STUDS — Local services in Washington

I don't usually post reviews, but I had to share my experience last week.

First off, the woman who helped my friend and me pick out earrings was great. Nae pierced both of our sets of ears and was beyond fantastic. She showed attention to detail, really good at her job, and was very friendly. She is the full reason why this is a 3 star review. I wish I could have written two reviews where I could give 5+ stars to Nae and the manager on duty 1 star for her unfriendly communication, unwillingness to accommodate customers, and problem solve that would have led to a better overall experience.

My friend took a train from NY to DC to meet me to get our ears pierced as a way to celebrate my birthday. As we paid for our earrings and piercings, the manager was extremely rude and contributed to an escalated exchange with my friend. All of which could have been avoided if the manager had let my friend put her earrings back into her ears in a piercing room instead of telling her to put them on outside of the in 40 degree weather. The manager working claimed they had to adhere to a strict health code. Honestly, I find that tough to believe that Studs would prefer paying customers to put their in earrings outside of their store (which is not a clean or safe environment) in the dark (also not a good look to have customers putting in their earrings outside of the storefront) instead of offering an empty piercing room for my friend to put her earrings back into her ears safely.

After the initial exchange and while I was paying for my earrings/piercing, my friend asked where the bathroom was. The manager told her she was not allowed to use the bathroom. It is extremely unacceptable to restrict the use of bathrooms to paying customers--the manager assumed that my friend was using the bathroom to put in her earrings--she wasn't and didn't.

A manager of a store should be friendly and make customers feel like they are valued. When a potential issue arises, it can be worked through in an effective and appropriate manner. This manager put a damper on our experience. We were very excited to celebrate my birthday and instead we had to...

Where do I start… in the early afternoon we went in and my friend bought jewelry and I asked if I could come back later and get pierced when the piercer was available. When we came back another man greeted us but we were looking for the woman we originally talked to, the man acted rude and standoffish when we explained to him why we were there. He helped me pick out jewelry for my piercing and I asked if it was $80 for the pair of earrings and he said yes. My piercing experience with Kayla was great I got my second done no problem. Again my friend had a great experience with another gentleman who replaced her jewelry. We both go to check out, I am checked out by the woman with initially spoke to and she tells me my total is almost $230. I was expecting $150 at most, that includes the $50 piercing, $80 studs, and the saline solution for new piercings. Little did I know it was $80 for EACH stud. I was shocked by the total but obviously you can’t do anything when the jewelry is already in your ears. The woman was very kind and understanding and gave me a student discount to help with the total. I felt like I was lied to by the man and misled into purchasing the more expensive option.

My friend had bought two hoops previously that day and when was getting her jewelry switched out she ended up needing a stud instead of a hoop because of irritation to the piercing. When she went to return the hoop and purchase the stud the same rude man treated her like she was stupid and didn’t know was a refund was. He made it more complicated then it needed to be and we’re still not %100 if he actually refunded her or not. He had the audacity to ask for a tip/review after the exchange.

I assume he was the manager on duty at the time because he acted like it. But he had no customer service skills and acted like we were wasting his time as if we both didn’t just drop a bag on their overpriced jewelry. I’ve read multiple bad reviews referencing to this man and location. You asked for a review, you’re...

DO NOT GO TO THE GEORGETOWN LOCATION!

Let me start off by saying I NEVER write reviews, but my experience was so awful and unwelcoming. I have been to many STUDS locations and have always had amazing experiences. But the Georgetown location management or higher STUDS management must seriously check on their employees behavior.

My piercer Nae, was absolutely amazing! She was very kind and walked me through everything. The three piercings I got were almost painless. It’s a shame that the awful staff in the front overshadowed this experience.

Now for the reason I will not ever be returning to this studs location. The staff in the front were INCREDIBLY rude and unprofessional. The man who was helping us (he had a palm tree tattoo on his arm and a lighting bolt on his finger) was just awful. He snapped at my friend for touching something and was extremely condescending to me when I told him I was worried about the flat back earrings falling out of my ear. When I completed the consent form, I asked him what I should do next. He rolled his eyes at me and said in a very condescending tone “I already told you to sit down.”

Like I said the actual piercing was amazing! But when I came back out again to pay, the staff members in the front where giving my friend and I dirty looks. As I was paying, the three staff in the front, including the man from earlier, where talking very loudly about how weird a costumer that had just left was. They were saying rude things about how she looked. It was incredibly disturbing how staff members, who are in the business of putting literal holes in people’s ears, talk so disgustingly about someone’s appearance.

Based on reading other reviews this seems to be a common problem that management hasn’t addressed, as these rude people are still there. If you are looking for a STUDS location in DC, go to the one at Union Market. You will not be welcomed at the one...