Are there any reviews here for Concord Hair Restoration San Diego?

[stephennguyenspam]

The only reviews of this location I find are on yelp. I have a consultation on Tuesday and I was hoping anyone here who've had a transplant done at this location give me feedback.

 

 

[stephennguyenspam]

The doctor's name is Dr. Ben Mousavi 

[stephennguyenspam]

What questions should I ask the doctor during the consultation?

[Future Hair Doc]

48 minutes ago, stephennguyenspam said:

What questions should I ask the doctor during the consultation?

Here are good sites that list important questions to ask during the consultation:

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/tips-on-hair-restoration-physicians.asp

https://fellermedical.com/howtopickhairtransplantclinic/

Edited October 18, 2019 by Dr. Suhail Khokhar

[John Leo]

There are a lot Google reviews for Concord Hair Restoration. I also just shared my own story in this forum too. 

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by John Leo

[Melvin- Admin]

13 hours ago, John Leo said:

Here are some facts about Concord Hair Restoration from their Google review.

1. The doctor does NOT do the procedure. Any of it. Mostly it seems the doctor is there for marketing purposes, and perhaps legal purposes. There are technicians you'll meet right before who do everything.

2. After my head was shaved they said they recommended more grafts. Who am I to argue at that point. Unfortunately the final cost was 50% higher than the minimum originally suggested, and they required payment with a credit card for the extra they suggested.

3. Honestly, I don't know if all the grafts were used. That is, looking at photos online and comparing to the amount of hair, and the density, I had, well, I don't know. Maybe they charged me for more than they actually did. I didn't ask that day.

4. There were a few very deep cuts in the donor area. Once I heard a technician say "oops". Those parts are still hurting a bit.

5. I have had zero contact with the doctor or the office since the procedure. They said they'd follow up, but haven't. I haven't had the urge to call them either.

This is copy and paste from google, the picture doesn’t look like the one you’ve posted. You said you had surgery 3.5 months ago, but this post is from 6 months ago. You better make it crystal clear, why are you copying and pasting this? This is looking highly suspicious.

 

[John Leo]

@Melvin- Moderator, Sure, I just thought Caleb's review is a good summary. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by John Leo

[Melvin- Admin]

3 minutes ago, John Leo said:

@Melvin- Moderator, Sure, I just thought Caleb's review is a good summary. 

Do not post reviews that are not your own, it makes you look disingenuous. Now, many will be skeptical of your own review. You could’ve simply linked your own thread instead. You already have your own review.

[John Leo]

On 10/18/2019 at 9:57 AM, stephennguyenspam said:

What questions should I ask the doctor during the consultation?

Couple of important things I recommend, 

 

1) Who will be the surgeon for your procedure, the doctor or the technician? If technician, whether they have proper licenses in your state? 

2) Whether they will use robot to plant your grafts or manually? If manually, please be alerted if they need to transplant more than 3000 grafts in one session. 

3) Ask them to take clear pictures and videos of your received and donate areas after the procedure before they wrap up your head. 

4) Ask for one copy of any document you sign with the clinic. 

[John Leo]

2 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Do not post reviews that are not your own, it makes you look disingenuous. Now, many will be skeptical of your own review. You could’ve simply linked your own thread instead. You already have your own review.

Good suggestion! Really appreciated! Just found this great community last night. So, still try to be familiar with the rules here. 

[Melvin- Admin]

34 minutes ago, John Leo said:

Good suggestion! Really appreciated! Just found this great community last night. So, still try to be familiar with the rules here. 

Thank you 🙏🏼

[Dat T]

Hi Stephen,

I created an account just to reply to your thread. I'm not sure if you proceeded with selecting Concord Hair Restoration San Diego as your clinic. But, I wanted to share my experience with them here in case there are other people in need of more insight into the clinic like we did. 

First and foremost, I am actually satisfied with my results thus far. I had an FUE 3500 grafts procedure late January, 2022 and everything looks on schedule in terms of recovering, shedding, regrowth, etc. based on my research of other people's experiences/timelines.

