Hello everyone, you may know me from my past review I did with Braun and having Brian as my translator. I am writing this review in order to help and possibly stop this situation from ever reoccurring ever again to anyone else as what I have endured in my recent trip was unbelievably unethical and traumatizing. Please understand that this is not a review I created in efforts to bash anyone but to give a fair review of my own personal experience. Please do with this information as you will and I am only able to give my experience as a warning. I was also never in anyway previously ever affiliated with Brian or Braun in any shape or form. I previously had an outstanding experience with them so when I was asked about my experience I felt like I could genuinely recommend Brian to people because I believed his services were truly unmatched in terms of a plastic surgery “guide”. When I previously used his services he was just starting out his personal business as a freelance medical tourism guide, but after he gained more popularity I’ve found out that his moral compass had quickly changed and his main objective was no longer to have the best interest for his clients- but purely for greed and money. It is truly frightening how much he has changed and it has been another eye opening experience of how quickly some people can throw away their ethics and morals in exchange for just money. I would also disclose that I was given many warnings about using Brian and his unethical character by previous unhappy clients but I chose to ignore these warnings as I believed my interactions with him were genuine and he was fighting hard to disprove his shady reputation. I really wanted to give him a chance after seeing how dedicated he was to being a medical guide while chatting online with him and after meeting him in real life. Though I didn't believe all the stories he tried to sell me he was adamant that his "competitors" and hospitals were out to destroy his character because they didn't like the business model he was trying to promote of "being an honest and transparent translator dedicated to fighting for his clients and exposing bad clinic practices. I had my reservations but after a couple of my friends had good experiences with him I decided to hire him. Again my first experience with him in Korea was great, though my recent one not so much.
I would like to start off by starting straight to the point. It has come to my attention from many of Brian’s previous clients and myself that Brian is leveraging his position as a guide to coerce his clients to go to specific hospitals. He would knowingly recommend Deesse to me when there were multiple cases of unhappy and botched clients at this hospital before me. During my first trip with Brian he was very strict with not recommending or giving opinions on clinics. After my second experience he was extremely persuasive in recommending me to Deesse. So much so that he had persuaded me to not go to my first choice (Braun) by repeatedly telling me that Braun is not good for eyebrow lifts. He would repeatedly remind me that and tell me his client got botched at Braun for eyebrow lifts. In my position my main concern were my uneven eyebrows. For years I was SO SELF CONSCIOUS of their unevenness so I told Brian “I am willing to go to the best dr for eye brow lift regardless of the price and if I go under and I wake up and I still have uneven eyebrows I will be so depressed.” I’ll elaborate on this point later on, but essentially during my consult with Braun, before and after he was insistent on me not going to Braun and go to Deesse instead. I do have to point out that my first consult at Braun during my trip my consult felt very rushed because they were running late on surgery. Of course that left a bad feeling for me and he really leveraged that to his advantage. I immediately regretted not going to Braun during my one year post op appointment near the end of my trip as I saw all the people in the waiting room and even with their different levels of swelling I felt the results looked like what I was looking for. Brian was extremely persuasive with his glowing testimonials of Deesse. I knew of a lot of friends who went to Deese personally and I was always so impressed by their lip augmentation work. I unfortunately made the stupid assumption that because they were great with lips they’d be great with other surgeries. When Brian told me that their Dr Kim Jin Hyung was an excellent doctor gate kept by the local Koreans I made the mistake of trusting him. I really do regret this lapse of judgement as I had gained a lot of trust for Brian after my amazing experience at Braun. I also recommended a lot of my friends to Brian who used his services around the same time frame I did and they also had the same stellar experience. Little did I know that after he gained more popularity people’s experiences and opinions of him had dramatically changed.
I had a consultation with Dr Kim Jin Hyung and he sounded extremely knowledgeable and professional. He was giving me informative answers and really catered my consultation to my specific case. He made the promise that my eyebrow asymmetry would be fixed by atleast 70%. I remember asking for pictures and they never showed me any but Brian was relentless on his recommendation. I would also like to point out that I paid a very high price. A LOT higher than most other clinics. I also paid A LOT for an unsatisfactory tipplasty as well. In my head I really thought that I am paying for a special premium. Brian was only able to get me a 1000$ discount as well. The entire time he made it sound like he was moving mountains to make this discount possible. I would also like to point out that during my entire plastic surgery journey this time around, Brian was pretty much not present. He did not do much research at all, he did not check on me post-surgery, he only showed up to two appointments. I never thought of it as a big deal as I would always remind myself that he is extremely busy now and honestly, I understood and I didn’t think a big deal of it. One appointment he came and watched as I got my stitches removed it was quite annoying to be honest… he kind of just stood there and watched as the nurse removed mucus out of my nose while he put on an act of looking present. He was only there for 2 minutes because he was there with another client who was also getting surgery at Deese. The next time he showed up was when I was upset about my experience and wanted to consult with the doctor about what happened and also get a breast augmentation consult. I expected him to advocate for me, but he didn’t at all. (I’ll get into this later, but I soon realized he did the exact same thing to another friend of mine).
I would also like to point out that I left my phone in his car after my surgery, and he didn’t get it back to me for 3 days. I didn’t make a deal out of it because he made it seem like he was very busy the entire 3 days juggling work and clients. But when I asked him what he did that weekend he said, “I was too lazy to work so I stayed home and did nothing.” He immediately realized what he said and his body language tensed. A reoccurring theme that I noticed with him is that he really overestimated his cleverness. I cannot imagine how careless he is of his own clients when his returning client whom he repeatedly called his “younger sister” is in a foreign country, recovering from surgery with no phone for 3 days. I was not far away from him either. I literally stayed above Gangnam station at the officetels there. I literally said I could pick it up from him and he never got back to me.
So back to the point of my surgery results. My eyebrow lift made absolutely no difference. I was devastated. I paid a premium to ensure I’d have good results, and I did not. I was guaranteed atleast 70% difference. Even my tipplasty I am always reminded of how much I hate it every time I look at the mirror. I showed him the style I wanted and the style he delivered was not what I wanted at all. I told Brian and he did nothing. He did not bring this up to the doctor. He only spoke with the consultant, and I was very annoyed that he was gaslighting me the whole time saying my eyebrow results were great. He even gaslit me about my nose too. He was completely on the hospitals side and would not advocate for me at all. I felt so unheard and so unvalidated but being in my vulnerable state I was desperate to grasp onto the idea that I was being unfair. Before my next point I also need to point out that I signed a contract that said if I was unhappy with my results I can get a revision for free within one year. I even asked the Doctor what his thoughts on a revision would be during my last appointment and he said it won’t be possible for atleast 5 years. So my contract was void. I told Brian about this later. I told him I hate my results, even seeing my before and after picture I was filled with so much disappointment and sadness because I saw no difference in my eyebrows and HATED my nose. He had the audacity to say, “I apologize on behalf of the doctor but let's see what we can get done for next time.” No, I don’t want to figure this out for next time when Brian did absolutely nothing for me THIS time. I don’t need his apology it means nothing to me. The doctor and Brian even just suggested to do botox to fix my asymmetry. Well I would’ve appreciated just getting botox before this whole trainwreck. I hired Brian and paid him money to advocate and look after my best interest. But he only cared about his money (+ unconfirmed but likely commission he was receiving from Deesse) and his relationship with the hospital. Another important piece of info I think was very concerning was that he was telling me he was looking at hospitals to get a free/discounted face lift from, and Deesse was his number one choice. He also told me he is bringing his girlfriend to get her lips done. So he was really just trying his best to cover his own corners and keep his relationship with the hospital.
After speaking to many of his clients we all started to connect the dots. He was bringing all of his clients to have a consult at Deesse. He would hype them up and then he would drop an insanely high price point. When we were expecting him to do his job and haggle he would make excuses and say it’s not possible- and trust me it was possible. Not only that but he would really pressure me after meeting in real life to get a facelift done as well. When I met him in real life he was adamant on selling it. He really made me believe that getting a facelift done immediately was essential and there would be no side effects of getting a facelift done so young asides from getting "addicted to it". It made me feel so stressed and like I couldn’t trust the mirror. After having my post consult meeting with him I was so stressed I didn't speak to him for 3 days. He kept insisting there were no side effects of getting a facelift proactively at my 27 years of age and at the cafe when I voiced why I don't want to he dismissed me and said that people only turn out looking "overdone" when they are older because they use too much filler and spoke with much annoyance. I know that he pressured/sold facelifts not just to me but also another friend of mine which made my blood boil because my 19 year old friend got A FACELIFT at deesse with him alongside her vline the same time as me. 19.SO UNBELIVABLY YOUNG AND IMPRESSIONABLE. But honestly the main point of this is not even about the money. Sure money will always come and go, but the trauma of being unsatisfied and feeling betrayed is extremely difficult to live with. But you know what else is something that one cannot easily overcome? Having a reputation for having bad practices and being a bad character. As I begun to converse more with his previous clients we all begun to realize what was going on. He even said to one of my friends " I can't believe they did this to you I will NEVER EVER recommend Deesse to any of my clients again!" When in reality he's been pushing the hospital non-stop. And because of this I cannot allow these extremely unethical practices to continue. I feel as though I have a part to blame for giving Brian glowing reviews, but if I had known this was what money turned him into, I would’ve never wasted my time. And if there was anyone who had a bad experience after I referred him I deeply, sincerely apologize and this is my karma.
