Given up on Celestial Ring (Wildcat)

garthv

Well, I'd never thought I'd say this but looks like I'm going to have to find a new piercing parlour.

Went in to Celestial Ring in Stephens Green to get my navel done yesterday. The girlfriend came in with me to get her nipple done too. Got into the shop, it was pretty empty and I saw that there was two piercers on so I figured it would be over and done in a matter of minutes. After waiting around for 10 minutes I was finally shown into a room and pierced. Don't know the name of the girl who pierced me but there was no friendliness whatsoever. She was so cold and clinical about the job, not even a smile on her face, really put me off the whole process.

So I got my navel done and went to pay for it, the guy behind the counter told me €48 even though when I looked in the price list it said €40. He claimed it was an extra charge for the jewellery but I've always paid what it says on the pricelist, never been charged extra for jewellery.

So my girlfriend was up next to get pierced, after waiting 25 minutes with noone seeing her, I went up to the counter and asked what was going on. The place wasn't that busy, was mainly just kids buying jewellery and whathaveya. He told me he didn't know what was going on so we waited around for another 5 minutes. The receptionist then called my girlfriend over and pointed to one of the piercers. She headed over to the piercer and all she said was "What am I talking to you for? I'm not ready yet." and walked off. Not a nice way to conduct business in my opinion. We decided to leave it at that and walked out.

Now, Ive gotten all my piercings done(20 at this stage) in Celestial Ring and I've never gotten such a bad vibe from the place. Maybe its time for a change......

Will

Yeah i was trying to buy plugs off of em the other day, asked the guy behind the counter to open the display so I could take a peek. He sorta just wanderd off, waited around for 20minutes or so. Asked again, basically just really bad customer service. There was a new guy behind the counter and he didnt have a clue.
I asked for 16mm plugs, told me to wait for the piercer to come out cos she would have a better idea, instead of just whipping out the callipers. Not impressed to be honest

The female piercer there stretched my nipple piercing for me, found her quite cold but very professional...

bounty_hunter

Did the girl who pierced you have black hair and a load of industrial piercings by any chance Gary?

garthv

She did indeed, english bird I think

jenizzle

GaRtH_V wrote: »

So I got my navel done and went to pay for it, the guy behind the counter told me €48 even though when I looked in the price list it said €40. He claimed it was an extra charge for the jewellery but I've always paid what it says on the pricelist, never been charged extra for jewellery.

Yeah, this is a recent development, but I was none too impressed when I found it out. What I do is tell them to leave the cleansing solution (I have loads, and use sea salt soaks anyway) and that knocks the €8 off it again.

I dunno - I've always recommended Celestial, but I've never had the same person pierce me twice. Any time I get a good piercer, I never see them again. I've also found Abbey Street to be more informative/friendly, but the Green to be more skilled.

truthinwords

GaRtH_V wrote: »

She did indeed, english bird I think

That'd be Cheryl if I'm not mistaken and I get what you mean but from talking to her during tattoo sessions I've found that she's really nice and friendly once you get to know her but can be a bit cold at first. She did my smiley for me and was very good at keeping me relaxed. Who's the guy behind the counter? The girl with the green dreads is normally excellent with advice and jewelery etc.

xtruthx

garthv

truthinwords wrote:

That'd be Cheryl if I'm not mistaken and I get what you mean but from talking to her during tattoo sessions I've found that she's really nice and friendly once you get to know her but can be a bit cold at first.

How am I to get to know her during a 5 minute piercing session

Le Rack

I've only ever spoken to them in there once, was a black haired dude, with a good lot of piercings and tatts...I know that is of feic all use really but it was a long time ago now! And he was really sound, chatted to me about the tatts I was enquiring about and explained different things to me, having said that, other times I've been in there with mates or whatever, the dudes have been sound and the girls, not so much, I always get the impression in there if you don't have a load of well visible, show offable work they think a lot less of you, bad vibe as soon as I walk into the shop like...

Snakebite is where I've got all my work, I say all losely round here, 6 piercings and one tatt is nothing compared to you lot but they're so fantastic in there, you can go in and chat to someone about anything you need to know on T&P, their service is fantastic, Steve chats you through each procedure, aftercare is free, really comprehensive, they don't charge etc for jewellry...I dunno, I just can't recommend them highly enough!

truthinwords

GaRtH_V wrote: »

How am I to get to know her during a 5 minute piercing session

Comment on her amazing sleeve (Jani did it and it's one of the nicest tattoos I've ever seen) that should warm her up to ya .