Now, let's dive into it --

At the beginning of 2022, I reached out to Concord for a free consultation. Steve (Concord staff) responded and helped schedule the consultation with Dr. Ben Mousavi. The consultation was about 15mins and it was pleasant. Dr. Mousavi answered all of my questions and gave me general advice on health and wellness beyond the hair transplant to maintain my remaining hair. Dr. Mousavi suggested 3500 grafts for my FUE procedure as I was between a norwood 4 to 5. I'm not a doctor, but based on what I've researched online, this sounded reasonable. 

Steve reached out to me via email after the consultation with a quote of the FUE procedure. The quote was higher than I had anticipated so I initially turned it down. However, after communicating this to Steve, he lowered the cost of the package to where I felt was more affordable based on my financial circumstances. To this day, I am not sure if this is a red flag or a clinic trying to work with a potential patient so I'll leave it at that. Steve provided a couple of payment options ranging from Cash, Credit/Debit Card (a 3% card transaction fee will apply), Zelle (daily/weekly sending limits apply) or a Cashiers Check made payable to "Ben Mousavi, MD."

The procedure started at 11AM. To my surprise, Dr. Ben Mousavi did not do the procedure himself. Caleb Wilson, Sean Jansen, Christian Lakshmi, and Karen Petreca's google reviews were true. In my experience, the FUE 3500 grafts procedure was done by two nurses. One that stated she had 20 years of experience and the other said she's been doing it for 10 years. I did not ask them to provide their medical license as I did not feel comfortable asking two nice and older ladies sitting in front of me if they could do their jobs. This was the 1st red flag. However, at this point, I had already paid for the procedure, signed a release waiver, and just went through a month of exhausting research into hair transplant that I simply did not want to go through again. 

Side note: I see a lot of people online talking about the financial burden of having a hair transplant, but most people seem to leave out the mental component that comes with having the realization that you need one and the mental that is required for you to go through the process of getting it done. 

The process of determining my new hairline was an interesting experience. The senior nurse said we shouldn't draw a straight line or lower the hairline too much as this could give it an unnatural look as I age. I agreed. The nurse asked for my opinion on the new hairline that she drew. I said, looks good. She asked the junior nurse. The junior nurse thought it wasn't leveled. The senior nurse took out a ruler to remeasure and made adjustments. The junior nurse still felt like it wasn't leveled. They called in Steve (not the doctor) for his opinion. He said, looks good. All three staff then asked for my opinion again. I told them, "honestly, it looks fine in my eyes, but I'm not an expert so I'll leave it up to you guys". The senior nurse then said, as long as I'm happy with it that's all that matters as it's my hairline. At this point, I trust that both nurses knew what they were doing, but I found it very odd that the one person who really should be in the room during these discussions is nowhere to be found. This was the 2nd red flag.

The senior nurse drew my new hairline and did the surgical incision and the junior nurse helped separate the grafts and plant them from the donor area into the recipient. The procedure took about 7hrs to complete. We had a lunch break where Steve had originally communicated that I would receive a protein bar. The nurses gave me chick-fil-a instead. As both nurses were implanting the grafts into the recipient area, Dr. Ben Mousavi came in the room. He asked the nurses how the procedure was going, observed the procedure, and then instructed the junior nurse to plant in certain spots in the crown area. The got me a cup of water and then left. I didn't see him again until after the procedure was completed. He briefed me on post-procedure care and then sent me on my way. 

A few days after the procedure, I contacted Steve about my follow-up and he recommended a PRP injection as part of my post-care. The injection was $550 per session and after doing some research on it's long term affects, I opted not to do it. There has been no further contact from Steve for a general follow-up with the Doctor and I haven't been in contact with the clinic since. 

Overall, I found the entire experience to be neither good nor bad. I don't think Dr. Ben Mousavi is a con. However, his business does seem to engage in some bait and switch tactics. I see this as a lack of state and federal regulations problem vs. a specific clinic issue. A federally mandated standardize hair transplant process would solve this problem. Unfortunately, this is the current state of hair transplant in the United States. 

 

[fightingnorwood]

On 6/27/2022 at 5:39 AM, Dat T said:

Hi Stephen,

I created an account just to reply to your thread. I'm not sure if you proceeded with selecting Concord Hair Restoration San Diego as your clinic. But, I wanted to share my experience with them here in case there are other people in need of more insight into the clinic like we did. 

First and foremost, I am actually satisfied with my results thus far. I had an FUE 3500 grafts procedure late January, 2022 and everything looks on schedule in terms of recovering, shedding, regrowth, etc. based on my research of other people's experiences/timelines.

