Hair Growth Centre (HGC) London Dr. Rafiq (Maidavale) - hair mill or an absolute bargain? A comprehensive review.

[Cutlass]

From what I’ve read online, HGC clinics in the UK have been regarded as hair mills with a bad customer service reputation. I had a hair transplant from HGC London (Maidavale clinic) in December 2021 and I’m writing my honest review based on my experience and results 5 months on as I’ve now got to a place where I’ve got enough results that I can make a conclusion with the outcome. Hopefully my review can allow the lads here to decide whether the cheap UK hair transplant option is viable for them. I’m going to split this review up into 4 categories:

1. Purchase/Booking Process and Pre-surgery

2. Surgery day

3. Post surgery aftercare

4. Closing comments & overall ratings

A big disclaimer to this is that I didn’t do my research on “good clinics” - I saw this as a hair transplant clinic in London and made the assumption I was in good hands. At the time of the procedure I was a 26M.

1. Purchase/Booking Process and Pre-surgery

I started by ringing up HGC and enquiring if I could take up their offer of a free consultation. I headed into london by car where they advised there is free customer parking- it was full, and I had to quickly find a street parking spot a 5 min walk away from the clinic - not a calming start but lesson learnt; don’t travel to the clinic by car as you’re not guaranteed a free parking space!

I had some preprepared questions, which they answered and were impressed I had done my research. I told the sales guy that they text me a promotional summer offer of £1,800 earlier that year for the restoring the hairline at approx 3000 grafts. I later learnt that this clinic offers a “unlimited graft” for £2,000 for pretty much anyone - I’ve heard that any clinic that offers “unlimited grafts for £X” then that’s a red flag (I was not aware of this at the time). However, the price for this london clinic was even cheaper than some turkey clinics, and means I wouldn’t have to go abroad, something I strongly wanted to avoid.

I was sucked in from their strong sales strategy as I was desperate to have my hair back (especially when working from home full time was still an option for me) and asked what deposit I had to pay to secure the booking. I got told they wanted £1300 up front and £500 balance to pay on the day. I was quite uncomfortable with paying such a large deposit. They let me pay £900 in the end and stressed this “wasn’t the norm” to secure a booking with 50% deposit. I didn’t find this comforting , and showed their money drive operating philosophy rather than customer comfort. They gave me my pack of pre and post surgery instructions and were generally happy for me (probably more because they’ve secured another sale!). Throughout this pre sales process I didn’t once meet the surgeon, but the sales guy did seem competent, and I put my trust that a london clinic has reputable surgeons who would perform my surgery. I think I put together their relaxed nature to me as a client in terms of attention to detail with the fact that I was a simple procedure in restoring the hairline, I later found out it’s just that the surgeons don’t invest any time into you pre-surgery. If you like to meet your surgeon before the surgery and like to know their thoughts on you as a client, then you’re not likely to get that service here before making your appointment. However, I didn’t ask, so maybe they would of fulfilled this request if I asked to meet my surgeon beforehand.

I was booked with Dr Rafiq for December 2021 and I was excited to start the process of restoring my hairline.

2. Surgery day

I stayed at a nearby hotel the night before so I could avoid any delays due to logistics in the morning and therefore make sure I turned up on time. I was requested to arrive at 8am, but I was nervous so got there around 7:40am. This was before anyone turned up, but that’s fine as I was early. The first guy arrived and opened up about 5 minutes after I arrived. He was friendly and welcomed me inside. I filled out the required forms and waited to be called through for my surgery. I was called through, and the technicians took my pre surgery photos. I sat in the consultation room by myself for about 15 minutes waiting for Dr Rafiq to arrive. He was late, and arrived about 8:15 am with his coat and back pack still on and seemed a bit out of breath and flustered. He hadn’t even booted his computer up and I sat there while he did and I tried to make some small talk. I found it unprofessional not to have arrived and be ready for the anticipated client arrival time of 8 o’clock. We then went on to design the hairline. I was impressed with this process; Dr Rafiq had all the right tools for measuring a symmetrical hairline and respected the fact I still wanted a natural level of recession to my hairline and provided me two drawn on options to chose from. I then chose the more conservative hairline and Dr Rafiq then marked on the remaining lines for the surgery. Thumbs up there. At this time, I also said can I have some prp sessions - I said I was promised 3 sessions for £650 as part of a bundle with my surgery. He wasn’t overly impressed at my proposal but he offered 4 sessions for half price at £1000 (usually £500/session). He said I was a good candidate and he wanted to make me a social media case study so he wanted me to do 4 sessions to make sure I got good results. However, on reflection, this may have been a unique genuine statement, or this may have been a standard one liner he gave to all his clients to make them buy more prp sessions. That can only be left to speculation.

