Doctors that hide their prices...

[vincehair]

Very annoying and what purpose does this serve? Latest doctor i was researching Cooley has the classic "our prices are very affordable and vary from blablabla to blablabla"

 

Just put the pricing scale up for christ's sake!

[vincehair]

Very annoying and what purpose does this serve? Latest doctor i was researching Cooley has the classic "our prices are very affordable and vary from blablabla to blablabla"

 

Just put the pricing scale up for christ's sake!

[vincehair]

Exactly~! Oh i know their tricks and traps. I just wanted to bring it up! haha

[Bill - Seemiller]

vincehair,

 

Marketing is everywhere, even in hair transplantation. As long as it's done appropriately and ethically, I see nothing wrong with it.

 

Though it would be nice to see a pricing scale on the website, you have to understand that most seeking patients won't really know whether or not they need 1000 or 4000 grafts. Therefore, I'm not sure that a pricing chart published on their website really serves a lot of purpose until the patient knows what they are up against for the long term (number of grafts, number of surgeries needed for current and possible future hair loss, etc).

 

Our forum members are very educated because they do a lot of reading and have a good idea what they are getting themselves into before consulting with the physician. But a pricing chart still wouldn't help most patients since it's better to consult with a physician to determine your needs before hearing about pricing.

 

Just my opinion....

 

Bill

[Dewayne]

You guys are full of it on Cooley. Hell, is it too much trouble for you to pick up a phone and call the 800 number and ask?

 

And Spex, not every doctor has a full-time internet, I mean "patient advisor". Frankly, I'm suprised you jumped in on an obvious class-act, who is a member of the Coalition. How the hell do you know and why do you care? I think Dr. Feller is at least top 5, but sometimes you guys take the cake.

 

Here is a lesson for you guys, if you've got a minute..... Call the number, or email Dr. Cooley from his web site and ask. I did, and they recommended 2500 at a price of $10,000. And, if I prepaid with a certified check it would be $9,000. Difficult stuff. True marketing genius.

 

And, I must say they were very complimentary of the other docs I was considering so I doubt that's the best their marketing department could come up with.

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Dr Cooley is a great surgeon and very affordable

but I always thought it would be nice to see a price scale.

Alot of clinic consultants wont even tell you until they waste a bunch of your time or get you in for a consult.

[thanatopsis_awry]

Bill makes a good point. Nonetheless, while a transparent pricing chart might not be a terribly effective service to many, I don't think it would hurt, and it can really only help some.

 

I don't think there is anything nefarious going on w/ Cooley not posting his (though I am sure there *is* w/ many who do not).

 

2pennies.

[vincehair]

Hey Dewayne nobody was attacking Dr. Cooley so take a damn chill pill man. Sheesh!

 

I'm just saying why hide your prices? Maybe i don't want to pick up the phone and have the awkward chit chat with a doctors secretary. Especialy if the prices she gives me are nuts.

 

Bill,i do understand what your saying. That's why doctors should all have that little graft estimater on their site. You know the one where you pick the zones and it basicaly says how many thousand grafts for this coverage and that coverage.

 

Bottom line is that when a price is hidden on anything you always assume it's because it's overpriced! If it was cheap it would be plastered everywhere

[Dewayne]

Originally posted by vincehair:

Hey Dewayne nobody was attacking Dr. Cooley so take a damn chill pill man. Sheesh!

 

I'm just saying why hide your prices? Maybe i don't want to pick up the phone and have the awkward chit chat with a doctors secretary. Especialy if the prices she gives me are nuts.

 

Bill,i do understand what your saying. That's why doctors should all have that little graft estimater on their site. You know the one where you pick the zones and it basicaly says how many thousand grafts for this coverage and that coverage.

 

Bottom line is that when a price is hidden on anything you always assume it's because it's overpriced! If it was cheap it would be plastered everywhere

 

Just go somewhere where prices are posted on their web page. Ironically, Dr. Cooley and Dr. Charles (my two finalist) are among the 'cheapest' of all in the coalition. And neither post their prices. Matter of fact, one of them told me they wouldn't get into a price war, and the other was a great surgeon he'd trust doing his own hair.