Now, let's dive into it --

At the beginning of 2022, I reached out to Concord for a free consultation. Steve (Concord staff) responded and helped schedule the consultation with Dr. Ben Mousavi. The consultation was about 15mins and it was pleasant. Dr. Mousavi answered all of my questions and gave me general advice on health and wellness beyond the hair transplant to maintain my remaining hair. Dr. Mousavi suggested 3500 grafts for my FUE procedure as I was between a norwood 4 to 5. I'm not a doctor, but based on what I've researched online, this sounded reasonable. 

Steve reached out to me via email after the consultation with a quote of the FUE procedure. The quote was higher than I had anticipated so I initially turned it down. However, after communicating this to Steve, he lowered the cost of the package to where I felt was more affordable based on my financial circumstances. To this day, I am not sure if this is a red flag or a clinic trying to work with a potential patient so I'll leave it at that. Steve provided a couple of payment options ranging from Cash, Credit/Debit Card (a 3% card transaction fee will apply), Zelle (daily/weekly sending limits apply) or a Cashiers Check made payable to "Ben Mousavi, MD."

The procedure started at 11AM. To my surprise, Dr. Ben Mousavi did not do the procedure himself. Caleb Wilson, Sean Jansen, Christian Lakshmi, and Karen Petreca's google reviews were true. In my experience, the FUE 3500 grafts procedure was done by two nurses. One that stated she had 20 years of experience and the other said she's been doing it for 10 years. I did not ask them to provide their medical license as I did not feel comfortable asking two nice and older ladies sitting in front of me if they could do their jobs. This was the 1st red flag. However, at this point, I had already paid for the procedure, signed a release waiver, and just went through a month of exhausting research into hair transplant that I simply did not want to go through again. 

Side note: I see a lot of people online talking about the financial burden of having a hair transplant, but most people seem to leave out the mental component that comes with having the realization that you need one and the mental that is required for you to go through the process of getting it done. 

The process of determining my new hairline was an interesting experience. The senior nurse said we shouldn't draw a straight line or lower the hairline too much as this could give it an unnatural look as I age. I agreed. The nurse asked for my opinion on the new hairline that she drew. I said, looks good. She asked the junior nurse. The junior nurse thought it wasn't leveled. The senior nurse took out a ruler to remeasure and made adjustments. The junior nurse still felt like it wasn't leveled. They called in Steve (not the doctor) for his opinion. He said, looks good. All three staff then asked for my opinion again. I told them, "honestly, it looks fine in my eyes, but I'm not an expert so I'll leave it up to you guys". The senior nurse then said, as long as I'm happy with it that's all that matters as it's my hairline. At this point, I trust that both nurses knew what they were doing, but I found it very odd that the one person who really should be in the room during these discussions is nowhere to be found. This was the 2nd red flag.

The senior nurse drew my new hairline and did the surgical incision and the junior nurse helped separate the grafts and plant them from the donor area into the recipient. The procedure took about 7hrs to complete. We had a lunch break where Steve had originally communicated that I would receive a protein bar. The nurses gave me chick-fil-a instead. As both nurses were implanting the grafts into the recipient area, Dr. Ben Mousavi came in the room. He asked the nurses how the procedure was going, observed the procedure, and then instructed the junior nurse to plant in certain spots in the crown area. The got me a cup of water and then left. I didn't see him again until after the procedure was completed. He briefed me on post-procedure care and then sent me on my way. 

A few days after the procedure, I contacted Steve about my follow-up and he recommended a PRP injection as part of my post-care. The injection was $550 per session and after doing some research on it's long term affects, I opted not to do it. There has been no further contact from Steve for a general follow-up with the Doctor and I haven't been in contact with the clinic since. 

Overall, I found the entire experience to be neither good nor bad. I don't think Dr. Ben Mousavi is a con. However, his business does seem to engage in some bait and switch tactics. I see this as a lack of state and federal regulations problem vs. a specific clinic issue. A federally mandated standardize hair transplant process would solve this problem. Unfortunately, this is the current state of hair transplant in the United States. 

