Hey everyone! I don't post here very often but I am posting now just as a warning regarding a personal experience I had trying to book a surgery in Mexico with Dr. Sergio Quinones. Since money does not grow on trees for most of us and for those of us who are self pay, we need to try and save money when and where we can. I did not deal with or talk to the Dr. directly. I was only able to talk to his coordinator Henry Cortes. In the beginning, I expressed my interest in getting surgery with the doctor and I was not even asked for the questionnaire. I had talked to several other doctors and they all requested the questionnaire to see if you qualify based on existing conditions, etc. Long story short, I sent in my deposit but later had second thoughts and canceled the surgery. I was told that they were going to send me a refund minus $250 for an admin fee. What I received was a check that bounced and then I owed my bank fees. After all this happened, I learned that a girl who was scheduled to have surgery one day before me had to have two surgeries, four days apart due to internal bleeding. Yikes!! That made me feel glad I did not go with Quinones because that could have been me. So now I've lost money and I want to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else. Other doctors ask for PayPal or some other form of payment where you can get your money back if necessary but with this group, they require you do a bank transfer. Once that money leaves your bank, it's gone forever. So if you are considering surgery with this group, please think long and hard about it before you give your deposit and do your research. Someone on gastricsleeve.com posted that Quinones has done mini bypasses on some women instead of the full gastric bypass. I don't know how true that is but I thought I'd add it just in case it is true. Just be careful everyone! Surgery is no game and you want to go with someone who is absolutely competent and whose team is also competent and not out to take your money.

thats scary!!!im so glad that you went with your intuition and canceled your surgery..no matter where you get surgery , wether it is in the u.s. or abroad it is always wise to be careful who your surgeon is..it can be the difference in life or death. i'm not considering surgery in mexico but i appreciate your story. have you looked into other surgeons..people seem to like dr. alverez in mexico and he has alot of informational videos on you tube and patients for that matter..good luck

Thank you so much for sharing this information with us. Those of us that plan on going to MX for surgery need to be extra deligent when it come to researching these doctors. Being scammed or butchered is my biggest fear. Here I am beating myself up for being so cautious and not choosing a doctor. Now I'm glad I'm being through in researching surgeons.

Thank you so much for sharing this information with us. Those of us that plan on going to MX for surgery need to be extra deligent when it come to researching these doctors. Being scammed or butchered is my biggest fear. Here I am beating myself up for being so cautious and not choosing a doctor. Now I'm glad I'm being through in researching surgeons.

You are absolutely welcome! I don't even care that I'm not getting my money back. I was told to erase comments I made on another forum in order to get my refund--but had I not had a negative experience, I would have nothing to post in the first place so I rather help others out instead. I eventually had my surgery with Dr. Pompa in Mexico. Her center is an International Center of Excellence and I have nothing but good, positive things to say about them.

thats scary!!!im so glad that you went with your intuition and canceled your surgery..no matter where you get surgery , wether it is in the u.s. or abroad it is always wise to be careful who your surgeon is..it can be the difference in life or death. i'm not considering surgery in mexico but i appreciate your story. have you looked into other surgeons..people seem to like dr. alverez in mexico and he has alot of informational videos on you tube and patients for that matter..good luck

Please take your time and make sure you're comfortable with the doctor you decide to go with. Research, research, research!! YouTube, forums, everything. And I wish you all the best in your decision and your weight loss journey.

I seen this on the gastric sleeve forum. Post it everywhere! Obesity help too! This will help someone!

Can they really just keep your money? That is horrible!! That is a devastating blow to most peoples income! I am so sorry this happened to you.

Shame on them. What horrid people.

It is a poor and unreputable surgeon and organization representing him that hurt the reputations of some very good Mexican surgeons. I had a wonderful experience with Dr Fernando Garcia, wouldn't change a thing. So glad your posting it everywhere, those people do not deserve any business!

I seen this on the gastric sleeve forum. Post it everywhere! Obesity help too! This will help someone!

I will! I'm making it my goal to make sure that anyone who is considering WLS in Mexico knows about this so they don't go through what I went through and what others went through.

Can they really just keep your money? That is horrible!! That is a devastating blow to most peoples income! I am so sorry this happened to you.

Shame on them. What horrid people.

I guess they did and they can. They sent me a check that bounced and did not try and rectify the issue. Instead they asked me to erase my posts about the doctor online in exchange for a refund but I did not trust them since they already sent me a bounced check. In short, Dr. Quinones' coordinator Henry is a crook. And I don't want him taking anyone else's money.

It is a poor and unreputable surgeon and organization representing him that hurt the reputations of some very good Mexican surgeons. I had a wonderful experience with Dr Fernando Garcia, wouldn't change a thing. So glad your posting it everywhere, those people do not deserve any business!

It is unfortunate that a surgeon's reputation could be ruined because of a bad team. But your team represents you and your employees need to do a good job representing you. If they are dishonest, that will undoubtedly reflect negatively on the doctor too even if the doctor him/herself is not dishonest. I have heard great things about Dr. Garcia and many others in Mexico.

