Legends HT journey.. a true unbiased story. Let’s begin?

[Legend007]

Hey u guys .. so this thread is for us noobs and lurkers and for the veterans of hairtransplants ....  I’m going to start this thread to document my journey so I don’t feel so alone going through this by myself.. I’ve only been on this forum for 1 year but I learned a lot .... I’m pretty knowledable about the Basics  of hairloss and hairtransplants .. but I’m no expert on the top docs or the best procedure or what u should do next ..  .. but I do know enough .. this thread is my journey .. n I know many of u are are going through the similar process n be able to relate .. so  will keep y’all updated on my journey .. will need ur guys advices and opinions n support as the journey continues , 

will start my story tomorrow , beginning from last year, to now n beyond

kyn . 

[Mountinvan]

Have you made an appointment--I know that you had a mess up with Diep regarding payment in advance, Who are you going with? 

[Legend007]

Hi , had a consult with h&w rep yesterday .. they want to do 2000-2400 grafts for around $11k FUT .. so it’s only 5k cheaper than doing fue with diep .. so I’m not really saving much money especially since diep still have my $1000 deposit .. I also had to spend $400 on getting blood tests for diep .. money I lost .. 

h&w have one opening for November 29th which fits my schedule .. n I have today to decide .. I might just do it .. but not sure if they will be aggressive with the hairline like diep would .. I like rahal hairlines too , but since Sean had a bad experience with them .. I’m not going with them ..

does anyone know if h&w does temporal points ? It’s important to me if they do this to make my forehead not as wide .. 

p.s. I called dieps office n they won’t give me back my deposit since it’s their policy .. u have 5 days once u made the deposit to get ur money back ..

so i called my bank n filed a claim to get my money back that way .. for services not provided .. chase bank does a good job of getting money back , n already gave me a temporary credit of $1000 back to my  bank account   So always pay ur deposit with ur bank account people  

[Melvin- Admin]

IMO H&W do great temple work, I have seen some really natural results. Generally, H&W are known for transplanting patients like myself with a large balding area. However, I don’t think they can’t be aggressive, so much as most of their cases wouldn’t benefit from it, if that makes sense. 

I would also encourage you to consult with other top docs such as Konoir, Cooley, Gabel. With that said, it’s a shame about Dr. Diep, because I do feel he would have done a great job on you. 

[VicTNYC]

Bummer about your situation with Dr Diep.

While I think he does great work, it does leave a sour taste in my mouth the way you were treated by his representative and their “customer service” , if a patient is committing thousand or tens of thousands of dollars of their hard earned money, time, etc, to a clinic and they can’t be even slightly flexible to accommodate a patient if there is a slight issue than I would think that it’s a bit arrogant on the part of the clinic / doctor....and there are other doctors that do great work and many more will be in the future, competition will catch up to him.

Good Luck!

[Legend007]

Hey guys ,, so I need to confirm with H&W today to book it or not ..  even though I would of liked to have surgery with diep .. but this is a good alternative .. getting 2500 fut grafts for around $12000..

im choosing them because I know they are excellent with the scars . Able to dense pack the hairline and have good customer service and guarantees their work .. 

Their hairline drawing is okay .. but I will delegate to Dr. Hasson to be aggressive with my hairline n to mimic doctor dieps hairline drawing he has of me .. 

So should I take the plunge ? 

[Gasthoerer]

If you are fine with FUT, H&W is a good choice (maybe one of the best) and with your long hair in the back the scar should not be an issue. Personally I think that FUE in your case would be sufficient. I am also not sure if 2500 Grafts isn't a little over the top for your situation.

My adivce is: Do not go to a clinic an do the first drawing of the hairline and the surgery on the same day. From what I know about you (I know it is just from your post in this forum), this does not match with your personality. Visit three top clinics and let the doc create a hairline for you and go with the one which you trust the most.

Good luck

 

[Legend007]

Hey gas, thanks .. yeah no worries .. h&w is my 4th consultation with a clinic in a year .. I booked first with doctor rassman , then doctor baubac , n doctor diep .. things just weren’t meant to be , n all of those clinics was canceled at the last minute .. no one had a problem giving me back my deposit except dr dieps clinic .. 

well h&w booked me 3 nights in a luxury hotel , the Marriott costing them $660 Canadian, they hooked me up with a nice hotel .. I would of settled for a motel 6 .. heheh .. since I told them diep wouldn’t refund my deposit they threw in the extra night for free .. they are also paying for half of my airfare .. it’s only 2.5 hour flight from Cali to Vancouver .. so it’s not so bad.. 

I’m having them draw my hairline like the picture below . It was dieps hairline drawing during our consult .. n yeah I lost more hair since then . It’s receding a bit further back now . so 2500 grafts would do me well .. 

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by Legend007

[Melvin- Admin]

Wow that’s amazing customer service by H&W, in the end I think you’re with a good reputable clinic. If you feel good about it and feel you did your due diligence I say go for it. The plus is that Vancouver is the same time zone as California, so no dealing with jet lag. Quick flight too, I’ve visited H&W in person and they have a lovely clinic. 

