LETS TALK BOOKING FEES

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First of all, why do we take them? 

 

As you're very likely aware, we are incredibly busy as a clinic group. We know a lot of clinics “say” this, but hand on heart, we are genuinely at capacity (- and you'll know this if you've tried to book in!). It's actually a little crazy. We've been fully booked for every clinic we have run, for the best part of a decade now (long may it continue), regardless of location!

 

Which frustratingly means, that there is often a short wait to get in. We have 100K patients and only 10 doctors because we’re really fussy whom we have working for us. If you're not serious about the appointment for a consultation, allow another patient to have the slot they crave – and indeed the Booking Fee helps with this process. If patients aren't sure whether they will actually attend or what they want, they tend not to pay the Booking Fee and book in. This makes it easier for those who are serious about it, to find a slot appropriate to their timescale. Which makes for a smoother service for everyone.

 

You'll also be aware, that we work from high-end buildings and locations. It's part of the reason patients like visiting us! Harley Street in London, Jumeirah Beach in Dubai, and Beverly Hills in Los Angeles are just 3 of our clinic locations. These places are of course, expensive to use and often cost us £5k a day. Alas, we still need to pay the rent or mortgage, as well as the salaries of our staff and doctors, whether you attend or not. The Booking Fee merely covers this and the cost of being open, and we make no profit from this at all. It allows us to practice from the beautiful locations we do and add to the experience of the clinic itself. The alternative would be not to charge a consultation fee, and Booking Fee - but INSTEAD add a third on to the price of each treatment. It may also mean practising from less desirable areas.  Focus groups we have run and audited to further the clinic's experience would indicate that this is the last resort. 

 

As a practice, we decided this wasn't entirely fair - and that each patient should take responsibility for their turning up on time, and risk Booking Fee loss, rather than the entire patient base bearing the brunt of this. We appreciate that it might not be your fault that you cannot attend - you've lost your job, you don’t feel well, you've found out you're pregnant, your car has broken down, or you've just plain changed your mind. No one pays a Booking Fee and expects that he or she aren't going to attend, which we understand. BUT, that is the whole concept of the “Booking Fee taking” process, in case of such eventualities - and if they are refundable, there is little point in them being taken in the first place. 

However, regardless of this - these non-attendances incur business costs that potentially spiral into tens of thousands of pounds when you have a large international patient base of over 100,000, high international travel costs, and of course – the thousands of medical professional hours. We have also usually had to use several of our lovely admin staff to book you in too, answer several questions, and send you information packs (such as this one! , before you even arrive at the clinic and behind the scenes, and the Booking Fee will cover this too.

Is the Booking Fee refundable if I want to change or cancel my consultation?

 

No - the Booking Fee is STRICTLY NON REFUNDABLE  - BUT if you give us 2 weeks notice prior to your attendance, and the appointment slot is moved to within 2 weeks of the original slot. – we will transfer to another date convenient to you if diary space allows. If we don’t have the diary space, then the appointment will not be able to be moved.

 

If you then have treatment on the day of the consultation, this is then redeemable against your treatment on the day itself. If you book several consultations, and therefore pay several different Booking Fee to reserve your slots - these are only redeemable against their respective slots. 

 

For example, if you have paid a Booking Fee for a consultation for lip augmentation, another for Botox, and then liquid rhinoplasty – you’ll have 3 consultations booked. What if you then only proceeded with the Botox? 

The Botox consultation fee and Booking Fee only will be redeemed against that treatment. You cannot redeem the lips/ nose consultation fees against the Botox in addition. This makes the patient think more carefully about what they really want, rather than book the entire afternoon out to hang with one of the doctors, or the team, they’ve seen on Instagram. Of course, we’re being tongue in cheek, but this is an actual occurrence! We love seeing you, but we have a duty to see as many of you as possible and we’re well aware of how frustrating it is to have to wait to book in.

