Kustom Thrills Riverside

My wife and I went in with no appointment and felt more than welcome by all the artist. The shop was super clean and very nice. Definitely would love to come back.

I got two tattoos from Hayden Combs from here about 4 years ago. Have no idea if he still works there. Looking back on the experience, I am still very unhappy with what happened. For my first tattoo, I got 3 lavender stems to commemorate my mother, who had passed. I sent him an email showing the reference picture my aunt drew, along with a screenshot of a tattoo he had done on someone else with florals done in a fine line style. I said I wanted the lavender in that style. He agreed to it over email. I show up to my appointment. I believe I came late because I went to the wrong location at first. There are two Kustom Thrill locations in Nashville from what I know. It happened at either this particular appt or the (unfortunately) second one. However, he was working on a client when I arrived. I waited 2+ hours past my scheduled appointment time. In addition to that, he told me that my idea wouldn't look good in fine line and that I should get the tattoo entirely in color. I took his word for it and decided to go with his idea. The tattoo is cute, but the fact that he had me waiting that long and changed his mind on something he had agreed to prior rubbed me the wrong way. I wish I had gone to someone else who was more professional for a tattoo that was this important to me. Then I went a 2nd time, which I should not have based on the first experience. However, I knew he could do tattoos well, and as a young person who was just getting into tattoos, I didn't think too hard about the previous experience. Again, I emailed him before the appointment the picture I wanted, and that I wanted it in fine line. This time, the assistant replied to me and said he would be up for doing it. I show up, and he says it would look better with thicker lines instead of fine lines. The tattoos themselves are not bad at all. However, changing up what was agreed upon when I am physically at the appointments is really not okay. I don't know if these were miscommunications between the assistant and Hayden. But you need to get it together at some point. And being 2+ hours late to a scheduled time is excessive.

Let me start by saying that the artists at this location are phenomenal. That’s not the reasoning for the one star review. The person who is supposedly over booking sessions has a bad attitude problem. And that turned me away immediately. I was trying to speak on the phone with an artist because I had questions about a tattoo that I was going to be getting which would cost me over $1200. But the only person I could talk to was Andrew because I guess he handles booking. He kept bringing up the fact that I had to pay a 100 deposit which is non refundable under any circumstances. But when I gave him my card twice he kept saying it wouldn’t go through. So I said I’ll try and come up there another day to pay the deposit in person. When I called today to try and speak with Justin, he told me he wasn’t there and when I tried to ask Andrew the questions I had for Justin before I gave him any of my money that I can’t get refunded, he stated “ look man there’s nothin I can discuss over the phone and Justin won’t take your seriously anyway without a deposit” so when I said “well I guess I’ll just hold o-”he immediately said “ok!” and hung up the phone in my face. This tells me that your not allowed to inquire about a tattoo before you pay a deposit. And not to mention how short he was with me. So I called back to let him know that you don’t just hang up on customers and I will not be returning for a second tattoo. After I hung up he proceeded to call my phone multiple times and left a voicemail saying I need to learn how shops work. I know how shops work I have plenty of tattoos lol. He was just completely unprofessional and I’ve never experienced this at any of the other shops I’ve been to. $100 deposit for a tattoo I was paying 1200-1400 for. I’m very big on respect so this place has definitely lost at least one customer.

Firstly, Grace is just the best and most purest soul. She went over and above for my tattoo and also did a tattoo for my GF. We love our tattoos. Shop is super clean, incredible vibe and also not too far from Broadway... so definitely worth the trip.

Grace did such a fantastic job! It was my first time getting a tattoo from the machine and she not only killed the design and the tattoo work, but she made me feel so safe and at ease. I will definitely be coming back to Grace for all of my future tattoos. Highly tecommend!