Honest Review of GNG and Docfinder Korea

[jamie-nguyen]

Sarah waters said: ↑

Hello everyone, I’m hoping someone’s will have an answer for me. I have been dealing with Docfinder Korea and received 4 clinics to chose from (Cinderella, ID HOSPITAL, Banobagi, and JK). I received pricing and when I told them I would be choosing a clinic soon they asked for my personal information and said I was registered with them with those hospitals. When I did the price conversions I was astonished at how expensive it is!. It is more expensive than me travelling to the US ( I’m canadian). I emailed docfinder and asked if they can get a lower price and they responded with “At the moment, we only recommend the following clinics to our clients due to their relability and safety”. So then I started to think that I should do what I was going to do years ago (knowing that foreigners pay more) was to get someone who speaks korean and has a Korean keyboard, get a Korean email, and get pricing on the surgeries I want (so pretend I’m korean). Then I’d call the clinics directly (the ones in my personal research list (Cinderella, ID, Grand, JK, BK) and see if they would do the surgery for more than what locals pay if I agree to book surgery with them immediately.

Has anyone done this? The pricing for foreigners is rediculious!

But if they enter my name, will I be on their system as a client of docfinder set Korea?

Click to expand...

Hi Thank you for sharing. Are you done surgery?

 

[helloheymee]

Jamie Nguyen said: ↑

Hi, Why didn't you ask them for a discount? They might give you discount from what I have seen in the forum. I am considering of GNG and DFK.

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Which one do you prefer most likely???

 

[jamie-nguyen]

helloheymee said: ↑

Which one do you prefer most likely???

Click to expand...

I've contacted other clinics and docfinder.

 

[meghanlover-3]

T

Mn31515 said: ↑

Hi everyone, I thought about whether or not to share my experience with Docfinder Korea and GNG for Rhinoplasty and Ptosis Correction (by double eyelid incision), and have decided I will, in return for all the help this forum has given me!

This review will be broken up in 2 parts. Part 1: Docfinder
Part 2: GNG and my surgery results

Part 1 Docfinder:
I dealt with 3 people while in Korea. I forgot the name of the first girl, so I went back to look on Kakao, and I think she's no longer with Docfinder as her profile is gone. The second person I met was Clovis and the third was Shin.

My initial online consultation was through Monica, and she was very helpful and relatively fast with her communication. I did reach out privately to two of the five clinics she recommended and the prices I was quoted were all the same so Docfinder doesn't inflate the prices to get a higher commission. (However, I'm sure the clinics already inflate their prices automatically for foreigners). Monica also gave me a list of hotels to choose from. I chose to place a deposit with GNG as to reserve my surgery date. However, next time, I will choose to meet with 2-3 clinics while in Korea before making a decision and submitting a deposit. Why? To get a better price. GNG already had my deposit and knew I was getting surgery there so the incentive to be willing to negotiate with me for a better price was lacking. I ended up paying about 7mil krw for rhinoplasty with osteomy for narrowing my wide nose bridge, silicone implant, tiplasty, and alar reduction. For ptosis correction, I paid about 4 mil krw.

I was traveling alone to Korea for the first time and was thankful to have an agency arrange for a taxi to pick me up (I arrived at 1am) and drive me to my hotel. My layover flight was delayed in Beijing for an hour and I had no way of contacting Docfinder to let them know (no internet at the airport for people with foreign phone numbers). Try to avoid Beijing airport if you can, btw. I had such a hard time navigating the confusing layout as none of the workers seemed to speak English. Anyhow, I was nervous that the driver would have left and thankfully he didn't! He was very nice, though visibly tired lol.

I hadn't received a message from Docfinder yet telling me who was picking me up in the morning and what time so I messaged Docfinder myself. I did receive a reply, but wish they would have arranged this earlier as they had said they would in an email. Anyhow, the first girl picked me up at my hotel and we took a taxi to GNG. She was very nice though she was on her phone throughout most of my time with her, dealing with a few personal matters at the time which I could understand at the time. When it came down to speaking about my procedures with the Korean speaking consultant, there was an in house English translator (Henny?) who was of better help to me than my Docfinder road manager. The most disappointing part about Docfinder here was that my road manager that day did not help me to negotiate a better price at all. I had to do it by myself and managed to get a 10% discount. She just sat there, tbh.

