Even in this recession that is about to grip the nation people still want to look their best and so this is a short and simple article on how to save money on your next, or if you're about to take the plunge, your first cosmetic surgery treatment.
The thing you need to understand about the vast majority of the cosmetic surgery providers in the UK is that they are in the business to make money, simple as that. They have sales people (often called patient coordinators) whose job it is to make sure you have your treatment with the company they work for and therein lies the trick.
These sales people, like any other, have sales targets, that includes both money taken and in the case of surgical procedures; the number of beds they fill. Therefore you can use this to save yourself money on your treatments.
So when you attend your initial consultation you can try the following:
Ask if they have a late bed to fill (this is a bed that has appeared due to a cancellation or simply hasn't been booked in), if they have, say that you are willing to fill it if they can offer some sort of discount (they may even offer you this at your initial consult if it is later in the month). The downside to this is that you may end up reducing the time for your period of reflection, which is something you should really not do.
If you are having a treatment that is booked for the following month, wait until the end of the current month and offer to pay a reduced amount if they are willing to write-off the difference. So if your Breast Augmentation (linky to page) costs £4000, try offering £3600 instead at the end of the month and see if they accept that instead of the £4000 (as this is an extra £3600 towards their current month target that they weren't expecting).
A slight variation on the one above is to simply say “I only have X amount to pay for the treatment, would you accept this?” It does no harm in simply offering less as the patient coordinators would rather try and let you have the treatment for less than turn you away.
Finally there are seasonal variations, summer and winter are quieter times in general for the industry and so if you are willing to forgo a summer holiday, you can possibly save some money through discounts offered by the suppliers anyway.
So don't be afraid, give them a try next time you are there, these companies will be trying to weather the recession like any other and as already stated they would rather let you have the treatment for less than turn you away.
So if you still want to have a treatment and the ideas above don't succeed then simply walk away and go somewhere else.
