I took advantage of the $499 deal on Groupon and decided I wanted a few more areas done. It took me a month to schedule my consultation and a month out to schedule my procedure. I had to wait about an hour just to get my consultation started. I reported to their office lobby, where there is no reception area, just a room. You have to knock on a door for them to know you have arrived. After a few minutes, they took me to the elevator to another office in the building and I was told that they were having and inspection. I've read you normally don't meet Dr. Milstein until the day of the procedure, but he popped in during my consultation as he needed to speak with Helen, the patient consultant, so I was able to meet him briefly.
During the consultation, I was asked to remove my clothes. Helen was very friendly and I felt comfortable with her. She took pictures of me on an iPad and showed me what they would remove by drawing on the pictures. She was informative and suggested I have other areas done, which later I decided to do.
So the total for my procedure came out to:
$499 for the Groupon special
$200 for Lab Work
$100 for Surgical Garment
$100 for Meds
So during my month period of prepping for my procedure, I maintained a better diet, went to the gym, stopped drinking caffeine, etc... During this time, I decided I wanted to have more areas done, so I was able to text one of the staff members about making sure I purchased the right garment for the procedure. She was really friendly and responded to my texts when I had concerns. The week before my procedure, I fell ill and couldn't take any meds as cold medicine is on their no-list of things before lipo, So I had to ride it out hoping to feel better in time. The day before my procedure, I called to confirm that I was coming tomorrow since I hadn't heard anything from them for two weeks. They called me later that day saying they lost my contact information and had been trying to call me for weeks to tell me that Dr. Milstein was no longer available and I would have to reschedule for three weeks later...
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Lost my info? What kind of business loses a patient's information? And after I had been texting one of the staff members... And three weeks later? I had already taken the time off and could not wait three weeks as I planned my entire schedule around my original procedure. I was upset and the rep on the phone didn't seem phased at what an inconvenience this was. I asked for a refund since it was the doctor's fault for cancelling. She informed me I had to request a refund through Groupon, which is another story.
So after my preparations and the money I put out, I was left empty handed. They didn't even bother to alert the pharmacy that the doctor wouldn't be performing lipo on me anymore and they still charged my CC for the medication.
So I'm giving two stars because I can't base it on the out come, but of the how the situation was handled.
On a side note, I believe they did me a favor because of all the things I've read about this company. Fake five star reviews, botched procedures, unresponsive post surgery... I also learned that it is illegal for them to charge the 10% fee to use Care Credit, if you decide to go that route and that Dr. Milstein is not a board certified plastic surgeon. Too much negative over the positive to take the risk.
I did end up going else where, to the Beverly Hills Institute of Plastic Surgery where I was able to get a consultation the day after I requested one and was able to have the procedure done the next morning. They even honored my labs and let me get the procedure so quick because I was ready to go. The quality of service and the office is like night and day. So I got cancelled on April 1st from Dr. Milstein, and was in on April 4th at BHIP at the other office. The turn around was phenomenal. So glad I went this route.
I don't doubt that Dr. Milstein could have performed an excellent job at my procedure, or anyone else's... But just as a precaution, do your research, shop doctors and hope that this doesn't happen to you. read more