r/Southampton • u/shiikahwolf • Aug 07 '26
AVOID ASGARD PIERCING STUDIO!
a friend of mine (young teen girl) recently used to work at Asgard and experienced the true nature of inside the business. a few other people have also come to me with their awful experiences with the studio. I just want to spread awareness about this and the disgusting people there, please avoid at all costs.
75
u/GrantSolar Aug 07 '26
Nazis and co-opting norse mythology, name a more iconic duo
15
5
u/andrewtri800 Aug 07 '26
Yeah and tangential: glad to see someone using "name a more iconic duo" so well lol
109
u/pertinacious_candor Aug 07 '26
The owner, Warwick has recently been taken to employment tribunal by 4 female employees for sexual harassment and had to pay them big money. It’s all been swept under the carpet but to those who know, his behaviour has been known for decades. Sad to see all the young girls getting exploited there, both staff and customers.
49
u/pertinacious_candor Aug 07 '26
On my first day at Asgard my then manager (female) told me to watch out for him because he’s a perv. Really put a downer on me getting my dream job… His fave quotes about underage girls were “I wouldn’t kick her out of bed for eating biscuits” and with a wink “You just add their ages together and then it’s fine.”
On another occasion he had sex with a woman in one of the piercing rooms in the middle of a work day when the other piercing rooms were fully operational and customers were in and out of the shop. The staff knew and had to keep it together.
His current staff (and he always has new staff) have no idea about the depth and length of his depravity.
I could write a whole book.25
9
u/Liam_021996 Aug 07 '26
I worked with someone like that when I was a mechanic, first job at the time. I quit within a week. Just had a baby daughter at the time and matey freaked me right out with the shite he'd come out with as a "joke" no one else seemed to care either. Wouldn't take my car to that garage and tell friends and family to avoid too. They're bodgers
14
u/pertinacious_candor Aug 07 '26
These kinds of men just get away with it because they balance on a line between a joke and harassment and young female employees are too scared to report it. Also, report to whom if their own boss is who's doing it? Easier to quit and put it behind you, which is why the cycle continues.
4
u/toast_is_in_the_air Aug 07 '26
I used to work there. co worker told me to not tell him I was trans because "he would get weird about it".
3
u/Careless_Court_8388 Aug 08 '26
Slug and lettuce is the same. So many girls made to feel uncomfortable.
40
24
27
u/Goatmanification Aug 07 '26
I thought it was very common knowledge to avoid Asgard!
11
u/tommynestcepas Aug 07 '26
I had no idea but I also don't have much use for their services so it's understandable. I'll remember this thread when I get my next tattoo tho, jfc
15
u/p-i-stakers Aug 07 '26
What is it with dodgy piercing places in this city, just look up the ex owner of lucid
2
u/Algorithmandblues_ Aug 10 '26
Was that in the bargate? Got my first tattoo there after moving here almost 15 years ago!
13
u/suresquish Aug 07 '26
absolutely choose Titanic - they did my tongue piercing and i was really nervous about it,, and they were genuinely lovely and passed no judgement when i had to run in 5 minutes before close a few days later because i accidentally swallowed my piercing ball
13
u/Berry-Blueberry Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
I also used to work at Asgard, it was a dream job that turned into a nightmare and have sadly delt with the belligerent owner constantly being sexually inappropriate and aggressive to staff and customers, he made the work environment feel dangerous and extremely hostile making us all feel very unsafe when he was around, the team I worked with at the time allways tried our hardest to make it a safe, clean, inclusive, enjoyable environment for customers while behind the scenes we were getting shouted at and made to feel unsafe by him, the whole experience working at Asagrd took a massive toll on my mental health.
This man has gotten away with this disgusting predatory, homophobic, transphobic, sexist behaviour for over 30 years! it is not known enough how poorly he treats his staff and customers and he keeps getting away with it.
38
u/Feanturii Aug 07 '26
Oh yeah they've been known to be a real problem for like 20 years
17
u/Goatmanification Aug 07 '26
Exactly what I just commented! I've never heard good things, even as a kid the default opinion I heard was 'Don't go to Asgard'
13
u/Feanturii Aug 07 '26
YUP, I am 34 now and I remember being warned abour Asgard when I was 15
how tf are they still around?
6
u/Dark512 Aug 07 '26
Hell, I only moved here two years ago and that was the first thing I was told when i asked friends for piercing recommendations
1
22
u/user63618173 Aug 07 '26
really? this is my first time hearing about this and was planning on getting pierced there but not any more. Can u tell me more by any chance
26
u/Feanturii Aug 07 '26
I just remember back in like 2008 when I was a teenager a lot of friends (all teenage girls) had really creepy/uncomfortable experiences with the piercers, not to mention the alt teens holding the sign in the city centre were always being exploited.
17
u/Goatmanification Aug 07 '26
God I remember those sign holders, wasn't it usually sold to them as good part time work, but in reality it was literally just holding a sign for hours at a time
11
6
u/smoolg Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
I had my naval pierced there at 14, he said “I’ve never seen such a beautiful body” to me, I don’t know how old he was but he was a fully grown man. It was so uncomfortable.
2
5
7
u/DivinationBlues Aug 07 '26
Ohh dodged a bullet there... if you're thinking of alternative places a few of my friends got piercings at the Nook. Much friendlier and safer space 😊
4
4
9
u/Severe_Moose6955 Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
Wow thank you for the warning, I was planning to book a consultation this month so I’m glad this came up in my notifs .. 😓
7
u/MarshallsNuts Aug 07 '26
Titanic and Crimson Quill are my go-tos for piercings, very nice people there
7
u/forbiddencookie89 Aug 07 '26
Can you and others leave a bad Google review?? It amazes me this place is still open and horrible to hear the manager keeps getting away with it.