When I woke up from surgery, she helped me to my room and stayed there with me for a few hours to make sure I stayed awake and didn't drink water which was helpful as I was incredibly thirsty after rhinoplasty and tired. No pain though. After she got me some water, she left for the evening.

The next morning, Clovis picked me up from GNG around 11am. I asked her if we can drop by a store so I can buy an electrical adapter (I completely forgot about this necessity travelling from the U.S.!) porridge, water bottles, yogurt, and juice. She told me that I can probably borrow one from my hotel front desk and that there would be water dispensers in the hotel. After we arrived at my hotel, she did walk me to a nearby convenience store to buy porridge, yogurt, and juice. I was able to find water and and an adapter at my hotel as she said.

Mt first road manager messaged me to ask how I was doing, so that was thoughtful.

Two days later, Shin picks me up to take me to GNG to get my nose packings out (Yes, I can finally breathe through my nose!!! No more dry mouth! ). He was very kind and helpful, though seemed like he was juggling a lot at the time.

Docfinder offers you a shopping tour, but be sure you request it a few days in advance. And i wouldn't really call it a tour. Instead, they'll pick you up and act as a chaffeur to take you to where you want to go. Not sure if I came at a busy time for them, but Shin pushed my shopping date a day behind, he seemed really busy. Not sure why he just didn't have another manager take care of it unless the entire agency was just busy (I traveled during the spring). Anyway, no big deal. The day of, he took me to get my hair washed as I requested and it was the best feeling ever! I did request to go shopping at one place, but realized it was 1.5 hour away. Shin was willing to drive me there, but I declined since it was so far out of the way and it would take us forever in traffic at that time.

A few days later, I was to get my stitches removed! Clovis let me know she was the road manager to take me. As I was getting my stitches removed the day before I was leaving Korea and flying home, it was crucial that I make it to my appointment. I did let her know that when I first met her. However, she messaged me and said that she needed to reschedule for the next morning because of conflicts with another client booking she had. I told her rather firmly that that was impossible as I was leaving at 9 am in the morning to catch my flight. I was freaked out and annoyed, and she quickly messaged me back saying she will try to figure it out. I thought this was very unprofessional, but like she said, she managed to work it out. When we got to GNG, Henny was there and helped translate for me as I met with the doctors for evaluation.

The next morning, Docfinder arranged for a taxi to pick me up and drop me off to the airport.

OK, so would I recommend Docfinder Korea?

Yes, if 1) you're a non Korean speaking foreigner 2) if it's your first time to Korea

Pros: 1) convenient taxi pick up and drop off 2)having someone at the clinic while you're in surgery to make sure shadow doctors aren't being used 3) having someone there after you wake up from surgery to make sure you stay awake and don't drink water while in the recovery room 4) shopping trip if they have time in their schedule

Cons: 1) lack of initial communication 2) no help bargaining for a better price with clinics as they state on their website 3) cancelations due to conflicts with their schedule

The bottom line:
If there is an in house English translator at the clinic, there isn't really a point to have Docfinder there besides having someone there to make sure shadow/junior doctors aren't being used. If you can hail a taxi and if your clinic has an in house English translator and has an honorable reputation and skilled doctors, you really don't need Docfinder. You might even be able to negotiate bigger discounts with the clinic since they won't have to pay a 3rd party commission.

Part 2 will be posted soon. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience! I just read all your thread and learned about Docfinder. Hmm. They seem to be helpful but I am not sure I want their service or not. Most of clinics I contacted offered pick up service and translation service etc.
If I would get less discount because of their "commission?" I would just go by myself and meet some friends from PF.

 

[dylan101]

Hello, I like your content but I do not agree with one thing you mention in the article , It is "DocFinder" if you are not sure please read this article you will find out why I said like that ( https://beautyhacker.com/forums/topic/980072-the-ultimate-plastic-surgery-clinic-guide-in-seoul-korea/ ) .Docfinder charge way higher price than any other medical tourism service in Korea.

