Where the hell is that dead horse? Time to beat that bloated disgustingly smelly corpse a little more I suppose.
Many of my clients both old and new have "regular" jobs where at the end of a week or two they go in to a regular paycheck. And if the company you work for doesn't meet their quota of sales or what have you, their pay check goes untouched. They can still look forward to getting the same paycheck every week. If you are one of these individuals, imagine getting your paycheck and finding hundreds of dollars missing because the company you work for didn't do well that week. Some others like me work on a sort of commission basis, we only make money when we make the company money. So I live a very different lifestyle than most people. I depend on my clients.
When you come in and make an appointment and leave the mandatory $50 deposit you've made a commitment to show up that day ready for your tattoo. By not showing up and failing to even show me the courtesy of a phone call you not only forfeit that deposit but the time and energy spent finding the right reference picture or the countless hours spent drawing or redrawing a picture not to mention paper, ink from my personal printer etc all go unaccounted for and I am left scrambling to fill that position. I depend on my clients because just like you I too have bills to pay. I have to buy clothes for my kids, pay my rent, and put gas into my car just like you. Many people hear us tell you that we charge $150 an hour and think about how much money we must be raking in as if we tattoo from the time we get to work until the time we leave. Untrue. Hours are spent on artwork, refining drawings, researching and marketing. Or worse, trying to fill spots left by no shows or last minute re schedule situations. That $50 is a small compensation for a three hour time slot we may have booked you for.
And far worse are the clients who we've grown to trust and have waived the normal deposit and then don't show up. As if us having a stronger bond than that of a first time client makes me loosing money that day easier to deal with. Its not, I find it much more frustrating and take it way more personal because they know how I feel and what its like for me. I do not live close to either studio I work for. I drive 45 minutes to an hour each day one way. Yes, this has been my choice, but I decided to continue to work in south jersey where I could continue to provide quality tattoos to my clients, their friends and their families. I could make things easy on myself and get a job closer to home but I value my clients. And even though I drive those distances I can count on one hand in the last 4 years how many times I've missed or had to reschedule a client due to me running late or being unable to show up. Unfortunately I can not count the number of times I've been stood up or had to reschedule someone last minute.
Let me also mention the question asker. The person whom you have an online question and answer session where in they drill you on how much something will cost and you then go through the normal responses. Then they want to know where you work as if the studio names and locations are not all over my Facebook, Instagram, Website, Tumblr, and Twitter pages. They also then want to know your hours, when you have openings, how soon you can get them in, how much the deposit is, etc. And then you NEVER hear or see them again. Hours and hours of time wasted with nothing to show for it except some hope that you might have a cool appointment soon.
So I guess all that I'm asking for is a little consideration when it comes to not only making your appointment but keeping it as well. I appreciate all of you and would love to continue to provide you with the best tattoos that I can. And I'll continue to make the sacrifices of driving, working late and getting up early to get your drawings done, but show me and my family the same respect please.
