I'm writing this review because Hikina Piercing Company almost forces me to. Since my last visit,I have received several reminders about this via email.Now that I'm settled on the mainland,I can find some time to fulfill Hikina Piercing Company's requests.
The owner of Hikina Piercing Company,Tony Naggar,is an excellent piercer in my opinion.BUT, when you run your own business,you also have to have great people skills,great employees,and great structural and organizational skills to be able to meet the needs of your valued customers at all times. UNFORTUNATELY,this is NOT the case with HIKINA PIERCING COMPANY,which is why I cannot award more than ONE STAR.
Hikina Piercing Company (HPC) in Kailua is a sister company to Honolulu Piercing Company (HPC),which also operates under the name Skin Deep Tattoo and Piercing Waikiki.
All my custom ORDERS from this company came SUPER LATE(4-6 months minimum turnaround time),and very often they even had to be sent back because HPC simply didn't order what I wanted.At first,I didn't get the impression that it was them,I thought it was the company they ordered from that was causing the TROUBLE,but very soon I found out that it was HIKINA PIERCING COMPANY'S FAULT.I'm not complaining about Tony's staff documenting the order on a very simple handwritten and homemade note (you won't get a copy),I'm complaining about the fact that very often neither the owner(Tony)nor his staff(usually Mel)are unable to write down exactly what someone wants.Even if you try to help their LACK OF ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS with precise drawings and words,it is simply impossible to get what you want in a straightforward way and in a reasonable amount of time!
When the last two pieces I ordered from them(almost $4,200) arrived again with DESIGN FLAWS after almost 9 months of waiting,I thought it was time to COMPLAIN.I wrote an email describing in nice words(email can be posted online at any time)what I thought was unacceptable and visited the store a few days later.As soon as I entered the store, the OWNER started VERBALLY ATTACKING ME.He was so furious that he BANGED both his FISTS on the counter three times with all his might.As I am the proud owner of the 2nd Dan in Taekwondo,I was not particularly impressed.I was more worried that Tony might injure his gifted hands.But I was really SHOCKED that an adult business OWNER could get so OUT OF CONTROL with one of his best customers.His outburst led to him having to ask his employee to refund my money(because that's what I wanted after that INSANE PERFORMANCE)because TONY was no longer able to do so as he was SHAKING ALL OVER.As if by chance,my cell phone was on reception the whole time,which led to an immediate forwarding of his performance to a third party.
Oh man,what is up with this guy?In fact,I was so ANNOYED BY TONY Naggar's behavior that I made a REPORT to the local POLICE DEPARTMENT the same day.I refrained from filing an OFFICAL COMPLAINT,although the police "advised" me to do so.I just wanted to have his behavior officially documented and a case number.I also informed the OFFICE OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS,who were very grateful for my incidental notes.Again,I requested that no further action be taken against HPC until further notice.
Since I had asked for a refund,I wondered who he had sold my custom-made order to.FACT IS,the piece of JEWELRY was already touching my SWEATY EAR the day we planned to get the piercing done.And the FACT IS also that this piece of JEWELRY CANNOT be STERILIZED in their machine because my custom-made piercing had some Akoya pearls in it.This ultimately leads me to have some CONCERNS about their HYGIENIC STANDARDS,although I haven't had a bad experience with them to date.
All in all,I have to say that Tony Naggar is happy to take your money, but the SERVICE surrounding the actual act of piercing is SUB-PAR.Even if you pay thousands of dollars for your piercing at HPC,your receipt will be printed on plain temp paper that comes out of their standard credit card machine.All of us know that this print disappears after a short time.Also, there is no packaging at all.I would highly recommend HPC to look at other jewelry companies to see how they handle sales in this price range.
Speaking of other companies and PRICES:You can get the same piercings from the same jewelry company about 1/3 cheaper online or at other piercing shops in LA,for example.HPC is CHARGING for their jewelry much MORE THAN OTHERS do!But not only that:on my last single order,which was negotiated at $2,880,Tony Naggar finally wanted to add around $780 when it came to payment.This ADDITIONAL PAYMENT was not even explained,but merely communicated.The reason was probably that mistakes had been made on their part again when the order was placed and this was now being IMPOSED ON THE COSTOMER(and this after 9 months of waiting and a faulty design of the piece of jewelry).
Please email me again if HPC requests any more reviews.
THERE IS STILL ENOUGH TO SAY!! read more