Primal Decor — Local services in Myrtletown

I cannot fathom how upset I am right now....I am an original customer of the owner & have had ALL of my piercings done at Primal Decor by Jason Whitcomb in the years he first opened . I moved away for almost 10 years, always stopping in when I came to town. Each time admiring how far the business had come, constantly expanding as well as all their amazing work, custom designs, custom jewelry etc. We moved back to Humboldt in November & have been very excited to start getting work done there again. Roughly 6-7 weeks ago my fiancé & I went in to the shop to find out if they would pierce my 17-year-old daughters Daith? After telling me they would with an original birth certificate and a California ID, I then informed them, the light skinned young woman (I don't know her name) that we wanted to have it done together for her birthday and that I would like to schedule an appointment for the both of us. So here we are... today it's my daughter's 17th birthday. My fiancé took the day off work, losing out on money to provide for our family. He stayed home to watch our 13-month-old while I took my daughter, mind you that it was a complete surprise & I was very excited about it, to get a piercing with me for her birthday present. When we showed up at 4:35 PM today for our appointment I was then told that I only made an appointment for one person. I then broke down in tears. In an attempt to compensate me for their mistake, but still putting it off on me, they offered us appointments w/free jewelry for Tuesday. But wait what about the half off piercing ??? Well Tuesday isnt her birthday, now it is no longer a surprise, I also don't have a babysitter for Tuesday. I am so angry & hurt. I did everything right, planned ahead, made an appt., confirmed the appt., showed up, brought the documents that were required for her to get pierced as a minor. I was even extra excited because piercings were half off today. BUT none of that made any difference for us because they couldn't squeeze me in to get pierced with my daughter for her birthday. I was still being told over and over again by the light skinned young woman that I only made an appointment for one person. Thinking I was crazy I even confirmed with my fiancé that I did indeed make appointments for both of us, Anna and Maddie. I am appalled at her lack of consideration for a customer, an original customer, especially a customer that was upset by something that she, an employee did/didn't do, her lack of paying attention to detail, nor giving correction information as well as her lack of accountability. I'm pretty sure, in my own experiences that is, that customer service makes the world go round. As Paying customers, we help keep businesses open and operating. Not that they need me to pay for services there to stay open but the end goal is to build a consistent clientele and hope that their customer is be pleased with their service so they will return for more as well as refer them to family & friends....

One would probably consider me well-seasoned at this point. I have visited 9+ different shops for more tattoos and piercings than can reasonably be counted, and none of them come close to the experience at Primal Decor. For one, it is private. They do not use screens or booths, or just have open space-- They actually have separate rooms. If your piece requires any amount of undress, this will likely be a comfort. Even if that is not the case for you, it is definitely nice to avoid the passers-by creeping up mid-session to comment and observe. Their equipment is also very professional, something I did not appreciate until I went to a different shop, and an artist stuck a paper towel and saran wrap over their finished work. Primal also uses designated chairs, if I remember correctly, and it will make a difference as far as comfort goes. Their selection of jewelry is pretty great, and they do in-house anodizing. My misgiving here is that I have run into the same quality of starter/standard/no-frills jewelry at a less expensive price, but that was in Portland. That aside, the head piercer will work with you on complex projects, and is a seasoned veteran, making the entire process pleasant and smooth. I have only been tattooed by Luis while here, but I can highly recommend his work. He is excellent at script, and also trees. I have also gone in for dotwork, and been pleasantly surprised by his technique and lack of hassle. The piece he has done with very delicate linework gets compliments nearly all the time. Luis is always quite speedy about things too (Id est: Does not feel the need to take a break to smoke, can go from line work to shading immediately, et cetera), and the rates are very reasonable for the excellent quality. Have a clear goal, and communicate it, and your tattooing experience will go as well as is possible. Shout out to the counter staff, who make an effort with names and pronouns. 250+ miles away, and I still...

TL;DR - 1 step forward 2 steps back! Disrespecting the Transhumanism movent in guise of fausly representing the Transgender movement.

For a community claiming to promote the trans movement; I felt disrespected, picked on, and isolated when expressing my identity.

Upon sign in, when asked to give your official information, one of the questions is your preferred pronoun. I gave mine, which is "Dingus": a made up word from the children's show Adventure Time.

After my piercing, I was asked to never come to the shop again, and I quote "We feel you were disrespectful by your answer on our questionnaire. We have trans people working here. "

I offered my sincere apology, was turned down when I offered a tip for the service (which I was happy with), and I felt unable to have a solid discourse; instead the owner's mind already made up.

Again, this is not a transgender friendly business, rather a trans-trans phobic house of oxymoronic Idiocracy!

I wish the business and employees the best of luck on their journey of "finding self". Here's a tip: don't judge and ridicule the very people who make up...