A technician then led me to the surgery room to further shave my head. The surgery room was ok; quite small but it seemed clean enough - not pristine but certainly not dirty. I was introduced to 2 technicians; and they started the process of applying local anaesthetic to my donor area. This was very painful - a lot more painful than I thought it was going to be - no pain no gain I suppose! I was then under the impression Dr Rafiq would then join us in the surgery room after I was numbed, but he never did, and the technicians proceeded with doing all the harvesting. I was surprised at this; I was expecting the surgeon there the whole time leading the procedure but he didn’t. I thought maybe the harvesting was a less skilled operation than the transplanting of the hair follicles so I didn’t think anything of it, but I was then a bit scared about the prospect of the technicians over harvesting. I then sat there and let them harvest away for the morning session. At one point I had to go for a pee and couldn’t hold it any longer. They said that was fine, and bandaged me up temporarily to go to the toilet, which I appreciated they let me do as I felt bad I had to go mid harvesting. On this note, there is only one toilet, and you have to walk through the reception area to access it - so I had to see people waiting while I was in my gown mid surgery. I didn’t enjoy this, but there was no other option due to the layout of the clinic. This also means that when you’re waiting in the reception area, exhausted looking technicians and other clients were walking through constantly, and this just gave a disorganised vibe in the clinic. We finished the harvesting and I had a prepared lunch. Lunch was ok, nothing special - sandwich and some biscuits. I wanted to crack on so asked if we could start the transplant before the end of my 30 minute lunch. We started and they applied local anaesthetic to my recipient area. Dr Rafiq then came in and did the incisions. I was expecting him then to start applying the transplanted follicles , but he left and left the technicians to it. I didn’t like this, and then would find out he only came in for 15 mins or so to apply the incisions but that was it from him for the whole day. But anyhow, the surgery continued and they inserted the transplanted hairs. The technicians I had for this were nice; however, one of them kept breathing heavily which what felt like very close to my face which wasn’t overly enjoyable but as long as he was doing the job then I was ok with it. Another technician then came in and replaced one of the technicians. I didn’t like this again, and the technician made a remark about her neediness for a break and sounded tired, this was very unsettling to me as a patient in the chair. At this time, a technician took my blood for the prp, this was then applied to my scalp after the transplant had finished. I then awoke from my eyes being covered to a technician I hadn’t even met before - bit of a surprise; they clearly swapped mid way procedure and didn’t bother to tell me this. He then made sure I had the post surgery instructions and the necessary post surgery medication; anti biotics , anti swelling steroid and stomach liner pills.

What followed was by far the worst way in which they handled me. I had one of the technicians throw a phone in front of me asking me to do a trust pilot review. I was very uncomfortable with this and asked if I can do it later. He said “only takes 2 mins” so I did the review quickly in front of him so he could just stop pushing it on me. I think this is how they accumulate all their 5 star reviews on trust pilot, forcing you to do the review in front of them and straight after the procedure when they know you are at your most vulnerable. He then asked me to wait in the waiting room which I wasn’t happy about; I was hoping to wait in the surgery room before my planned transport had arrived. I sat in the waiting room feeling very uncomfortable. Dr Rafiq then arrives in the waiting room and spots me and says “look how beautiful you look!” - I didn’t really appreciate this sarcastic comment - as the whole waiting room then proceeded to laugh at me. No thanks. He then told me to go back into the surgery room to wait - I was happy about this because I was so uncomfortable in the waiting room, but he then proceeded to be quite dissatisfied with his staff that they put me in the reception area in the first place, was this lack of good communication in the team? He then made me a coffee while I continued to wait for my transport, this was nice. However, I was annoyed he never came in at the end of the surgery to see how the procedure had gone, I only saw him as he was leading another client out of a sales room - probably too focused on his next sale!!

I was desperate to get home and my transport arrived and I was very happy to leave the clinic - I came away thinking that shouldn’t have been the case, and probably speaks volumes how they make you feel. However, I knew this was cheap so I was more than happy to compromise on overall customer comfort and a pushy sales team as long as I got the result I wanted. If you’re not prepared to compromise on the “experience” of getting your procedures done, then this probably isn’t the best place to go.

