Questions about cost bargaining and scheduling

WDD

Member
Sep 30, 2018
6
0
Hi,
Probably very newbie questions, but

1) do you bargain for surgery costs? If so, when do you bargain?
I was on kakao with Dream. And I was quoted for 4.6 million KRW for invisible double eyelid with ptosis correction in one eye. And 3.1 million KRW for transconjutival fat reposition in the undereye.

Is this too much? If so, should I bargain with them on kakao or should I schedule a face to face and bargain with people at the clinic when I am there?

2) Scheduling... I actually find it very frustrating process. In America, I just call the doctor's office and boom, I have a sit down consultation in 5 minutes.

I have been on Kakao for 2,3 days, talking to UVom and Dream. It seems like they are only online like couple minutes a day... They just stop answering after couple minutes.

So I am thinking is it possible to just show up at 2,3 clinics I like without an appointment and see if they can fit me in for a face to face consultation that day or the next ?

And what exactly is the process for getting surgery in korea? Do you pay for deposits before a face to face consultation? Or afterwards?

Thanks for your suggestions
 
Last edited:
Hi WDD,

Even for locals, walk-in is impossible. You need to book an appointment in advance.
Most clinics aren't really foreigner friendly. Most clinics hire Chinese speaking staff, but English speaking staffs are being hired in only specific clinics that market toward English speaking customers. I also think you are being de-prioritized since you are seeking DES and fat repositioning, which is much cheaper procedure compared to FC, for example.

Please check your DM. I've share something that could be helpful for you.

Hi Jaycare, thanks for the reply. I speak chinese and english. so chinese is no problem.

But i found trying to schedule is the biggest pain in the ass.. When I try to talk to some doctor in china, you talk to their assistants on wechat. trying to get a schedule is virtually impossible... they never reply!

and the UVOM kakao is the same! they never reply to your request for a face to face consult...

also, anybody can suggest a good eyelid surgery place in korea, really appreciate it.
 
Hi,
Probably very newbie questions, but

1) do you bargain for surgery costs? If so, when do you bargain?
I was on kakao with Dream. And I was quoted for 4.6 million KRW for invisible double eyelid with ptosis correction in one eye. And 3.1 million KRW for transconjutival fat reposition in the undereye.

Is this too much? If so, should I bargain with them on kakao or should I schedule a face to face and bargain with people at the clinic when I am there?

2) Scheduling... I actually find it very frustrating process. In America, I just call the doctor's office and boom, I have a sit down consultation in 5 minutes.

I have been on Kakao for 2,3 days, talking to UVom and Dream. It seems like they are only online like couple minutes a day... They just stop answering after couple minutes.

So I am thinking is it possible to just show up at 2,3 clinics I like without an appointment and see if they can fit me in for a face to face consultation that day or the next ?

And what exactly is the process for getting surgery in korea? Do you pay for deposits before a face to face consultation? Or afterwards?

Thanks for your suggestions

Hi!

1) You bargain only after face to face consultation, and if you are planning to speak in chinese they might not be willing to reduce the price. There is a certain policy with clients speaking chinese as far as I know.
2) Some clinics are ok with walk-in (more likely you will be scheduled next day, or you'll have to wait if they got a spot between surgeries and consultations) but you better schedule the appointments, try email, works the best so you don't have to wait in a chat room.
3) No deposits before face to face consultation, check out as many clinics as possible. When you decide to have a surgery you leave a little amount of money to sort of schedule the surgery date and time. And right before the surgery you sign the contract and pay them the rest of the money. Don't forget to ask for tax-free. ;)
 
Hi!

