Is a (Turkish) clinic that only takes cash anything to worry about?

[jc80220]

I mentioned it to my brother, who's a police officer, and now my heads full of comments about being robbed by the clinic and left for dead 😄

[Britanium]

Remind me, which is the clinic your going too? 🤔

[jc80220]

Hi, John,

Esma and Serkan Tetik. I know cash only isn't ideal but trust them from what I've read. It's just easy to freak out a bit when someone puts thoughts in your mind.

Edited December 8, 2020 by jc80220

[Melvin- Admin]

I’ve heard that it is somewhat standard in Turkey. 

[Britanium]

Exactly what Melvin has just said. It is pretty much standard. It’s how I paid for my first FUE. 

[jc80220]

Thanks, guys. Your input really does a lot to ease my mind.

[MachoVato]

You might ask them if they will accept credit cards. But there's usually a transaction fee and conversion fee, which makes it more expensive. In my procedure, I brought $7,000 USD cash and paid an additional $4,000 USD on credit card (because we agreed to do more grafts than estimated).

 

[jc80220]

Thanks, Mac. Did you have any problems with customs, declaring that much?

[MachoVato]

For Americans, you only have to declare over $10k

[Britanium]

Coming out of the Uk it’s anything over €10,000. 

[jc80220]

Thanks, both. I already knew about those sums, but it still says you have to declare a ''large amount'', which I assume 3k is.

[jc80220]

Why do clinics only take cash?

[jc80220]

ttt

[smurf]

i would use american express. 

 

that way if they don't render services, you can call amex and issue out a chargeback

[MachoVato]

10 hours ago, jc80220 said:

Why do clinics only take cash?

I just think it's a cash centric culture. I offered to wire the whole amount before I flew out, but they didn't want that much money before the procedure. I did ask if I could wire the money to them when I got there, they were ok with that idea. You could ask the clinic for that option. My surgery was over 2 days (and I stayed an extra 6 days in Turkey) so I had time for the bank to wire and funds clear. But I just took cash and paid the balance on credit card. 

Also, the Lira was down almost 10% against the dollar when I was there over the previous 2 weeks. They were very happy to take my USD!

[jc80220]

Thanks, Macho. You went with HLC(?) though which is obviously top tier. For those of us paying less it is a concern.

Can I ask the forum, would Dermisoy require cash only payment?

Edited December 10, 2020 by jc80220

[fireboy99]

11 hours ago, jc80220 said:

Thanks, Macho. You went with HLC(?) though which is obviously top tier. For those of us paying less it is a concern.

Can I ask the forum, would Dermisoy require cash only payment?

Went with Demirsoy, I paid in USD. Took around 5000$ in cash while flying. I believe his assistant told me they would charge ~8% extra if paid with a credit card.

[jc80220]

Thanks, Fireboy. Wow, 8%.

[Portugal25]

On 12/8/2020 at 11:24 AM, jc80220 said:

I mentioned it to my brother, who's a police officer, and now my heads full of comments about being robbed by the clinic and left for dead 😄

I do believe this is the standard in Turkey.
I went to a top Doctor in Turkey and only was allowed to wire the booking deposit the rest was paid in cash euros on the first day of the surgery.
I traveled with 7000€ in cash and was quite scared of carrying around that much money but I had the clinic driver waiting for me at the airport and the Hotel was across the street from the clinic. 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Portugal25

[UnbaldEagle]

On 12/9/2020 at 5:30 PM, smurf said:

i would use american express. 

 

that way if they don't render services, you can call amex and issue out a chargeback

Also, Amex chargebacks are unrepresentable, meaning the merchant can't dispute them. 

Amex would always reverse the transaction if the customer claims it was fraudulent. 

Edited December 15, 2020 by UnbaldEagle

[Portugal25]

On 12/9/2020 at 5:30 PM, smurf said:

i would use american express. 

 

that way if they don't render services, you can call amex and issue out a chargeback

Revolut is much better because there are zero taxes with this card plus the exchange rate favors euro/usd/gbp. 
I never travel without Revolut! 
You can even make cash withdrawals without taxes (limited amount per week).