 

Hey man i had a hair transplant done at corncord too and had a very similar experience. Can you dm me? It would be nice to talk to someone whos gone through the same procedure and clinic as me 

[HairRun]

I would go with Dr Timothy Carmen if you want to do it in San Diego. Though there hasn't been a lot of stuff out lately, he was at one point scouted out by this community and he's on this forum recommended list of surgeons. 

He also does all his consults himself, for free, as far as I know he's the only surgeon on the list who does that, everywhere else I either paid for a consult or spoke to a patient advisor. 

If I were limited to California, I probably would've went there. 

Edited October 11, 2022 by HairRun

[GoliGoliGoli]

On 6/27/2022 at 7:39 AM, Dat T said:

Hi Stephen,

I created an account just to reply to your thread. I'm not sure if you proceeded with selecting Concord Hair Restoration San Diego as your clinic. But, I wanted to share my experience with them here in case there are other people in need of more insight into the clinic like we did. 

First and foremost, I am actually satisfied with my results thus far. I had an FUE 3500 grafts procedure late January, 2022 and everything looks on schedule in terms of recovering, shedding, regrowth, etc. based on my research of other people's experiences/timelines.

Now, let's dive into it --

At the beginning of 2022, I reached out to Concord for a free consultation. Steve (Concord staff) responded and helped schedule the consultation with Dr. Ben Mousavi. The consultation was about 15mins and it was pleasant. Dr. Mousavi answered all of my questions and gave me general advice on health and wellness beyond the hair transplant to maintain my remaining hair. Dr. Mousavi suggested 3500 grafts for my FUE procedure as I was between a norwood 4 to 5. I'm not a doctor, but based on what I've researched online, this sounded reasonable. 

Steve reached out to me via email after the consultation with a quote of the FUE procedure. The quote was higher than I had anticipated so I initially turned it down. However, after communicating this to Steve, he lowered the cost of the package to where I felt was more affordable based on my financial circumstances. To this day, I am not sure if this is a red flag or a clinic trying to work with a potential patient so I'll leave it at that. Steve provided a couple of payment options ranging from Cash, Credit/Debit Card (a 3% card transaction fee will apply), Zelle (daily/weekly sending limits apply) or a Cashiers Check made payable to "Ben Mousavi, MD."

The procedure started at 11AM. To my surprise, Dr. Ben Mousavi did not do the procedure himself. Caleb Wilson, Sean Jansen, Christian Lakshmi, and Karen Petreca's google reviews were true. In my experience, the FUE 3500 grafts procedure was done by two nurses. One that stated she had 20 years of experience and the other said she's been doing it for 10 years. I did not ask them to provide their medical license as I did not feel comfortable asking two nice and older ladies sitting in front of me if they could do their jobs. This was the 1st red flag. However, at this point, I had already paid for the procedure, signed a release waiver, and just went through a month of exhausting research into hair transplant that I simply did not want to go through again. 

Side note: I see a lot of people online talking about the financial burden of having a hair transplant, but most people seem to leave out the mental component that comes with having the realization that you need one and the mental that is required for you to go through the process of getting it done. 

The process of determining my new hairline was an interesting experience. The senior nurse said we shouldn't draw a straight line or lower the hairline too much as this could give it an unnatural look as I age. I agreed. The nurse asked for my opinion on the new hairline that she drew. I said, looks good. She asked the junior nurse. The junior nurse thought it wasn't leveled. The senior nurse took out a ruler to remeasure and made adjustments. The junior nurse still felt like it wasn't leveled. They called in Steve (not the doctor) for his opinion. He said, looks good. All three staff then asked for my opinion again. I told them, "honestly, it looks fine in my eyes, but I'm not an expert so I'll leave it up to you guys". The senior nurse then said, as long as I'm happy with it that's all that matters as it's my hairline. At this point, I trust that both nurses knew what they were doing, but I found it very odd that the one person who really should be in the room during these discussions is nowhere to be found. This was the 2nd red flag.

The senior nurse drew my new hairline and did the surgical incision and the junior nurse helped separate the grafts and plant them from the donor area into the recipient. The procedure took about 7hrs to complete. We had a lunch break where Steve had originally communicated that I would receive a protein bar. The nurses gave me chick-fil-a instead. As both nurses were implanting the grafts into the recipient area, Dr. Ben Mousavi came in the room. He asked the nurses how the procedure was going, observed the procedure, and then instructed the junior nurse to plant in certain spots in the crown area. The got me a cup of water and then left. I didn't see him again until after the procedure was completed. He briefed me on post-procedure care and then sent me on my way. 

