Misspelled tattoo costs Halifax parlour $9K

A Nova Scotia small claims court has ordered a Halifax tattoo parlour to pay nearly $9,000 for a misspelled tattoo.

Marie Huckle went to Newcombe's Ink to get a tattoo on her abdomen in memory of a friend. It was supposed to read, "See You at the Crossroads."

Instead, her tattoo was misspelled, "See You at the Cossroads."

According to a court decision released Tuesday, Huckle discovered the error after she got home. She contacted the tattoo parlour and one of the partners of the business — Adam Spencer — who immediately refunded her the money and offered to try to fix the tattoo.

In the end, Huckle decided she wanted the entire tattoo removed — a process described in court documents as a "painful and time-consuming process."

Huckle has already had eight removal sessions and those have been paid for by Spencer, but her tattoo removal technician indicated she needs about 15 additional sessions to completely remove the words.

Adjudicator Eric Slone awarded Huckle a total of $8,991.94:

• $6,000 representing 15 further tattoo removal sessions at $400 each.
• $2,300 representing 23 instances of having to purchase $100 in supplies.
• $184 for gasoline to and from her treatments.
• $100 in general damages.
• $182.94 for a filing fee.
• $225 for bailiffs fees.

"I believe there is a high duty upon a tattoo artist to double check that everything is precisely as it ought to be before putting a needle to someone’s skin and potentially making permanent something that the person would not want on their skin," Slone wrote in his decision.

"I accept that when working on a living canvas, such as someone’s skin, the results may not be exactly as hoped for. However, a spelling mistake is clearly a breach of that duty of care."