Sono Bello Reviews and Complaints

I am writing this review in hopes that others will learn from my experience with Sono Bello. My daughter has MS and was recently diagnosed with Hashimoto disease as well. The Hashimoto disease caused rapid weight gain which is what led to the testing and diagnosis of Hashimoto Disease. In an effort to try and help my daughter with the weight gain, my wife took my daughter to Sono Bello where she scheduled an appointment for my daughter. My daughter went back a few days later and added more work at an additional expense. A couple of days before the scheduled appointment we read the reviews for this company and my daughter decided to cancel the appointment. Although she cancelled within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment, we were charged the full combined amount that my wife and daughter paid of more than $13,000. In Sono Bello’s defense, my wife and daughter signed a contract that said if they were to cancel within 5 days of the appointment they would lose the full amount of the scheduled procedure. Although they signed a contract I don’t think they realized it would actually cost this much money to cancel an appointment. A 10 to 25% cancellation fee to offset the expense of scheduling doctors and nurses would be understandable but $13,000 to cancel an appointment is unbelievable. We filed a dispute with our credit card company complaining of the unreasonable cancellation fee and the answer my credit card company got from Sono Bello is “They knew what they were signing”. So learn from my experience and read the reviews and understand what you are getting into before scheduling an appointment. I’m a firm believer in “what goes around comes around”. I hope in the end they lose more from this kind of business behavior than they gained from us.

I have had no reaults form having my procedure and they always cancel my appointment the week of my appointment. I was supposed to have a 2 week follow up and it was a month to get in as well as my 3 month follow up was pushed to almost 5 months. They say if youre not satisfied they will do it again free of charge.... well they dont stand by that either. A waste of my money with alot more pain than they tell you.