A few days after the procedure, I contacted Steve about my follow-up and he recommended a PRP injection as part of my post-care. The injection was $550 per session and after doing some research on it's long term affects, I opted not to do it. There has been no further contact from Steve for a general follow-up with the Doctor and I haven't been in contact with the clinic since. 

Overall, I found the entire experience to be neither good nor bad. I don't think Dr. Ben Mousavi is a con. However, his business does seem to engage in some bait and switch tactics. I see this as a lack of state and federal regulations problem vs. a specific clinic issue. A federally mandated standardize hair transplant process would solve this problem. Unfortunately, this is the current state of hair transplant in the United States. 

 

If you got the HT in January why not post some pics of your progress? Only pics you posted are of post-op...

[Melvin- Admin]

Hows your progress?

[fightingnorwood]

I would like to know as well. I got a HT there about about 2 years ago and I don't know how i feel about the results. I fear my HT results may be subpar.

[Dat T]

Hey Everyone,

Apologies for the delay. Work has been intense... That said, here's my progress update!

Context:

FUE 3500 grafts procedure late January, 2022 (9 months)

Finasteride 1mg late February, 2022 (8 months)

 

As you can see, the crown and front area are still thin. There are some "spots" in the donor area as well. That said, the results are frankly night and day if you look at my photos before the FUE. At 9 months, I honestly think it's not too bad at all. I think my expectations of an FUE procedure was tempered after being sucked into the YouTube rabbit hole of videos for many nights right after the procedure lol I'm curious to see what 12 months will look like, but I'll give this 8/10 for 9 months. 

Happy to answer any further questions! Just know that I'll be a little slow in my responses. Appreciate everyone's patience!

 

[fightingnorwood]

On 6/27/2022 at 5:39 AM, Dat T said:

Hi Stephen,

I created an account just to reply to your thread. I'm not sure if you proceeded with selecting Concord Hair Restoration San Diego as your clinic. But, I wanted to share my experience with them here in case there are other people in need of more insight into the clinic like we did. 

First and foremost, I am actually satisfied with my results thus far. I had an FUE 3500 grafts procedure late January, 2022 and everything looks on schedule in terms of recovering, shedding, regrowth, etc. based on my research of other people's experiences/timelines.

Now, let's dive into it --

At the beginning of 2022, I reached out to Concord for a free consultation. Steve (Concord staff) responded and helped schedule the consultation with Dr. Ben Mousavi. The consultation was about 15mins and it was pleasant. Dr. Mousavi answered all of my questions and gave me general advice on health and wellness beyond the hair transplant to maintain my remaining hair. Dr. Mousavi suggested 3500 grafts for my FUE procedure as I was between a norwood 4 to 5. I'm not a doctor, but based on what I've researched online, this sounded reasonable. 

Steve reached out to me via email after the consultation with a quote of the FUE procedure. The quote was higher than I had anticipated so I initially turned it down. However, after communicating this to Steve, he lowered the cost of the package to where I felt was more affordable based on my financial circumstances. To this day, I am not sure if this is a red flag or a clinic trying to work with a potential patient so I'll leave it at that. Steve provided a couple of payment options ranging from Cash, Credit/Debit Card (a 3% card transaction fee will apply), Zelle (daily/weekly sending limits apply) or a Cashiers Check made payable to "Ben Mousavi, MD."

The procedure started at 11AM. To my surprise, Dr. Ben Mousavi did not do the procedure himself. Caleb Wilson, Sean Jansen, Christian Lakshmi, and Karen Petreca's google reviews were true. In my experience, the FUE 3500 grafts procedure was done by two nurses. One that stated she had 20 years of experience and the other said she's been doing it for 10 years. I did not ask them to provide their medical license as I did not feel comfortable asking two nice and older ladies sitting in front of me if they could do their jobs. This was the 1st red flag. However, at this point, I had already paid for the procedure, signed a release waiver, and just went through a month of exhausting research into hair transplant that I simply did not want to go through again. 

Side note: I see a lot of people online talking about the financial burden of having a hair transplant, but most people seem to leave out the mental component that comes with having the realization that you need one and the mental that is required for you to go through the process of getting it done. 

