The first week and a half of this year has been rough, and I had this really whiny post saved in my drafts but whatever. Dwelling on that shit won't do any good for me gotta move on! go go go
Today I'm gonna talk about consultations and how to prepare for them, both online and in person. What should you ask? What shouldn't you ask? My opinions below~
I'm gonna start off with the biggest mistake people make, I did this too when I first contacted clinics via e-mail. Do not ask for a price. Do not ask for a price. Do not ask for a price!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will definitely get a hugely inflated number and there's no way to get real estimations without them seeing you in person. Sometimes the opposite can happen though, in the e-mail you'll get a really good price but once you're there in person they mark it up by double or triple. In some cases yes you can bargain it down of course, but why make things unnecessarily complicated.
Good ole research will give you the answers you need on what people paid for certain procedures, and then you can use that for personal estimates (since you need to set a budget of course) and bargaining later on. Online consultations should basically only be used for general information and booking appointments. Sending pictures and asking what they recommend doesn't hurt either but of course it can't compare to them actually seeing and feeling your face in person.
While preparing for your in person consultations it's imperative that you clearly know what you want done, and that you can explain it in a concise manner. Fluent or not the language barrier is still there, so if you're all over the place with your explanation it won't do good for anyone. Having a list of questions ready is also highly recommended, I REALLY wish I had that prepared for mine. These questions will vary depending on the procedures, but ones that everyone can use are the safety aspect of things. eg
- describe an excellent, average, and poor outcome from this procedure
- if there is an emergency what protocols are in place?
- is your anesthesiologist board certified?
The overall vibe will also come naturally and should effect your decision. Ask yourself this during the consultation
- Is the surgeon actually listening and trying to understand your goals?
- Is h/she touching your face and body, giving thoughtful answers or short rushed ones
- Do you feel pressued in any way to get something done?
- Do you feel comfortable in the clinic and feel confident about the staff?
Now on to bargaining. First of all if you hire some sort of agency you WILL pay considerably more due to their commission. Some of them promise to do it for you and claim to knock the price down but nah, not happening. I touched upon this in my Do You Need A Translator? post and the point still stands.
How do you bargain? It's relatively simple, you don't need to be brash and rude. If you have a set budget simply tell them "All I have with me is 6 million won" or even bring other clinics into it, competition down there is fierce to say the least. "Clinic ___ (across the street) offered me a price of 5.2 million won. Would you be able to match that?" etc You have more power than you think and it is more than possible to get prices close to the ones locals get. With that being said if you're getting like two-jaw surgery, breast implants, and a new nose and you come in saying "yeah my budget is 6 million won!!" record their reactions so you can create the next viral GIF.
Hmm think that covers most of it. Can't stress enough how important consultations are, hope this helps!!
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