1) You bargain only after face to face consultation, and if you are planning to speak in chinese they might not be willing to reduce the price. There is a certain policy with clients speaking chinese as far as I know.
2) Some clinics are ok with walk-in (more likely you will be scheduled next day, or you'll have to wait if they got a spot between surgeries and consultations) but you better schedule the appointments, try email, works the best so you don't have to wait in a chat room.
3) No deposits before face to face consultation, check out as many clinics as possible. When you decide to have a surgery you leave a little amount of money to sort of schedule the surgery date and time. And right before the surgery you sign the contract and pay them the rest of the money. Don't forget to ask for tax-free. ;)

I couldn't find some English websites for clinics I like so I reached out to them on their Chinese Wechat. Oh no! I'm not Chinese though - but I can kind of speak it - do you know more about this policy?? I don't want to ruin chances for better prices T_T
 
I couldn't find some English websites for clinics I like so I reached out to them on their Chinese Wechat. Oh no! I'm not Chinese though - but I can kind of speak it - do you know more about this policy?? I don't want to ruin chances for better prices T_T

Logic is pretty simple, if you speak Chinese you are sort of Chinese (in the clinic's minds, opinion), and for Chinese clients they have other range of prices (Chinese who come to Korea sort of don't really bargain and are willing to pay whatever they've been charged) , they also are not willing to bargain cuz they think that you would have a lot of money. So you better bring a translator, I think, or try to communicate both in English and Chinese, so they sort of understand that you are not a rich Chinese person :smile:
 
Hi,

Yes I did bargain for my surgery in Korea. There are several methods of bargaining that I know of. One is to simply state our budget then the consultant will usually try to match our budget. In my experience, they will lower it step by step until you agree. I merely said “let me think about it” when the price is still too high than what I wanted to pay , and they lower it by 3 million in the end lol.

Some clinics also provide discount if you let them use your before and after pictures or if you promise to write a review for them. Several clinics offer discount (around 10 percent) if you pay by cash

If you are doing multiple procedures, there is usually a package price too that offers discount.

From what I know bargaining is standard practice for Korean plastic surgery clinics
 
its fine if you gonna do a walk in but just remember most clinics have their consultation times set from 9-10.30 am. After that the surgeons will be in surgery. The next possible window is usually from 2-3pm but this depends if the surgeon is booked up for surgeries that day. So the safest tme is always early mornings
 
Logic is pretty simple, if you speak Chinese you are sort of Chinese (in the clinic's minds, opinion), and for Chinese clients they have other range of prices (Chinese who come to Korea sort of don't really bargain and are willing to pay whatever they've been charged) , they also are not willing to bargain cuz they think that you would have a lot of money. So you better bring a translator, I think, or try to communicate both in English and Chinese, so they sort of understand that you are not a rich Chinese person :smile:

yea...the clinic gave me an insane quote... i don't even want to go for consultation anymore. i told them i needed an english translator and she's like "you can speak english with the doctor" etc.etc. Oh well...
 
yea...the clinic gave me an insane quote... i don't even want to go for consultation anymore. i told them i needed an english translator and she's like "you can speak english with the doctor" etc.etc. Oh well...
The problem is bargain doesn't happen with the doc, consultant is the one dealing with finances, so it's really disappointing. When are you planning to go?
 
The problem is bargain doesn't happen with the doc, consultant is the one dealing with finances, so it's really disappointing. When are you planning to go?

Exactly! And she was pushy about making a deposit saying I won’t be able to secure a surgery date within two months. Wtf.

Anyways. I’m going in 5/15-6/5; get consultations done the first few days and hopefully get surgery the following week.

I’m trying to narrow down from 8 clinics but I just can’t...and fitting 4 in a day seems too ambitious. Ugh.
 
Exactly! And she was pushy about making a deposit saying I won’t be able to secure a surgery date within two months. Wtf.

Anyways. I’m going in 5/15-6/5; get consultations done the first few days and hopefully get surgery the following week.

I’m trying to narrow down from 8 clinics but I just can’t...and fitting 4 in a day seems too ambitious. Ugh.
yeh wait times can be long especially since most clinics do their consult times in the morning until 11. After that any further appointments can incur long waiting times if the surgeon is in surgery. When i went for my consultation trip i remmeber waiting 2 hours at one clinic zzz. 3 was the max i could fit in a day