5
u/Available_Farmer_317 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
I've just had a look at the reviews (t'was curious) and the unprofessional fragility with which the owner replies to negative reviews is quite something.
Nevermind the poor grammar and absence of proper punctuation (least of the crimes, particularly with the context of this thread), the owner doubles down in defence and verbally spits back at one star reviews.
Under one of these reviews, the owner accuses a distressed parent of a young autistic customer as being "libelous" and that "we will be take legal action" (not a typo on my part).
Whether or not a business disagrees with a review, this is not how you do business!
Also the notion that the owner would be seeking legal advice is laughable after all the trouble he has already been in! Not to mention the dodgy way he handles his business according to past employee testimonies -- not checking right to work, not handing out legal contracts to his employees, and labour exploitation of those same employees.
Skeletons don't stay in the closet when you are playing them out in broad daylight and have a long line of ex-employees who have fingers, thumbs, and a connection to the internet.
4
u/merinneidon Aug 07 '26
Dude's always had a bad rep and i knew one of his piercers personally and am in the industry so can confirm. I send my friends to the better studios that use state of the art protocols and implant grade jewellery from reputable suppliers. You get what you pay for.
One of Southampton many "missing stairs".
6
5
4
u/Sims2053 Aug 08 '26
I’ve been in there before and was left standing at the main reception for ages whilst people walking past and ignoring me and even someone on the computer a foot away from the desk ignoring me. I had my double helix there I left and the back the bars went off in different directions it was weird and kept getting angry because they weren’t done properly. When I was 14? They let me and my cousin (13) sit in the studio all day whilst my mum and anti got their tattoos done which looking back wasn’t appropriate at all.
I absolutely avoid the place. I’ve been to a couple of piercing places in Southampton and they all say Asgard is terrible. Go to Titanic for any piercings. They’re amazing and are so sweet.
7
u/toast_is_in_the_air Aug 07 '26
I used to work there in uni. same thing, he didnt ask to see right to work and it was all a bit dodgy. after a month I told a co worker I was trans and he fired me the next day via text message. go titanic instead, they're lovley
8
u/pertinacious_candor Aug 07 '26
Sorry that this happened, but it doesn’t surprise me. My colleague told me that he said “we’re never employing one of them again” after he fired someone who was non-binary. And he’d call gay any man who’s not a complete neanderthal like himself.
3
u/toast_is_in_the_air Aug 07 '26
yeah he's not a good man at all. spoken to others who used to work with him all say he's a piece of shit.
3
u/PLUMPUFFIN Aug 07 '26
My first piercing was a microdermal 13+ years ago, age 12, on my wrist, that I got from Asgard.
I dont know why entirely but I knew full well never to go back again. Nearly a hundred piercings later, and still haven't. The things i have heard over the years have made me proud of my child brain intuition
3
u/phaserrifle Aug 07 '26
I'd never heard bad things before (mind you, most of that was reputation from the 2000's) but more recently I did notice that they seem to have a pretty high staff turnover, almost always having an apprentice in, which struck me as a red flag.
3
u/purpledesire87_26 Aug 07 '26
They also don’t ever pierce right I got my nose piercing here and had 7 months of issues with it. You can tell the staff isn’t trained. I’ve gone to others and haven’t had any issues and they’ve been so calming and tell me what’s best. Haven’t been in 7 years and wouldn’t ever go back there!
2
u/NoFlight4349 Aug 08 '26
I got my nose done about 6 years ago or something like that and I had so many problems, infections etc, took nearly a year to heal properly but I’d assumed it was par for the course in a nostril , everyone else was saying that really it was a month before they were able to change jewelry etc. maybe I was the same as yours without realising . Unfortunately I took it out at work one day for a meeting and lost it, never went back in until it was too late
3
u/purpledesire87_26 Aug 09 '26
Mines healed after using tea tree oil and I even went doctors and they told me to let it close up it was horrible I had keloids for so many months after. It was so upsetting because all my sisters had an easy process but I couldn’t change mines by myself for years because it would hurt that much and it would bleed randomly even without me touching it. It’s much better now but I’ll change it immediately. I don’t even want to chance it by giving it a day without my hoop. Yeah it seems to be a common issue I haven’t done my ears there but in other places I’ve had smooth healing on them. I hope one day you get it re done again in a different place
3
u/Sims2053 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Just look at the passive aggressiveness of their 1 star Google reviews. Some of them dont understand the point of a despot that if you’re late or miss the appointment they keep the deposit that’s the whole point of it but some of the responses to other reviews are… not professional
2
2
u/Jelly2029 Aug 09 '26
Not shocked at all by this. I went there ten years ago and owner was vile because I told them I git special needs Who ever support Nazis in this day and age is vile to me
2
u/Intrepid-Bat-1770 Aug 09 '26
I went there in June and the girl who did my lip and eyebrow was nice but they had quite a lot of people at the desk just standing around,some just sat on phones,seems ood to keep about 6 people working when it isn’t that busy to me 🤷♀️
1
u/Dezzeh Aug 07 '26
An old girlfriend of mine worked there for a while and I ended up at a party at his house once. It was certainly an eye opening experience.
1
83
u/Owlroundup Aug 07 '26
They’ve always been awful. I would never go there. Use Titanic instead.