A comment about the technicians: the technicians I had were nice and seemed competent. However, this could have probably been a disaster if this wasn’t the case. I’ve since read online from some sources that some of their technicians are poorly trained and not good at conducting hair transplants. I think I got lucky, and the technicians I had were good. I think because what you pay is so cheap, you get randomly assigned technicians based on availability on the day and therefore is a bit of a roll of dice with how good the technicians are that you get for your surgery. However, I only had a ok to good experience with the technicians and can’t speak for all their technicians so you will have to refer to other reviews on the standard of the technicians at HGC for other procedures to get a better picture as a whole.

The receptionists were nice but a bit blunt and lacked that welcoming happy tone you come to expect from a clinic’s receptionist. When I was waiting I even heard one receptionist slag off a customer after her phone call with him to one of the other receptionists. This gave a slight unprofessional vibe considering clients were sat in the waiting room only a few meters away.

3. Post surgery after care

My scabbing was pretty bad; however, I knew my procedure was fairly dense in the recipient area so expected it to look a bit heavy in the scab department. I then proceeded through the painful first 14 days and was religious with the washing routines they gave me. I would say nights 3 and 4 were the worst in terms of itchiness - I found it very hard to resist itching those nights and barley slept at all! I was relived on day 13 when I massaged all my scabs off, and finally saw my transplanted hairs (they were covered by the scabs for first two weeks). I then started the expected shed, and was well and truly into the ugly duckling stage by the time of my second prp appointment, 5 weeks post op. The after care was only a telephone number for one person and I was asked to contact this number for any queries I had. Unfortunately this was not a good service, with very long reply times, being left on read, and very short answers to my questions - this didn’t have the reassuring tone that is expected of an after care team. I asked for Dr Rafiqs opinion, but they didn’t even entertain my request and just said it looked fine - it would have been nice to get this confirmed by the trained surgeon.

I turned up for my second prp treatment - the second of four I got sold and the first not under local anaesthetic. The prp procedure was very painful , but again, no pain no gain! The guy that did the session seemed nice, and said my transplant looked like it had gone well and I should continue to be patient for results.

The third prp treatment was not good, not only did they ask to move my appointment 2 days before the appointment to another clinic (my hair transplant clinic, Harrow), but that clinic then rang me on the day requesting I come in early, complete madness and not acceptable. However, I wanted to get these procedures done so I arrived at a clinic and time I wasn’t intending. This clinic was not nice at all, the rooms felt very dirty, and the lady who did the extraction of my blood was obviously novice as I came away with a huge bruise on my arm which remained there for an entire month - this wasn’t the case with my second and fourth prp procedure. I was very unsatisfied with this, but I had got the third one done and now just one more to go.

For this last and fourth prp procedure I rang up to ask if I could arrive early for my appointment as this suited me this time. They said that’s fine, and I confirmed I’ll be there in 2 hours. I arrived at 14:30 and had to wait until 16:00 until I finally had my appointment , only 30 mins prior to my original appointment time of 16:30. I just wish they didn’t confirm I could come early when I had to wait for 90 minutes in the waiting room. This procedure went well, with a nice lady and man that gave me a welcoming tone that isn’t guaranteed nor had I consistently experienced at HGC. What i did find frustrating was that the guy who performed my last prp session gave me post procedure instructions not given to me for the other two procedures outside my transplant. This session was on a Saturday afternoon, and I noted that 4 people had got a hair transplant that day that I saw in the lobby area; this gives an idea of the volume of patients they treat at this clinic. I left the clinic for the final time after my 4th prp session.

I would note that already by 3.5 months when I had my 4th and last prp session, I was very happy with my results so far in my transplant and in my crown area from the prp. However, I had started taking finasteride and topical minoxidil straight after my surgery, so I’m not sure if that had the effect on my crown or whether it was prp - I reckon it was mainly prp as I shouldn’t expect the results I got on the crown in 8 weeks from finasteride/minoxidil combo, unless I’m a hyper responder!

