Ago | Fine Jewelry & Piercing — Attraction in Newport

The host was sweet. But the attitude from the piercer was unnecessary. My child is 13. She acted as if I couldn’t tell my child anything at all. I wasn’t having it. For over 100 dollars I’d expect a little more customer service than that. But again host was great. Just would not ever use the piercer again. Edited “updated” response. Thank you for your response, though I must say, it read more like damage control than genuine accountability. It’s always fascinating when someone mistakes a parent’s concern for a disruption, and professionalism for overstepping.Let’s set the record straight: I wasn’t there to perform. I was there to protect as a mother, and as a medical professional. Ensuring my 13-year-old daughter was calm, conscious, and perhaps most critically, breathing! during a facial piercing isn't “distracting.” It's literally basic patient safety. Breath-holding during procedures involving sharp instruments and nerve endings can easily lead to vasovagal syncope, also known as passing out cold, which in case you’re unfamiliar, can result in a sudden fall, head trauma, or worse. So when I instructed my daughter to breathe, I wasn’t micromanaging I was preventing a potential medical emergency. Something I’m trained to do, and you, respectfully, are not. What was “controlled” about dismissing me mid-sentence while encouraging my daughter to ignore her mother’s direction? That wasn’t maintaining focus. That was undermining a parent’s role and jeopardizing safety for the sake of perceived authority. And the unsolicited commentary about which side of the nose the piercing “should” go on? The eye-roll, the subtle snide tone? Let's call it what it was: unprofessional posturing. You were not consulted for aesthetic direction. You were hired to perform a procedure. The choice of side was made between myself and my daughter. Your personal preference was never on the ballot. Let’s not reframe this as you “redirecting calmly” either. Being spoken over, scoffed at, and dismissed isn’t calm,it’s condescension with a smile. The only thing you “maintained” was a fragile illusion of control while attempting to minimize a parent’s perfectly reasonable involvement. In short: My role was to ensure my daughter’s health and safety. Your role was to perform a piercing, safely and respectfully. I fulfilled my obligation. You overstepped yours. For future reference, when a parent with medical training offers guidance mid-procedure, especially involving a minor, the appropriate response isn’t to shut them down,it’s to listen and learn. Because while you may be well-practiced with a needle, I’m well-practiced with what happens when things go wrong. I sincerely hope my daughter enjoys her piercing. I’ll also be enjoying knowing that next time, we’ll be choosing a studio that understands the difference between...

I’d like to offer a brief but necessary correction to the rather ill-considered behavior displayed during our daughter’s recent visit to your establishment.

Our 13-year-old came in to get her nose pierced. an experience that, while routine for you, is entirely new (and understandably nerve-wracking) for a child. Fortunately, she had her mother by her side, a licensed medical professional who knows more than a thing or two about human physiology, patient care, and how to manage anxiety in medical situations.

So you’ll forgive me if I find it laughable and frankly, alarming, that a piercing technician felt qualified to interject and suggest that my wife shouldn’t tell our daughter to breathe during the procedure. Are you under the impression that it’s wise to encourage children to hold their breath while being pierced? Because I assure you, that’s not a hot take, it’s a hazard. Passing out is not a rite of passage.

Let me be perfectly clear: you are not a medical authority. You are not a parental authority. You are a piercer. A service provider. And when someone brings in their child, pays your rate, and follows your stated rules (which included that a parent could be present), your job is to perform the procedure safely, respectfully, and with some humility.

Telling a parent how to manage their child’s health and comfort crosses a line. not just ethically, but professionally. Worse, doing so with a condescending tone and controlling demeanor reflects poorly not only on you, but on the business as a whole.

Also, just for clarity’s sake: when a paying client requests a specific side for the piercing, that’s not a suggestion. it’s the service being paid for. Personal opinions or preferences from the staff are entirely irrelevant.

Finally, a word of advice,because you may find it useful in life, regardless of your industry: confidence is not the same thing as competence, and control is not a substitute for professionalism. If you’re truly serious about your role in a client-facing industry, you may want to reflect on the way you handle families, especially minors, and develop a bit more emotional intelligence to go with your needle.

You were lucky this time to encounter parents with patience. please note our child is our responsibility. Not yours. You are paid for a service and that’s it. Your opinion on anything else will never matter, and matters even less when you try to force it. Stay...

Their body jewelry selection is excellent and the tattoo artists are very skilled-IF they deign to accept you as a client.

I submitted a request for a quote for one very simple line of runes as a memorial tattoo, with plans to add a second line under the first at a later time. They suggested changes that would have made it gigantic and change the entire design, and then refused to give me a quote and said their artists had declined the job when I told them that was not an option. I frankly doubt that any of their artists were consulted in the first place, and I see no reason why I should wear someone else's idea of what MY memorial tattoo should look like.

This is not my first tattoo, nor even my second. I have significant coverage and am very experienced with tattooing and tattoo design, and I have never had this happen before, where the artist tries to take over and make it conform to their idea instead of what their customer wants. I understand about suggesting small changes to enhance the design-this was not that. I will be looking elsewhere to have this done to my specifications, and will not be patronizing Ago in the future.

Edit: As I expected, a snarky answer telling me that what I want is just simply beneath them, as the great ARTISTES they believe themselves to be, and that I apparently insulted them by making such a ridiculous request for such a silly tattoo as a memorial to my late father.

"Fun" was mentioned twice in the reply-this isn't about FUN, it's about commemorating my father, and frankly the frivolous nature of the reply is an insult, to both myself and his memory. I think this was just an attempt make it bigger and more expensive, and while it might have expressed the tattooers vision, it has absolutely nothing to do with mine. Perhaps the shop should be named Ego, which is much...