In January 2018, I went in for a consult with SonoBello (Hanover, MD) for a consultation for liposuction on the problem areas of my body that I have been trying to remedy with diet and exercise. I am not obese (BMI 26 at the time) and am a physician, so I know what is involved and how it's done, what is realistic, and what to expect from surgery. Otherwise, I am just like any other person who is considering plastic surgery to improve problem areas. I visited the location in the Baltimore, MD region, and endured a long wait for the provider I was scheduled to see. I know that physicians can get behind on their appointments for many reasons, so I didn't let that become an issue for me. After the consultation, there was a discussion of fees with the business manager, and here is my first warning. WARNING: They use "discounts," "VIP," and "if you sign today..." discounts to their package to pressure you to sign up and schedule a surgery date. If you decide to do this, understand the terms and conditions when it comes to the timeline for refunds, your medical clearance, and the surgery date(s). They will do everything they can to make sure they won't have to refund you money! My procedure was split between 2 surgery dates in February and May. I was a little annoyed and suspicious because I knew that it didn't have to be done that way. The procedure didn't need to be done over 2 days, but I deferred to the surgeon as that was her specialty. And since the anesthetic was sedation and not a general, maybe it was appropriate to divide the procedure into 2 days. WARNING: If your procedure is divided into 2 days, check to see if you have to pay a facility fee twice! WARNING: You will not have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon, just a nurse who will take pictures. After the first procedure day, I wore the garment as instructed and returned for the follow-up visit a week later. At this visit, I met with a nurse, not the surgeon performing the procedure, and they took pictures. I told the nurse that my lower abdomen had a harden hump that wasn't present before. She said it was likely swelling, and I told her that it was swelling and likely a hematoma and that I wanted the surgeon to see it. She said the pictures she took would be sent to the surgeon to review. I didn't talk to or hear from the surgeon until my second surgery day for the remaining procedures. I showed her the hardened area, and she said that she would be able to fix it that day by doing an excision. This would cost me an additional $3000, and I needed to quickly decide as we were about to start my second procedure. She guaranteed that the excision would take away the hardened area and make my stomach flat. The male nurse that day also was pushing it as the correction that was required to make my result better. This was a complication that was caused by her poor technique with the Trisculpt body contouring liposuction, not from my body's healing process. I believe that she forgot that I too was a doctor, an anesthesiologist, who frequently provides anesthesia for plastic surgery, and knows what should happen and what to expect. Again, I believed that she be motivated to correct her shoddy work and strive to make sure that the second procedure was done well. After all, I did my due diligence and researched her. She was appropriately board-certified in plastic surgery and ENT and had residency training at Georgetown University. I searched for and could not find any malpractice claims. WARNING: Look at before and after photos of patients who have had similar work done by your surgeon. My mistake was not asking her directly about them when I couldn't find any online. SonoBello couldn't provide any either, but claimed that they research their surgeons before hiring. I assume she practiced mostly head and neck surgery in addition to skincare procedures and very little body contouring and must have wanted to get back into the game. The second surgery proceded, including the excision of the hardened area on my abdomen from the first surgery. Again, this was done with sedation, not a general anesthetic as SonoBello doesn't provide personnel nor facilities to offer general anesthesia. So I was awake and aware, just a little "buzzed" from the medications. They wanted me to take additional medicines when she noticed how alert I was during the procedure. At the end of the surgery, I looked at the suction canisters and noted it was full of clear fluid (the tumescence they inject) with very little fat. Liposuction performed correctly would not leave clear fluid in the suction canisters. I said something to the nurse in the room (not the male nurse from earlier), who did not respond to my statement. Typically after tumescent liposuction, there is swelling, bruising, and leaking of residual fluid that was injected to help loosen and remove fat. This didn't happen. There was no bruising, no swelling, and definitely no fluid draining from the incisions. This is not the norm. Remembering the clear fluid in the suction canisters after the procedure made me suspicious of the quality of the surgery. At follow-up, I voiced my displeasure at the quality of the procedure and the results. Again, I didn't meet with the surgeon. The nurse took pictures and said that she would send them to the surgeon. I was not contacted by the surgeon or anyone from SonoBello, ever. They already had my money, so they had no desire to speak with me. The excision of the hard mass resulted in a much longer scar than what my surgeon described, and it did not flatten my abdomen as she promised. I waited patiently over the weeks and months that is required to see the final results. My last follow-up appointment was in January 2019, just under a year from the first procedure and more than enough time to see the final results from both. There was minimal improvement in the areas of my first procedure and none in the areas of my second procedure. My second procedure involved my arms and excision of the hardened lump in my abdomen. My clothes didn't fit any better on my arms than before. Again, this follow-up was with the nursing staff, not the surgeon. WARNING: You won't see the surgeon until the day of your preop visit and the day of surgery. I voiced my displeasure with the process, my results, and the lack of surgeon involvement and response to concerns. I was told by the nurse there had been complaints about this surgeon and that she no longer worked at their facility. I asked for a copy of my record and requested a refund. I wanted the additional fees paid for the excision of the hardened mass that was caused by the first procedure. Usually, when a plastic surgeon performs surgery on a patient, they offer "touch-ups" and corrections for poor results at no additional fee. That was not the case with me. I had to pay extra for her to remove the hard lump that was left immediately after the first surgery. I also requested a partial refund of my total fees for the poor results due to the lack of poor technique by the surgeon and her lack of postoperative care and interest. I acknowledged that materials, time, and supplies were consumed on my behalf, thus was the reason for the request for a partial refund. When I asked for a copy of my record, the secretary had me complete a form and began copying the documents. I only received a partial copy when she told me she had to stop. She was instructed that there was an additional approval needed to copy the records for me from their management. I was told I would receive a copy of my entire record in the mail within weeks. It's been 6 months so far and counting. I talked to the manager who said she was on my side and would escalate the case, and I would be contacted by someone. She wanted me to be evaluated by another plastic surgeon and have that surgeon perform surgery. I met with a different plastic surgeon who agreed that my results were suboptimal and that she would be able to correct the issues. I told her and the nurses that I already had 2 procedures and was not willing to undergo an additional one. The risk of complications, infection, and poor outcome is always a factor with each surgery. They neither would guarantee an uncomplicated procedure nor accept responsibility if something untoward were to happen. Additional surgery was not an option for me. WARNING: They won't want to give money back. I was finally contacted by the regional director of operations. She didn't contact me as promised after her initial communication, and I had to initiate contact with her for fear of being ignored. Of the $14K I spent on the surgeries, they were only willing to return $2,500, and I would also have to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Initially, I accepted the offer before I knew of the NDA. I found that out with her response to my acceptance. I ultimately decided not to accept the offer, as I didn't want to be silenced. That offer didn't cover the extra I had to pay to have the excision of hard lump the surgeon created after the first surgery. WARNING: The television ads are very tempting and make it seem that they can solve your body issue problems. Don't take the bait without proper research and consultation from other plastic surgeons. I know this is a long review, but I hope it is helpful. I plan to post this review in as many places as possible, including local print and television media.

I had an appointment for 1:30pm at the Orlando office for a consultation. This was the first of two other companies I am considering. I arrived ahead of time and waited until 2pm and was still not attended. Chelsea , I believe is the Consultant, told me I would be seen in about 10 more minutes. According to my calculations that would equate to me waiting 40 minutes to be seen dispite having an appointment. I expressed that I am no longer interested in SonoBello because my experience today speaks to level of professionalism that I would encounter in the future and I am not comfortable putting myself in the hands of what appears to be a lack of consideration to what would have been a client.