Can you share some of their horror stories with us? What happened to them?

What did you have done?

I did go to Argentina and had great surgeons,and had a wonderful time. I would highly recommend to any one going to BA for cosmetic surgery. While i was in BA i met many people who went thru Plentias, and were not happy, not the first one i met, there were repetitive complains :
1- That they had been there for a week and their surgery was not even scheduled
2- That they were shuffled from place to place, for blood test, x-rays, none of the test were in the same place, or scheduled on the same date
3- When they called plentias for help or information all they got was an answering machine, and it took 3 to 4 days for them actually to get a person
4- when they got to BA the price would change, they were charged from $1,000.00 to one man was $9,000.00 more to get the surgery they had already paid for
5- They didn't even know who the doctor was, and didn't meet the doctor till the day of the surgery
6- the doctors and doctors staff didn't even speak english, or broken english so bad they couldn't understand them,
Now those are complaints i've heard from many people who were there. You decide what's right for you.
I went completely independed of any agency..i researched they doctors i used, i found them on the internet.....i e-mailed them and sent the pic of myself with exactly what i wanted done. They e-mailed me back with a price. Depending on what you want done the price will vary. I asked for references here in the US and they sent them to me, I asked for education graduation they sent it to me. From here i started calling their references and spoke with everyone one of them in detail.
Then I called the Colleges here in the US that they attended and confirmed that they were in fact educated here in the US.
About a week after the initial contact they called me here and i had a list of questions i asked them. I was satsified with their response, and more than pleased that they spoke english, one better than the other,but communications with both were great.I even found out that they were well know here in the US, they speak a colleges, and semminars for cosmetic surgery. They gave me a list of motels in the area, so my search began. I made a date with the doctors for my surgery, then i deposited the amount in their US bank account. I made my motel reservations in BA, and used my flyer miles and made my reservations. (Do not use flyer miles, unless you are prepared to have a lay-over in Chile for 12 hours when you leave BA, that is my most serious warning to you) Off to BA i flew, I was picked up at the airport by the "clinic" they call it,it was a private driver, and a nurse from the clinic, another note ( argentina uses pesos, for their money, these pesos are not the same as mexico's pesos)Keep in mind i have never travled outside of the US, and i went by myself, and i am a female. The clinic is a converted home, (used to be an argentina actress house), it has rod iron fencing all around it, and security button to enter and exit.Alot of the places in BA have security fences, don't be alarm it is my understanding that when they became independent of military government in the 80's is when the protection fencing went up civil uproar, all is calm and wonderful now. When we got to the clinic, i was really surprised i was expecing something like a hospital, not such a nice clean home. I went into the waiting room, and in a little bit the nurse that met me at the airport (spoke english, many of the staff that you come in contact with do ), she took me to my room. Then i got directions from her, to walk around, the doctors were in surgery, so she gave me directions and i walked, and just enjoyed everything, got some fruit took it back to my room at the clinic.They let me use the international lie to phone home any time i wanted to . that was nice. That afternoon the doctor come in and takes my blood, and does all the test for the surgery, i didn't have to leave the clinic. That evening i met the doctors who were going to do my surgery, they were just as wonderful in person as they had been on the phone and with their e-mails.That evening Dinner was brought to my room, it was steak, and it was the best i ever had, argentina is know for their tender beef. The next morning i had a light breakfast of tea, and crackers. That afternoon i was taken into surgery, where they marked me, and off to sleep i went.During surgery my husband called to see how i was doing, one of the doctors in the OR spoke with him during my surgery, and eased him. I was in surgery for 8 hours, when i woke up, there was a doctor by my side, at the clinic all night there was a doctor, and a nurse, i moved in the bed and they were both in the room asking me how i was feeling, covering me up and doing all the bedside manner things. I had no pain. I mean it, I had no pain. The day after the surgery, they got me out of bed, and walked with me, changed my dressings and i got a peek, I was happy !! That evening all the drain tubes came out and i was able to walk outside and enjoy the fresh evening air, and listen to all the street excitement. BA comes alive after dusk, and it's just wonderful. Friday i was released to the motel room.Before i left, they washed and dried my clothes that were dirty, and washed and dried my hair for me.They arranged transportation to the motel for me. I got all my prescriptions (here's another lesson-only one prescription is written, and when it is filled it is given back to you, you use the same one when you need a refill, don't throw it away.)Pain medication over there isn't like here in the US, our medication makes you loopy and may times does not really help the pain, over there their medication actually stops the pain, and doesn't give you that loopy feeling, take it as directed) The doctor was very clear in writing which pill i take a what time. I got to the motel and was feeling great, a little tired, but great. I checked in and went for a walk.I have to say that the staff at this motel was the best...and i didn't mid tipping them, because i liked the attention