Hair transplant dispute - what options are there to resolve it?

[Snowman123]

Are there any UK ombudsman services or other avenues to help resolve or adjudicate a dispute with a HT referral service to Turkish HT specialists.  

The UK service provider referred me to the HT team in Turkey when they should have known i would not be suitable with their providers by not meeting the required HbA1c threshold.    They had full knowledge of my diabetes 2 (which is controlled and low level ), because I told them at the outset with medical forms and WhatsApp communication.

Diabetes 2, by definition is measured at 6.5 ( according to Diabetes UK .org ). I subsequently located an article on their website which stated that they do not do procedure above 6.0, so you can't be diabetic and be below 6.0.  Diabetes UK .org state in their surgical guidance that it is safe under 8.0.

When I asked the UK service provider before committing they said that I would have to fly to Turkey to find out from tests. At this point i had not seen the article on their website, reviewed and authorised by a Dr ) and in any event they should have known that this was unnecessary as I would be refused due to the material i had provided.

I have initiated a charge back ( Visa card ) on direct expenses made to the service provider, which may get knocked back in favour of external dispute resolution.

The service provider has already provided a partial refund for GBP 1260.

They are not co operating on the exchange of facts, being evasive and not answering questions to assist resolution.

I want a full refund for the outstanding deposit ( GBP 250 ),  associated expenses ( hotels, transfers, airfares to Turkey ) totalling overall a further GBP 1000.00 approximately. I'm not sure if i can claim for wasted time.

How do you process a claim through an independent Ombudsman or similar in the UK?  Does anyone have a contact?

[NARMAK]

You would probably need to go seek proper legal advice tbh. This forum really cannot help provide that and usually hair transplant/surgery is notoriously difficult to litigate around so you need somebody clued up on UK law to see where you could potentially get a win or some compensation. 

You might be needing to ask Citizens Advice if they can maybe offer help top if in the UK but it might help save people if you can post the name of the UK agency and Turkish clinic so other people can avoid a similar fate. 

[Melvin- Admin]

They’re not refunding you? This is why you should NEVER deal with middle men. Consider yourself lucky, you were probably gonna be sent to a terrible hair mill. Your hair transplant repair would’ve cost much more. I hope you will take some time and research reviews on this forum. 

[Snowman123]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

They’re not refunding you? This is why you should NEVER deal with middle men. Consider yourself lucky, you were probably gonna be sent to a terrible hair mill. Your hair transplant repair would’ve cost much more. I hope you will take some time and research reviews on this forum. 

Well they've done this: 

7 hours ago, Snowman123 said:

The service provider has already provided a partial refund for GBP 1260.

They are not co operating on the exchange of facts, being evasive and not answering questions to assist resolution.

I want a full refund for the outstanding deposit ( GBP 250 ),  associated expenses ( hotels, transfers, airfares to Turkey ) totalling overall a further GBP 1000.00 approximately. I'm not sure if i can claim for wasted time.

Is there an independent Ombudsman in the UK or body to deal with this, though?  I just cannot find anything on how to deal with this without going legal. 

In my case, if it has to go to Court, I will, but I'd like to avoid going legal for such a small recovery amount.  

[Marko7t4]

Going to court is going to cost you more than the £1000 that you’re trying to recover. You’re better off trying to go after the UK referrer, as you probably won’t get anything further from the Turkish clinic. 

[HappyMan2021]

You put so much faith in a Turkish HT referral service

Not really sure what you were expecting

[NARMAK]

1 hour ago, Marko7t4 said:

Going to court is going to cost you more than the £1000 that you’re trying to recover. You’re better off trying to go after the UK referrer, as you probably won’t get anything further from the Turkish clinic. 

I believe there's options in the UK the OP could try pursue but generally i think it's probably a reminder that we need to thoroughly vet HT clinics and maybe not just their manipulated sources etc.

[Snowman123]

14 hours ago, NARMAK said:

I believe there's options in the UK the OP could try pursue

What would these be?

