My Hair Transplant Hell - where do I go from here?

[Mattyp1]

Hi Alan, sorry to hear you haven't heard anything back from your surgeon, from hearing your story, as I said before.. It sounds like there was definately a problem with the extraction of your grafts, if that was the reason for the poor yield, who knows?! And we never really will know....your story does show the ethics of some of these surgeons though, your whole experience sounded like a terrible one from start to finish, the least I would'vebut thought the surgeon could do is refund you your money, it's not as though they don't earn enough!! I've said it before as well, but I do hope you say who your clinic/surgeon was at some point, I said on an earlier post I think I know who it was, if you look at the info provided, you can work it out..But obviously that's for you to say.
As a previous member said, all your telling is your story, if you had the best ht result in the world, the doc wouldn't mind using you as a poster boy then would he?! Think it should work both ways, it really does sound like you've been through hell with it all, and for all we know there could be many more like you that have used the same doc/clinic that we never hear about ... Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best Alan

[Alan1980]

Holy sh*t I can not believe the horror of this story. Feel very sorry for you man

God this industry is full of selfish immoral shills. HT surgeons have more money than almost any of us here but most are cheap bastards when it comes to refunding someone they mutilated

There are very very few reliable people in this industry & this is the case in many industries unfortunately. Unhappy losers who use $$$ as a crutch & can not bear to give a $10k refund when they already have 50x that much on top of a fat house & expensive cars

Everything about this story reeks of terrible ethics & terrible professionalism. If I acted this way at my job I would be fired & I do not even have people's health/aesthetics in my hands....

Hello 25, it seems after everything that has happened, and what I have been put through, and by their own admission my HT was a failure, they still want to hold onto every last penny. I think they are waiting for a legal battle, which I am dreading because the last thing I need right now is more stress. I have made some good progress, but my counsellor is worried I might regress and undo the last 12 months hard work of getting myself back into a normal way of life, if I take on any kind of long legal battle.

At the moment I will just take it a day at a time.

Thank you for your input 25 going 65 I really appreciate it, but it looks like most of what you say is true when it comes to post HT support when something goes wrong. Of course there is a minority of HT surgeons who excel at what they do and do offer good HT aftrcare, I suppose I was unlucky in my choice.

Alan.

[Hemo]

I don't see how publicly revealing the surgeon's name would be defamation if everything you're saying can be backed up - it's no different than any other review (as seen here/other sites or even something like Yelp). It could at least prevent him from working with the clinic again.

I would also make the clinic's name known since the woman was clearly shady and was trying to squeeze every last dollar out of you.

[PayDay]

I don't see how publicly revealing the surgeon's name would be defamation if everything you're saying can be backed up - it's no different than any other review (as seen here/other sites or even something like Yelp). It could at least prevent him from working with the clinic again.

I would also make the clinic's name known since the woman was clearly shady and was trying to squeeze every last dollar out of you.

Here's the issue, since Alan has already revealed himself to both the clinic and the doctor, he leaves himself open to liability. UK defamation law is much different than U.S.Law and since the burden of proof is on the person who makes the public claims., Alan would leave himself wide open to being sued and would be forced to spend money defending his claims even if they are 100% true. It’s horrible, but it’s the way it works. He would have to state facts only, no interpretation and no long stories or speculation.This does not preclude him from going after the clinic criminally if he can prove any criminal action. For instance if the clinic represented in writing that the doctor worked for them and now claims differently . No matter what the situation, it would be much better for the clinic and the doctor to just give Alan his refund and be done with it, since all parties lose if it has to go to court and if the clinic does sue, what’s to stop Alan from just repeating his story all over the forums, until the clinic gets an injunction which can take years? Just be very carful in your wording Alan and be aware that U.K. liable law favors the person who believes they are being defamed.

[Mattyp1]

I think all Alan needs to do is put his pics up with timelines, number of grafts etc, and name the surgeon and clinic, carefully worded title.. Nothing wrong with that, after all they've put him through, if it was me... I wouldn't let them get away with it, I had a ht a month ago, if I have serious problems in a years time, I'd do exactly the same

[jamesst11]

I think all Alan needs to do is put his pics up with timelines, number of grafts etc, and name the surgeon and clinic, carefully worded title.. Nothing wrong with that, after all they've put him through, if it was me... I wouldn't let them get away with it, I had a ht a month ago, if I have serious problems in a years time, I'd do exactly the same

yes. exactly.

[PayDay]

I think all Alan needs to do is put his pics up with timelines, number of grafts etc, and name the surgeon and clinic, carefully worded title.. Nothing wrong with that, after all they've put him through, if it was me... I wouldn't let them get away with it, I had a ht a month ago, if I have serious problems in a years time, I'd do exactly the same

Hey there is no problem with that. he just needs to use words like "disappointed" instead of "mislead" or "harmed" like some on these forums might use. I just want him to protect himself and get the best outcome out of this. He also needs to contact the right authorities. Disciplinary boards,his jurisdiction's consumer protection office and so on. The U.K. has messed up laws when it comes to defamation, so he just needs to be smart.

[jamesst11]

Hey there is no problem with that. he just needs to use words like "disappointed" instead of "mislead" or "harmed" like some on these forums might use. I just want him to protect himself and get the best outcome out of this. He also needs to contact the right authorities. Disciplinary boards,his jurisdiction's consumer protection office and so on. The U.K. has messed up laws when it comes to defamation, so he just needs to be smart.

Yes. Post ALL the information, usually that's all people need to see. If the outcome was bad, that will be evident with simply a few pictures. If you want to disclose personal emotions and such, just preface it with "I feel" to state it more as an opinion. If you say "I feel like they acted unprofessional" it becomes an opinion about the procedure rather you stating it as fact and I believe there is nothing wrong with that.

[PayDay]

Yes. Post ALL the information, usually that's all people need to see. If the outcome was bad, that will be evident with simply a few pictures. If you want to disclose personal emotions and such, just preface it with "I feel" to state it more as an opinion. If you say "I feel like they acted unprofessional" it becomes an opinion about the procedure rather you stating it as fact and I believe there is nothing wrong with that.

Stating I "feel" will not protect him. That is very bad advice. Just stick to the facts. Like I said U.K defamation law is very different and they can still force him to defend himself at a tremendous cost.

[Mattyp1]

All he would have to say is "very disappointed with final results" or something along those lines, again.. With clear pics and timelines, name the doc and clinic... Job done. For me, if I was looking for a fue surgeon, that would definately make me think twice about using them, no matter how many good results the surgeon/clinic might have, that would be the most subtle way of letting people know, without any comeback from surgeon etc. If Alan can tell his story without any danger of being sued for libel, which I definately think he can do, then even better... It all depends how things are worded.
It sounds like Alan had been through such
Alot, I can't imagine it... As I said earlier, I'm a month post op, it's bad enough dealing with hairloss, then when you think your actually doing something about it and then end up with a bad result.. The emotional rollercoaster must be massive, imo I don't think it would be easy to sue the surgeon, as with all surgeries.. There is a risk that something can go wrong, to prove to a court that it was the surgeons fault I think would be very difficult, even though from hearing Alan's story there are lots of red flags about his surgery and the way it was conducted, it also sounds like the level of professionalism from the surgeon and team was very poor indeed. At no point should Alan have been in the pain he was in, that must say something in itself!
Everyone's different... But personally I'd want to tell everyone my story (within reason) and name the clinic/surgeon... And maybe save some other potential patients the same bad experience in the future.

[suarez]

be aware that U.K. liable law favors the person who believes they are being defamed.

Payday , your advice is good and sincere , but there are other considerations to this case that we are not yet aware of , mainly what the contract terms and condition are , who the contract was with , and what evidence has been recorded by Alan ? If the surgeon has only verbally admitted a poor result for example , then that on its own may be a major factor in Alans decision going forward .