I am going to Lake Como next week and am supposed to get engaged. But literally the past month was just unbearable. I feel like I haven’t been able to breathe fully in so long. I’ve fully immersed myself back into the rabbit hole of counting every calorie, every macro, killing myself at the gym for hours a day, and I know I am relapsing. As if fixating on this will do anything for my situation. I feel so betrayed and shocked. Up until recently I was constantly giving Brian the benefit of the doubt. But after hearing similar stories I realized I was lied to. How can someone be so …. Scary…? I’m not one to usually complain. To be honest I am one to always try to remain positive, but I feel like someone stole something from me. Not just money. I was so wronged in this situation. I am 27 years old, I spent 30,000$ with Brian in less than a year. I really supported his business so much. I would reply back to late messages to refer Brian to everyone who inquired about him. I didn’t miss a single message. I defended him against those who doubted him. I truly wanted his business to do well because I wanted him to enjoy the fruits of his labour. If you’ve read up until now I thank you for listening to my story. I know it’s a lot but thank you for hearing me and giving me a voice. I am just one person among the many people who unfortunately have been victimized. And I am aware of how scary it can be to be vulnerable and share your experience, so I know there are also a lot of other nameless victims I haven’t spoken to. And I’ve also brought up to Brian many times how I felt uncomfortable after hearing negative opinions about him and I would ask him to explain himself. He really would always find a way to talk himself out of taking any accountability and always paint his clients as unreasonable. I can tell you firsthand that as far as I can say with all the self-reflecting, I’ve done I was not unreasonable. Please do not let him twist this story either and I hope that you can believe my experience and take heed.
And Brian I know you’re reading this and truthfully as much as I’m angry and disappointed I have passed my stage of feeling spiteful. I can genuinely say I did not write all this out of anger. I want to at least make sure someone is doing the right thing by sharing their unfiltered experience. I know you won’t change for the better. You are always showing off about the girls you slept with and your girlfriend like they’re prizes and objects. You speak of your past doing unethical things, deceiving people, working with gang members like it’s a flex. To be honest when hearing your stories thinking of your actions as accomplishments, I pitied you but laughed along for you to save you from embarrassment. By always bragging about your “accomplishments” and how sly and smart you are you were actually just telling on yourself truthfully.If you want to push this further go ahead. I will push back and I am not afraid to push harder and you will understand you have messed with the wrong person. I hope you take this as a lesson that your actions will have consequences and eventually you will have to take accountability. Your current situation is an accumulative sum of your actions. You repeatedly being in this situation is a reflection of who you are as a person. I have nothing more to say. Goodluck.
TLDR: My experience with Brian, the once-trusted plastic surgery guide, turned into a nightmare. He manipulated me into choosing a questionable hospital, Deesse, despite my reservations. The surgeon, Dr. Kim Jin Hyung, promised to fix my eyebrow asymmetry but failed to deliver. Brian's absence throughout the process and his greed for money were evident. Don't fall victim to this unethical and money-driven duo.
**This review is not meant to bash anyone but to shed light on the dark truth I've discovered. I must warn you all and offer my own experience as a cautionary tale.
Let's cut to the chase. Many of you may remember my previous review, where I praised Braun and my translator, Brian. I genuinely believed he had his clients' best interests at heart. However, as his popularity grew, he became sloppy and his lack of a moral compass became evident. The shift was alarming.
