2024 DA Plastic Surgery Review
I know you are doing your best to gather factual information before making one of the biggest decisions of your life and believe me it really is a big decision. Therefore, I will also do my best to provide factual and detailed information on my experience at DA to help you make an informed decision.
Like you, I was thinking about doing plastic surgery for a long time and started my research online. I knew for sure I wanted to do my surgery in Korea, as their surgeons are regarded as the best in the world.
Since I am not from Korea and do not speak Korean, I narrowed down my search to large, reputable clinics that had an English website, English social media, and English translators. For me, it was Braun, DA, JK, JW, and View. After weeks and months of researching, I finally narrowed it down to the clinic that had the best and most professional social media presence; that was DA Plastic Surgery.
I contacted DA via Whatsapp and they were really good at answering all my questions within 24 hours or less. They were kind and patient, and they quoted competitive prices for my facelift, rhinoplasty, and lower eyelid surgery; they did, however, require that I wire over a non-refundable deposit in order to make a reservation. After several weeks of gathering and providing information, I finally had the courage to follow my dreams; I moved forward with wiring the deposit, booking a flight, and reserving a hotel.
DA picked me up at the airport and booked my first consultation the very next day. The building was beautiful, with blue-tinted glass, and a Starbucks on the ground floor. Upon entering, I noticed that the waiting room was fully packed with international patients from all over the world.
During the initial consultation, for the first time, I met the doctors who would be performing my surgeries. Since they held my future in their hands, I was respectful and polite. You could tell that they were doing this all day, all week, and all year, with hundreds of international patients, hence the consultation was more business-like, transactional, and curt. One of the physicians smelled heavily of cigarettes; another physician was older and gruff, and at one point yelled at a staff member for something; all-in-all not a usual or customary medical appointment.
Thereafter, I was quoted a price that was almost double what was quoted over WhatsApp. I showed them my WhatsApp texts, but they said that price was simply a standard quoted price and after consultation the price increases. However, they said I could get a 20% discount if I wrote a 5-star review on Google. (Later I noticed that DA indeed had high Google ratings with the majority of reviewers having only 1-2 reviews in their history.)
Since I had already booked my flight and hotel, and paid a non-refundable deposit I was locked into having surgery at DA. I asked for an additional discount as the price was over my budget and significantly higher than what was originally quoted. The staff member said she needed to get a manager approval and we negotiated back and forth a few times; I suppose the closest thing I could compare this to would be buying a used car.
Due to the unexpectedly high price, I maxed out 2 credit cards and the surgery was immediately scheduled the next day. If nothing else, this place is super-efficient and set up to process hundreds of patients in the shortest amount of time.
On surgery day, I had to completely undress, in front of other patients, in an open locker room and thereafter proceeded to surgery. At this point, I realized that whatever happened, good or bad, would change the rest of my life.
When I awoke from surgery, it was bad. Immediately after surgery the nurses tried to discharge me home even though I was instructed to stay overnight due to my multiple surgeries.
During recovery, I developed a hematoma and my face started to swell due to internal bleeding. DA did not have an afterhours emergency phone number and no one answered phone calls or texts after the clinic closed. Being in a foreign country, I didn’t know how to reach an ambulance or emergency room, and even if I did, I would not be able to communicate in Korean. I went to DA the first thing next morning and the physicians immediately drained the blood from my hematoma.
During my final consultation before departing Korea, I inquired about one nostril being significantly larger than the other nostril. The doctor was not pleased with my comment and appeared visibly upset. He instructed his assistant to inform me that it was better than before and that I needed to wait several weeks and up to 3-6 months to see the final result and with that he sent me back to the U.S.
Several weeks and 3-6 months have passed and the asymmetry and swelling has not improved. My cheekbones are significantly swollen from the facelift resulting in areas under the cheekbones to become sunken. The cartilage placed in my nose has deviated so I cannot breathe from one side, and my nostrils are now 2 different sizes. The saddest part of all, however, is that after my lower eyelid surgery, I experienced throbbing flashes in one eye followed by vision loss requiring ongoing treatment with several eye specialists.
Prior to my surgeries, DA always returned by WhatsApp texts withing 24 hours. Now, after surgery and payment, I have asked and re-asked for help with my post-surgery complications but receive no response. Nevertheless, if my spouse texts them with interest in having surgery, they respond within 24 hours. I have spent my life savings and time away from family and work for a life changing procedure. DA has provided that life changing procedure, but it is a life changing procedure I regret every day.
Q&A:
Would I do plastic surgery at DA again but with a different doctor?
No, because their system is set up to perform the maximum number of surgeries is the shortest amount of time. Since you are one of hundreds or thousands of patients that they will never see again, even with a hypothetical <5% error rate that still is a lot of errors. After departing Korea, follow-up care is unavailable, as they have hundreds of future patients competing for their limited available time.
How do I choose a clinic?
I know you are doing your best to gather factual information before making one of the biggest decisions of your life and believe me it really is a big decision. Therefore, I will also do my best to provide factual and detailed information on my experience at DA to help you make an informed decision.