4. Closing comments & overall ratings

Overall, from my experience, HGC London is a great cheap option for UK residents that want results and are willing to compromise on customer care and feeing valued from the clinic in order to not have to go abroad and not spend a huge price for the procedure. I’m sure at clinics like the Harley street clinic you are made to feel much more valued and an overall more premium experience, but if you’re just after results and not too worried about pushy salesmen, the “pump you in and out” attitude from the staff and surgeons and any potential “dice rolls” I pointed out in my review and the significant cost saving, then this is the place. I stress that I’m very happy with my results after 5 months, and, to me, that’s what’s most important at the end of the day!! However, although I am personally happy with my results, the trained eye among you may be able to critique the work I had done; density, single hair grafts at the front etc.

So, to answer the question, I would say HGC London is a financial bargain for good results, but at a price (compromise) in other departments of the overall hair transplant experience. I think this is their target market anyway; high volume at cheap prices with general disregard for patient care but still achieving results. For me, I didn’t need to go abroad to turkey so the compromises were worth it.

I hope you found my review helpful in deciding whether this is the right clinic for you, and what to expect if you decide to have your hair transplant at a HGC. Feel free to comment below or message me with any questions you may have.

Category star ratings:

Results: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Price: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Surgery experience: ⭐️⭐️

Customer care: ⭐️

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

[Britanium]

Thanks for writing such a detailed account of your experience so far. I’m not at all impressed they were pushing the trustpilot review in that way, the best and only reviews really worth their while is a 12 month full journey. Anything could have happened after transplant day. Luckily you already have growth kicking off. 
Those prices are insanely cheap for here in the Uk. And the pushing of PRP is normally a “cash grab” at best it does promote early growth, but can also make absolutely no difference whatsoever and you would have exactly the same experience if you hadn’t used it at all. Please do keep this thread updated, it’s important we see such detailed accounts from Uk clinics, the choice here isn’t exactly the best at present. 

[Britanium]

How many grafts was it? Did they give you a breakdown of the groupings?

[Cutlass]

9 minutes ago, J.A.C said:

Thanks for writing such a detailed account of your experience so far. I’m not at all impressed they were pushing the trustpilot review in that way, the best and only reviews really worth their while is a 12 month full journey. Anything could have happened after transplant day. Luckily you already have growth kicking off. 
Those prices are insanely cheap for here in the Uk. And the pushing of PRP is normally a “cash grab” at best it does promote early growth, but can also make absolutely no difference whatsoever and you would have exactly the same experience if you hadn’t used it at all. Please do keep this thread updated, it’s important we see such detailed accounts from Uk clinics, the choice here isn’t exactly the best at present. 

Ye I was keen to make a detailed review on this place after finding out it’s bad reputation. I’ll update the thread with my monthly updates, I’ve got my 6 month consultation coming up in June. 

[WhiteyUK]

Great write up, definitely an improvement and still 7 months to see a final result. There are definitely doubles in the hairline but if you can live with that I see a  decent outcome... good luck 👍🏽

[Cutlass]

6 minutes ago, J.A.C said:

How many grafts was it? Did they give you a breakdown of the groupings?

They said 3000, but the guys on the sub-redit think it looks more ~2600-2800. 
 

I didn’t get breakdown of groupings. Excuse my ignorance but not sure what the means. 

[Britanium]

Just now, Cutlass said:

Ye I was keen to make a detailed review on this place after finding out it’s bad reputation. I’ll update the thread with my monthly updates, I’ve got my 6 month consultation coming up in June. 

I have seen consistent poor results so far, and at least you have growth, and the hairline appears fine, despite some multi grafts. 

[Cutlass]

2 minutes ago, Newyear newhair said:

Great write up, definitely an improvement and still 7 months to see a final result. There are definitely doubles in the hairline but if you can live with that I see a  decent outcome... good luck 👍🏽

Ye like although I’m happy with the results I’d imagine some of you sharp eyes on this site will point out the imperfections. 
 

is this to do with that on the actual hairline there should only be grafts with single hairs? 
 

 

[Britanium]

1 minute ago, Cutlass said:

They said 3000, but the guys on the sub-redit think it looks more ~2600-2800. 
 

I didn’t get breakdown of groupings. Excuse my ignorance but not sure what the means. 

Singles, doubles, triples, quad + graft groupings… yeh it’s more like around 2.5k tbh.. 

[WhiteyUK]

1 minute ago, Cutlass said:

Ye like although I’m happy with the results I’d imagine some of you sharp eyes on this site will point out the imperfections. 
 

is this to do with that on the actual hairline there should only be grafts with single hairs? 
 

