Office review: unethical practices, should be a beacon of safety

The practice of this Dr. and staff is unethical. I had a Skype consultation with Dr. Calabria for a minor procedure. In our call- which lasted just a few minutes- he suggested more serious options and when I told him that I had gone to other in-person consultations that told me I was not a candidate, he insisted that is because I live in Chicago, which is more conservative than Beverly Hills. I am in my thirties and the only reference he had for me to speak to is Melissa, who works for him in his office. Melissa is perhaps in her late 50's (**and works for him, is important to note). I spoke with Melissa to understand her experience and she said the procedure was painful and would take months to a year to really heal, but of course, suggested I move forward. I wanted to know when his next availability would be and she said she could not share the schedule until I agreed to sign documents and pay my deposit of $3,900. It was January when I signed and she initially mentioned that he was booking so far out beyond July, that if I wanted to get any appointment, I needed to get on his waiting list. I felt pressured and a lot of urgency and agreed to sign, not knowing the doctor's full history, enough information about risks, or understanding my own medical state to learn if I could even undergo a procedure. "Magically" there were plenty of appointments in March AFTER I SIGNED an agreement to charge my credit card. This made me feel uncomfortable because I felt I was lured in. I scheduled the procedure and they told me that I needed blood work prior to the procedure. Once I consulted with my dr., I was told according to my health, I should not undergo any surgeries. I decided to have another consultation with a very reputable surgeon in Beverly Hills, just for comparison to see if he agreed with Dr. Calabria's recommendation for me. He did NOT. He agreed with the ALSO REPUTABLE surgeon in Chicago, who said I do not have laxity in my skin and there would be high risk for scarring and more. I did further research and found medical board complaints about the doctor here on yelp and botched reviews. I was not comfortable and afraid. My procedure was scheduled for March and I cancelled with at minimum of a month prior, so the doctor would be able to fill my spot with his alleged waiting list. I asked for my deposit to be refunded and was told under no circumstances can it be refunded. Unfortunately, the credit card authorization says the words "under no circumstances," however, no work had been done, no services offered, and the dr was paid $350 for the 5 minute Skype call. It is unethical to put patients in compromising positions for their health and finances to bully them and take their money. If this doctor was legitimate and ethical, he would be willing to resolve the issue. I had an attorney write a letter to the office and no one responded for weeks. We followed up and his office worker Andrea Avalos accidentally replied to my attorney saying, "Should I respond to this or just ignore it?" You will find plenty of reviews of his online that show his office ghosts you and is unwilling to resolve matters. This is poor practice, bad business, and extremely tragic for a doctor- who should be a beacon of safety- to relate to patients this way. I wanted to share this experience so others can protect themselves and hopefully Dr. Calabria and his staff can change their practices to actually care about patients more than they are committed to screwing them over or finding resolutions.