The Defamation Act was reformed in the UK in 2013 , one of the key reforms being that it ' introduces a defence of "responsible publication on matters of public interest'. I've not looked into any case law in this respect , but I'm sure it will be about .

In any instance , I'd agree that for the timebeing that the surgery / clinic should remain anonymous .

There are plenty of legal firms in the UK specialising in medical negligence , offering a free consultation , and operating on a ' no win no fee ' basis if they feel the case has a fair chance of sucess .

The surgeon in question would be an idiot to even consider the legal route of defamation , but on his form to date it wouldn't exactly suprise me .

[Alan1980]

Hello all, thank you for all your replies and advice, I am sorry I have not been on to respond but I am recovering from the flu, I have never had the flu so bad before, I was in bed for a week, but I am feeling slightly better now.

Alan.

[Alan1980]

All he would have to say is "very disappointed with final results" or something along those lines, again.. With clear pics and timelines, name the doc and clinic... Job done. For me, if I was looking for a fue surgeon, that would definately make me think twice about using them, no matter how many good results the surgeon/clinic might have, that would be the most subtle way of letting people know, without any comeback from surgeon etc. If Alan can tell his story without any danger of being sued for libel, which I definately think he can do, then even better... It all depends how things are worded.
It sounds like Alan had been through such
Alot, I can't imagine it... As I said earlier, I'm a month post op, it's bad enough dealing with hairloss, then when you think your actually doing something about it and then end up with a bad result.. The emotional rollercoaster must be massive, imo I don't think it would be easy to sue the surgeon, as with all surgeries.. There is a risk that something can go wrong, to prove to a court that it was the surgeons fault I think would be very difficult, even though from hearing Alan's story there are lots of red flags about his surgery and the way it was conducted, it also sounds like the level of professionalism from the surgeon and team was very poor indeed. At no point should Alan have been in the pain he was in, that must say something in itself!
Everyone's different... But personally I'd want to tell everyone my story (within reason) and name the clinic/surgeon... And maybe save some other potential patients the same bad experience in the future.

Hello Matty, yes I am very disappointed with my results, and the pain I had to go through. I have actually been advised by the surgeon that I could sue if I wanted, because it obviously does not come out of his pocket but a refund does. When he said this to me I was quite shocked, its not often you get someone welcoming the idea of being sued. As I mentioned before that would mean a long battle with lawyers, insurance companies and courts which I am not really up to. It's after I said I just wanted my money back he agreed to contact the clinic and arrange a refund.

Thank you for reply Matty, yours and everyone else's support has been amazing through out this thread.

Alan.

[Alan1980]

I don't see how publicly revealing the surgeon's name would be defamation if everything you're saying can be backed up - it's no different than any other review (as seen here/other sites or even something like Yelp). It could at least prevent him from working with the clinic again.

I would also make the clinic's name known since the woman was clearly shady and was trying to squeeze every last dollar out of you.

Hello Hemp, I think my story is like a detailed review of everything that happened to me during my FUE procedure.
The clinic manager even recommended extra 2000 grafts on top of what the surgeon originally estimated that my donor area could provide. Some forum members have even mentioned maybe I should not of even been a FUE candidate with my donor area density.

Alan

[Alan1980]

Yes. Post ALL the information, usually that's all people need to see. If the outcome was bad, that will be evident with simply a few pictures. If you want to disclose personal emotions and such, just preface it with "I feel" to state it more as an opinion. If you say "I feel like they acted unprofessional" it becomes an opinion about the procedure rather you stating it as fact and I believe there is nothing wrong with that.

Hello James, I have been very tempted to express my personal emotions to the full at times, but I know it would not be in my favour to do so. I think my counselling over the last 16 months can show how I have been affected emotionally.

As you have mentioned before James just telling the facts is good enough, without giving a emotional personal opinion of the events of my HT procedure.

As of this moment I am receiving guidance from some of the best and most experienced in the HT industry, which of course helps a lot and makes makes me feel there is still hope to resolve things in a peaceful way.

Alan.