None of this has changed since my previous written policy (rev. 2001), however I am just making things a little clearer and more explicit because of the number of recent cancellations. Please keep in mind that when I am traveling I often have less than a week in any given city, so my time is very limited and valuable. Often I do have a wait list so if you have to cancel please give me adequate notice, otherwise it really does leave me in an unpleasant predicament.
Priority in scheduling is given according to the date of the receipt of your deposit. The earlier you sign up, the more choices you will have in appointment times, and the more time you will have to create a custom design. Deposits are non-refundable once you have received any artwork or sample images whatsoever, but they are applied to the cost of you tattoo.
If you have signed up, but are unavailable during my dates to your area, or for any other reason opt not to get tattooed during the planned trip, there’s no problem– your deposit will be honored for my next two subsequent trips to your area. I try to be somewhat flexible on this, but I cannot keep everyone on the list indefinitely. After one year of inactivity in any case, your name will be dropped from the active list and your deposit forfeited, unless other arrangements are made in writing (e-mail is sufficient). The key here is communication- if you are still interested, please return my calls & e-mails. If I am contacting you and get absolutely no response, your deposit will be forfeited as stated above. I cannot keep calling you indefinitely.
If you have an appointment, yet have to cancel and do give adequate notice of at least 72 hours (3 days), there’s no problem, I will honor your deposit my next two subsequent two trips to your area. Again, if you do not schedule within a year of your date of last activity, then your name will be dropped & your deposit forfeited, unless you are a repeat client and other arrangements are made. I try to be flexible and do ask for 3 days advance notice of cancellations, but please give me at least a minimum 48 hours notice so I can attempt to full your time slot.
If you simply don’t show up or cancel with less than adequate notice, as started above I ask for 3 days notice and without this, you will forfeit your deposit. I’m happy to reschedule you but only with full pre-payment. That way if you don’t show up again, it’s fine by me! If you are a REGULAR client… that is, if you’ve had at least 3 prior appointments with me and you don’t show up for one with no notice, half in advance is sufficient.
As for constitutes a sufficient emergency for you to cancel without notification? If your condition or position is such that you are unable to make a phone call or ask someone make one for you. My phone number is on my website and in my Facebook information.
If you change numbers, or don’t return my calls: If you are signed up and you change phone numbers, e-mail addresses, please notify me. There have been numerous instances where I cannot reach someone for this reason. Also, if I leave you a phone message or e-mail you, please respond, assuming you do want to follow up with your tattoo. I’ve had people send a deposit, then they’ve never returned a phone call or an e-mail. As a result, after 3 successful attempts to reach you– that is, if I successfully reach your phone machine and leave you a message, or e-mail you at least 3 times, I will make no further attempt to contact you. It’s up to you to respond.
SCHEDULING: Once we have confirmed your pattern, I can give you an estimate on how long it will take and we can look at possible appointment times and get you on the schedule. Scheduling is best done by phone, as availability changes quite quickly.
DESIGN CHANGES: Please read this once you are ready to confirm on your design and the size. Once you make that FINAL decision, that is once we’ve confirmed the pattern and the size, and we have scheduled your appointment, it is very challenging for me to receive requests for major design changes. If your tattoo requires a transfer this is especially critical as I will have scaled the drawing to meet those specifications, printed it, then redrawn it, by hand onto transfer paper. Often this takes as long as several hours. Should you change your mind, or want major changes after this is completed, you will be charged an artwork fee of $75 dollars per hour for any additional time required.
The above is far less critical if it is a freehand design, but the following will apply in either case: should there be a significant time difference between the actual tattooing time that the two designs would take, you will be charged the higher of the two prices. This is for two reasons: 1). I would have spent a longer period preparing the larger design that you are not using, which is a total time waste. And 2). Once I have you scheduled, I have blocked in “X” number of hours for you…say 4 hours (if you change your pattern to something I can do in 2 hours, I am out of work & twiddling my thumbs for 2 hours, OR I am frantically calling people and asking them to rearrange their scheduled appointment times. In short, please make sure before you give me that final confirmation, and if you do request a change, please understand that there will be an additional cost.
I have always included artwork fee in the cost of the tattoo (within reason, that is up to 3 hours), but I recently discovered the majority of tattooists do not! As of 2013 I will be charging $75 an hour for all required art and drawing time.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at tattoo@lava.net or by calling (808) 734-8677 (this is a Hawai’i number, so please don’t call before 11:00 am, CA time if you know I am at home). When I am on the mainland. I DO NOT OFTEN E-MAIL WHILE TRAVELING, so the phone is actually the best way to reach me.