[NARMAK]

13 minutes ago, Snowman123 said:

What would these be?

Unfortunately i cannot advise in that way but as mentioned earlier, you could ask Citizen Advice in the UK or similar places able to maybe advise you what legal options might be open to you. 

In the UK we have small claims court too which is a more simplified process but you would need to really check if that's suitable for you. I don't think anybody really is qualified to give legal advice on here but hopefully the other place like citizen advice can direct you. 

[Snowman123]

2 hours ago, NARMAK said:

I don't think anybody really is qualified to give legal advice on here but hopefully the other place like citizen advice can direct you

I wonder what any of the HT businesses or middlemen use to have disputes resolved.

The small claims court looks like a pain to process through. Better an ombudsman service. but I couldn’t find one. 
 

The middleman has refunded approx 50% of funds I paid. It’s just the half I want for wasted airfares, transfers, hotels, hospital tests which were unnecessary, and they’re being difficult / un professional 

Being unregulated makes it somewhat more complicated.

[Melvin- Admin]

38 minutes ago, Snowman123 said:

I wonder what any of the HT businesses or middlemen use to have disputes resolved.

The small claims court looks like a pain to process through. Better an ombudsman service. but I couldn’t find one. 
 

The middleman has refunded approx 50% of funds I paid. It’s just the half I want for wasted airfares, transfers, hotels, hospital tests which were unnecessary, and they’re being difficult / un professional 

Being unregulated makes it somewhat more complicated.

To be honest, I doubt you’re going to be refunded the expenses associated with the surgery. I don’t believe they would be liable. 
 

@Marko7t4 is a lawyer in the UK, I’m sure he’d be able to answer this.

[Marko7t4]

2 hours ago, Snowman123 said:

I wonder what any of the HT businesses or middlemen use to have disputes resolved.

The small claims court looks like a pain to process through. Better an ombudsman service. but I couldn’t find one. 
 

The middleman has refunded approx 50% of funds I paid. It’s just the half I want for wasted airfares, transfers, hotels, hospital tests which were unnecessary, and they’re being difficult / un professional 

Being unregulated makes it somewhat more complicated.

Could you not go through your travel insurance for claiming travel expenses back?  The problem with these cheap HT firms is that they prey on the vulnerability of HT patients and the usual embarrassment which most of us feel about getting one. A hair transplant is (usually) a big expense, which a lot of people can’t afford, so when these too good to be true adverts come up, they know that people who can’t usually afford a transplant will jump at the chance, but they’re usually the people who also can’t afford to lose the few thousand pounds that these HT “clinics” charge when it all goes wrong. In your case, they shouldn’t have even offered you the HT based on your diabetes, so that would go in your favour. I’m not sure where in the UK you are, but I could give you the number for a firm who deals with litigation, which I don’t do. At least that way you could take advice.  

Edited November 30, 2022 by Marko7t4

[1978matt]

I suspect the Small Claims Court will be the best route.

I did a Legal Ombudsman case a few years ago and it was not 'easy' at all.  Had to submit a lot of paperwork and supporting information, and it took over a year.  Ultimately I failed and they ruled in favour of the law firm.  (IMO they gave poor service / lack of advise that cost me £3000 on a property transaction).

It was kind of worth it though, as the case shows on the Ombusman's database for 12 months and the firm had to spend a lot of staff time dealing with it.

[Snowman123]

2 hours ago, Marko7t4 said:

I’m not sure where in the UK you are, but I could give you the number for a firm who deals with litigation, which I don’t do. At least that way you could take advice.  

That would be great / thanks.  My feeling is that a letter that I draft and a lawyer modifies and frames better might make them take things more seriously, hopefully without going to the small claims Court etc.  

[Marko7t4]

40 minutes ago, Snowman123 said:

That would be great / thanks.  My feeling is that a letter that I draft and a lawyer modifies and frames better might make them take things more seriously, hopefully without going to the small claims Court etc.  