they gave me, they even called me by my first name,,now that's attention..something you don't get here.I walked and i walked just absorbing everything in, it was just wonderful, friendly people, wonderful store personell..it was great. That evening i ordered room service, they had a menue in english, and it was really good for motel food. That evening the doctor called me to see how i was feeling. Every day after that i went to the Clinic for the doctor to check.Every night i was given a cream to apply, i did. After the stiches were out i was given another cream to apply, which i came home using. I took a cab, only take the cabs with the boxes on top, the cab ride was 5 peso one way , which was about $1.50 usd,(just give the cab driver a business card of where you want to go and you are there, most don't speak english only spanish, i don't speak a lick of spanish ) the doctors gave me a list of restaurants, and shops close to me to visit, and they all were great. I had a private driver after the 3 day arranged by the nurse at the clinic, and she went with us 2 days to translate, then i would tell here what i wanted to do and she would tell the dirver, and the driver would pick me up a an arranged time and take me where i told the nurse i wanted to go. If i had a question he would call the nurse and i'd tell her and she would tell him, off we go. I paid him about 100 pesos a day to be my driver which was about 33.00 usd, and the nurse told me i was paying him way too much money.I don't know but it was worth my peace of mind i felt safe with him.and he took me where ever i wanted to go. Argentina has the most beautiful leather/sude goods i've ever seen. The prices are a steal.The fashion is just wonderful, i went there with a backpack, bought luggage filled it up for the trip home. Back on track now, when the stiches were removed i didn't feel a thing, it didn't hurt. I have very little scaring from all the procedures, every day they are getting lighter and lighter. (One warning, before i left the clinic they were going to give me shots, (antibotic) I found out what they were, techecylerine, before they gave them to me, i quickly called the doctor in and told him i was severly allergic to this medication, they gave me extra doses of oral antibotics to take instead, so make sure you know what you are being given before you are taking it. Ask the doctors for the American word for the medication. BA was just a wonderful place , i hated to leave. I used the undergrown railway system, and it wasn't hard to use at all. it goes from one end to the other, and i found Florida Stree, best place for shopping and enjoying the outdoors. People everywhere.
The cost of it was cheep compared to the US, 15 days in Argentina including motel, surgery, food, entertainment,cab, private driver, room service,laundry service, telephone, and shopping was only $12,500.00.That may seem excessive to a lot of people but the surgery was &7,500 and the motel was around $1,500, so you can tell i did some major shopping, eating, and tipping, it was wonderful. Breakfast was included in the motel room and it was good, the first morning i went down and got one of the waitressed and she fixed my buffet order and brought it to the room for me, i didn't feel like sitting down there, every morning after that i called the front desk and asked for coffee, in a few minutes here was my breakfast that i ordered the first morning, i didn't even have to order it. It is a cold breakfast, cereal, boiled eggs, bread, yogurt(which is liquid not solid) nothing hot. I made friend with one of the local Kioss owners, Kioss is a hole in the wall shop, you don't enter it, the door is the check out desk and you just ask or point to what you want. He taught me how to count pesos to pay for things. Here is a trick with the cash, don't take a lot with you, the exchange rate changes every day, some days it's 3-1, some days its 4-1, I went to the back about every other day (HBN) or HSBN something like that, used my card and withdrew cash in american dollars, then i had the bank convert it to pesos, since i was only one block from the bank, it was not a problem. I didn't carry it with me all the time. I had a safe in my room where i kept it and i took it out as i needed it.I made friends in the motel that i still stay intouch with today.Most of the time you can find many people there that speak english, it's almost their second language, if you don't speak spanish. I know people dont' like to read long letter, so to sum it up, I had no pain, no infection, my care was excellent, and i had a wonderful time. I am still hesitant to post the name of my surgeons without their knowledge, so if you would like any more information please contact me.I had the following procedures:
1- breast lift & reduction
2- tummy tuck
3-liposuction
4-fat graft to lips
5-fat graft to buttox
6- lazer face resurfacing
7- Eye surgery
8- wonderful spa treatment to face (forget what it was called)
9- Botox injections
10-Rhinoplasty

When i go back this year i'm having a face lift, and lazer hair removal

congrats on your successful trip and cosmetic surgery!
that's the great thing about traveling abroad for cosmetic surgery--not only is it so much cheaper, but you also get a fantastic vacation out of the journey as well, get to see a different part of the world... and now i hear that czech republic, particularly cities like Prague and Karlovy Vary are hot spots for low cost cosmetic surgery as well... and it is a good idea to do a lot of research before you go, because , as you mentioned, you dont need to go through an agency, you can book a surgery in a clinic on your own... you just need to ask lots of questions, try to find former patients, look at before and after photos, and most important of all, make sure that the surgeon is legally certified and qualified to practice cosmetic surgery. this article actually has a lot of good points to consider before you go for surgery abroad, so i think it;s pretty helpful:
http://www.cosmetic-plastic-surgery.info/cosmetic-plastic-surgery-prague-czech

Please give the doctor's info.
Thank you.