Crumble Froo

i have to say, i've said the same sort of thing lately, garth, that i just dont like celestial ring in stephen's green any more, just not that friendly, not that helpful, and there is just not a great vibe about the place. i remember showing my polar bear sketch to someone in there, and barely getting two words advice etc from them, and showing it to darren in colourworks who was just so enthusiastic about it, with so many ideas, he acted like he wanted to do the piece, and cared about how it came out. between that, and my experience with steve in snakebite, i really wouldnt be bothered going back to celestial ring at all, though have found some of the staff in abbey to be very friendly/accommodating as well.

Shelli

I only ever went to Celestial for Mark....mentioned above I think, guy with long dark hair, oodles of piercings and tats and really really friendly. He's such an amazing piercer.

Actually, thinking about it, he trianed in Snakebite, makes sense

I see here in another thread that he will be working from that new place, Inkwell? Thats where i'll be going from now on.

garthv

Yeah Mark is bang on,
Really nice chap and knows his stuff,
I heard hes piercing in Inkwell too so that might be my new haunt

hibrat

speaking of their customer service, i was getting some jewellery in abbey street branch..i asked for half inch double flared tunnels (which i know is probably the more american way of measurement) I was informed that there were no such thing as HALF MIL tunnels-it would be impossible as it is too small a gauge-now i know the girl behind the counter may have misheard me but i have short hair and my stretched lobes are fairly visible. anyway after we established what i wanted she advised me against using the double flared tunnels for stretching-i never even said i was going to stretch them(stretching was not needed as my ears are at a half inch!) then she undercharged me which i didnt point out cuz i was fairly pissed off with her. my boyfriend then asked about some plugs and tunnels in 16mm that he had seen in the window and she said "o we dont have any of those in that size" and then proceeded to open the box of 16mm jewellery which had both the plugs and tunnels he wanted in 16mm. ... anyways sorry about the ramble, just thought i'd share my experience. the staff on that particular day didn't seem to have a breeze about what they were doing serves me right i suppose for not going to snakebite for jewellery cuz thats where i get pierced..lovely lads there

Will

was in the stephens green centre today, kate i think the girls name is was very nice, she was the piercer. very warm and friendly.
the girl behind the counter though wasnt as friendly at all, acted as if she was too cool to talk with me.

i know on IAM there is elitism, who has the most exterme mods and who has the biggest tattoos, and i can see it there somewhat too. I bet if i walked in with sleeves and maybe some obvious subdermals she'd be more than happy to chat with me. just a vibe. as i said kate the piercer was very nice.

Trying to balance the argument though, as i was waiting there today some nob end walked in. im judging him il admit to that, shame on me blah blah
thick dublin accent, shaved head, tracksuit etc. asked straight out "so do yis do tattoos here huh!" the amount of sh!te they have to put up with is unreal so i can somewhat forgive places like celestial being a bit un-enthusiastic. he started touching the swords even though there was a clear sign of "DO NOT TOUCH SWORDS"
anyway rant over

Star Lord

I the swords in Stephens Green Celestial... *drools*

(Anyone wanna but me one as a combined birthday/christmas pressie? lol)

prodigal_son

I got my eyebrow done in celestial ring in the green. The english girl was gonna do it, but some guy was standing there and he just said "ill do it sure"..

He brought me in, sat me down, explained everything to me, chatted about how it would be the first of many, really had me relaxed.

Did a real nice job, and I was really very very happy with the job he did. I dont think i could have been happier..

Saying that, i originally went in to ask about a tattoo, and was waiting so long that i decided to get a piercing, so maybe a blessing in disguise.

I would visit them again, no problem..

