Cartel Ink Works

i had to travel a long diatance to reach this shop trying to stay loyal to my artist Jesso. i called the shop to sew if she was there
called got answering machine stating hours are till 10pm on friday . much to my surprise when i arrived at 815 they were closed with a poor sigh saying 8pm confirmed on yelp and facebook and there site directly 10pm called from parking lot since saw people inside recieved an answer from a very rude female saying they closed asked when hours changed was rudly advised we have always closed
at 8pm told her that all there sites say 10pm. so short story they will not get my business ever. I will go to FallenAngel Tattoo for all my future work.
at 8pm. advised ger

When you step through the doors you notice something is different. It's clean and the staff is friendly! You aren't intimidated. You are greeted and acknowledged, and that is huge coming from a woman who has felt very uncomfortable stepping into tattoo shops alone in the past. I have been tattood by Sterling several times, and he is very through and explains a lot. His artwork is amazing too!

A few months ago I went into Cartel Ink on Fair Oaks Blvd. interested in my second tattoo. I spoke with a man there, gave him my ideas, left my name, number, etc. but he wasn't interested in taking a deposit from me. I found this very unusual, but shrugged it off as them being a new business. A few weeks went by, I heard nothing, returned to Cartel, and the same man was at the counter. He remembered me but had done no work on the drawing, and told me he would start it ASAP, and took my information again.



A few more weeks go by, still nothing, so I return to the shop once again. There are 2 gentlemen working, that I had not seen on my last 2 visits. ( I later find out one of them was the owner!) I explained what happened, and was told the first tattoo artist, no longer worked for them. He was very apologetic, and seemed to want to make it right. I told him the idea for the tattoo, he said he was going to pass this piece off to another artist, who was better at the type of ink I was asking for. He said he would not require a deposit because of my past experience with the shop, however, I wanted him to know I was serious about getting the work done, and left a $40.00 deposit. He set me up an appointment with the artist, for 8 days later, to review the drawing. The day before the appointment, I felt it was best to call the shop and make sure everything was still a go. When the phone was answered, I was told the artist I needed to speak to was with an appointment, and would call me back later. Again, nothing, he did not return the call. (You would think at this point I had gotten the clue). I went in the next day, for my scheduled appointment, and the artist was baffled at who I was, said he already had another appointment set, etc. The gentlemen who made me the appointment (Again this is the OWNER!) came to the front of the shop, and was upset clearly that I had "fallen through the cracks again." I at this point was pretty upset, asked for my money back, which I received NO problems.



Later that day, I called the shop. I wanted answers. I left a message, and quickly got a return phone call from the owner. He really seemed to want to make this right, told me how important customer service was to him, how important it was to get a good reputation, being a new tattoo shop, etc. We made a deal for me to come back, view the drawing, and see if I wanted to continue with ink. He even was going to waive the shop fees for all my trouble.

Sounds good right? Someone made a few honest mistakes, was really sorry, really cared??



So I thought.... I went in saw the drawing the artist had come up with. I loved it instantly! I made an appointment with the artist HIMSELF, and even got an appointment card. On the day of the appointment. I arranged my child care needs, transportation for the kids to the sporting events, made dinner early, my sister was taking an extended lunch from her job, to come "check out the new place" and see her baby sister get a tattoo. I arrived for my appointment a few minutes before 4:00... and believe it or not the shop was JUST CLOSED. No notes, no calls, business hours stated they were open at 12:00.. but not a soul was there. So here I am standing outside the locked door, with an appointment card for that day, and that time in my hand, in shock. I could not believe this was happening! I waited for 15 minutes, and soon the light bulb went on, they were not showing up.



I called the shop and sent them a message on myspace. A few hours later the owner messaged me and said he just simply didn't know what happened, but he forwarded my number on to the artist, and encouraged him to call me. I messaged him back and wanted to know what had happened. I never heard another word from either of them, and its been over 2 weeks now. So the point of my story, find another place to get tattoo work done.

I MET THE OWNER ROB AND HIS KNOWLEDGE OF TATTOO'S AND THE INDUSTRY IN GENERAL WAS EXCEPTIONAL. I TOLD HIM WHAT TATTOO I WANTED AND HE THEN DIRECTED ME TO THE BEST PERSON ON HIS STAFF TO HANDLE MY INDIVIDUAL NEEDS. THIS SHOP HAS THE BEST AND FREINDLIEST SERVICE OF ANY TATTOO SHOP I'VE EVER BEEN IN, THEY ARE ALSO THE CLEANEST SHOP I HAVE EVER BEEN TO. I RECOMMEND THEM TO ANY PERSON WHO WANTS A QUALITY TATTOO FROM SOME VERY "STAND UP " PEOPLE.

I had my second tattoo done at Cartel Ink by Mike. I went in on my 40th birthday. I told Mike what I wanted and he came back with the drawing exactly how I wanted it and then he added some of his own ideas to it. I get so many compliments on my tattoo. I went back about a month later and had him do another one. This shop is very clean and the staff there are very friendly. They make you feel at home. Mike was always asking me how I was doing for if I needed to take a break. He made sure I was comfortable the whole time. I would recommend this Tattoo shop to anyone:-)