 

[jennyan14]

Hi everyone Im trying to go to korea next year to get non-incisional ptosis correction done on my eyelids and this is going to be my first time going to korea. I wanted to book with docfinderkorea but im kind of skeptical about it. I've heard people pay more while being with the agent rather than going there yourself. I need some advice about this, please help me out!!):

 

[lunarain]

Mn31515 said: ↑

Hi everyone, I thought about whether or not to share my experience with Docfinder Korea and GNG for Rhinoplasty and Ptosis Correction (by double eyelid incision), and have decided I will, in return for all the help this forum has given me!

This review will be broken up in 2 parts. Part 1: Docfinder
Part 2: GNG and my surgery results

Part 1 Docfinder:
I dealt with 3 people while in Korea. I forgot the name of the first girl, so I went back to look on Kakao, and I think she's no longer with Docfinder as her profile is gone. The second person I met was Clovis and the third was Shin.

My initial online consultation was through Monica, and she was very helpful and relatively fast with her communication. I did reach out privately to two of the five clinics she recommended and the prices I was quoted were all the same so Docfinder doesn't inflate the prices to get a higher commission. (However, I'm sure the clinics already inflate their prices automatically for foreigners). Monica also gave me a list of hotels to choose from. I chose to place a deposit with GNG as to reserve my surgery date. However, next time, I will choose to meet with 2-3 clinics while in Korea before making a decision and submitting a deposit. Why? To get a better price. GNG already had my deposit and knew I was getting surgery there so the incentive to be willing to negotiate with me for a better price was lacking. I ended up paying about 7mil krw for rhinoplasty with osteomy for narrowing my wide nose bridge, silicone implant, tiplasty, and alar reduction. For ptosis correction, I paid about 4 mil krw.

I was traveling alone to Korea for the first time and was thankful to have an agency arrange for a taxi to pick me up (I arrived at 1am) and drive me to my hotel. My layover flight was delayed in Beijing for an hour and I had no way of contacting Docfinder to let them know (no internet at the airport for people with foreign phone numbers). Try to avoid Beijing airport if you can, btw. I had such a hard time navigating the confusing layout as none of the workers seemed to speak English. Anyhow, I was nervous that the driver would have left and thankfully he didn't! He was very nice, though visibly tired lol.

I hadn't received a message from Docfinder yet telling me who was picking me up in the morning and what time so I messaged Docfinder myself. I did receive a reply, but wish they would have arranged this earlier as they had said they would in an email. Anyhow, the first girl picked me up at my hotel and we took a taxi to GNG. She was very nice though she was on her phone throughout most of my time with her, dealing with a few personal matters at the time which I could understand at the time. When it came down to speaking about my procedures with the Korean speaking consultant, there was an in house English translator (Henny?) who was of better help to me than my Docfinder road manager. The most disappointing part about Docfinder here was that my road manager that day did not help me to negotiate a better price at all. I had to do it by myself and managed to get a 10% discount. She just sat there, tbh.

When I woke up from surgery, she helped me to my room and stayed there with me for a few hours to make sure I stayed awake and didn't drink water which was helpful as I was incredibly thirsty after rhinoplasty and tired. No pain though. After she got me some water, she left for the evening.

The next morning, Clovis picked me up from GNG around 11am. I asked her if we can drop by a store so I can buy an electrical adapter (I completely forgot about this necessity travelling from the U.S.!) porridge, water bottles, yogurt, and juice. She told me that I can probably borrow one from my hotel front desk and that there would be water dispensers in the hotel. After we arrived at my hotel, she did walk me to a nearby convenience store to buy porridge, yogurt, and juice. I was able to find water and and an adapter at my hotel as she said.

Mt first road manager messaged me to ask how I was doing, so that was thoughtful.

Two days later, Shin picks me up to take me to GNG to get my nose packings out (Yes, I can finally breathe through my nose!!! No more dry mouth! ). He was very kind and helpful, though seemed like he was juggling a lot at the time.