[Legend007]

Thanks Melvin .. yeah I feel good about this,  going to make my deposit with h&w today ..  I learned a lot from this forum .. a year ago when my hairloss wasn’t so bad , I started panicking and would of went to any clinic I felt was good .. but there’s so much to ht’s im glad it took this long for me to actually get surgery .. I was also sure all I wanted was FUE.. but knowing what I do now and understanding my hairloss will continue .. is why I have to Maximize my money n donor hair n go FUT first .. if I get a small scar , then I will go FuE for future transplants, n probably with diep ..  but right now  , I feel h&w will take care of me .. 

[shookwon33]

Hey Legend what blood tests did you need to get done prior to scheduling with Diep? Could you clarify exactly what for and why for these blood tests?

[Legend007]

Hey shook .. it’ was like around 8 different kind of blood tests .. like hepatitis , hiv n some other tests .. u have to get those done before they will do surgery on u .. diep will send u a packet for u to do the bloodwork a few weeks before surgery .. I had to get it done through Labworks .. most of the tests cost around 50$ .. but there was one test that cost $450 alone .. so I opt not to take that one or else it would of been $850 total ,. Diep said it was okay if I didn’t take it when I told them about the cost of it . But  it’s like why put it on there then if it wasn’t necessary ..  h&w didn’t require me to do bloodwork .. 

thats one thing that I have to say about the two clinics .. dieps office is so busy n booked months in advance .. so they have the attitude of,  we the patients should be thankful they doing surgery on us .. if u don’t like it then we got someone else waiting to take ur spot ..  h&w has the mindset  of m, hey  we know u paying a lot of money , u our patient . We going to treat u like u are our only customer .. 

thats what I want my clinic to be like .. 

[SWdan]

10 minutes ago, Legend007 said:

Hey shook .. it’ was like around 8 different kind of blood tests .. like hepatitis , hiv n some other tests .. u have to get those done before they will do surgery on u .. diep will send u a packet for u to do the bloodwork a few weeks before surgery .. I had to get it done through Labworks .. most of the tests cost around 50$ .. but there was one test that cost $450 alone .. so I opt not to take that one or else it would of been $850 total ,. Diep said it was okay if I didn’t take it when I told them about the cost of it . But  it’s like why put it on there then if it wasn’t necessary ..  h&w didn’t require me to do bloodwork .. 

thats one thing that I have to say about the two clinics .. dieps office is so busy n booked months in advance .. so they have the attitude of,  we the patients should be thankful they doing surgery on us .. if u don’t like it then we got someone else waiting to take ur spot ..  h&w has the mindset  of m, hey  we know u paying a lot of money , u our patient . We going to treat u like u are our only customer .. 

thats what I want my clinic to be like .. 

Legend, when you mentioned earlier about having to get blood work done for Dr. Diep, I was a little surprised. They never mentioned that to me, and I never had it done. I wonder if it's because I had an FUT, and you were scheduled for an FUE...? 
Anyways, I wish you luck on your choice.  Please keep us updated.

[Legend007]

It’s standard practice to get bloodwork done . Whenever surgery is involved .. . but it’s not a requirement .. but when I think about it .. doctor rassman n doctor baubac didn’t ask me to do bloodwork .. i was just kinda shocked when the lab told me it was $850 .. n I was like why is it so expensive , n she broke down the price for me .. I have health insurance through kaiser , but since this wasn’t ordered by my general doctor I couldn’t go to kaiser for the bloodwork .. so I had to go to Labworks, the lab that dieps office told me to go to .. 

i never even got to see my results either .. I asked them to email it to me , but they wouldn’t .. because it was faxed to them .. but if they wanted to , dieps office could of taken a picture of the lab results n send it to my email .. i paid $400 for them tests man .. at least let me see them . . it’s  these little customer service issues is why I was weary of going out of my way to drop $16,000 on them .. if I really wanted to .. I could of left work early on the day the full payment was due n drove  2 hours to the clinic to pay the office $16k in cash ... 

n I was also put off by them when I wanted to switch my surgery from fue to fut .. n they said u can , but we need to reschedule u for a year later , after already waiting 10 months for them .. 

Hairtransplants is a lifetime journey , an investment u are making on the clinic . That’s costing u a small fortune .. u need to choose a clinic that cares about u n develop a master plan with u .. not treat u like u are another customer like u are eating at a restaurant.. finish ur food , pay ur money then go home .. 

Edited November 22, 2018 by Legend007

[Melvin- Admin]

5 minutes ago, Legend007 said:

It’s standard practice to get bloodwork done . Whenever surgery is involved .. . but it’s not a requirement .. but when I think about it .. doctor rassman n doctor baubac didn’t ask me to do bloodwork .. i was just kinda shocked when the lab told me it was $850 .. n I was like why is it so expensive , n she broke down the price for me .. I have health insurance through kaiser , but since this wasn’t ordered by my general doctor I couldn’t go to kaiser for the bloodwork .. so I had to go to Labworks, the lab that dieps office told me to go to .. 

