Old Town Tattoo Studio

I received a navel piercing from this studio a few years ago while on a shopping trip to Old Town. I had heard glowing reviews and recommendations from other people (people who seem to know a thing or two about tattoos and piercings) for this studio, so I'm hoping and can only assume that the individual who did my piercing is the rare exception and not the norm, although due to recent events, I'm not too sure about that. Right up until the piercing was done, I thought everything was clean and fine. I chose my ring, waited in the lobby while he went back to prepare the piercing room, and went back to the room when called. I was facing away from the piercer so I couldn't see everything he was doing, but I saw several autoclave packages, and like I said, I'd heard glowing reviews of this place, from friends no less, so I assumed everything was kosher. After he was done I saw him toss the needle he'd pierced me with in the trash - not a sharps container, but the TRASH - and the warning bells went off. I was so shocked the words "Oh my god, you just throw the needles in the trash and not a sharps container??" flew out of my mouth before I had time to think about it...then I began asking questions. Dumb to assume everything was clean just based on what other people have told me of their experiences, yes, but I did and now I know better. It turns out, everything was autoclaved - everything but the jewelry, that is. He actually took the ring I picked RIGHT OUT OF THE DISPLAY CASE and that is what he used on me - but he seemed to think that since he washed it off with Bactine, that made it okay. I left the studio shocked; I can at least say that I talked to the manager the next day, who apologized profusely and offered a refund. No surprise, the piercing never healed properly, and my body rejected it around the four month mark.

I went back into this studio on Black Friday this year (being 2006), interested in some tapers to stretch my ears. It had been several years, so I figured maybe everything would be okay. I was greeted by a woman working behind the counter, and asked her if they had any tapers in stock. She didn't seem to know what I was talking about at first, so I told her I wanted something to help stretch the holes in my ears. She haughtily informed me that if I wanted bigger holes in my ears, I'd have to get them repierced or scalpeled in the larger guage, and that she "didn't have anything called 'tapers'." Her exact words, by the way. I figured out she wasn't the piercer because a woman who heard us talking quickly came out from the back to talk to me. They didn't have any tapers in stock at that moment, but would be getting some, she assured me. This piercer was nice and seemed knowledgeable, but it wasn't enough to counteract the two poor experiences. I won't be going back to this shop ever again, and hope that no-one else who visits this studio has the experiences that I have had.