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| - I'm going to be super honest here: I've never reviewed a single shop, business or restaurant in my life, but my experience at Pearl Harbor Gift Shop was so disappointing that I felt it was worth jotting down, even though it generally goes against my usual motto of "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
It's worth noting first and foremost, that the interactions I had with both the receptionist, and Eric, the artist were lovely. The receptionist was polite, knowledgeable and very helpful discussing designs, pricing and which artists were available. She was very informative about the process and what sizes and locations would work best for the prospective tattoo I proposed. My interaction with Eric was limited but he seemed very easygoing and accommodating and I was excited to get a tattoo from him.
Now, I had done a lot of research on shops and artists in the Toronto area, and although the tattoo I was getting was fairly simple (it would have been my third tattoo, but no larger than the size of my fist, and mostly line work, estimated at about an hour's worth of work), I was looking for a shop where I could establish a customer relationship with the staff and come back to for any new work I wanted done. I had stopped in once with my friend to check out the shop, and really liked the vibe. It was busy, even midday on a weekday, which speaks volumes about the reputation and cleanliness of the place, and I had come back a day or two later to nab one of the in-demand walk-in appointments.
I had read countless glowing reviews about Pearl Harbor Gift Shop, with only a few bad ones dispersed throughout, mainly focused on bad interactions with reception (most of these were older) or with the owner. Only one review I found spoke poorly of the cleanliness of the shop, and I discounted it because it sounded like a customer who was told they couldn't get the tattoo they wanted, which is a fairly common occurrence, as many tattoo artists won't do certain types/location tattoos for people outside the industry. Chalking it up to angry character assassination, I resolved to just follow my usual precautions and ask to see the equipment before use, which was welcomed by the people who did my last work, and certainly not treated as any kind of major faux pas.
Anyway, as Eric was setting up in the back, I asked the owner, who was at the front desk, if it was ok if I watched the set up process. The inquiry (I'm a small, quiet person and I go to great lengths to be painfully polite) was met with immediate aggression. The owner stood up and angrily asked if if I was accusing his shop of not being clean, and said, "well I'll ask him but if it was me I'd say 'get the f*** out of my shop!'" Then he stomped into the back and went on a tirade to the artist about how "this b**** wants to watch you set up, she doesn't trust that you'll do it right or something." Etc.
Needless to say, I stood there a little bit shocked, and looked at my friend, who was equally perturbed (he was angry, meanwhile I'm on the verge of tears because face it, no one likes being yelled at) when the artist came back out sort of awkwardly and asked if I was ready. I stammered a bit and ultimately apologized profusely for wasting his time but decided not to get a tattoo there.
I felt really bad because I had clearly offended the owner, but at the same time, he went off at the drop of a hat. Beyond that, it cost the artist time and money, as he missed out on a job, which is probably the worst facet of the entire thing. Regardless of which one of us was in the wrong, I no longer felt welcome, and as stated, the goal was to find a shop for repeat business.
Anyway, if you're looking for a tattoo, the place has some awesome artists, and great reception, but maybe avoid the owner. I personally feel like if you go off whenever anyone asks you about process or cleanliness, it makes it look like you have something to hide. I get it, it's a question that probably comes up a lot, and there's a very real stigma in the world that high end tattoo parlors have to contend with. The fact that the shop is so busy is the only reason I don't think there actually is a problem, but yeah, the owner definitely has a chip on his shoulder. Overall the experience left me pretty bummed out, as I had been really excited to get this particular piece done, and now it has to wait til I can scope out some other shops.
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