Shop Etiquette

We reeeeeeeeeaally HATE cancellations. Each artist has to set time aside for you and only you.

Because Black Hive is not a walk in shop, it means our artists rarely have an option to fill a vacancy space on short notice, so they will lose half or all of their income for that day. While the shop policy generally allows for cancellations without penalty with five days notice, that is not a policy we allow to be abused.
Even WITH notice, after three cancellations your artist will either choose to require payment in full before they will make additional appointments, or they may choose to fire you as a client.
*If you cancel twice on the day of your appointment, or have even ONE no call/no show with no truly extenuating circumstances, our artists reserve the right to fire you as a client regardless of wether or not your project is complete.

THE KEY HERE IS TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR ARTIST!
We are not heartless, so we realize that something like a car accident, illness, or family emergency can derail the best laid plans.
But, if a true emergency has presented itself, in our digital age it’s unreasonable to say you can’t notify your artist via email, text, or phone call.
Take ten seconds to save your deposit, or at the very least retain your status as a viable client.
*If your are fired by one artist at Black Hive, you will be unable to get work from ANY Black Hive artist in the future.

We do our best to respect your time, so in return please do your best to respect ours.

However, we also DON’T like it when you show up an hour early.

We gave you an appointment time for a reason:
So we can structure our days and get everyone we can tattooed without a lobby full of people standing around.

Feel free to show up 5 or 10 minutes early, but half an hour or more is overkill.

So please, please, please, don’t come in to get tattooed if you’re starting to get sick, running a fever, or very recently getting over an illness. Being sick can seriously compromise your healing, and coming in and getting an artist sick will compromise their ability to work

The very minute you think you’re getting sick, start communicating with your artist to give them the option to reschedule you. Do NOT wait until you’re three or four days into a flu and contact them the day before your appointment to cancel and expect to keep your deposit.

Not just for our artists sake, but for the health of our other clients as well, waiting until the day of to walk in sniffling and saying,”I think I’m over it.’ will most likely get you sent home and cost you your deposit.

Seriously, if we’re trapped in a room with you for a few hours, we don’t want to be smothered by your ridiculously liberal use of Axe body spray, patchouli oil, or any other cologne/perfume.
We don’t wear these things at the shop for the same reason!
Pro tip: If you need to cover up stink….shower. Soap is THE SHIT!
*And don’t be using that Irish Spring crap either!

Post covid-19, we are no longer allow people to bring people to their appointments
Remember, getting tattooed is NOT a team sport.

If you don’t like it, we can’t help you. Take it up with the Duval County Health Department…good luck.

Meh…they’re ok, but due to the limitations in our zoning set by the city of Jacksonville, the artists at Black Hive Tattoo can’t tattoo anyone under the age of 18.
At any rate, in our collective experience tattooing minors, even with parental consent, causes more problems than it cures.

*If you are under 18 and are serious about your work, then you should seriously consider waiting to get the best tattoo you can get.
Sign up for the newsletter before you turn 18, but make sure your first appointment is scheduled after you are of age.
If you just can’t wait…we’ll be here when you turn 18 to do your cover up.

….actually we do.
BUT, don’t think it’s ok to go out the night before and get loaded before your tattoo.
Stay home, eat well, and get hydrated! If you come in for a scheduled appointment and you can’t get tattooed because of your hang over, or you’re bleeding too much, you WILL lose your deposit!
*And it should go without saying, but we’re going to say it anyway, if you show up drunk for your appointment, not only will you lose your deposit, you’ll most likely get fired as a client.

If you come in for a scheduled appointment and you can’t get tattooed because of your sunburn or heavily peeling skin, you WILL lose your deposit, and you WILL have to provide a new one to reschedule.
Don’t waste our time, don’t waste your money.

Here’s a pro tip: If your skin is red where you want to get tattooed the morning you wake up to get tattooed, and it turns white when you press on it….you’ve lost your deposit.

Please dress with getting tattooed in mind.
We won’t be held responsible for getting tattoo pigment on your favorite white tshirt, so dress sensibly while keeping where you are getting your tattoo and how much it will bleed in mind.

THAT is why we don’t have one!

Your phones are fine….I guess. But we hate “shop” phones. Shop phones are for artists that don’t care about wasting your time.
We figured out a long time ago, that if you’re in here getting tattooed, the last thing you want is us answering the question,”Do you have any openings today?” the whole time you’re getting tattooed. We don’t do walk ins, so at this point having a shop phone that we don’t answer is pretty pointless.

So….we got rid of our shop phone. If you want to submit a request when an artist opens up their book for new projects, you must sign up for the newsletter.