[Public Interest Report] Report on a Gangnam OO Clinic Hip Line/Contour Procedure and Liposuction Review, and Irresponsible Response After a Claim

Hello. I am a patient who underwent a hip line/contour procedure (pelvic grafting) and liposuction of accessory breasts, thighs, and abdomen at a plastic surgery clinic in Gangnam last year. I was shocked by the postoperative results and by the clinic’s response to my claim and its way of operating. In hopes that no one else suffers the same harm as I did, I am writing this post for public-interest information sharing, based only on facts currently confirmed after legal consultation.★★★ I state that this post is not intended to defame or criticize the clinic, but is for the public-interest purpose of protecting other patients’ right to know and preventing further harm.1. Postoperative claimsAbdomen: I raised three claims: a lumpy, uneven abdomen; accessory breasts that had not been reduced at all and were asymmetrical (I repeatedly asked them before surgery to pay special attention to this); and thighs with no change. When I made these three claims, I was told that the abdomen is divided into the lower abdomen and upper abdomen, and that I would need to pay extra for the upper abdomen. (This was not explained to me in detail before surgery.)Accessory breasts: When I protested that there was no change, I was told, “Because the skin is sagging, the effect may be minimal,” and as a solution, they proposed that if I underwent additional arm liposuction, they would do it together. In addition, before surgery I asked them to pay particular attention because the left and right accessory breasts were different, but nothing changed.Thighs: When I pointed out the unsatisfactory result, they split the area up in their explanation, saying, “The thighs are divided into front and back by area, so you need to remove all of it to see an effect.” From the standpoint of someone undergoing cosmetic surgery, I was doing it to see a definite effect, so I was taken aback because I had not received a proper explanation before surgery that prices differed by area and so on.2. Comment activity on other posts using the patient’s SNS account without consentOriginally, the clinic had promised to write my review on my account on my behalf. However, in addition to the review, they used my account to leave promotional comments about the clinic on other people’s posts and to recommend a specific director via direct messages. They falsely recommended the clinic as if they were a patient who had personally undergone surgery there.3. Avoiding communication after I raised the claimUntil before I made the claim, I thought communication with the clinic had been fairly good. But once I raised the issue, they completely “read and ignored” me on the KakaoTalk chat where I had been consulting.When I asked the clinic’s KakaoTalk channel whether they were deliberately avoiding contact, they kept not reading my messages. Then, when I raised the issue of “leaving comments on other people’s posts without permission and promoting the clinic,” only then did I receive a single message saying, “This is something we are seeing for the first time, so we will check.” (This clinic has three KakaoTalk accounts for communication.)Only after ten days passed did I finally receive proper contact. However, there was no mention at all of the comment activity I had not consented to.When they needed something from me (such as SNS information), they contacted me first and even requested phone calls, but when a situation came up where they had to take responsibility for their own negligence or fault, they immediately shut their mouths and disappeared. This is not buying something at a supermarket; at a plastic surgery clinic where people spend anywhere from several million won to tens of millions of won, I question whether this kind of staff response and handling before and after payment and surgery is really acceptable.4. Delay in providing a copy of the contract (still not provided to date)Before surgery, I entered into a model contract with the clinic. The clinic asked me to sign the model contract when I was flustered, right before surgery, and did not even provide me with a copy of the contract.Regarding the model contract, the clinic said that the posts could not be deleted and that the contract period was three years, bringing up matters related to the contract. So I notified them: “These were not even posts I wrote, and because promotional comments and direct messages I did not consent to were also sent without permission, I deleted everything. I intend to faithfully fulfill the contract, so if you send me a copy of the contract, I will personally upload an honest review accordingly.”Then they delayed providing the copy, saying they would conduct a legal review on whether they had to give me a copy of the contract. I strongly requested it two or three more times through the next day and the day after that, but they still have not provided it.★★★ If anyone is signing a model contract at this clinic, I strongly recommend that you make sure to obtain a copy of the contract in advance, before surgery and while you are clear-headed, and review it carefully. Also, please be sure to check whether your SNS account is being used indiscriminately. I am posting this for public-interest purposes in the hope that you do not suffer the same unfair harm that I did.