Give Mark Reynolds a call. He will be able to help you if you give him all of the info. 

[Al - Moderator]

I read the first post several times to try to understand what is going on. It sounds like the referral service is not directly connected to the HT clinic you went to. It sounds more like a sort of travel agent for your hair transplant, setting up the airline, hotel, transportation, etc. If that is the case then I don't think there is anything you can do. They probably gave you the only answer they were allowed to give you regarding your diabetes. they aren't Drs, so they can't give medical advice. They would have to tell you to speak with the Dr. which is what they did. They can't refund your money because it was spent it at the hotel and for the flight. They don't have anything to do with those entities other than setting it up and coordinating it for you.

I don't know why anyone would go to a referral service for something like this. Normally you should get in touch with the clinic directly and ask them. The Turkish clinics usually have someone who will handle all of this for you with the added benefit that they are actually working for the clinic and can answer questions that pertain to them and the procedure which a general referral service can't do.

 

 

[HappyMan2021]

Since this referal service is in turkey and you live in the uk, im unsure of any law forcing them to give you a refund.

You may have a better shot naming and shaming them, and causing a ruckus with very poor online reviews. That will hurt them way more than some small claim of $1k

I think you should cause a ruckus online AND go through the court system. 

But before that, get in touch with the clinic one last time and give them one more chance to negotiate or come to some remediation with you. Let them know if they dont pursue remediation, you are deadly serious that next steps are the legal route and bad reviews

[RTC]

Destroy them online if they don't refund you.

[HappyMan2021]

3 hours ago, RTC said:

Destroy them online if they don't refund you.

Agree. Bad reviews can hurt them a lot more than simply refunding you

[Snowman123]

On 12/1/2022 at 4:42 AM, Marko7t4 said:

In your case, they shouldn’t have even offered you the HT based on your diabetes, so that would go in your favour. I’m not sure where in the UK you are, but I could give you the number for a firm who deals with litigation, which I don’t do. At least that way you could take advice.  

Thanks for your opinion here which increases my clarity and confidence in my approach.

I did some research to see what free options are available, before I get into the legal side of things here at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/visa-mastercard-chargeback/ . The process is outlined and there appears to be backup through a) a chargeback appeal process  or, b) the Financial Ombudsman if the appeal process is not used.

 

The amount I can claim is fairly small, as it only relates to payments made directly to the HT referral service ( at some point I'll name the UK based firm, if they don't make an effort to recognise my complaint).  They have partially refunded to me £1260 approx.

Outstanding is my deposit £250 and an add on to the package costing £400 (teeth whitening). I would not have proceeded with the teeth whitening in Turkey if i had not been going, as it was not a lot cheaper than i could get with my local dentist. Then there's the hotels and transfers, which i paid as part of the package which is around £400.

I think that I will also chargeback my hospital costs in Istanbul which were for my hb1ac blood test £60 and my cardio test £120 approx, which were unnecessary since they were going to refuse me based on their internal guidance anyway.   So I'll organise a chargeback and they can argue between themselves about the dud referral from the HT specialists,  requiring me to have these tests.

What I cannot claim in a chargeback are my airfare and travelling expenses which is around £300 which were paid separately outside of my dealings with the HT referral company.

Failing, that there is the small claims court - which i think would be a pain and expensive to both claim and defend.  The costs will certainly be higher than the claim. But I'll likely do it as my hope is they will recognise it's commercially stupid to hold out processing a defence, and they run a big risk of losing and with all the PR / goodwill losses that will go with the process - ( I have a business that uses PR online successfully which i can target ).

On 12/1/2022 at 5:58 AM, 1978matt said:

I suspect the Small Claims Court will be the best route.

I did a Legal Ombudsman case a few years ago and it was not 'easy' at all.  Had to submit a lot of paperwork and supporting information, and it took over a year.  Ultimately I failed and they ruled in favour of the law firm.  (IMO they gave poor service / lack of advise that cost me £3000 on a property transaction).