 

From my research, I found that most of the clinics didn't post exact prices. At least the ones I looked at. Like I said, email him at

jcooley65@aol.com and I'm sure you'll get an answer pretty quickly. I doubt he's looked at his website or even knows if prices are posted. Some have different priorites, I suppose.

[bullitnut]

this not putting prices up is very annoying because the price part of a ht is very important in everyones research. i know everyone says dont let prices be a factor but lets be honest if a person cant afford a specific dr under any circumstances they will rule this dr out of their research. So if clinics dont put a price scale on there website they are effectively ruling themselves out of a lot of peoples research and business. Ok a few clinics on these forums have representatives that can tell you the prices if you ask them but not everyone knows about forums and clinic reps.

[the B spot]

D--vince just happened to mention Dr. Cooley and I am 100% positive Spex is talking about clinics who use bait and switch tactics---almost all of us who have been around a bit actually know most of the top clinics pricing.

 

Good clinics don't have to worry about price or sales or aggressive marketing (take Dr. Cooley for example)--they are always busy.

 

I do wish prices were posted on clinic websites, but truth be told, the average guy looking at the numbers wouldn't understand what the hell they were looking at because clinics have such different pricing methods!!!

 

Anyway, don't take this personally, or as a slight to Dr. Cooley--everyone here knows he does great work and Vince simply expressed his dislike of no pricing listed.

 

Take Care,

Jason

[vincehair]

Yeah Dwayne no offense meant man. My opinion of Dr. Cooley is completely neutral right now. I do like the discount when you pay with cash/cashiers check tho. Pretty nice

[wantego]

I'd personally prefer to see at least a ball park price guide for anything I'm interested in be it a car or a HT. Actually I hate car ads that say call for price.

[Dewayne]

I doubt very seriously any of the clinics we discuss on here think of the pricing on a webpage as a marketing tool, one way or another.

 

A comparison I'm familiar with is CPA's. My CPA here in small town Georgia charges $150 per hour. But, to find that out I had to pointedly ask as I refer a lot of my clients to him.

 

Would it make a difference to know that he charges $150 per hour, and the Jackson-Hewitt tax place charges $60, and H&R Block $80, and the part-timer who has a day job charges $20? What about Dr. Griffin's CPA down in Atlanta who charges $300 per hour?

 

I'm not sure that information helps in the decision process, personally. At least with this example, and a surgeon is much more important than your taxes.

 

IMO, that's what it means to say "Don't let price be the determining factor."

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Price matters to more people then you probably think Dewayne.

Maybe your loaded but most guys arent.

It should not be a determining factor but it is in alot of cases.

The majority on this thread said it would be nice to see a price list so vince was not offbase.

He just happened to mention your surgeon who your real sensitive about ,and I dont blame you if hes transformed your life.

Dr Cooley gives certain discounts for that very reason. Some clinic wont even budge on price but Cooley will

Spex dont sweat it my man . We know what you meant

[exibel]

It`s all about the cash anyone who wants a HT or repair job done would get it done next week.Ive been really impressed over the last 5 or 6 weeks of looking into results in respect to FUT or FUE but the self publicity and marketing side by obvious sales men is off putting....

[Dewayne]

Spex,

 

Again? I don't recall but this one "swipe", and I still think you deserved it. I believe you'll find that I've defended Feller Medical as much as any non-patient on this forum. By "take the cake", I mean you guys are quite confrontational at times. Nothing wrong with that, imo, and I don't think anyone can make an honest argument that it's not true. But it appeared you jumped in on an obvious thread about a doctor, whom I think has very high morals, that was implying he had some sinister motive about prices on a website. Again, if you search you'll find I've been a defender time and again of Feller Medical.

 

PGP, I don't guess I made my point too clear. Obviously I know the $$ is important. It was for me too. As a matter of fact, if you checked my initial posts on this forum back in Jan - Feb, money was my primary focus. All of the coalition docs are within about a thousand dollars of each other on a standard 2,500 graft session, so I'm not so sure that is one of the top factors. If price is the number one concern, I'm sure there are some clinics doing sessions for $1 per graft.

