Strange World Tattoo

Poor business ethic, and weak customer service. Went in to start a massive cover up, put down a 100 $ deposit with some guy called «peel». I live over an hour and a half away. The day of my appointment was the first blizzard of the year, and I got snowed in. I called to explain my situation only to be told «tough» and if I wanted to keep my spot I would have to put down another deposit. I have never felt so disrespected by a tattoo shop, there is supposed to be a level of friendship and understanding between the artist and client, but not at this place. Safe to say I went else where, got a much more professional artist, and was treated how you would expect to be treated when paying thousands of dollars for their art work. Take your money else where, to people who actually appreciate their clients.

I wrote my initial review after my second of what will be at least 7 visits to Strange World in the journey to getting my first tattoo (6 down, still need a minor touch-​up.) but they just keep giving me more great things to say!
While this place is still in high demand (which is well deserved) so booking an appointment will still probably be a multi-​month venture at best, they’re renovating the shop (it’s mostly done but there are a few things that give me the impression there’s still work to be done) which has added space for their two new artists, which should help reduce the weight slightly.
My biggest complaint previously was that poor George, the shop manager, was running double-​duty being the shops piercer AND the only person running the reception area which sometimes left customers waiting while she pierced someone. This ALSO appears to have been fixed, as I met another lovely young lady on my last trip who’s name escapes me at the moment but was just as friendly and helpful, who seems to only be on desk duty, making sure customers are dealt with in a timely fashion.
I also sat in on a session my brother and his girlfriend had with Mike, another of the shops artist (and a guy who was booking well into 2014 back in April, so you know he’s got skills) so I can totally vouch for him as well. Both their pieces turned out great, especially considering they couldn’t have been more different (a black and gray portrait style of my brothers dog, and a brightly colored custom floral piece for his gf). The fact that he was also super friendly and fun to talk to was also a bonus.
I, however, had my piece done by John, who their website describes as a relatively new artist, but you’d never know from looking at his work. At our first meeting, I brought in some very general reference pictures and had to just verbally convey sort of what I had in mind. He not only got everything I was saying perfectly, but added in some of his own touches that helped to fill everything out in such a way that it fit to the space better, yet didn’t take anything away from what I wanted. When I went in to see the sketch I was horrified that he may completely miss what I was going for but what he made was head and shoulders above the version I saw in my head.
When it came time to actually have it tattooed he was also great to work with, checking in frequently to make sure I was comfortable and felt okay, giving me feedback on how certain parts were working, etc. His station was also right next to the supply room so it was fun to see the reactions from the other artists as they came by to get things as they all seemed to be quite impressed, which also helped put me at ease knowing that the parts that I couldn’t see looked alright.
I enjoyed working with John so much that I even talked a friend of mine with a rather poor tattoo into giving me a ride to one session, so that I could introduce him to John and have him take a look and see what he could do. Luckily, he had a cancellation in a couple of weeks and got my buddy in. There were some things he couldn’t do much about, like some really uneven writing, but it looks at least 10 times better than it did before.
I officially don’t have anything negative to say anymore, aside from my own nervousness about the shops open concept (I’m a total ink newby and don’t know how well I’ll take it and am slightly concerned about strangers seeing me break down lol) but that’s totally a personal matter and no reflection on them.
I can’t stress this enough: if you’re looking for some ink in Calgary and don’t already have allegiance to a certain shop or artist, you owe it to yourself to at least come in and talk to these guys.