Transmed acting unprofessioanally

[HARIRI]

Thats a great decision you made. Never be bitten twice. Make more research and go for the best. Check surgeons with great feedbacks and no complains. In my case, Im located in the Middle East but I decided to travel all the way for 16 hours to Dr. Rahal in Ottawa Canada cause I believed he is the best of the best. It just need little patience but then you will be more than happy. Take care and wish all the best Salim.

[jessie1]

Salem,

 

On threads like these which can be contenteous, I always choose my words carefully, drawing upon my own personal experience of the HT industry.

 

I accept there has been no public response on the forum from Transmed about the alleged shortfalls in customer care in Salem's case, however, based on my private correspondence with Salem and his comments on this thread, I have no reason to doubt his credibility, especially when he has been very restrained and diplomatic about the poor result itself. Many would have come out all guns blazing about the poor yield through sheer frustration alone, especially when the aftercare was lacking and his correspondence with Transmed was not given the due regard it deserved.

 

Although I have only been a forum member for a couple of months, I have experience of the industry and have been a silent observer for some time. I know how these things have a tendancy to play out in situations where aftercare is seriously below par, not from my own bad experience with a leading hair surgeon, but also from my own observations of similar cases on this very forum.

 

In essence therefore Salem I believe you. You are credible. There are similaries in your case with Albion's which in part were chalked up to a communication breakdown. And sometimes I have even seem comments to the effect that the communication breakdown would not have been 'intentional' as if that bears any relevance when being left out in the cold.

 

Let me be clear, the aftercare in the vast majority of cases in the industry seems to be tip top among leading surgeons, I can not say that about the industry in general as I have serious reservations about the business practices of several HT providers, who are not recomended by this site by the way.

 

On this occasion I feel that Transmed have acted irresponsibly and failed to reach out to Salem. The offer to attend for a consultation , but with the premature and unjustified comments about 'touch up work' being performed would be enough to make me feel very uncomfortable also. Furthermore, to compound the issue, there are no offers regarding travel expenses and more concerningly, there is the unfounded figure on possible yield being 70 per cent,without benefit of examination. The fact that Transmed have discussed what seems to me to be 'over optimistic' yield, I too would be concerned. Consider Albion's thread at the initial 90 per cent yield claim. Was the matter settled at that? I very much doubt it. How much negotiotion was there before they conceeded that 90 per cent was well short of the mark.

 

Salem, I know that you have chosen to walk away having lost confidence in Transmed, on this point I tend to disagree. Don't get my wrong, I accept that you have issues with competency here which is by far one of the most important factors, but by walking away now you are relinquishing Transmed of their after care obligations. I would personally hang in there and try to recover the negotion. It may be that your situation can be resolved without going for a 2nd procedure with them as it was in the case of Albion.

 

I would think very carefully about this prior to closing the chapter. I fully respect your wishes for wanting to move on but I feel that there is unresolved business here, especially having studied your pics and seen less than optimal growth.

 

Keep us posted,

 

Jessie

[salemsalem78]

I always try to organize my thoughts and segregate them, ill do so here:,

 

1. I have said this before, as an HT clinic Transmed is a superb one. All threads on this forum speak of a great experience. No clinic gets 100% results, it happens, it is nobody's fault. I do not point any finger at Transmed for the yield. I hope this is clear enough.

 

2. Any medical patient cares about post-care support as much as the actual care itself. Expecting support does not mean a patient is pointing fingers. Support by itself does not mean an admission of guilt by the clinic. On the contrary, a clinic that takes initiative in supporting their patient is the best way a clinic can fortify its name..

 

A brief summary of my support experiences so far: not answering emails for weeks at a time. After finally answering (thanks to the moderators of this forum) support is kept to a minimum, depending on my knowledge. No offer of chipping in with hotel or air ticket. Hints of 70% yield. No information given as to who would do any surgery. No mention of word surgery even, sticking to the word "retouch".

 

If I am mistaken in being disappointed by this, please feel free to correct me.

 

If i feel that I will get no support from Transmed, why should I even try to go there? Anything I get here (such as monetary refund) is going to be based solely on how much I argue for it. It is obvious to me that Transmed will not take an initiative to support me.

 

That is why i made the decision to just drop it.

 

I do not know what advice to offer visitors of this site. On one hand, I had an absolute great experience with Transmed during the transplant, maybe one should be clear with the on what kind of support to expect from them after surgery.

 

Again, thanks to everybody...

 

Salem.

[jessie1]

Salem,

 

You remain balanced and diplomatic: good on you.

 

It would be great to see Transmed's response to this on the forum.

 

All the best for the future Salem,

 

Jessie

[salemsalem78]

Hey guys,

 

Quite a bit happened in the few hours since I last posted my last reply. I'll save everybody the drama. The short version of it is that I contacted Transmed and wrapped it up with them. Mr. Taner called a couple of times afterwards and he wanted to hear the full story from me. I basically explained to him everything I had written on this thread, and he read the thread himself. We discussed things for about an hour!

 

I am not considering any surgery, but I will go to Turkey and visit Transmed. The reason I'm posting this now is I don't want anybody to pass any judgments. I'll post again after one week, after I get back.

 

I do have a lot about this topic to write about, but I'll hold off until I come back.

 

Salem.

