Monday, May 19, 2008

The first consultation

We went for the first consultation at the first bariatric center here. At this stage, Jason was more inclined to do the Lap-band ( Laparoscopic Gastric Banding). The PA met with us and made us watch a video presentation of the Lap-Band system and explained the procedure and details. Then, we met with the nutritionist. We were supposed to meet with the doctor too but was told he was not available and had left the building.

We were under the impression that this was just an initial consultation to find out what Lap-band was all about. We had made it clear that no decision had been made on our part. But upon check-out, they collected $250 from us. They did tell us that if we were to decide not to do this surgery with them, they will refund the $200 (but not the nutritionist fee).

Fair enough, but it still felt like daylight robbery to me because we were not told of all these charges in advance.

In the car, we had the same opinion that this center did not make us comfortable and they were very unorganized. (PA also could not find her files and had misplaced her scope)

More researches later, and we found another place.

We called the first center to tell them we have decided not to do the surgery but was then informed that the $200 can NOT be refunded., blah blah blah.

What the $%^& ??

After a complaint letter, some more calls, and a few bad reviews written about them, we finally got our money back.

No comments: