Black Diamond Body Piercing — Local services in West Hartford

I have been getting pierced since I was 16. I'm now 35. I've gotten my tongue, nose, and medusa (philtrum) many times as well as other piercings. I always went to the same piercer. Black Diamond was not them. The last couple of times I went to my original piercer, I was really unhappy with the person who pierced me. It was the same piercer both times. They didn't listen to where I wanted the piercing. I've reviewed them and did complain to the owner. When you pay for a service that is so expensive, you should be happy with the piercing and customer service. Those two times, ultimately caused me to have to remove the piercing, heal, and get it again. So I went to Black Diamond because I wanted my philtrum again. The studio was very clean and nice. The booking process was annoying. The amount of questions you have to agree to was insane. You do have to pay a deposit which goes towards everything. I think it was $45. In my opinion, that was expensive. You then had to pay more for the piercing. This is normal but normally you pay for everything at the shop. The jewelry selection wasn't amazing. My other piercing place has a much larger selection. They did have titanium which is recommended at both places. Some places do not use that or surgical steel or implantation grade. I'm a snob about this. I found something I liked and we did it. The first gem was way too big. They switched it out. I left happy ish. I went to book my appointment to get my post size changed and that's when I started having issues. They wouldn't pre book it for me. I checked in a few weeks later and they asked me to take a photograph of everything. They didn't think it was ready. Ultimately, I decided to wait and I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I was a little irritated at this point. I tried scheduling a couple of weeks later and it was the same thing. The jewelry was causing serious irritation and a reoccurring cut right at/under my nostril. Again, this wasn't my first time getting this piercing. It wasn't even my second or third time getting it. The tipping point for me was when they said it was going to be another $30. I cannot remember if the post was going to cost anything. I have never been charged to change the post size. I went back to my old piercer and I paid $15. $5 to hold the appointment with Marc/ the owner and then the $10 because they weren't the original piercer which that shop charges to change jewelry when the piercing wasn't done by then. Had I gone to them, it would've been covered as they don't charge for that...at all. I don't plan on going back and I wouldn't recommend this shop. I was in pain and they offered me a consultation but they still said if the piercer didn't agree, they wouldn't do it. I live over an hour away. I believe they would've wanted me to pay for that too. None of that was going to work for me. My old piercing place said it was definitely ready to be sized down. They even threw in a post size that is smaller than the one I got. The waivers you have to sign with this place and all the conditions you had to agree to seemed to go on and on and on and on and on. I almost didn't go to them just because of that. At the end of the day, I think if you are releasing the shop of Amy and all liability, they should do what the customer requests within reason. I feel my request was very reasonable. I got an email today talking about changing the post size. It said it could take up to 2-3 months for my piercing to fully heal. I have an odd suspicion that this same process of me requesting and getting denied an appointment would've gone...

Absolutely incredible. (2015), I went for a nose piercing with my best friend and was understandably nervous. I had only had bad experiences with piercings but I had wanted my nose done for 2 years so when I got the opportunity, I went for it. It is the only place in Connecticut that I will ever go, the only other piercing place I went to pierced my second lobe terribly. So I went to black diamond and right when I entered, I could tell they knew what they were doing, which immediately calmed my nerves. The staff is so warm, helpful, and friendly. They suggested the size and I picked one with 3 blue jewels and paid (nearly 100, but it's totally worth it. Amazing quality). After filling out paperwork and paying and picking out my jewelry, Brooke took my friend and I into a back room where my friend and I decided she would go first. She was getting her Monroe and talked to Brooke about anything and everything and Brooke was so sweet and chill but very professional. She talked her through it as she prepped and marked the placement. she explained aftercare thoroughly. She laid her back and got lined up, told her to breathe in and out and then boom. The piercing was done and she slipped the jewelry in in maybe 30 seconds. After she cleaned her up and wiped down the seat, she told me to hop up whenever I was ready. I began to get nervous again and I think she could tell but she was so sweet. I asked her how quick it would be and how painful - which they can't tell you pain scale because everyone is different. But she told me that it was really fast and it wasn't that bad. So I sat down, she cleaned me up and marked a spot and let me check. I loved the placement so I hopped back up and she told me I could lean back if I wanted. She made sure I was comfortable, said I could close my eyes or keep them opened and just to stay still. So I leaned back and she got lined up and reassured me it would be fine. And my friend told her I had gotten a wart removed and sat well and Brooke said "you sat through that? Girl, this is going to be nothing." And guess what? She was right. She told me To breathe in and out and on the exhale the needle went in. The pain was 3/10 not bad at all whatsoever. I went back to get the other side done by Andy, who is equally as amazing. She was kind and easy to talk to and very professional. She had me lay down and then got lined up before telling me to breathe. And it did hurt a little more than my right side, but not terrible. 5/10 for the second side and my eye did water more. But all in all it was completely fine and I hardly felt nervous. I'm going back there to get my Tragus pierced in a few weeks and I'm really excited. I think I'll be getting most of my piercings there from now on. Edit: got my daith done by Brooke a few Months ago. 10/10 recommend going to...

I wish I had read the reviews before excitedly making an appt for my 16 year old to have her first piercing done here. I wanted to support an all female business and drove over an hour to this appt. We too experienced the cold and harsh lack of customer service here like others stated in other reviews. We arrived to our appt on time and with all the necessary legal documents in hand. However I had overlooked a policy on having someone else with us and as a single mom had brought my 6 year old without thinking about it because that’s what us single moms have to do. Upon knocking on the door it was immediately pointed out that she was with us and that that wasn’t allowed. I simply asked what a single parent is supposed to do in that situation and was told to hold on. We waited outside until she brought back a phone to say “here this this where you agreed to this policy.” And that was that. Now I’m not one to ask for exceptions or to complain about policies however what was startling to me was that she never even offered any kind of solution before refusing our service, basically shutting the door in our face and keeping the $50 deposit. I wonder how many services they’ve flat out refused and they’ve then kept the deposits for services they refused to do? Being a first time customer and feeling like your business doesn’t matter was a very interesting feeling when you went out of your way to support this particular female owned business. A simple “let’s try and find another day to accommodate you.” would’ve felt like bare minimum customer service but we weren’t deserving of even the most basic level of customer care. So we drove an hour back home wondering why we weren’t even offered a different time or anything. Thankfully we were able to get it done at another reputable female owned piercing studio where we were treated like valued customers instead of being made to feel less than. Rules are great but treating customers like they matter is what should matter the most when running a...