Bosley's Offer To Me.....

[jerry78]

Hi All. Several years ago, I went to the Bosley Clinic in Philadelphia for a free consultation.

 

I never did follow through with a transplant, for various reasons. And, by the way, after joining this forum, I'm kin of glad I didn't go to bosley after reading the posts.

 

Anyway, for the past 4 years, Bosley has not given up on me. Every couple of months, they send me letters with all kinds of special offers and pricing.

 

The latest offer I received from them is a BOSLEY GOLD CARD.....This offers me a minimum of 800 grafts for $3,900.00, with additional grafts for $4.75 each. They say their usual price for this is $7,200.00.

 

Not that I am going to take them up on this offer, but, for curiosity sake, is that a good deal they are offering me? Thanks-Jerry

[Mahair]

Is that all they are charging these days for a lifetime of misery?

[tymman]

Price seems to be way OVER what I paid. $7000 for 2000+ HT. Heard a lot of horror stories about them. Can't see how they stay in bussiness.

[Nashville Kat]

Most of the top docs that I checked with were in the $4.00 per graft range for top notch work not crap.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Glad to hear you didn't go to Bosley. From what I have read and some of the horror stories I have read about, good move! And yes...their "deals" they are trying to sell you are actually more expensive than even the top docs out there. And to echo Nashville Kat...most charge about $4.00 per graft.

 

Bill

[KenEastCoast]

yea-def stay away from them. after my HT with a great doc in toronto i had to go t the hospital here in providence usa to get some more pain meds. The doctor that I had told me his best friend had a HT with Bosley and is having all sorts of problems. I've never heard a good thing or seen a good pic from that center. I don't know how they stay in business-unless people just don't complain to the right people about their results.

[Robert_]

jerry78,

 

Welcome to the forums. Once you start researching and reading more into surgical hair restoration you will find that the hair restoration industry is one where more expensive doesn't always mean better. The leading hair restoration physicians generally charge less than large chain national operations.

 

Good luck on your research. For a list of talented and highly recommended hair restoration physicians, look here.

 

Also, use the forums' search feature if you have questions about any particular physician. Odds are, he/she has been discussed before. You can find the keyword search feature under the Find tab.

 

-Robert

[arfy]

A lot of clinics offer you "extra grafts" or other "specials" as a way to lure you in.

 

It's like a restaurant that gives you a "free" dessert, if you eat dinner there. They're trying to make it seem like you're getting something for nothing, it's an old sales trick.

 

Who cares if you got a "free" dessert if your steak was burnt and the vegetables were cold. That's how I'd describe what you're getting at these big franchise clinics.

[truthseeker]

Stay away from Bosley!!!! They will overcharge you for awful work!!! Ask them to take you off their mailing list.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

I remember way, way, way back when I first considered hair transplants - B.S. (That's before Shapiro) I requested my Bosely video.

 

After watching it I thought Dr. Bosely was Moses and that he was going to lead me into the promised land of full and flowing hair. I practically slept with his video and brochure under my pillow.

 

But then I got very lucky and met Dr. Ron Shapiro about 8 years ago who was one of the early follicular unit pioneers. He had no videos or TV ads - just a real commitment to doing the absolute best hair transplantation possible. Needless to say, once I got beyond the seduction of sophisticated marketing and looked at actual substance, I chose Ron Shapiro.

 

I was one of the lucky ones who got past the seduction of marketing to find a real gem in the rough.

 

Today this saga continues - only now we have the Internet. On the Internet potential patients are no longer just consuming advertising messages, videos and brochures privately in our homes.

 

Now we can talk back and compare notes with each other to find the real gems in the rough clinics who often cost considerably less than the national chains, yet provide much higher levels of service in my opinion. These clinic's generally do minimal advertising and rely primarily on referals from happy patients.

 

These clinics are virtually underground compared to the high visibility national groups. Thus it is generally only the patients who seek to go beyond marketing hype and do research online who find them.

 

I know this situation exists in virtually every product or category of service. But unlike a product that we can throw away if it turned out to not work - hair transplantation is for a life time.

 

It is essential that potential patients get past the seducation of marketing materials - no matter who the surgeon or clinic is.

 

In addition to our suggestions for selecting a physician, consider the following suggestions -

 

Do a search by a potential surgeons last name or name of clinic on this and other forums such as Hair Loss Help.com, Hair Loss Talk.com, or Regrowth.com. Find out what actual patients are reporting about them online. This forum goes back over 4 years and provides tens of thousands of posts regarding hair transplant surgeons and their clinics.

 

Ask to see a potential clinic's actual patients IN PERSON before making a commitment. Be sure to look beyond the person's hairline and comb through their hair. If any thing appears at all natural - Run Forest Run!

 

As to see the surgeon and staff making the actual incisions and placing grafts during a surgery.

 

 

We live in a society in which perception often wins out over reality. Don't be seduced by the "talk" insist on seeing the "walk".

 

Hair Transplants can be very positive. But they are a LONG way from being a comodity that is uniform in quality.

 

In my opinion, less than 20 percent of the clinics offering hair transplantion services should even be considered.

 

In my opinion, less than 20 percent of the clinics offering hair transplantion services should even be considered.

 

If you shop hard and find a real gem in the rough physician you can achieve excellent results that are very natural and satisfying.

But in this unregulated hair transplant industry it is BUYER BEWARE.

[baldcasanova]

Patrick makes a good point. Advertising when placed irresponsibily can lead from misrepresentation to malpractice.

 

 

My first inquiry into hair transplantation led me to wilshire blvd. and the bosley office in beverly hills, ca. as i did not know much about transplants, i did know that my hairloss what about to take a turn for the worst and i needed help - fast.

 

It was just shy of my 27th bday 4 years ago that I visited Bosley's offices; I remember the excitement and wonderment i felt as the elevator made its way up to the penthouse suite. that excitement led to disappointment and depression when the doctor told me that 1.) I shouldn't get an HT 2.)I was too young and 3.)my baldness pattern had still not fully revealed itself and I needed to wait till I was in my 30s. To top it off he told me to shave my head instead! I was pissed off.

 

A year later i went back to Bosley, and a different doc said he'd operate , but i never got that HT due to the cost (at the time that was my "saving" factor - saving, meaning saving me from Bosley)

 

The integrity that the first doctor displayed has stuck with me and although I have heard many negative experiences with that corporation, i believe there are more than a few bosley docs that are performing good work.

 

anyhow i went on to receive 2 hts in different places and eventually heard about the horror stories at bosley. oh, and so that I do not forget, I went to Hair Club for Men and almost got fitted for a wig (deposit billed to CC - returned later) what freaked me out there.... was that there was a patient that happened to be there, and they brought him out (as he had just got fitted), and he faintly smelled like glue!!! the sales person totally claimed oblivious to this fact, but im sure she snickered after hours sometimes about the aroma.

 

cas

[arfy]

I know this situation exists in virtually every product or category of service. But unlike a product that we can throw away if it turned out to not work - hair transplantation is for a life time.

 

Excellent point. There's another level to this though, as well.

 

If I buy a watch from a guy in an alley, and it turns out that it wasn't a real Rolex, well then I have to consider the source.

 

But if I get a hair transplant based on the clinic's promise that the doctor does "state of the art" work and that my transplant will be "undetectable" and look like a "full head of hair" (as MHR says) but if that's not actually what they do, then I wasn't misled by some guy in a dark alley, I was misled by a licensed physician. A situation like that is totally unforgivable.

 

I think the doctors who are misleading people are a disgrace to all the other legitimate doctors, and I don't know why the "straight arrow" doctors let it continue.