Tiroskan

hibrat wrote: »

speaking of their customer service, i was getting some jewellery in abbey street branch..i asked for half inch double flared tunnels (which i know is probably the more american way of measurement) I was informed that there were no such thing as HALF MIL tunnels-it would be impossible as it is too small a gauge-now i know the girl behind the counter may have misheard me but i have short hair and my stretched lobes are fairly visible. anyway after we established what i wanted she advised me against using the double flared tunnels for stretching-i never even said i was going to stretch them(stretching was not needed as my ears are at a half inch!) then she undercharged me which i didnt point out cuz i was fairly pissed off with her. my boyfriend then asked about some plugs and tunnels in 16mm that he had seen in the window and she said "o we dont have any of those in that size" and then proceeded to open the box of 16mm jewellery which had both the plugs and tunnels he wanted in 16mm. ... anyways sorry about the ramble, just thought i'd share my experience. the staff on that particular day didn't seem to have a breeze about what they were doing serves me right i suppose for not going to snakebite for jewellery cuz thats where i get pierced..lovely lads there

Was that last Saturday? Because I think I might have been behind you waiting to get my lobes done, lol. I've never gotten anything pierced properly before and my friend recommended it to me, she got her labret done there, even though she had to take it out. I was really nervous and the guy who pierced me was lovely, really calmed me down. But like I said, first piercing, it's not as if I have any experience to compare it with.

hibrat

Tiroskan wrote: »

Was that last Saturday? Because I think I might have been behind you waiting to get my lobes done, lol. I've never gotten anything pierced properly before and my friend recommended it to me, she got her labret done there, even though she had to take it out. I was really nervous and the guy who pierced me was lovely, really calmed me down. But like I said, first piercing, it's not as if I have any experience to compare it with.

yeah it was last saturday lol the girl i was dealing with totally lost me and ya might have noticed my look of confusion I ended up going outside to wait for my boyfriend cuz i couldn't be bothered dealing with her anymore lol

ive been pierced by mark before when he worked in snakebite and he seemd a really nice guy but ive no experience really with the rest of the staff. although i reckon it might be a better idea to have people on reception that have a better idea of what theyre doing..just a thought:)

wildcatink

Hi folks, I'm Adrienne, I (hopefully) haven't been one of the idiot or ignorant ones who've pissed you off (they don't tend to let me out of the office that often...), and I've just only just been alerted to this thread today. To put it mildly, I'm EXTREMELY concerned that so many people are having bad experiences in the Wildcat Ink (Celestial Ring). Let me say firstly thanks to those who've acknowledged the good customer service on here - I will be passing that on to the staff members in questions and secondly, and more importantly, that I apologise profusely for any inconvenience, ignorance, condesencion, idiocy or just plain rudeness that you have been subjected to by staff in Wildcat Ink. It's definitely not the studio policy to alienate customers - I will definitely be speaking to all the staff in the studios about the issues you've raised, and hopefully will be able to immediately and permanently resolve any problems with bad customer service. I have been able to identify some staff members from your descriptions and/or the date the incident occurred, but other descriptions are too vague for me to be certain whose ass is the correct one to haul over the coals... If you'd like to get in touch with me I will do my utmost to resolve any issues you personally have had - you can email me at adrienne@wildcat.ie. In the meantime, if at any time in the future you do experience a problem in any of the studios, you should always bring this to the attention of the manager or supervisor immediately, so that you leave the studio a happy, (and hopefully more inked and/or punctured ) customer (and in addition the staff member in question can improve their customer service skills so that neither you nor any other customer has the same problem again). The senior staff members in the studios are: St. Stephen's Green - Ning, Ashbourne - Kay and Abbey St. - Keith. In the case that you don't feel you can complain in person/on the spot, you are always welcome to email the studios afterwards (south@wildcat.ie for the Green, north@wildcat.ie for Abbey St and ashbourne@wildcat.ie for Ashbourne, and/or email me directly at adrienne@wildcat.ie. Again, please let me apologise for any annoyance or inconvenience we've caused you by being idiots and not treating our customers properly, I'd really like to be able to discuss your issues with you directly in the hopes of winning you back as a customer, and correcting any problems we have with our service. Please get in touch! Adrienne

bliss

wow..so your old enough to get pierced but you still want everyone to be "nice to you". Grow up, its not the English girls job to be your new best mate its her job to pierce you professionally. Did you or your girlfriend's piercing **** up?? Are you not happy with your end result?

I have enough friends, I just want people to do their job right not chat to me for 20 minutes and do a **** job.

stop whining and realise whats most important about getting your body pierced....a nice chat or a good piercing?

Attol

bliss wrote: »

stop whining and realise whats most important about getting your body pierced....a nice chat or a good piercing?