Docfinder offers you a shopping tour, but be sure you request it a few days in advance. And i wouldn't really call it a tour. Instead, they'll pick you up and act as a chaffeur to take you to where you want to go. Not sure if I came at a busy time for them, but Shin pushed my shopping date a day behind, he seemed really busy. Not sure why he just didn't have another manager take care of it unless the entire agency was just busy (I traveled during the spring). Anyway, no big deal. The day of, he took me to get my hair washed as I requested and it was the best feeling ever! I did request to go shopping at one place, but realized it was 1.5 hour away. Shin was willing to drive me there, but I declined since it was so far out of the way and it would take us forever in traffic at that time.

A few days later, I was to get my stitches removed! Clovis let me know she was the road manager to take me. As I was getting my stitches removed the day before I was leaving Korea and flying home, it was crucial that I make it to my appointment. I did let her know that when I first met her. However, she messaged me and said that she needed to reschedule for the next morning because of conflicts with another client booking she had. I told her rather firmly that that was impossible as I was leaving at 9 am in the morning to catch my flight. I was freaked out and annoyed, and she quickly messaged me back saying she will try to figure it out. I thought this was very unprofessional, but like she said, she managed to work it out. When we got to GNG, Henny was there and helped translate for me as I met with the doctors for evaluation.

The next morning, Docfinder arranged for a taxi to pick me up and drop me off to the airport.

OK, so would I recommend Docfinder Korea?

Yes, if 1) you're a non Korean speaking foreigner 2) if it's your first time to Korea

Pros: 1) convenient taxi pick up and drop off 2)having someone at the clinic while you're in surgery to make sure shadow doctors aren't being used 3) having someone there after you wake up from surgery to make sure you stay awake and don't drink water while in the recovery room 4) shopping trip if they have time in their schedule

Cons: 1) lack of initial communication 2) no help bargaining for a better price with clinics as they state on their website 3) cancelations due to conflicts with their schedule

The bottom line:
If there is an in house English translator at the clinic, there isn't really a point to have Docfinder there besides having someone there to make sure shadow/junior doctors aren't being used. If you can hail a taxi and if your clinic has an in house English translator and has an honorable reputation and skilled doctors, you really don't need Docfinder. You might even be able to negotiate bigger discounts with the clinic since they won't have to pay a 3rd party commission.

Part 2 will be posted soon. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Click to expand...

How can anyone be certain that no shadow doctor's used since it all happens in the OR where no one other than the surgeon and nurses are allowed?

 

[goldburgundy]

I signed up for Docfinder but I decided not to go ahead with getting surgery. I can't tell you how good the surgeons or the service are, of if they use shadow doctors (though I do believe that rumours don't come from nowhere).

They did, however, send me sales promotions, reminders, and several emails asking if I want to push ahead with surgery. DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC. I'm sitting here wondering how they can even send these emails and ask people if they want to fly to Korea, when most of us are now in quarantine or lockdown. I can't even leave my house, and they're asking to follow up on a nose job in a country with a high volume of coronavirus cases???

I believe that kind of unethical promoting practice speaks for itself. Good outcome or not, this is extremely inappropriate and I would discourage people from using their services in the future.

 

[lunarain]

goldburgundy said: ↑

I signed up for Docfinder but I decided not to go ahead with getting surgery. I can't tell you how good the surgeons or the service are, of if they use shadow doctors (though I do believe that rumours don't come from nowhere).

They did, however, send me sales promotions, reminders, and several emails asking if I want to push ahead with surgery. DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC. I'm sitting here wondering how they can even send these emails and ask people if they want to fly to Korea, when most of us are now in quarantine or lockdown. I can't even leave my house, and they're asking to follow up on a nose job in a country with a high volume of coronavirus cases???

I believe that kind of unethical promoting practice speaks for itself. Good outcome or not, this is extremely inappropriate and I would discourage people from using their services in the future.

Click to expand...

You made the right decision! This COVID19 crisis has absolutely decimated Korea’s medical tourism industry and they are desperate for money. I would suggest that you not use any agency for this purpose as they are money driving and care not about your safety or well-being. Contact the clinics directly as most of them have English-speaking staff.