The assumptions that you are making, particularly that of the inexperienced technician, may occur in the hair grinders, the OP said it was operated on by a surgeon with a good reputation here. Many of us think he went to H&W, which until recently were among the best in the world, but I don’t think they made mistakes like the ones you mentioned, maybe the only mistake was to estimate 3000 grafts for a degree of baldness like this.