Well generally before letting anyone stick needles in me it is nice to be put at ease by the person doing it...

The American guy in Stephen's Green is very good at doing this. Explains everything and really settles any nerves you may have beforehand.

Adrienne, fair play for your post.

1up

bliss wrote: »

wow..so your old enough to get pierced but you still want everyone to be "nice to you". Grow up, its not the English girls job to be your new best mate its her job to pierce you professionally. Did you or your girlfriend's piercing **** up?? Are you not happy with your end result?

I have enough friends, I just want people to do their job right not chat to me for 20 minutes and do a **** job.

stop whining and realise whats most important about getting your body pierced....a nice chat or a good piercing?

I agree.To be good at your job you have to be serious which may come off as cold."chat to her about her tattoo and she may warm to you."proves that a lot of people who visit a piercers are trying to make new "cool" friends rather than just get the job done professionally.I,d prefer a piercer to be straight to
the point and get it done rather than clown about for a half an hour bragging about themselves.its not a right of passage.its a piercing.

Attol

By chat I'm going to presume that people mean that they want a chance to discuss any aspects of their future piercing/tattoo to make sure it is right for them. If I'm asking for information about a piercing I'd like to get and somebody refuses to discuss it with me I wouldn't feel comfortable in that situation and I would go elsewhere. Also a receptionist's job is to face the public. Generally that requires being friendly to customers.

garthv

bliss wrote: »

wow..so your old enough to get pierced but you still want everyone to be "nice to you". Grow up, its not the English girls job to be your new best mate its her job to pierce you professionally. Did you or your girlfriend's piercing **** up?? Are you not happy with your end result?

I have enough friends, I just want people to do their job right not chat to me for 20 minutes and do a **** job.

stop whining and realise whats most important about getting your body pierced....a nice chat or a good piercing?

Well thats your own opinion, you're obviously an idiot.

1up wrote: »

I agree.To be good at your job you have to be serious which may come off as cold."chat to her about her tattoo and she may warm to you."proves that a lot of people who visit a piercers are trying to make new "cool" friends rather than just get the job done professionally.I,d prefer a piercer to be straight to
the point and get it done rather than clown about for a half an hour bragging about themselves.its not a right of passage.its a piercing.

Since when do I get a piercing to make "cool" friends..I have enough of my own without having to worry about whether my piercer wants to hang out with me or not. You obviously don't get the point of it at all. Yet again, another idiot.

1up

I,m just judging by the amount of times you have commented on your piercings(20 in total)that your one of those people who likes to get attention for it.And when you dont you throw hissy fits and start calling people idiots.bless.

garthv

Haha, you've got me right on the button!
How could i have been so foolish as to not see what kind of person I am?
Thank you very much for this wise wise insight, i really needed it.

What was your point in signing up on boards anyway? Youve really made an impression so far. Good job!

Will

I dont think hes looking for mates but it does help if the experience of getting a tattoo or piercing is a pleasant one, friendly staff help this as a general rule.
Doesnt bother me too much if the staff are nice or friendly, if they do a good job great (mainly the piercer) but if counter staff arent friendly puts off a whole load of potential customers.

1up

wow heavy sarcasm from a man complaining about people with attitude problems
The great thing about sites like this is it lets people voice there opinions.the bad thing about sites like this is it lets people like you voice there opinions.quoting somebody,s comment and saying you disagree is fair enough but barging around tagging people as idiots is the work of an infant.lets try to keep the point in focus after all you did bring it up.

eth0_

1up - less of the attitude or you'll be banned. Garth_V is not a scenester and he's entitled to be pierced by someone who doesn't have an air of resenting her customers.

I feel sorry for people getting their first piercing if they are dealt with by someone who is incapable of being friendly and putting them at ease..

Quattroste

Personally, I reckon you're talking to the ignorant piercers right there with 3 and 4 replies.

As someone who got their first ink only last week I can understand that you need to be comfortable with the place and the artist. I also understand that these establishments would get a lot of morons, fools, scum etc and this probably has an affect on the staff. However, you are in the service industry and you have an obligation to be nice to customers. It does not take much.

Will

I dont think anyone is saying anything about the piercers, kate i think her name is, she is very friendly. I dont know the other piercer, lady with all the scaffolds, she seems okish too. More so the people behind the desk...