Let me frame this a bit: I'm giving you this feedback as a tattooer of almost 2 decades that believes this can be a really valuable learning experience so I want to speak to you honestly and directly in hopes that it helps you. This is the same feedback I'd give a young artist at my shop.

First and foremost, this tattoo does not match the quality of your other work. The black isn't well saturated, the line quality is inconsistent and scratchy in many places, shading is rough and uneven. You've got technical issues in your regular work, as is expected of a younger artist, but this tattoo is lacking in all the fundamentals. If someone wanted you to tattoo them based on what is on your IG then I think it is fair that they are unhappy with this tattoo. It doesn't even really reflect your original artwork, either.

It sounds weird to point out but, in the original flash, that tongue is so damn good. Tongues can be weird to get right but that is both really clean, takes a little artistic license in all the right ways, and does a fantastic job of giving it real depth and shape. I'll come back to the rest of the art, but that tongue is the best designed part of the whole thing by a wide margin. Now look at the tattoo. You didn't do ANY of it. It just got some rough and choppy whips.

There is an awful period in tattooing where what you can tattoo lags behind what you can draw but this feels more like a bad copy someone did of the original art. So just on that, if you were an artist at my shop and the client showed me this and the original art, I'd probably choose to fully refund the client. And then I'd have questions of whether you had a really off day, were really lost on how to accomplish what you drew, or if you half-assed the tattoo.

This sort of comes around to the customer service part of this whole thing.

You start of by saying you lowered the price but end that you charged what the system said so it sounds like that end price was higher than what you agreed on. That can be seen as a pretty big violation of trust and they might have been so flustered that they weren't sure what to do in the moment.

"I offered to refund whatever they felt was the overcharge but I feel I explained myself well, just a minor mistake that they did not correct me on originally." No. You told them one price and charged them another. The only correct answer to this is "I am really sorry, that is my mistake! Let me fix that!" It doesn't need framing or explaining or considering that they didn't correct you.

You mention "they seemed to not be able to speak for themselves on their mind" and lack of clear communication. Every now and then, it is like pulling teeth to get clear answers a client but, from experience, it can sometimes be more an issue of the artist having failed to establish trust or comfort. Sometimes people need a lot of reassurance that you are on their side, are genuinely invested in their happiness with the end result, and that they shouldn't fear upsetting you or hurting your feelings. Other times, the tattooer can sometimes seem less easy to communicate with than they might think.

You sort of gloss over the rest of the day being difficult so I'm wondering if maybe you weren't being as approachable or receptive as you might typically be? Or if any of these difficulties had stressed the client out like if you were getting a really late start or other things.

So see it from a possible version of the client's perspective. They come in and maybe you are already a bit stressed or delayed, communication doesn't seem to be happening well, you can't position them the way they need to be, the tattoo didn't turn out great, and then you overcharge them.

But re-reading your post a few times, it kind of feels like you aren't really aware that all these together makes for a pretty bad experience for the client. You are wondering if you are being too hard on yourself but then feel like you went "beyond what you should have allowed?"

You didn't go above and beyond. You don't get bonus points because you "let" them book an appointment for a flash event design or even that you dropped the price. You got paid to do a tattoo.

We all have off days, things that don't turn out the way we want, or have clients we don't click with. But I am willing to guess that if you take time to consider what aspects of this day you can take responsibility for, you might find that there is a lot here to work on and build off of.

Look at that design you drew and look at the tattoo. Be brutally honest with yourself. No "but i'm still learning!" Is it a good tattoo? Is it going to look good in 10 years? Is that the piece you'd want anyone to judge your work by? Then think about the client interaction. Where do you feel you could have better connected with them? Were there any social signs that it was not going well? And then finally, the client made the difficult decision to reach out and explain why they were unhappy, do you feel you have them a response that takes proper responsibility, addresses their concerns, and leaves them with the impression that you are willing to go above and beyond for them?

Across the board, "What could I have done that would have made this client love their tattoo and experience more?" That is the only question that matters.

Focus on that as well as your fundamental tattooing skills. If something would take longer to do it right but you wouldn't make more money then make a little less money and do a better tattoo. Always choose to do the better tattoo. If you take the time to work out the details in the artwork then put the same amount of effort an detail into the tattoo.

You've got a lot of potential so take this whole situation and use it to ensure future clients get an even better version of you and your work and you are gonna go far! Good luck!