This is why we need to research our surgeons, read everything you can find about them, talk personally to former patients! This is your body and you can't trust that to just anyone. I was sleeved on 8/02 by Dr. Alvarez and he is absolutely a top notch surgeon. I had wonderful care by him and his team. I did a lot of research and called former patients before I made my choice. If there are bad Dr's out there, get their name out on these boards so that no one dies because of bad surgery skills.

You are absolutely welcome! I don't even care that I'm not getting my money back. I was told to erase comments I made on another forum in order to get my refund--but had I not had a negative experience' date=' I would have nothing to post in the first place so I rather help others out instead. I eventually had my surgery with Dr. Pompa in Mexico. Her center is an International Center of Excellence and I have nothing but good, positive things to say about them.

Please take your time and make sure you're comfortable with the doctor you decide to go with. Research, research, research!! YouTube, forums, everything. And I wish you all the best in your decision and your weight loss journey.[/quote']

That is so messed up how they try to blackmail you! Threats are fighting words to me. Thank for not giving into them. Yes I've come accross Dr. Pompa name in my researching. Happy you were finally able to find a good reputable MX surgeon and didn't give because your horrible experience. Please keep us updates on your weight loss experience.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. It is awesome that you are putting yourself out there and making everyone aware of this.

Glad that you only lost your deposit, my deposit was only $500.00. You have gone on and had your surgery with another doctor so be grateful that you did not lose your life with Dr Pompa. You made the right decision and the cost was miniscule compared to your life.

Good luck with your sleeve journey

I just posted about this subject on another forum. That's so terrible what happened to you! Please everyone, research the coordinator you choose. Ask them what state they are registered in as a corporation or LLC or? Most states have a website where you can check to see if they are a legitimate business in good standing. Do they have a business license? Anyone can put up a website. Are they a member of any business organizations like the Better Business Bureau? Look it up on the BBB website. Ask to have their refund policy in writing. I disagree with you with paypal. Anyone can set up a paypal account. You are much safer if they accept credit cards. My husband owns a business and you have to jump through many hoops to get a merchant account to accept credit cards. If the company you work with has all these things, you are less likely to get scammed and if they try to scam you then you can dispute the charge on your credit card and file a complaint with the BBB and the state where they have their corporation too!

I hope you are able to get your money back!

LOOK we are having this issue on gastricsleeve.com there is way more to this then being told on here. Dr.Quinones has done a few of our surgeries with no issue and no problems whatsoever. For one she canceled three days before surgery. Secondly, she told them and even said in her youtube.com video he could keep the refund, when they apologized to her about a error causing the check they issued her to bounce. They asked her to let them rectify the issue but she decided to post **** like this on various sites, etc. Then she is referring to other people on her posts and trying to make it seem like he is out to get people's money. When you read about Dr.Quinones you only read GREAT, EXPERIENCES from his patients. Please read this link before anyone passes any judgment http://www.gastricsleeve.com/forum/questions-and-answers-for-those-considering-a-gastric-sleeve/22133-quinones-questions-2.html#post202848

There are too many other doctors with no shady dealings in MX. It is up to others if they will take the chance but I wouldn't risk it.

@Glittering, That is true there are many doctors out there but I feel like this... You read this post and now he is a doctor you wouldn't even consider and your taking the word of someone who never used him so what she has to say has nothing to do with the actual surgeon and surgery you will have. HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY COMPLAINTS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS. No one but her had a bad experience with the admin staff. I don't knock her but I just don't like the fact her issue had nothing to do with the doctor. She is really telling people not to go to a great surgeon, who is affordable and offers A GREAT EXPERIENCE. Your comment alone "I wouldn't risk it" proves that she is ruining the doctors name and would have you all think it was something he did when she never even had any dealings with him. Her issue is with his admin staff Henry. If Henry was to work for Dr.Pompa should she make a video telling others not to go to her surgeon because he works for her? Then what about Quinones would it then be okay to go to him because Henry no longer works for him? It is really messed up she is using the doctors name in this and even has a video saying she has personal experience with the doctor when she doesn't. It is wrong, I know what is right and this isn't right. Especially when you all are encouraging her to re-post. If that was yourselves you wouldn't want half the story out there and people passing judgment on something someone else was responsible of doing, but your being held responsible for. Then that person doesn't even want to attempt to clarify what they wrote as being misleading or just to redact what was said that was false. Some people so quick to tell it even if it is wrong. AS TOLD TO HER I WOULD RATHER HAVE AN ADMIN ISSUE THAN A DOCTOR ISSUE. I live across from the TJ borders so I am aware of all the great surgeons there and he is one THAT shouldn't even be in this thread. When you got others killing their patients which I HEAR ABOUT ON MY LOCAL NEWS, DO YOU ALL? NO, those are the ones she should be warning people about.