 

Yeah singles on the hairline

[Cutlass]

2 minutes ago, J.A.C said:

I have seen consistent poor results so far, and at least you have growth, and the hairline appears fine, despite some multi grafts. 

Ye sounds as if my hairline doesn’t have single hair grafts. I don’t think it overly ruins the finish though, but understand this was missed by them. 

[Britanium]

The frontal tuft you already had will really help this result, I have to ask if your on any med regime ? Fin/Minox etc ? You need a long term plan at only 26. 

[Cutlass]

10 minutes ago, J.A.C said:

The frontal tuft you already had will really help this result, I have to ask if your on any med regime ? Fin/Minox etc ? You need a long term plan at only 26. 

Finasteride oral 1mg/day, topical minoxidil foam 5% 2x day, caffeine shampoo. Intention is to do at least these three for life as had no sides after 5 months in all 3. 

 

haven’t tried derma rolling but considering it on the crown to try and fill the last bit of my crown in. I’m going to leave it until 12 months on fin and min and see if that will fill my crown in before trying derma rolling. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Cutlass

[Britanium]

Just now, Cutlass said:

Finasteride oral 1mg/day, topical minoxidil foam 5% 2x day, caffeine shampoo 

 

haven’t tried derma rolling but considering it on the crown to try and fill the last bit of my crown in. I’m going to leave it until 12 months on fin and min and see if that will fill my crown in before trying derma rolling. 

Very nice 👌 

[RTC]

Sounds like a complete garbage clinic...

[Cutlass]

8 minutes ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

Sounds like a complete garbage clinic...

Wasn’t fun at all, but price is so cheap and I think the results aren’t bad so it’s just a weigh up imo. 

[RTC]

Yeah at least you got lucky with results. But having been botched a Turkish hair mill myself, I will never take a chance with such unprofessional people again.

Thanks for the review and warning

[RTC]

What ethnicity are you if you don't me asking?

[Cutlass]

3 minutes ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

What ethnicity are you if you don't me asking?

White British

i have curly hair from my mothers side

[Cutlass]

7 minutes ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

Yeah at least you got lucky with results. But having been botched a Turkish hair mill myself, I will never take a chance with such unprofessional people again.

Thanks for the review and warning

Ye I would definitely say this place won’t give you guaranteed results, I do honestly think it’s a dice roll after experiencing it myself. 

[Melvin- Admin]

Reads sort of like an advertisement. Glad you got the results you desired. In my opinion, rolling the dice on your scalp is not a good idea. 

[Cutlass]

7 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Reads sort of like an advertisement. Glad you got the results you desired. In my opinion, rolling the dice on your scalp is not a good idea. 

Review is based on personal experience. Maybe too generous on results rating after finding out double hair grafts put in hairline, but I have critiqued a lot about the place as well. I can only report my personal experience, what falls out the wash from the personal experience I can’t do much about. 
 

I can assure you I wasn’t paid to write this nor do I work for HGC! 

[NARMAK]

I think you were lucky OP even with the doubles in the hairline but the clinic is absolute trash and they need a kick in the backside. 

Manners and being able to speak nicely to prospective customers doesn't cost a thing. 

They obviously have a lack of professional conduct and operate as a shady hair mill by throwing you a phone to do a review there and then even when you had a trash experience thus far. The lack of internal communication and messing around is also deplorable. 

I think you're being too generous with them and personally if anybody reads this, hope they do not play roulette with this trash clinic. 

[Cutlass]

28 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

I think you were lucky OP even with the doubles in the hairline but the clinic is absolute trash and they need a kick in the backside. 

Manners and being able to speak nicely to prospective customers doesn't cost a thing. 

They obviously have a lack of professional conduct and operate as a shady hair mill by throwing you a phone to do a review there and then even when you had a trash experience thus far. The lack of internal communication and messing around is also deplorable. 

I think you're being too generous with them and personally if anybody reads this, hope they do not play roulette with this trash clinic. 

Fair point, but this is my personal experience so people deciding to go here would hopefully weigh this review as well as other reviews (which seem to be trash) up when making the choice 

 

I do agree this clinic is trash but looks like you can get lucky and get the results you want. That’s probs how I would summarise in a sentence. 

[drawdownfx]

Thank you so much for sharing that. My father was pushing on me to go to one of these cheap clinics because I will 'save money' lol. You have given a very realistic experience and this could have gone quite bad. Your hair looks very good and that is what matters! But to others I would avoid. Don't play roulette with your hair