If the Financial Ombudsman fails, can you then go down to the small claims court? 

I also found that Which UK offer a legal advice service on chargebacks which may be useful for only £9/pm  //legalservice.which.co.uk/consumer/goods/section-75-chargeback/  plus a small joining fee.

I've gotta say that the people I'm dealing with are not addressing my questions which kinda makes negotiation a pain.   They are simply saying that i made a decision to go and signed off on it.  They omit that they should have refused my acceptance based on the medical knowledge that they knew about me and had published ( which i had not seen or had communicated to me ).

Really, the way these folks are defending themselves says a lot about the quality of their referral and complaints process.   I will out them if they don't shape up soon and defend any fallout if they try to stop reputation damage.  But i guess members can already guess who they are.

Update:    I have proceeded separately with the chargeback process for the medical tests which were paid directly ( and were unnecessary) with the Istanbul Hospital that carried them out on the instruction of the HT unit.  

Edited December 8, 2022 by Snowman123

[Snowman123]

Thought I'd update the thread with progress.

I've had excellent guidance from Which Legal, having been briefed, to write formally to the UK referral company, notifying them that they are in breach of contract under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 for not exercising "reasonable care" during the onboarding process and that I reserve the right, without notice, to report them to Trading Standards under a criminal code within the Consumer Protection Act 2006 for misleading omissions.

They say that I can claim consequential losses, such as flights, disruptions and seek repeat performance. I'm not sure if i can get them to pay for going to another HT specialist though, as they won't be able to do it under their policy anyway ( and why would i want to ).

They are providing templates for me to send to them.

I won't mention their name yet, so members can only guess, but if negotiations or possible mediation fails ( an option is to use a small claims court mediation service ), I'm sufficiently cranky and motivated to spread the word and use some PR friends to make sure it sticks.

Any thoughts out there that you feel I should be looking for in addition to this? 

 

[Snowman123]

On 12/1/2022 at 2:08 PM, HappyMan2021 said:

I think you should cause a ruckus online AND go through the court system. 

 

On 12/2/2022 at 10:56 PM, RTC said:

Destroy them online if they don't refund you.

 

PS:   1 important tip Which UK gave me.   For added protection use credit cards versus debit cards as the credit card schemes offer chargeback protection on consequential losses, making thing a lot easier, rather than splitting a transaction chargeback and processing a small claims court approach.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Snowman123

[NikosHair]

On 11/29/2022 at 11:04 AM, Snowman123 said:

When I asked the UK service provider before committing they said that I would have to fly to Turkey to find out from tests.

For me that's when you should have stepped away from the deal.

The UK referral company were washing their hands and putting the responsibility back on you.

Once referred did you make direct contact with the clinic/hospital to raise your concerns?

 

[Snowman123]

1 hour ago, NikosHair said:

For me that's when you should have stepped away from the deal.

The UK referral company were washing their hands and putting the responsibility back on you.

Once referred did you make direct contact with the clinic/hospital to raise your concerns?

 

Yes, I did, but it was too late as I was in the hospital then. 
 

I sense that the refusal to proceed ( and the policy of needing to be below an HbA1c of 6.0 is ) is not medically sound anyway.  I’d like to be able to find that thought professionally verified to see if one of the remedies proposed by Which Legal is to have the procedure subject to a “ repeat performance “.

Does anyone know about this? 

[NikosHair]

30 minutes ago, Snowman123 said:

Yes, I did, but it was too late as I was in the hospital then.

You said the UK referral company advised you before committing ie. paying money, getting on planes.

Once you had arrived in Turkey and at the hospital by default, you had accepted the risk (that's how it reads).

1. Again, did you engage with the clinic performing the surgery before paid any money?

2. Did you provide them with your HbA1c reading and receive confirmation if tested at that level or below they would be happy to proceed with the procedure?