GET a boob job. You need it.

It could help you land a date. Like what it did for my sales consultant did.

And if you allow us to use your before-and-after photos on our ad online, we'll give you a discount on our services.

These are some of the shocking hard-sell tactics that several cosmetic companies are using, says an investigation by Australian consumer group, Choice.

In the study, Choice sent three women to 30 clinics in Sydney and Brisbane, reported The Telegraph.

The women were told to ask about liposuction, breast augmentation and Botox.

Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said that one cosmetic company even told the customer she would have a better chance of getting hitched if she had a boob job.

Said Mr Zinn: 'It's incredibly surprising that a doctor would say that. Talk about playing to people's insecurities.'

But what Choice found more worrying was that these companies often do not fully explain the side effects and potential dangers of these procedures to their clients, such as leakage and scarring.

Mr Zinn added: 'Given the known risks and the apparent unwillingness of some cosmetic surgeons to discuss them, there needs to be stronger regulation to protect consumers.'

Currently, some states in Australia ban the use of before-and-after photos in comestic company ads.

Also, in states like Queensland, these cosmetic practitioners are not allowed to call themselves surgeons. Instead, that title is only given to those who are fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, such as plastic surgeons.

In 1999, an inquiry into cosmetic surgery practices was conducted.

But the Choice study found that in New South Wales, many of the recommendations were never implemented.

As a result, beauty clinics were prescribing Botox and laser treatments without a proper licence.

The head of the committee which conducted the 1999 inquiry, Ms Merrilyn Walton likened the comestic surgery field in Australia to 'cowboy country'.

Ms Walton, who is now director of patient safety at the Office of Postgraduate Medical Education in the University of Sydney's faculty of medicine, said:

'I don't understand why governments have been so tardy in (their) response to the inquiry we did a decade ago.

'Many cosmetic surgery practices have been devoid of the normal protective mechanisms in medicine.

'From the patients' perspective, they need the same safeguards whether they're in cosmetic surgery or being treated for an illness. It's still cutting the skin.'

Check qualifications

Mr Zinn says potential patients should 'make sure of the qualifications and experience of any cosmetic surgeon' before any procedure.

Choice says its study focused only on cosmetic surgeons, not plastic surgeons.

This is because plastic surgeons are more closely regulated and not as aggressive in their advertising.

Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery (ACCS) president Daniel Fleming has come forward to say that his association does 'not condone this kind of behaviour'.

He added: 'It is unacceptable. It is contrary to the requirements that the college has of its members.'

But Dr Fleming said the ACCS wants cosmetic surgery to be officially recognised as a medical specialty.

He believes that patients would be better protected and more able to make informed decisions if they were able to choose practitioners who have undergone specialist training, assessment and accreditation.

This article was first published in The New Paper.