Concord Hair Restoration Experience

[John Leo]

It takes a lot of courage for us to take the hair restoration procedure. It is also a 10-days long painful period after the procedure. So, I want to share my story and advices here. 

I did my hair transplant with Concord Hair Restoration San Diego clinic in November 14th, 2021. I learnt a lot lessons in the hard way. They charged me by number of grafts from initial estimation of 3,500 grafts to eventually 4,200 grafts. But, they barely put 2,015 grafts on my head. I verified the donate area and the received area. They are both around 2,050 grafts. I wan to make sure that any new customers to be aware of the following important things. 

1) Please make sure you take clear pictures of both your donate area and received area after your procedure. Please take clear video recordings if you can. It is easy to do rough analysis by yourself, or hire a medical professional to do accurate analysis. 

2) Also, when you sign your documents, please remember to ask for one copy for yourselves.

3) Don't allow them to give you an estimation with a range of number of grafts. Also, they always try to ask you to add hundreds of grafts during the procedure. Make sure that you refuse to do so.

4) The doctor doesn't do anything during the procedure. 

5) Ask for the medical licenses of the actual surgeon. You need the properly licensed person to do procedure with your head. 

I was dumb. My transplant procedure started after 3:30pm and finished before 6:30pm. I didn't know it is even impossible for two person to finish 4,200 grafts manually within 3 hours. So, if you are asked to finish more than 3,000 grafts in one session, please be alerted. 

I verified the number of grafts and contacted the clinic after the procedure, Dr. Ben just wanted to convince me that the current result is acceptable. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by John Leo

[JoeMan]

Sorry you feel like you were scammed. Can you post pictures? 

Maybe just telling people not to go there at all would be best since it sounds like a place that you wouldn't recommend. 

[NARMAK]

@John Leobe careful about what you write, as it sounds like you're USA based and right or wrong, the system is rigged to allow anybody and every to simply sue you for what they'd potentially call defamation/libel and i would probably say it's wise to seek legal advice from professionals in your country about your situation.

Generally speaking, i'm really sorry for your experience. This is a perfect example of the dangers of how horror mills operating in the USA are ignored and Turkey is always focused on. I'd argue its probably even worse having to pay more money to end up with the results those horror mills in the USA provide. 

I think the way you described the length of the procedure and lack of Dr involvement is a good learning point for anybody considering a transplant in the US to do their research properly. 

[John Leo]

@NARMAK, really appreciate your kindly remind! I just want to tell the story, so I removed those strong words. Yeah, I learnt afterward that only a few clinics with robot can finish more than 4,000 grafts in one session in US. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by John Leo

[Melvin- Admin]

We need to be very careful using words like fraud with zero evidence. Please post pictures or change the title of this thread. We cannot allow this without being fair and transparent. 

[Britanium]

Please do show some pre and post op pics. 

[John Leo]

@JoeMan I attach the after procedure pictures, the forehead analysis, and my current forehead pictures here. 

@Melvin- Moderator, Good suggestion. I took out those strong words from the topic and my original post. 

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by John Leo

[Britanium]

Thanks for that pic, could you show the Immediate post op ones please? Showing the donor and recipient area. 👍🏽

[Melvin- Admin]

1 minute ago, John Leo said:

@JoeMan I attach my current picture here. I am just telling the truth and provide advices here. 

To be honest with you, your surgery was 3 1/2 months ago, this is exactly what it should look like. I don’t see anything that screams bad to me. It takes 12 months for the results to fully grow.

[Melvin- Admin]

My comment remains the same, looks normal at 3.5 months. Keep up month to month on this thread, you might be pleasantly surprised by 12 months.

[John Leo]

@Melvin- Moderator, I am talking about the number of grafts. As you can see from the analysis, the forehead has less than 2,000 grafts. They didn't transplant much to my crown and sides. With 2,000-2,100 grafts, I may still look good. That means I only need 2,000-2,100 grafts. But, they shouldn't charge me by 4,200 grafts. Is this the common trick in the hair restoration industry. 

Edited February 25, 2022 by John Leo

[Britanium]

Have you got a pic of the donor area ? Thanks 🙏 

[John Leo]

27 minutes ago, JC71 said:

Thanks for that pic, could you show the Immediate post op ones please? Showing the donor and recipient area. 👍🏽

I added some more pictures. I shared these pictures with the clinic and my lawyer. So, it is safe to put them here too. 

[NARMAK]

6 minutes ago, John Leo said:

@Melvin- Moderator, I am talking about the number of grafts. As you can see from the analysis, the forehead has less than 2,000 grafts. They didn't transplanted much to my crown and sides. With 2,000-2,100 grafts, I may still look good. But, they shouldn't charge me by 4,200 grafts. I think this might be the common trick in the hair restoration industry. 

