1. Your deposit and booking
A deposit of at least €50 is normally required to reserve a tattoo appointment. A larger deposit may be required for a longer or more complex appointment. We will confirm the amount before you pay. Your deposit is a part payment towards the agreed tattoo price, not an additional booking charge.
Before taking payment, we will confirm the legal business providing your service, the studio, the proposed appointment, the design brief and the total price or, where this cannot yet be fixed, the rate and how the final price will be calculated. We will also confirm when the balance is payable and which payment methods are accepted. Prices include applicable taxes. Please tell us about your budget before booking.
Your appointment is reserved once we have received the agreed deposit and confirmed the booking. We will provide a receipt and booking confirmation, including these terms, in a form you can keep. If we take a deposit but cannot confirm the agreed appointment, we will return it in full.
2. Moving your appointment — at least 48 hours’ notice
You may ask to move your appointment by giving at least 48 hours’ notice before its scheduled start time. Your deposit will be transferred in full to a mutually agreed replacement appointment, subject to availability.
The 48 hours are consecutive hours, including weekends and days when the studio is closed. For written notices, we use the time your message reaches our published booking email or the official messaging channel used for your booking, not the time a staff member reads it. You do not need to wait for our reply for your notice to count.
3. Cancellations, late changes and missed appointments
If you cancel rather than reschedule, ask to move your appointment with less than 48 hours’ notice, or do not attend, we may apply a reasonable cancellation charge against your deposit, subject to the cancellation rights in section 7.
Any amount retained must be fair and proportionate to the net loss caused by your cancellation. We will take account of the notice given, agreed preparation or design work already carried out, costs saved, and whether we are able to fill the appointment. We will make reasonable efforts to reduce our loss, and will not charge twice for the same loss.
We will not automatically retain the whole deposit simply because you cancel or miss the appointment. The charge under this policy will not exceed your deposit. We will explain any deduction in writing and refund the remaining balance. If our recoverable loss equals or exceeds your deposit, the deposit may be retained in full.
A replacement booking may require a new or topped-up deposit. We will explain the amount first and credit any remaining deposit appropriately.
4. Arriving late
Please contact the studio as soon as possible if you are running late. If you arrive 15 minutes or more after the agreed start time, we may be unable to complete the appointment safely or without delaying other clients.
We will first check whether the appointment can still go ahead. If it must be moved or cancelled because of your lateness, section 3 applies. Being 15 minutes late does not automatically forfeit your deposit.
5. Design changes and suitability
Please agree the main design idea, placement and approximate size with us before booking. Tell us about significant changes as early as possible, preferably at least 48 hours before your appointment.
A substantial change may require more time, a different appointment or a revised quote. Any additional design work or charges must be explained and agreed before that work is carried out. Minor reasonable adjustments do not automatically lead to a charge or loss of your deposit.
If we cannot provide the agreed tattoo, section 6 applies. If you decide not to proceed with a service that matches the agreed brief, section 3 applies, subject to section 7. We will never require you to go ahead with a tattoo you do not consent to.
6. If we cancel or make a significant change
If the studio or your booked artist cannot provide the agreed appointment, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible and offer a suitable alternative.
You may accept the alternative and transfer your deposit, or decline it and receive a full refund of the deposit paid for that appointment. You do not have to accept a different artist, a materially different service or a credit voucher instead of that refund.
This does not limit any other remedies available to you under consumer law.
7. Bookings agreed online, by phone or by messages
For a tattoo service contract concluded entirely at a distance, we provide a 14-calendar-day cancellation period from the date the contract is concluded. You may cancel during this period without giving a reason. This section takes priority over the 48-hour rule and cancellation charges above. Any longer statutory cancellation period remains unaffected. To meet the statutory deadline, it is sufficient to send a clear cancellation statement before that period expires.
If you want agreed design work or the tattoo service to begin during this period, we will obtain your separate express request in a form you can keep before starting. We will explain any proportionate payment due for services supplied before cancellation and ask you to acknowledge that the statutory cancellation right is lost only after the service contract has been fully performed.
If you cancel after making that request but before full performance, we may charge only the lawful, proportionate value of the service actually supplied up to cancellation. We will not charge a lost-slot fee or cancellation penalty for exercising this right. If we did not obtain the required request or provide the required information, we will not deduct charges that the law does not permit.
Starting a sketch, taking payment or reserving a time slot does not, by itself, mean that the whole tattoo service has been fully performed.
Paying through an online payment link does not by itself make an agreement a distance contract if the contract was already concluded in person.
8. How to cancel, reschedule or raise a concern
Contact the studio handling your booking, using the details in your confirmation. An email or message clearly identifying you and the booking is recommended so that you can keep a record. You may use the cancellation form below, but you do not have to use a particular form or wording to exercise a statutory right.
For a tattoo booking, send your cancellation or rescheduling notice to the studio handling your appointment. You may use email, the official messaging channel used for your booking, or any other legally valid method. We will acknowledge your written notice in a form you can keep. This does not limit your statutory cancellation rights.
Please contact Newbridge at newbridge@pierceofink.com, Carlow at carlow@pierceofink.com, or Kilkenny at kilkenny@pierceofink.com. If you phone, please keep a record of the call and follow up in writing where possible.
9. Refunds and your statutory rights
Where a refund is due under this policy, we will issue it without undue delay and no later than 14 days after being informed of your cancellation or your decision not to accept a studio-initiated change. It will be made using the original payment method unless you expressly agree otherwise, without a refund administration fee. Any lawful deduction will be explained.
Nothing in this policy excludes or restricts your statutory rights, including rights relating to a service that is not supplied as agreed or is not provided with reasonable care and skill. These terms do not replace the separate informed consent process for your tattoo.
Optional cancellation form
To: the Pierce of Ink legal service provider and studio identified in my booking confirmation, at its published postal or email address.
I give notice that I wish to cancel my contract for the following tattoo service: __________
Booking reference (if available): __________
Date the booking contract was agreed: __________
Appointment date and studio: __________
Customer name: __________
Customer address: __________
Date of this notice: __________
Signature (only if sending this form on paper): __________
You may instead send any other clear statement of your decision to cancel.