Like you, I was thinking about doing plastic surgery for a long time and started my research online. I knew for sure I wanted to do my surgery in Korea, as their surgeons are regarded as the best in the world.
Since I am not from Korea and do not speak Korean, I narrowed down my search to large, reputable clinics that had an English website, English social media, and English translators. For me, it was Braun, DA, JK, JW, and View. After weeks and months of researching, I finally narrowed it down to the clinic that had the best and most professional social media presence; that was DA Plastic Surgery.
I contacted DA via Whatsapp and they were really good at answering all my questions within 24 hours or less. They were kind and patient, and they quoted competitive prices for my facelift, rhinoplasty, and lower eyelid surgery; they did, however, require that I wire over a non-refundable deposit in order to make a reservation. After several weeks of gathering and providing information, I finally had the courage to follow my dreams; I moved forward with wiring the deposit, booking a flight, and reserving a hotel.
DA picked me up at the airport and booked my first consultation the very next day. The building was beautiful, with blue-tinted glass, and a Starbucks on the ground floor. Upon entering, I noticed that the waiting room was fully packed with international patients from all over the world.
During the initial consultation, for the first time, I met the doctors who would be performing my surgeries. Since they held my future in their hands, I was respectful and polite. You could tell that they were doing this all day, all week, and all year, with hundreds of international patients, hence the consultation was more business-like, transactional, and curt. One of the physicians smelled heavily of cigarettes; another physician was older and gruff, and at one point yelled at a staff member for something; all-in-all not a usual or customary medical appointment.
Thereafter, I was quoted a price that was almost double what was quoted over WhatsApp. I showed them my WhatsApp texts, but they said that price was simply a standard quoted price and after consultation the price increases. However, they said I could get a 20% discount if I wrote a 5-star review on Google. (Later I noticed that DA indeed had high Google ratings with the majority of reviewers having only 1-2 reviews in their history.)
Since I had already booked my flight and hotel, and paid a non-refundable deposit I was locked into having surgery at DA. I asked for an additional discount as the price was over my budget and significantly higher than what was originally quoted. The staff member said she needed to get a manager approval and we negotiated back and forth a few times; I suppose the closest thing I could compare this to would be buying a used car.
Due to the unexpectedly high price, I maxed out 2 credit cards and the surgery was immediately scheduled the next day. If nothing else, this place is super-efficient and set up to process hundreds of patients in the shortest amount of time.
On surgery day, I had to completely undress, in front of other patients, in an open locker room and thereafter proceeded to surgery. At this point, I realized that whatever happened, good or bad, would change the rest of my life.
When I awoke from surgery, it was bad. Immediately after surgery the nurses tried to discharge me home even though I was instructed to stay overnight due to my multiple surgeries.
During recovery, I developed a hematoma and my face started to swell due to internal bleeding. DA did not have an afterhours emergency phone number and no one answered phone calls or texts after the clinic closed. Being in a foreign country, I didn’t know how to reach an ambulance or emergency room, and even if I did, I would not be able to communicate in Korean. I went to DA the first thing next morning and the physicians immediately drained the blood from my hematoma.
During my final consultation before departing Korea, I inquired about one nostril being significantly larger than the other nostril. The doctor was not pleased with my comment and appeared visibly upset. He instructed his assistant to inform me that it was better than before and that I needed to wait several weeks and up to 3-6 months to see the final result and with that he sent me back to the U.S.
Several weeks and 3-6 months have passed and the asymmetry and swelling has not improved. My cheekbones are significantly swollen from the facelift resulting in areas under the cheekbones to become sunken. The cartilage placed in my nose has deviated so I cannot breathe from one side, and my nostrils are now 2 different sizes. The saddest part of all, however, is that after my lower eyelid surgery, I experienced throbbing flashes in one eye followed by vision loss requiring ongoing treatment with several eye specialists.
Prior to my surgeries, DA always returned by WhatsApp texts withing 24 hours. Now, after surgery and payment, I have asked and re-asked for help with my post-surgery complications but receive no response. Nevertheless, if my spouse texts them with interest in having surgery, they respond within 24 hours. I have spent my life savings and time away from family and work for a life changing procedure. DA has provided that life changing procedure, but it is a life changing procedure I regret every day.
Q&A:
Would I do plastic surgery at DA again but with a different doctor?
No, because their system is set up to perform the maximum number of surgeries is the shortest amount of time. Since you are one of hundreds or thousands of patients that they will never see again, even with a hypothetical <5% error rate that still is a lot of errors. After departing Korea, follow-up care is unavailable, as they have hundreds of future patients competing for their limited available time.
How do I choose a clinic?
- I would recommend contacting a minimum of 5 plastic surgery clinics.
- I would not put down a deposit.
- I would consider using a reputable plastic surgery booking service to help with translating and selecting a clinic and surgeon.
- I would get a copy of all documents signed at the clinic.
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