Here's the scoop: Brian, abusing his position as a guide, manipulates clients into going to specific hospitals, even when there are previous cases of botched procedures and unhappy clients. He swayed me away from my first choice, Braun, by feeding me lies about their incompetence in eyebrow lifts. I fell for it, foolishly believing his recommendations were genuine.
During my trip, Brian's presence was minimal. He neglected his responsibilities, barely researching or checking up on me after surgery. He only showed up for a couple of appointments, putting on a show of being present while his attention was divided amongst other clients. And to top it off, he even kept my phone for three days without a valid reason, despite my close proximity to where he lived. His excuse of being too lazy to return it revealed his carelessness. This recurring theme showcased his overestimation of his own cleverness. Negligence and carelessness at its finest.
But let's talk about the real issue: the results of my surgery. During my consultation with Dr. Kim Jin Hyung at Deesse, he appeared knowledgeable, competent, and professional. He promised to fix my eyebrow asymmetry by at least 70%… My eyebrow lift was an absolute failure. No difference whatsoever. I paid a premium price for guaranteed improvement, but it was all a lie. And my unsatisfactory tipplasty? It's a constant reminder of my disappointment every time I look in the mirror. Despite my complaints, Brian did nothing to address the situation. He gaslit me, disregarded my concerns, and sided with the hospital, all while pretending to care. I felt unheard and betrayed, with no recourse for a revision as promised in the contract.
To make matters worse, the contract promising a free revision if unsatisfied turned out to be worthless. The doctor claimed a revision supposedly wouldn't be possible for at least five years, rendering my contract null and void. Brian completely failed to advocate for me and explore the possibility of revision with the clinic. Brian's response? A feeble apology and empty promises for the future. He had the audacity to suggest using Botox to remedy my eyebrow asymmetry. I didn't want to deal with future solutions when he had failed me in the present. His apologies held no weight, and his disregard for my best interests was apparent.
As I began connecting with other clients of his, a disturbing pattern emerged. Brian was funneling everyone to Deesse, hyping up the hospital, and then hitting them with exorbitant prices. When it came to negotiating, he conveniently found excuses for not securing a better deal, even though it was possible. But that's not all. He pressured me relentlessly to get a facelift, making me question my appearance and causing unnecessary stress. And he did the same to my 19-year-old friend, exploiting her youth and vulnerability. Unbelievable.
The financial aspect is not the only issue here. The trauma of feeling betrayed and dissatisfied is something I can't easily overcome.
Money comes and goes, but the scars of a bad experience linger. I cannot allow these unethical practices to continue unchecked. I apologize to anyone who had a negative experience after my referral. This is my karma, and I take responsibility for it.
Brian's lies and manipulation have shattered my trust in people. I have been through hell and back, unable to enjoy my upcoming wedding engagement trip to Lake Como. Counting every calorie, obsessing over my appearance, and relapsing into unhealthy habits have consumed me. The injustice of this situation cuts deep. I am 27 years old, I spent $30,000 with Brian in less than a year. I invested my trust, supported Brian's business wholeheartedly, and defended him against doubters. I would reply back to late messages to refer Brian to everyone who inquired about him. Never missed a single message. I truly wanted his business to thrive because I felt he deserved to enjoy the fruits of his labour. But this story is about more than just my personal struggles; it's about exposing bad characters / practices and warning others. I am just one amongst many whom Brian has victimized. I’ve vocalized on multiple occasions to Brian how uncomfortable I felt after hearing negative feedback about him from others, and I would ask him to explain himself. He never took any accountability and was quick to demonize the clients - accusing them of being unreasonable. I can tell you firsthand that as far as I can say with all the self-reflecting I’ve done - I was not unreasonable. Please do not let him twist this story either. I hope you will take heed and avoid making the same mistakes. Avoid partnering with him.
To Brian, I know you're reading this. My anger has evolved into a genuine desire for transparency. This isn't a rant fueled by emotion. My intention is to ensure someone takes responsibility by sharing the unfiltered truth. I don't expect you to change for the better. You seem to take pride in bragging about the women you've slept with and treating them as objects. You boast about your past involvement in unethical activities, deceiving people, and associating with gang members as if it's a flex. Frankly, when I heard these stories, I felt sorry for you but pretended to laugh along to spare you embarrassment. Little did I know, your constant bragging was actually a confession of your true character.
It helps people come to their own conclusions.