Office review: they refused to give me my money back

If I could give this place no stars I would. Keep in mind the encounter I had with Dr. Hughes and his office was YEARS ago, but every time I see his name on here I still get sick to my stomach. This was the worst experience I’ve ever had with a plastic surgeon. They basically just stole my money and I never even got anything done. They took advantage of the fact that I was young, naive, and from out of town. 

Long story short I flew from the east coast to have a bbl with Dr. Hughes back in December of 2014, and when I got scared and changed my mind about the surgery, they refused to give me my money back. It took me bawling my eyes out in front of Dr. Hughes for them to agree to give me back a portion of my money. Mind you, I never signed any paperwork stating that I would even have the surgery done. They asked for my ID and CC over the phone and took the money out before I saw a single document. There was very little communication after they got their money. They essentially just told me to fly in one day prior to my scheduled surgery, and I would meet with Dr. Hughes then. 

So I flew to LA the day before my surgery, and it was then that Adam, I think his name was, tried to get me to sign the consent forms. Up until then, I had not been provided adequate information on the risks or complications, so I felt like I was not properly prepared for such an invasive surgery. Now I did not walk into the office that day intending to cancel my surgery, I actually wanted to reschedule it, use that opportunity to discuss the surgery with my surgeon, and get enough information to put my mind at ease; but it was after walking into the waiting room and seeing bloody paper towels on the floor that I started to question weather or not I wanted to go through with it. (The amount of blood on those towels made me nervous). I made sure not to sign any of the paperwork and just held onto it until I could discuss the situation with Adam. 

When he called my name and directed me to his office, he asked for the clipboard and said “thanks for filling that out” in a snarky tone when he realized I hadn’t signed anything. I started to ask about rescheduling or cancelling the surgery, and he immediately jumped down my throat and told me I wouldn’t get my money back. I was in shock. I couldn’t believe he would be so rude. That was the last straw for me. It was because of him that I decided I didn’t want surgery there, and Dr.Hughes was no help in the matter. 

To this day I still can’t believe the way they took advantage of a young girl like that. I was 18 years old and scared for gods sake. After fighting with Adam via email for months they sent me back SOME of my money, and told me I could use what they kept for a future surgery. Why the hell would I ever want to come back there? And even if I came back a few months later, I can guarantee they would not have honored that. 

Looking back, I would understand keeping the consultation fee because I wasted their time; maybe even the OR fee, but they had no right to keep the amount of money that they did. If I had known what to do back then I would have reported them to the Better Business Bureau, or actually gotten an attorney involved. That entire practice should be ashamed for taking advantage of a young person like that. That amount of money can make a big difference to their future. 

I would never in a million years recommend flying across the country to see Dr. Hughes, no matter how good his surgical skills are. They don’t care about anything other than their money. I suppose I should have known something was off when I emailed Adam and asked how to fly home after the surgery and he said something along the lines of standing during the flight..? Like I said, I was young, naive and all I could think about was how much I hated my body and my hip dips. It’s a shame that there are people out there who take advantage of those things.