They charged me €100 without informing me of the cost in advance. The price list on the website is unclear, with illegible footnotes. Services are imposed without proper explanation, pricing lacks tra
I am a tourist from Romania and I recently visited a private clinic in Budapest for a picosecond laser tattoo removal procedure.
Prior to my appointment, I contacted the clinic via email to inquire about the total cost. The clinic responded to me by email, quoting prices that did not match those listed on their website, which was misleading. I was not informed about any additional charges. I had requested to book a procedure for the removal of a small tattoo and had in mind an approximate cost of 65,000 to 75,000 forints.
There was also confusion in the price list, because the prices they sent me in the email were lower than those on the website, and I had to clarify which were correct (laws CLV 1997, XLVII 2008, № 45/2014).
Upon arrival, the staff also did not inform me about any extra charges. Only after the procedure was completed doctor told that a mandatory "consultation" fee of 35,000 HUF (approximately 100 EUR) would be added to my bill. This is only taken on the first visit and it doesn't matter that we didn't have any consultation. the doctor did not warn me about important restrictions after the procedure, did not tell me about the principle of the device, I had to forcefully extract any information from her by asking 2 questions: do I need to apply SPF (and this is mandatory, and the doctor did not warn me about this herself) and for how long (the doctor did not clearly answer this question). These 2 questions of mine received a monosyllabic answer that took the doctor less than 30 seconds, and the clinic calls this a consultation for 100 euros?
I believe this constitutes a violation of Hungarian consumer protection laws, namely:
- Act XLVII of 2008 on the Prohibition of Unfair Commercial Practices, which prohibits misleading omissions and hidden fees.
- Act CLV of 1997 on Consumer Protection, which requires that all services and their prices be clearly communicated before purchase.
Also, there is a banner on the website about a free consultation, the price of which is indicated as 15,000 forints, and not 35,000 f.
Additionally, the receipt I received was not itemized. It simply stated the total amount of 105,000 HUF, without any breakdown between the procedure and the consultation.
Also after visiting this clinic, where I indicated my email, I started receiving spam from Hungarian addresses - most likely the data on electronic devices is parsed or sold, i.e. reliable protection of client data has not been created.
When I contacted the clinic with a request to return my money for the failed consultation, manager Vivian Vegh refused, citing the clinic's policy and not answering the essence of my complaints.Vivienne refers to the site, although my question was not to the site but to the team of the clinic and they told me the amount of 65-75 000 f. It was not clearly stated that there is a mandatory separate fee for the first visit in the amount of 100 euros. If you look at the site, there is a huge price list, several types of consultations, on the main page of the site there is a banner that the consultation is free, and its cost is 15 000 forints. In the picosecond laser section, the footnote about the mandatory separate payment for the consultation on the first visit is illegible, it is located far above, but should be opposite each amount, and if the fee for the consultation is a fixed 100 euros, the amount should be clearly stated, and not just words. I don't have time to study the huge price list, so I wrote to the clinic asking about the exact amount for the service and was not properly informed about the fee of 100 euros. The correspondence has been saved.
I know that 1) they can't include services in the bill that weren't agreed upon with the client in advance, it's illegal, 2) they didn't even provide the imposed service
Correspondence with the clinic did not lead to anything, so I had to contact consumer protection organizations and I am thinking of going to court, which is still in process.
As for the procedure itself and the renovation of the clinic - a nice place with delicious coffee and service, but it is located in a residential building on the 4th floor without a separate entrance from the street, which is questionable for a medical institution.