[salemsalem78]

So far my phone calls with Taner are quite good. I will say this about Mr.Taner personally, that he is a very pleasant person to talk to and discuss issues with. He is very supportive.

 

Now I changed my mind and decided to go for two reasons, first I believe since this forum has been my biggest resource of information, I think I'd benefit everybody here by going through with the consultation and seeing how things go.

 

Second, was my talks with Mr. Taner, I've read in a few places how Bill describes Taner, and so far I've experienced this myself, that he is really supportive.

 

Anyway, it is never a bad thing to spend a few days in Istanbul. It's a nice city, and the food is great. So regardless of the outcome of the consultation, I'll still manage to have a good time there.

 

A question to the readers of this forum, let's say I agree with Transmed on a second surgery, who would be the best surgeon to do it? Should I just stick to Dr. Kulahci, since she is the only one recommended on this forum? Are there others on the Transmed team?

 

Thanks to everybody who has chipped in to this thread.

Salem.

[largechris]

The message here is - you really should be on meds for a year pror to surgery. If we did a survey on here of disappointing or non existant results, there would be s disproportionate number of patients who did it without meds.

 

Sorry to sound harsh.

[salemsalem78]

Largechris,

 

Actually, I totally agree with you. This I realized afterwards of course! But here's the thing, you cannot start taking meds right after a transplant, else how would you know the results are due to what? The meds or the transplant?

 

But here's one more thing, how much hair does one lose in a year? Is it actually enough to completely render a transplant useless? I seriously doubt that.

 

Anyway, I do think you're right. Anybody who's interested in a transplant should take finasteride/minoxidil for a year, make sure everything's stable, and then go for it if still needed.

 

That's what I'm actually doing now. I just started propecia, and minoxidil 5% today!

 

 

Salem.

[jessie1]

Salem,

 

All the best with the meds.

 

Did you Go down to Transmed yesterday as planned?

 

Looking forward to your update on how things went....

 

All the best,

 

Jess

[salemsalem78]

Hey guys,

 

I just came back from Turkey a few days ago. I'll dive right into my trip:

 

Overall it was a pleasant trip. Transmed were quite friendly. I had a long discussion with Mr. Taner on the lapse in communication that had taken place. Basically they owned up to it. They explained how they're changing the way they communicate with patients (not because of me, just restucturing), that would eliminate situations similar to what happened with me.

 

Dr. Kulahci and another surgeon (a young guy, can't remember his name), examined my scalp. We did have a slightly different view of the outcome of the surgery. We didn't go into detail, as to counting percentage yield. STILL, they offered a 1000 graft surgery "on the house". They kept a slot open for me in case I decided I wanted to. I explained I had just started propecia, and would prefer to wait for a while before doing another surgery.

 

It is unfortunate that there was that disconnect in communication. A clinic rep who is overwhelmed with juggling patients could give a bad impression. (I did have a short chat with the rep who dropped the ball. It was a little awkward at first! ).

 

As for the success of the transplant, it is difficult to judge. I am not sure how much hair I have lost, how much of the transplanted grafts grew... Regardless of the outcome, I'm glad that Transmed care about their patients' satisfaction.

 

SO, for now, I will wait a few months to see the effects of propecia and rogaine, and probably do another transplant.

 

 

This forum is wonderful. Thanks to all of you guys.

 

 

Salem.

[Sean]

Hey guys,

 

I just came back from Turkey a few days ago. I'll dive right into my trip:

 

Overall it was a pleasant trip. Transmed were quite friendly. I had a long discussion with Mr. Taner on the lapse in communication that had taken place. Basically they owned up to it. They explained how they're changing the way they communicate with patients (not because of me, just restucturing), that would eliminate situations similar to what happened with me.

 

Dr. Kulahci and another surgeon (a young guy, can't remember his name), examined my scalp. We did have a slightly different view of the outcome of the surgery. We didn't go into detail, as to counting percentage yield. STILL, they offered a 1000 graft surgery "on the house". They kept a slot open for me in case I decided I wanted to. I explained I had just started propecia, and would prefer to wait for a while before doing another surgery.

 

It is unfortunate that there was that disconnect in communication. A clinic rep who is overwhelmed with juggling patients could give a bad impression. (I did have a short chat with the rep who dropped the ball. It was a little awkward at first! ).

 

As for the success of the transplant, it is difficult to judge. I am not sure how much hair I have lost, how much of the transplanted grafts grew... Regardless of the outcome, I'm glad that Transmed care about their patients' satisfaction.

 

SO, for now, I will wait a few months to see the effects of propecia and rogaine, and probably do another transplant.

 

 

This forum is wonderful. Thanks to all of you guys.

 

 

Salem.

 

Glad to hear everything went well and you got things sorted out with the miscommunication thing. Definitely give a shot with meds and see how much your hair grows, then get that procedure they are willing to give you on the house. Wish you the best. Good Luck.

[TakingThePlunge]

salemsalem78,

 

I'm very happy to hear that you were able to sort out the communication issues with Transmed and Dr. Kulahci! I'm also glad to know that they are standing behind work and that you have an option if you choose to select it.

 

I hope the coming months bring some improvement for you! Keep us posted.

[Sparky]

Wouldn't it be better to just give him his money back rather than a promise of surgery later down the road? Otherwise it's just like they are using him as a bank.