Tattoos are meant to tell a story, but they don’t always tell the story the wearer intended.

When a horrified tattoo artist discovered their client’s design was grossly mistranslated, they were left grappling with guilt and a tricky decision about how to make things right.

You’ll want to read on for this one!

WIBTA if i charge for a coverup of a nasty tattoo i did?

I’m one year into tattooing, and this is the first cover-up I’ve done of a tattoo I originally created.

A few weeks ago, I tattooed a saying in Arabic on a girl’s back, and we both thought it translated to “appreciate life” because the translation was included directly under the Arabic words in the reference photo she sent me.

Then, the worst case scenario happened.

A few days ago, she texted me asking me to delete the picture of her tattoo from my page because it actually translates to something awful.

I was so shocked. I ran the picture through Google Translate Lens myself about five times, and the tattoo did, in fact, mean something gross.

Usually the tattoo artist would never find themselves in this predicament, but this time was different.

I usually double-check what clients’ tattoos mean when they’re in a foreign language, but I didn’t check this one because the translation came with the reference picture.

The artist quickly offers to cover up the mistake.

I quickly deleted the post and told her I’d be happy to work on a cover-up with her if she was interested.

She agreed, and I finished the design today. She likes it, and we’re going to do it.

But now the artist is stuck in an uncomfortable position. On one hand, they feel extremely guilty.

The thing is, I feel very guilty about this whole situation because nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I feel really sorry that I put that on someone’s body, and I’m very happy to cover it up.

But on the other hand, they still need to make a living and set an example for their other clients.

But I feel SO ashamed about charging her for this cover-up because I somehow feel like it’s my fault. As the artist, I should’ve checked the translation, and I’m afraid there’s a chance she thinks the cover-up is free.

When I tell her a price, she might blame me for the original tattoo, and things could end on bad terms. It was her first tattoo, and we have a mutual friend, so she might assume I offered my cover-up services as an apology.

They’re at an absolute loss for what to do next.

To be honest, I’m not even sure if I did anything wrong. Maybe I’m overthinking this. I feel so conflicted, and I don’t know what to do.

On one hand, I feel for her and want to help her. On the other hand, this is a complex tattoo, and I can’t really afford to do it for free.

If she were my friend, I’d absolutely do it for free. But she’s a friend of a friend’s girlfriend, so I don’t even know what our relationship is for me to give out my resources like that.

WIBTA if I charge her for this cover-up? If I do charge, I’ll definitely cut the price down a lot.

This mistake won’t be so easy to fix.

What did Reddit think?

Perhaps the artist should issue some kind of disclaimer from here on out.

According to this commenter, proactive communication is key to taking the guesswork out of complex situations like these.

Honesty is, by far, the best policy here.

This redditor wonders if, in her guilt, the artist signed herself up for a headache her client never explicitly asked for.

In any case, it’s clear the artist is genuinely sorry for her role in the mistake, but she still has to make a living.

Sometimes you just have to do the best with the information you’re given.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.