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Can a plastic surgeon keep my $6K deposit when I never signed a contract or booked a surgery date?
Anonymous1 views5 answers
In October my ex put a deposit on a plastic surgery for me. He has no interest in getting the deposit back, he said it's mine either way. I had a consultation with a surgeon and never signed a contract or asked to hold a surgery date, the 20% deposit was almost $6K, and the purpose was in order to 'freeze the price quote' for the procedure. I have since contacted the surgeons office several times and have not had any calls returned or email responses. I no longer want the surgery. The surgeon suffers no real loss, as I never booked a date or had anything other than a consult. How do I move forward with this to get my deposit back? None of the documentation given ever indicated the deposit might be non-refundable (and this is $6,000, not $600) and NO CONTRACT was signed.
The first step is to send a demand letter to the surgeon in no uncertain terms, certified, return receipt requested. The letter should state that you demand repayment of the deposit, that he has no contractual or other right to it, and you do not want the surgery. Tell him if he does not send a check within 10 days, you will retain a lawyer and sue him for it. In reality, you may have trouble getting a lawyer to look at it, unless there is a possibility of punitive damages--the funds should have been in his trust account, so failure to pay is a breach of trust which might attract punitives. But if you can't get a lawyer, take him to Small Claims Court.
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DISCLAIMER—This answer is for informational purposes only under the system, its terms and conditions. It is not intended as specific legal advice regarding your question. The answer could be different if all the facts were known. This answer does not establish an attorney client relationship. I am admitted only in California.
(Bryant) Keith Martin
sbbizlaw.com
The first step is to send a demand letter to the surgeon in no uncertain terms, certified, return receipt requested. The letter should state that you demand repayment of the deposit, that he has no contractual or other right to it, and you do not want the surgery. Tell him if he does not send a check within 10 days, you will retain a lawyer and sue him for it. In reality, you may have trouble getting a lawyer to look at it, unless there is a possibility of punitive damages--the funds should have been in his trust account, so failure to pay is a breach of trust which might attract punitives. But if you can't get a lawyer, take him to Small Claims Court.
FEEDBACK: Both and other readers are interested in your feedback on the quality of the answers. Plz check the “thumbs up” symbol if you find an answer helpful or the “thumbs down” symbol if not.
DISCLAIMER—This answer is for informational purposes only under the system, its terms and conditions. It is not intended as specific legal advice regarding your question. The answer could be different if all the facts were known. This answer does not establish an attorney client relationship. I am admitted only in California.
(Bryant) Keith Martin
sbbizlaw.com
You should get the deposit back, since neither you or your ex agreed in a contract that it wasn't refundable, and you're right, you didn't even book a date, so the doctor lost no business as a result of this cancellation.
Send a demand letter giving the doctor a week to send you a refund or you'll sue in Small Claims court. Send it by registered rPost email (www.rpost.com), certified mail, return receipt requested, FedEx, or messenger, so you can prove receipt and he'll know you're serious. Then follow through if he doesn't refund the money.
Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on, since each state has different laws, each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.
The other attorneys are correct. The deposit cannot be considered "nonrefundable" especially if the plastic surgeon suffered no financial loss.
You should first make a written demand for the return of your $6000 deposit and provide the plastic surgeon with a date to refund it (such as 7 or 10 days).
If that does not work, your next step would be to file a small claims lawsuit.
See http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/smallclaims/scbasics.htm
Good luck!
I am the lone dissenter on this matter.
Rather than send a strong demand letter, I would ask an attorney or one of his or her medical colleagues to call the office on your behalf and appeal to the surgeon's narcicism or desire to be viewed as ethical. Most plastic surgeons make a lot of money and their reputation in the community is worth more to them than 6,000 dollars.
I envision several disadvantages to sending a strong demand letter:
i) his attorney will argue your 20% constituted an "option" to purchase the service at the discounted price; and
ii) the plastic surgeon will claim his business has exploded since he consulted with you, he is very busy, and now charges twice as much; and
iii) the plastic surgeon will have "deep pockets," allowing him or her to wear you down with delays and legal costs.
P.S. I am a licensed physician as well, which gives me some insight as to how physicians react to legal threats (ie irrationally).
