Dr Zarev

[jameslondon]

I received this email after sending an enquiry with photos via here.  900 euros for a consultation is extortionate and ridiculous 

[Myles23]

This will be the norm moving forward i suspect with top tier surgeons. Fuegenix have a £1000 consultation fee also. This will weed out the window shoppers from people who are genuine but i presume this will be fee will be deducted from the surgery costs should the patient go ahead with the procedure. 

Also worth noting that there are few examples on here where people have described their consultations with both Zarev and Fuegenix. The consultation is thorough and can last several hours or more. We all value our time so why shouldn't a top tier surgeon value theirs?

[jameslondon]

Because they don’t mention anything beforehand and take all the information that they make no comment on.  For even a thorough consultation 900 euros is too much.  

[Blackstar]

I got the same reply, considered it only for a minute. Is expensive and I'd have paid it - but I ain't waiting till 2027. 

[asterix0]

What is extortionate? You don't have to go, someone else will. 

[Berba11]

2 hours ago, jameslondon said:

Because they don’t mention anything beforehand and take all the information that they make no comment on.  For even a thorough consultation 900 euros is too much.  

It's normally 150EUR for Zarev, but these are the 'off-schedule' prices. I have a consultation with him next year at the normal price but I'd booked it over a year ago so got lucky in that respect.

[Otis james]

Bruno Pinto hates that it’s getting like this. Says he has celebs offering all kinds of money to get ahead of the que but refuses to do it. We talk of ethics. £900 for a consult isn’t ethical. But, like extortionate holiday prices, during school holidays, that’s the way most people want the market to work. The more we need and want something, the more expensive it gets. 

[ScottishGuy21]

He’s one if not the world’s best for higher Norwoods. I’ve no issue with him charging some cases at a higher premium to queue jump. Given he’s booked up until 2027 (and in a world of large inflation ups and downs) those bookings / prices are locked in for 3 years now, so it also makes business sense. 
 

That being said at €9 a graft any large Norwood case is going to need close to €100k. Elite surgeon but yes gradually becoming one only exclusively for the wealthy.  I wonder what he’ll do when his book re opens ? 

[jameslondon]

2 hours ago, asterix0 said:

What is extortionate? You don't have to go, someone else will. 

Well that makes everything great for them doesn’t it but I was posting for myself as you should do

[Melvin- Admin]

2 hours ago, asterix0 said:

What is extortionate? You don't have to go, someone else will. 

Exactly, this is a ridiculous post. He’s a private business in a free market. Imagine going to a Ferrari dealer and claiming the price is “extortionate” 🤦🏻‍♂️ 

[follically challenged]

yeah it seems a little much. still, if it's really thorough, i'd feel happier after discussing every little question as opposed to basically being rushed out the door by Bisanga lol 

900 definitely seems excessive, but hey... supply and demand and all that. i guess it's just business 🤷‍♂️

Edited April 25 by follically challenged

[jameslondon]

2 minutes ago, Melvin- Admin said:

Exactly, this is a ridiculous post. He’s a private business in a free market. Imagine going to a Ferrari dealer and claiming the price is “extortionate” 🤦🏻‍♂️ 

Why gang up on me?  You’re ridiculous for being so ignorant!  

[Melvin- Admin]

6 minutes ago, jameslondon said:

Why gang up on me?  You’re ridiculous for being so ignorant!  

I could have been nicer, I will own that, but I feel “extortionate” is a poor choice of wording. You’re not forced to pay or choose him. If it’s too much go elsewhere. There are Michelin star restaurants that charge for one meal what people pay in a month for groceries. That’s not extorting. Ferraris cost as much as a house. That’s not extorting.

The beauty of free markets is there’s always alternatives and someone else in your budget. Getting mad at a business and claiming their prices are extortionate isn’t right. If you think it’s a rip off, fair enough. Remove him off your list and move on. 

[GeneralNorwood]

From my conversation with Dr. Zarev, it seems that prices will not decrease, quite the opposite.

He has no competition in what he does, only the appearance of more surgeons with this method would lower the prices.

[asterix0]

1 hour ago, jameslondon said:

Well that makes everything great for them doesn’t it but I was posting for myself as you should do

Ok, I'll make a post I want the government to mail me checks...it's great for me I think it should be done...

Basically, what makes you think you are special to skip the line vs the other people who have already signed up for a consult?

 

 

[jameslondon]

10 minutes ago, asterix0 said:

Ok, I'll make a post I want the government to mail me checks...it's great for me I think it should be done...

