whoops
    via r/TattooArtists
  • 23
    V-Ink Mentor once told me a story of how he was talking on a dude who he'd just tattooed (and had left) and was like "yeah that dude was such a ". His coworker's eyes got real wide and he turned around to see the guy had come back, and was holding out a cash tip for him lol. He tried
    via u/V-Ink
  • 24
    to be like "yeah that guy last week haha, he was such a ". No such luck, but I think he got the tip
    via u/V-Ink
  • 25
    woahniceclouds I had a consult that was pretty late to the appointment, a brother and sister. No text from them that they were running late, so I wasn't sure if they were even going to show. I started venting to my coworker about how people are only as good as their word, this is disrespectful, don't reach out to me if you're not going to value my time, etc.. Then
    via u/woahniceclouds
  • 26
    something in my gut told me to check and lobby and of course there they were. They must have snuck in during my tirade. I felt pretty awful, learned my lesson, and miraculously everything went fine. Just didn't mention it at all and went straight to discussing their tattoo ideas. Felt like an the whole time though.
    via u/woahniceclouds
  • 27
    Not me asking my client if that guy with the prison. tattoos came in as he was sitting there LMAO. luckily he was cool and confirmed that they were indeed prison tats
    via r/TattooArtists
  • 28
    dontbesodramati... Not quite the same - I do a lot of fine line and single needle tattoo work. Small stuff, I love it because I have a short attention span. I was running off a stencil for the fine line piece I was about to do. The printing/stencil station was in a little open room off of the front desk, so artists could see/hear everything. Anyway, one of
    via u/dontbesodramatic91
  • 29
    the artists I was working with at the time comes in and very loudly goes "wow, that would be so much cooler if that was bigger". Insert eye roll here. I'm not sure if she heard it or not, but I responded with "Oh no, I really love it at this size, my client is really happy with it," and grabbed my and went to set up.
    via u/dontbesodramatic91

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