Just so you know, you can email your kaiser doctor and ask for these tests. You don’t even need a visit for those tests. In the future, don’t pay out of pocket. 

[Legend007]

Yeah I think my general doctor would of done it .. but I was kinda embarrassed about letting them know I’m getting a hairtransplant.. n since it’s cosmetic ,, my doctor wasn’t  obligated to do them tests for me .. n I didn’t care to pay a few hundred out of pocket so I didn’t ask my insurance .. but when the bill was around $850 .. that’s just too much .. $400 I can swallow however, I’m already spending thousands so it didn’t bother me so much .. 

[PSJohnny]

Can't wait to see your story legend! I'm planning on going with hasson and wong next year. Very excited for you ; hope it will be awesome. 

[Legend007]

Thanks John .. I’m wishing u the best on ur ht journey too .. I really didn’t want to start a thread of my journey.. having surgery done n having hairloss is something that is personal and private to us .. heck ,, I don’t even tell my friends or family or my fionsa .. n I still can’t believe I’m balding .. just looking back at my pictures two years ago .. I would of never thought I be balding  ..  I had great hair, even in my late 30’s n with a baby face .. I was so full of confidence in myself .. these last two years has been depressing seeing my hair getting thinner and my hairline receding ,, got me really depressed ,. But I feel like I’m taking control of things .. I’m educated on hairloss now, I’m not naive as I once was . Medication is slowing the progression of hairloss , n hairtransplants will give me back what I lost . So I’m not scared about losing my hair anymore . It’s all about taking action n doing something about it .. 

 

[VicTNYC]

11 hours ago, Legend007 said:

Hey gas, thanks .. yeah no worries .. h&w is my 4th consultation with a clinic in a year .. I booked first with doctor rassman , then doctor baubac , n doctor diep .. things just weren’t meant to be , n all of those clinics was canceled at the last minute .. no one had a problem giving me back my deposit except dr dieps clinic .. 

well h&w booked me 3 nights in a luxury hotel , the Marriott costing them $660 Canadian, they hooked me up with a nice hotel .. I would of settled for a motel 6 .. heheh .. since I told them diep wouldn’t refund my deposit they threw in the extra night for free .. they are also paying for half of my airfare .. it’s only 2.5 hour flight from Cali to Vancouver .. so it’s not so bad.. 

I’m having them draw my hairline like the picture below . It was dieps hairline drawing during our consult .. n yeah I lost more hair since then . It’s receding a bit further back now . so 2500 grafts would do me well .. 

 

Now THAT is great customer/patient service! Very classy of H&W to cover an extra hotel night and some travel expenses.

Things happen for a reason, and mostly have a silver lining when there are issues. 🙂

[Legend007]

Hey guys .,, I just want to clarify that most of the top clinics recommended on this website will offer some sort of travel expense discount if u ask for it ., even doctor dieps office .. but I do appreciate h&w for giving me that extra night , since I be traveling to Canada right after work so I needed that extra night..  but they did hook me up with an awesome hotel close to their office . I won’t be there to enjoy their city however ., I’m on a mission, I’m there to get my hairtransplant then going back home ASAP before i get swelling from the meds n looking like a bloated monster at the airport .

[Kiwi Guy]

Best of luck with it Legend, from what I've researched H&W are a great choice, i'm sorry to hear about the situation with Diep, he does good work but if he is getting like that with his patients frankly he will deservedly lose business in the long run, will be following your progress closely : )

[Legend007]

It’s there manager .. I think it’s his wife .. she runs the show on the business side .. n honestly I don’t blame her for being business like ,, it’s how Vietnamese people r, we get the job done , but customer service wise ; it’s not the best .  .. it just worries me if I was going to have a bad result ., they will always blame it on the patient ..$16,000 is not little money .. if u cant work with me .. I’m not spending that on ya .. I’m sure diep will do a great job ,; he’s a good hairline surgeon .. but I will also be sacrificing my donor hair with those .9’mm extraction punches ..it’s not necessary, take ur time n vary ur punch sizes with single hairs n double n triples etc ,. Not just one size fits all to get ur job done sooner .. 

 

[Sean]

Legend,

Very happy for you.  Glad you got surgery booked with a top notch clinic.  Is that total $11,000 in Canadian dollars and is there a tax included in the amount with H&W?  

[Legend007]

Hey Sean .. no it’s not Canadian dollars .. unfortunately ,, the price on their website is $5 fut and 8$ FUE American x  after 2000 grafts it gets cheaper however .. $3 for fut every additional graft after  2000 grafts.. , so my total cost with h&w will be around 2500 grafts for $11,500 u.s. dollars.. theres also a tax fee of 3% so I be paying around 12$k+ . Hopefully i get good results so I won’t have to go back for another 5 years .. That’s my hope

[LonelyGraft]

On 11/21/2018 at 7:51 PM, Melvin-Moderator said:

Just so you know, you can email your kaiser doctor and ask for these tests. You don’t even need a visit for those tests. In the future, don’t pay out of pocket. 

This. I’d explain to the doc that u need these specific tests for a surgery and see if they would accommodate