Regular Member Ketchupp Posted February 13 Regular Member Share Posted February 13 Is this a normal practice? I actually wanted to move forward with a specific doctor but he wants around $107 USD just to see me on video and seems like he will only move forward from there. I'd understand if it's to weed out serious vs non-serious patients but it's not applied to any portion of the surgery. What's up with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Vann Posted February 13 Senior Member Share Posted February 13 3 minutes ago, Ketchupp said: Is this a normal practice? I actually wanted to move forward with a specific doctor but he wants around $107 USD just to see me on video and seems like he will only move forward from there. I'd understand if it's to weed out serious vs non-serious patients but it's not applied to any portion of the surgery. What's up with that? There’s a ton of surgeons who will take free consultations to help build their portfolio of potential candidates. you can’t really blame someone for charging since it is their time. However, depending on the work ethic you don’t need a paid consultation when there are reputable clinics who will offer a free consult either virtual or in person. Just try and get as many perspectives from the ones that offer a free consult and if you want a specific surgeon, perhaps go for a paid consult. all the ones I have had for free have been online with photos or video call. It’s a put off putting having to pay $X for 3-5 mins. Unless it’s extensive 30-60 mins of time I can’t justify that. 2 Follow my first hair transplant journey 3,252 Grafts a minimum of 6,712 hairs June 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Ketchupp Posted February 13 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 13 1 minute ago, Vann said: There’s a ton of surgeons who will take free consultations to help build their portfolio of potential candidates. you can’t really blame someone for charging since it is their time. However, depending on the work ethic you don’t need a paid consultation when there are reputable clinics who will offer a free consult either virtual or in person. Just try and get as many perspectives from the ones that offer a free consult and if you want a specific surgeon, perhaps go for a paid consult. all the ones I have had for free have been online with photos or video call. It’s a put off putting having to pay $X for 3-5 mins. Unless it’s extensive 30-60 mins of time I can’t justify that. Well that's the thing: I already sent in photos and the Dr responded. I can't imagine what new info the consultation will discover and, like you mentioned, if it'll be more than 5 minutes. I'll admit I wanted to get scheduled for an HT with this guy but that's giving me second thoughts. Nothing personal against him or any doctor though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member laverita Posted February 13 Regular Member Share Posted February 13 They should charge but it should go towards surgery if one books in my opinion. Photos are limited and won't give any measurable data so it is best for a personal consultation and this is where you need to sift out the clinics so you are not paying for many of them. As said it is about time spent and I know non-qualified influencers (like all of them), who want more than that for a zoom cons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairthere Posted February 14 Senior Member Share Posted February 14 Most doctors will apply the consultation fee towards surgery if you book with them. $100 isn't a lot for a consult fee. I've heard of docs charging $350. If it's a doc you're serious about booking with I would not let this deter me. Besides you're gonna spend A LOT more on the actual surgery. I am the owner/operator of AHEAD INK a Scalp Micropigmentation Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. www.aheadink.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member donpizmeov Posted February 14 Regular Member Share Posted February 14 I dont know with you, but I would never want to work for free, so I dont think it is unreasonable they charge you for taking their time. It also serves to show who is more serious. I would be more sceptical if someone was offering it for free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member ScottishGuy21 Posted February 14 Regular Member Share Posted February 14 No issue as payment usually goes towards the surgery if you agree to proceed. Time is precious for a Dr after all. If you want a serious evaluation then I think it’s reasonable to pay a fee. These surgeons are often getting 100s of requests a week. It’s a good way of helping sort which cases are serious and those which are time wasters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Rose17 Posted February 15 Regular Member Share Posted February 15 Pittella $50 zarev 900 euros leal $400 the top doctors in the world have to do this at times because of demand, I would assume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Ketchupp Posted February 24 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 24 (edited) Thanks for all the replies. I just don't want to get burned. He's in a different country so that's always on my mind. But the doctor is a recommended person here so I think that's a plus. @Rose17 Edited February 24 by Ketchupp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Steeler99 Posted February 24 Regular Member Share Posted February 24 Dr. Nadimi charges a $300 consultation fee (or at least she did as of April 2023). She does both virtual and in-person consultations (I did a virtual one through FaceTime). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member WhamHair Posted March 17 Regular Member Share Posted March 17 For Pittella, he says the consultation takes 30 minutes but honestly, he gives patients FAR MORE time. My consultation with him went for like an hour and he was in no rush to wrap up. He was all about leaving the door open for questions. Super nice guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Al - Moderator Posted March 17 Moderators Share Posted March 17 Not too long ago it was common for Drs to offer free consultations. But back then you would go for a consultation, decide on a hairline, find out how many grafts you'd need if you are actually a good candidate, what the cost would be, and usually then setting up a date for the surgery. These days everyone seems to go to 5 or 10 consultations, so the Drs are spending a lot more time on consultations without getting the actual surgeries set up, so they had to start charging for the consultations. They can't spend half of their week doing consultations for free. I think most of them will deduct the cost of the consultation from the surgery, if you decide to choose them, which I think is very fair since you then did get a free consultation with them if you have the surgery with them. 1 Al Forum Moderator (formerly BeHappy) I am a forum moderator for hairrestorationnetwork.com. I am not a Dr. and I do not work for any particular Dr. My opinions are my own and may not reflect the opinions of other moderators or the owner of this site. I am also a hair transplant patient and repair patient. You can view some of my repair journey here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member laverita Posted March 17 Regular Member Share Posted March 17 Influencers are 100s so why not pay a doctor? They have zero guarantee you will go to them so why should they invest time and money to see people who can use them just for the information they give with at times very expensive equipment and expertise and then fly off to a doctor who gave them zero time? As said, most decent doctors will also carry over the cons fee into surgery credit, so if a patient is serious then they won't mind this. Don't expect free doctor and clinic time..those days are long gone now and were very much abused by some who had no intention of going to the doctor who has examined and give them detailed info for free and there were even threads and posts on social saying they used Dr.X to fly to Dr.Y and recommending others used this way to get a good cons for free and fly to a cheaper doctor. This was a trigger for some to say we need to start charging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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