The process of determining my new hairline was an interesting experience. The senior nurse said we shouldn't draw a straight line or lower the hairline too much as this could give it an unnatural look as I age. I agreed. The nurse asked for my opinion on the new hairline that she drew. I said, looks good. She asked the junior nurse. The junior nurse thought it wasn't leveled. The senior nurse took out a ruler to remeasure and made adjustments. The junior nurse still felt like it wasn't leveled. They called in Steve (not the doctor) for his opinion. He said, looks good. All three staff then asked for my opinion again. I told them, "honestly, it looks fine in my eyes, but I'm not an expert so I'll leave it up to you guys". The senior nurse then said, as long as I'm happy with it that's all that matters as it's my hairline. At this point, I trust that both nurses knew what they were doing, but I found it very odd that the one person who really should be in the room during these discussions is nowhere to be found. This was the 2nd red flag.

The senior nurse drew my new hairline and did the surgical incision and the junior nurse helped separate the grafts and plant them from the donor area into the recipient. The procedure took about 7hrs to complete. We had a lunch break where Steve had originally communicated that I would receive a protein bar. The nurses gave me chick-fil-a instead. As both nurses were implanting the grafts into the recipient area, Dr. Ben Mousavi came in the room. He asked the nurses how the procedure was going, observed the procedure, and then instructed the junior nurse to plant in certain spots in the crown area. The got me a cup of water and then left. I didn't see him again until after the procedure was completed. He briefed me on post-procedure care and then sent me on my way. 

A few days after the procedure, I contacted Steve about my follow-up and he recommended a PRP injection as part of my post-care. The injection was $550 per session and after doing some research on it's long term affects, I opted not to do it. There has been no further contact from Steve for a general follow-up with the Doctor and I haven't been in contact with the clinic since. 

Overall, I found the entire experience to be neither good nor bad. I don't think Dr. Ben Mousavi is a con. However, his business does seem to engage in some bait and switch tactics. I see this as a lack of state and federal regulations problem vs. a specific clinic issue. A federally mandated standardize hair transplant process would solve this problem. Unfortunately, this is the current state of hair transplant in the United States. 

 

how do you feel about the texture of your transplanted hair? I noticed early on that the texture of my transplanted hair was different that my native hair. Although this did improve slightly over the 2nd year it mostly stayed the same. My transplanted hair is noticeably more coarse and wavy, where as my natural hair is for the most part straight. It seems like you have the same thing going on. I have other concerns and complaints about how my hair transplant turned out. I'm not sure if i am being too nit picky but i feel like my results are sub par. Also I'm on a pretty heft hair loss stack 1mg of dutasteride, topical and 10mg of oral minox, ru58841 i couldn't imagine what my results would have been without these drugs. I will continue to due more research on average HT results but at this very moment i feel like my results are mediocre. Which is really depressing if I'm being honest.

[Dat T]

The texture in the front is more stiff and wavy as you can tell in the pictures. I'm hoping by the time I'm at 12 months that this and the thinness on the right side would be improved. I'm sorry you're disappointed in your results. Do you have any before and after photos that you're willing to share?

[JMikel]

I had a really bad experience at this clinic. If anyone has input whether a partial refund is possible please message me. 

[Dat T]

@JMikel Sorry you had a bad experience. I think everyone here feels for you man. I'm not sure how likely they will give you a partial refund. @John Leo is probably the person who has the most experience with trying to get some money back according to his postings. 

[fightingnorwood]

On 10/11/2022 at 10:07 AM, Melvin- Moderator said:

Hows your progress?

is there a reason why i cant send messages? i would like to dm some of the guys in this thread about their ht experience at concord

[Melvin- Admin]

7 minutes ago, fightingnorwood said:

is there a reason why i cant send messages? i would like to dm some of the guys in this thread about their ht experience at concord

You need to reach a certain number of posts and reputation before you can send private messages.

[Dat T]

Hey Twain, your experience was crushing to read and I'm so sorry you went through that. I can't believe how many times this has happened and there are still no clear legal repercussions for these shady practices. I found this one lawsuit online where someone suffered through a similar experience with a different doctor/practice. But, it looks like he ultimately dropped the lawsuit for some reason.