It's definitely not common, but the fact that you had paid for X number of grafts and they only seem to have extracted and implanted far less is the primary issue. Get as much evidence as you can together and get legal advice as you may be able to get them to refund you what they overcharged essentially. 

The hair transplant is done and you have to wait the full 12 months to see how it turns out but that doesn't mean you can't try explore options to get your money back. 

Once you know what your results are like, you can hopefully do further research to choose a better place if there's a need to get a touch up or perhaps try repair. This forum will serve you well for knowledge. 

[John Leo]

1 minute ago, JC71 said:

Have you got a pic of the donor area ? Thanks 🙏 

Two ways: 1) After the surgeon or your family member to take clear pictures and videos for you before the surgeon wraps up your head. 2) In the 2nd or 3rd day, you do that when you start your first head wash (by following the clinic's instruction of course). 

[John Leo]

3 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

It's definitely not common, but the fact that you had paid for X number of grafts and they only seem to have extracted and implanted far less is the primary issue. Get as much evidence as you can together and get legal advice as you may be able to get them to refund you what they overcharged essentially. 

The hair transplant is done and you have to wait the full 12 months to see how it turns out but that doesn't mean you can't try explore options to get your money back. 

Once you know what your results are like, you can hopefully do further research to choose a better place if there's a need to get a touch up or perhaps try repair. This forum will serve you well for knowledge. 

It is great to know that this is not common because I did put my full trust to the doctor and clinic. Appreciate everybody's suggestions here. Hope my story can help other people too. 

[Britanium]

5 minutes ago, John Leo said:

Two ways: 1) After the surgeon or your family member to take clear pictures and videos for you before the surgeon wraps up your head. 2) In the 2nd or 3rd day, you do that when you start your first head wash (by following the clinic's instruction of course). 

Hi that does not answer my specific question. Thanks for adding the extra pics but there is not one of the donor area? This is important so we can get a idea of how many grafts were taken 🙏

[John Leo]

2 hours ago, JC71 said:

Hi that does not answer my specific question. Thanks for adding the extra pics but there is not one of the donor area? This is important so we can get a idea of how many grafts were taken 🙏

@JC71 We already had a professional analysis of the donate area too. Based on the legal advice from my attorney, I am not able to share any other pictures publicly at this moment. Any information I shared here has already been shared with the clinic. If you have any suggestions or comments on the shared pictures, please let me know. 

[emo24]

Any follow up @John Leo? I almost went here when I was rushing into a hair transplant more than a year ago. Luckily, I pulled out after I got some weird vibes from the clinic. I hope all is well with your hair.

[John Leo]

@emo24, you made the wise choice. I will need another procedure to achieve the proper density for sure. Also, the doctor didn't participated in my procedure at all. He let his technicians work on my head alone. This is not allowed in California if the technicians don't have the proper licenses based on California State Medical Board's guidance. My attorney has requested the clinic to provide the full names or licenses of their technicians. The clinic has refused to provide those information so far.

[SeanT1]

Just now, John Leo said:

@emo24, you made the wise choice. I will need another procedure to achieve the proper density for sure. Also, the doctor didn't participated in my procedure at all. He let his technicians work on my head alone. This is not allowed in California if the technicians don't have the proper licenses based on California State Medical Board's guidance. My attorney has requested the clinic to provide the full names or licenses of their technicians. The clinic has refused to provide those information so far.

Any images?
You'll be at 6 months now right?

[emo24]

36 minutes ago, John Leo said:

@emo24, you made the wise choice. I will need another procedure to achieve the proper density for sure. Also, the doctor didn't participated in my procedure at all. He let his technicians work on my head alone. This is not allowed in California if the technicians don't have the proper licenses based on California State Medical Board's guidance. My attorney has requested the clinic to provide the full names or licenses of their technicians. The clinic has refused to provide those information so far.

Wow, keep us posted on this. Good news is you can now go to a reputable clinic where the doctor does the surgery and not only technicians. Cant believe they shorted you like that but, bright side is you only got about 2,000 grafts, which means your donor wasn't completely drained. Sucks in the short term but, another procedure will do you right. I had a quote from there too so I know it wasn't inexpensive. Best of luck to you. And yes, provide photos if you have any, or can legally do so at this moment.

[John Leo]

9 hours ago, SeanToman said:

Any images?
You'll be at 6 months now right?

Not yet. Just over the 5th month. 

[SeanT1]

Post images so we can help

[JMikel]

I had a similar experience.... I would like to get the names of the techs who worked on me.