 

In my opinion, you pick a clinic based on a number of factors. While cost is important, would you choose Dr. Cooley over Dr. Bernstein because he's $0.30 per graft cheaper? That's what I was trying to convey.

 

For me, I seriously considered six clinics who all provided world-class results: Hassan, Alexander, Cooley, Feller, Shapiro and Charles.

Then, I eliminated Hasson and Feller primarily based on travel. I know that's not a major factor, but I figured if you get it down to top 5 or 6, why not go somewhere geographically that's comfortable. If there wasn't a world class surgeon providing consistent results in my country or area, I'd hop on a plane to wherever. But, I felt there were some pretty close.

 

Next, I spoke with the clinics and compared pics, etc. some more. I emailed some patients and got a lot of feedback. I again came back to locations. Although traveling to Minnesota or Arizona is not that big of a deal, I thought "why not stay in the south?" Drs. Charles and Cooley were the closest of my top picks. I got great feedback from both doctor's patients. I finally liked the idea of being able to drive the three and a half hours to Dr. Cooley. Plus, the poster "Christopher" sent me a lot of his pics and I was blown away pretty much. But, I was blown away by Hassan and the others as well. But, from a convenience factor, that was the ultimate deciding factor.

 

So, money is important for sure. But, if someones fretting over $300 or so between clinics, or using price as the most important factor; their probability for making a mistake is surely higher, imo. And again, I think Cooley was the least expensive of all I named.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Long term hair restoration goals have to include planning for the costs. So the cost of not only the initial hair transplant should be considered, but the possible need for subsequent onesl.

 

Let's say you are currently a norwood level 3 with agressive hair loss and you agree to start taking Propecia and one hair transplant initially of approximately 3000 grafts. If you financially plan for this and only this, you are doing yourself a disservice if the Propecia doesn't work.

 

Therefore, the topic of money is an important one since it may not be wise to start something you can't finish.

 

A patient may use our animated graft calculator to determine approximately how many grafts you need today, but future hair loss may create the need for subsequent procedures, and more money is needed.

 

I agree that it may be helpful to seeking patients to have a transparent pricing scale though it should only be used as a guide and it should not surprise prospective patients if the price estimate a physician gives is much different than what he/she thought.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Dewayne]

Originally posted by Bill - Associate Publisher:

Long term hair restoration goals have to include planning for the costs. So the cost of not only the initial hair transplant should be considered, but the possible need for subsequent onesl.

 

Let's say you are currently a norwood level 3 with agressive hair loss and you agree to start taking Propecia and one hair transplant initially of approximately 3000 grafts. If you financially plan for this and only this, you are doing yourself a disservice if the Propecia doesn't work.

 

Therefore, the topic of money is an important one since it may not be wise to start something you can't finish.

 

A patient may use our animated graft calculator to determine approximately how many grafts you need today, but future hair loss may create the need for subsequent procedures, and more money is needed.

 

I agree that it may be helpful to seeking patients to have a transparent pricing scale though it should only be used as a guide and it should not surprise prospective patients if the price estimate a physician gives is much different than what he/she thought.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

 

Maybe to be recommended on this site, clinics should be required to not only post five cases per month, but post price per graft menus on their websites....(j/k )

 

Bill, I think you and I posted simulateneously so you might not have seen my previous post above. While finances of all this are certainly critical, I was trying to state that a few hundred dollars difference between a few top hair transplant clinics is not really a top issue. All my opinion, of course.

 

So, while $9,000 was a big deal for me the $200 I would've saved by going to Dr. Charles hasn't kept me up at night.

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

In my case it was a savings between 1500 -2000.

depending where I went and when . I agree 300 is nothing but 2 grand is .

Anyway it would be nice to see prices but I doubt it would increase or decrease business either way.

[vincehair]

We all know seeing the graft prices on a doctors website works one way or the other. Either it's a crazy Rassman/Armani price or it's more affordable than the average joe figured it would be.

 

If i'm a doctor and my prices are good then why are they hidden? Makes no damn sense. Spex was right on. To reel you in and to have bullshite "Specials" we all know this so why dance around the truth!?

 

Honesty's the best policy so why hide you prices?