Today’s tip is on dress code when attending a plastic surgery consultation. A friend told me she donned her best dress with high heels and got many compliments in the clinic! She also got upsold to the tune of £21,000! Ladies and gents, please dress down. It is just common sense. I wore charity shop secondhand clothes with cheap trainers. I was asked if my jumper was cashmere. I replied,” yes it is and I bought it for £5 at my local Mind charity shop.” Staff and surgeons notice attire! It is at consultation they may try to upsell you if they perceive you are rich! My quote was £3495 and no upselling. Do NOT wear North Face or Canada Goose parkas in winter. They will ask you where you are staying. I told them the local travelodge (a 2 star hotel). If you say the name of a 5 star hotel, be sure the quote will be £20,000+. But maybe you are a multimillionaire and cost is not an issue. The worst scenario is if you are poor, yet perceived as rich by your attire and given a quote over £20,000.
I was always amazed when I sat in the DA hospital lobby in Seoul and saw all these young rich Asians with their designer bags and clothes sitting and waiting to be seen. I thought to myself, the translator consultants may have a field day upselling and may even try to double the price of procedures for Chinese foreigners. Just saying you are from the US or UK, ensures the big clinics in Korea may want to charge you premium prices.
Even in UK plastic surgery clinics, I have never dressed up and they have never seen me in a dress or high heels but always dressed down at postop visits too! Humility gets you everywhere in life!
Another tip is to be humble and grateful at consult. I have seen patients ask a zillion questions and demand their full hour even though it was given as a favour for free! If I had been offered a free consult, I would only take 5 minutes of the valuable surgeon’s time. I would feel enormously guilty if I dared take a full hour for free?! If the patient is arrogant and doesn’t say thank you for being given a £150 consult for free, then the surgeon may want to recoup this by upselling.
My surgeon has given free surgical procedures in and amongst that which has been paid for if he feels it will improve the aesthetics, money is an issue and the patient is very humble, courteous and grateful. After all he is human and we tend to go out of our way when treated with respect and humility. A surgeon who feels talked down to may ‘turf’ the patient to another colleague.
Even if you are unhappy with your result, there is a way to ask for a free revision. The worst way is to yell and threaten. The best way is to ask humbly and show evidence of before and after photos and remember to praise and thank the surgeon for his time and consideration.
We talk about a surgeon’s bedside manner but we never discuss the patient’s. Just as some surgeons may be arrogant and off-putting, so may some patients be arrogant, entitled and demanding.
PS anyone asking me to recommend a surgeon, please note I am not a charity. Read all 290 pages of my free blog thread here. Or if you want a private message opinion, then pay for my time. A US Chinese doctor friend charges 5 figures medical concierge fee! He saved over $10,000 by taking my free ps advice and getting his eyes done by my Korean surgeon. Enough with the free personal advice. I feel taken advantage of!