Bear in mind, that for whatever reason - no one ever foresees the reason why they can no longer come, and again in the interests of fairness - we have to have the same rule for everyone without exception. We warn everyone at the time of booking that the Booking Fee is non-refundable - and thus whilst disappointing of course - it is fair and ethical. You take on the responsibility of ensuring your attendance or unfortunately be advised that the Booking Fee will be lost, regardless of the reason behind it. 

 

Is the consultation free?

 

The Booking Fee is actually for your consultation fee. We only ever use doctors and dentists to advise you, who are at the top of their game and usually surgically trained too. You are paying for their expert, qualified, and indemnified opinion ( in line with Consultant Clinic techniques and protocols, developed over years of practice). The Booking Fee will vary according to the clinic you’re looking into. Thus far:

 

London, Dublin and Birmingham – as per the website, we charge £81.32 for each consultation

Greater Manchester and Liverpool - £61.04 for each consultation

Dubai and Los Angeles - £122.08 per consultation (simply go through the Booking Fee process twice – 2 x £61.04). Remember, we are usually flying our UK based doctors to another country for you especially, and it will, therefore, cost more to fly 12 hours to California, than it will to jump in the car and drive to work down the road, for us all.

 

December – twice usual consultation fee for each clinic

 

We charge double Booking Fees in December as we’re only open for 2 weeks, and the demand for our services is literally off the scale. We’re simply bursting at the seams, and it’s especially important to allow our regulars to be able to book in – as well as those who are certain they want treatment or/ and a consultation. If you aren’t sure during these busy periods, then we would advise you book in, during off-peak season. It goes without saying that the consultation fees at any cost, are always redeemable against respective treatments if performed on the same day.
The rule of thumb, for Booking Fees – is that if you aren’t sure – or aren’t completely on board with all of this, then it’s best not to book in and think on it some more.

 

Is it a given, that I will definitely be able to have treatment of my choice on the day?

 

It is never assumed that a treatment can be had on the day, as there are hundreds of reasons which may prevent treatment, whether it is overfilled lips, medication issues, blood supply, nerve supply, scar tissue to the area, certain allergies, anatomical quirks, immunosuppressants, on-going medical conditions, the herpetic virus, and many more. All of these prevent treatment on the day, and we cannot cover all possibilities prior to this on an exhaustive list- as, after all, it takes a qualified, trained aesthetics doctor to fully assess a treatment plan for you, what your options are, if eventually, you would like to be left with a result you’re expecting and wish for. 

That being said, we often have to turn people away at the consultation, either for an existing medical condition, undisclosed previous information, or the presence of previously poorly placed filler from another practice. These can only be assessed on the day, and although less than ideal, it's a part of the process. 
 
Although it sounds preferable to be able to list all potential obstacles on the pre-information pack exhaustively, unfortunately, it can't - as a broad brush stroke as is not black and white, and not the correct clinical approach. It is at the entire point of a consultation that full suitability is assessed, it's also why at this stage the medical history and consent form is taken.
However, in our considerable experience, most patients tell us if they are undergoing other treatments, taking other medications, or a potential conflict, and double check prior to booking/treatment if it could be an issue. It is your responsibility to let us know of anything you are currently seeing your GP for, aside from contraceptives.
NB, We can inject over the filler work of others, provided it is smooth and in the right place. If not, as we cannot determine and guarantee our results – we would need to dissolve first.

 

What if I suffer from cold sores?

 

We advise asking your GP for acyclovir, to help prevent a break out prior to treatment. We give you them to take after treatment too, to help prevent a trigger. We cannot guarantee against breakouts, as every time the skin barrier has breached a patient carrying the herpes virus, it remains a possibility. However, we do find prescription antivirals are remarkably effective.

 

Remember just ask!

 

We do all we can to warn your fairly and allow you to make an informed choice in line with good medical practice guidelines. We can obviously only do so much in a pack like this, as non-medics cannot advise you.

If there is something you’re not sure about, we have a fantastic admin team, who will answer you – and if they can’t, will refer to a manager or doctor. On occasion, and if necessary – our doctors will contact you themselves to ensure you have the best experience possible.