Basically, what makes you think you are special to skip the line vs the other people who have already signed up for a consult?

 

 

Do what you like with posts that’s the whole point of a forum although some people like you use it to pick arguments.  

[asterix0]

34 minutes ago, jameslondon said:

Do what you like with posts that’s the whole point of a forum although some people like you use it to pick arguments.  

You posted a topic on a public forum thus I assumed you were looking to discuss this topic publicly. I didn't private message you directly instigating anything. If I choose to disagree with you, that isn't "picking an argument". Picking an argument would be if I resulted to ad hominem, personal attacks against you, which I did not do.

 

[jameslondon]

20 minutes ago, asterix0 said:

You posted a topic on a public forum thus I assumed you were looking to discuss this topic publicly. I didn't private message you directly instigating anything. If I choose to disagree with you, that isn't "picking an argument". Picking an argument would be if I resulted to ad hominem, personal attacks against you, which I did not do.

 

What is your problem?  Got nothing else to do troll

[Melvin- Admin]

Everyone is free to discuss this topic here, disagreeing with you doesn’t make them a troll. We can have a civil discussion and disagreements. If you wish to move on I can lock the topic, but otherwise, everyone is free to chime in. 

[Berba11]

This conversation is descending into silly territory.

The point of these high "off-schedule" price points is to act as a deterrent for most people, because his schedule is booked 3 years ahead just for a consultation alone and that backlog is otherwise hard to address whilst not putting a total stop to new bookings. There's a point at which the clinic/Dr needs to either stop taking on any more consultations for a while in order to clear the backlog, or create a 'limiting factor', such as a higher barrier to entry to use his services. That's fairly normal across many business practices; you charge a premium under certain conditions, such as someone wanting a job done yesterday that you wouldn't ordinarily be able to do. If a customer (or in this case, patient) is willing to make it worthwhile for the business to deviate from their standard practices, then many businesses will accommodate. Businesses also often charge less or will offer discounts in exchange for added convenience of flexibility.

The question then comes down to... Is a £900 consultation worth the money? Depends. Zarev's consultations are famously long and detailed. You could make an argument that paying that much for the consultation and the information about your scalp, hair loss, donor resources and so on is fair game in and of itself. You could also make a case for paying the extra for the consultation but using this information by choosing another excellent surgeon who charges less and is available sooner, meaning that Zarev consultation cost ends up being not as big as it sounds when taken together with the cost of cheaper surgery. The information from that consultation will be invaluable whatever you do and which ever surgeon you end up choosing.

[jameslondon]

14 minutes ago, Melvin- Admin said:

Everyone is free to discuss this topic here, disagreeing with you doesn’t make them a troll. We can have a civil discussion and disagreements. If you wish to move on I can lock the topic, but otherwise, everyone is free to chime in. 

They are a troll for sure.  So are you probably.  This site isn’t what it used to be.

[MC117]

On 4/25/2024 at 12:42 PM, Berba11 said:

It's normally 150EUR for Zarev, but these are the 'off-schedule' prices. I have a consultation with him next year at the normal price but I'd booked it over a year ago so got lucky in that respect.

I even paid mine 50 euros and had mine around march last year (one of the last patients at this price).  He is obviously booked for years and years and doing that to sort out patients and neutralize that constant flow of mails/dms/messages. His prices are fair on the classic schedule IMO but it was FCFS basically. 

He became mainstream. He told me he isn't planning on raising prices anytime soon maybe in the next decade. I'd say that I'd do it even at 900 euros, he has no match on the market at every level IMO. 

Edited April 27 by MC117

[Tommy1991]

Hopefully he gets training other doctors so 😅 
 

[Fue3361]

This isn't a monopoly with infinite supply, where they minmax the price in order to obtain maximum profit, while hurting all the people who can't afford it.  There is tons of supply of surgeons, ranging from the absolute worst hair mills, to the best (Zarev being one of them). 

As a business, they should price themselves in a way where supply = demand.  Meaning, if he charges a price, and has the supply to do 300 transplants a year, but has a demand of 3,000 patients, he's underpriced.  He needs to raise prices until he gets to a point where only 300 people a year are looking for a transplant with him (because it's within their budget).

Don't get mad if you can't afford something.  Nobody is forcing you to have surgery with that doctor.  

[ScottishGuy21]

€900 for a 3 hour in person consultation using world leading tech I don’t think is unreasonable. Some clinics charge €100 just for the Dr to look at your file.