Bosley Re​view

REVIEW OF BOSLEY HAIR RESTORATION

C2C
CONSUMER TO CONSUMER
A non-profit website for consumers

Know Before You Go
Be prepared. Learning how Bosley runs can help you avoid an unwanted result.

On this page:
Counselors are trained to overcome people's objections to surgery

Bosley publicly condemned Finasteride but now sells it

Workers who perform major parts of surgery are paid near minimum wage

HOW BOSLEY OPERATES

(Bosley is not run like most medical clinics which can catch people off-guard)
Salespeople

WHO EXAMINE AND CONSULT WITH PROSPECTIVE PATIENTS

Most Counselors don't have any medical background or training
Ads

NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

Their primary purpose is to generate sales leads

Doctors

A BROKEN CHAIN

Bosley says it has no oversight of the doctors at its offices

Advice

IN IT'S OWN BEST INTEREST

Recommendations for treatments can be based on financial motives
How Bosley Operates

Have you ever been to a medical office with no medical staff? Two out of three Bosley offices have none. That's just one of the things you might not expect...

THE NUMBERS GAME

In the 1970's Bosley became a mass marketing company so it could turn over a large number of patients.

It delegated the elective surgery to self-employed doctors so it could have less responsibility for the results.

Bosley runs the same way today but is owned by a Japanese wigmaker that uses it for an overseas profit center.

YOU ARE A SALES ‘‘MARK’’

Bosley operates like many high pressure sales companies with persuasive advertising, ​planned sales presentations, and bonuses and commissions.

This is evidenced by the job qualifications of employees who perform patient consultations.
BOSLEY ‘COUNSELORS’ OR ​‘HAIR RESTORATION SPECIALISTS’
Bosley consultant ad
consultations

The initial consultation at Bosley is basically a sales presentation that may include the following:

Examining a person's scalp and assigning them a number on a balding scale - see The Problem With Norwood
Telling them they're a good candidate for surgery (if they have any donor hair).
Showing a computer enhanced image of them with hair digitally added.
Offering them a "special" discount from an inflated price list.
Going over financing options.
At medical locations a doctor may appear to answer a few questions.
If the prospect doesn't go for surgery they are followed up with phone calls and mailers to try to persuade them to return. (Bosley keeps track of its "Closing Ratio")

THE PROBLEM WITH norwood

The ​Hamilton-Norwood scale (HNS) does not take into account normal hair growth cycles, temporary or treatable hair loss, diffuse thinning, or the individual differences of patients. 

The Norwood scale is sometimes used as an authority for treating patients but it has shown to be unreliable.

Reliability of Hamilton-Norwood Classification, Int J. Trichology

Ads

Most of what Bosley puts out to consumers is persuasive advertising designed to generate sales leads. 

MARKETING

Ads intentionally leave out negative information that could scare away potential customers. 

HAIR TRANSPLANT COMPLICATION CHART

HOW BOSLEY GETS PATIENTS

CONSUMERS ARE LEFT ON THEIR OWN TO FIND REAL INFORMATION

Advice

MEDICAL ADVICE

Bosley publicly condemned Finasteride for its serious side effects  and  unacceptable results.  It now sells monthly subscriptions for it.

Bosley strip surgery

BOSLEY STRIP SURGERY

After FUE was developed Bosley kept patients in the dark so it could keep selling its invasive strip removal.

A FORMER MEDICAL DIRECTOR WHO LEFT BOSLEY NOW WORKS IN ROBOTIC HT

MANUAL VS. ROBOTIC
Bosley does not possess the expensive ARTAS technology but criticizes it saying it can't match the manual skill of the doctors.

AFTER BOSLEY HAIR TRANSPLANT

INCOMPLETE RESULTS
Surgery may only be able to provide a partial result and Bosley frequently upsells patients to other treatments.

WOMEN

Women are not good candidates for Bosley hair restoration

The Bosley Guarantee:
GOOD FOR BOSLEY - BAD FOR PATIENTS

The Bosley guarantee is a marketing tool that helps it with liability. Even if patients make it past the many loopholes they might not realize it doesn't compensate them for depletion of their precious donor scalp, which some might value in the $100,000s.


The guarantee does not reimburse patients for their loss of valuable donor tissue

A guarantee of results is considered unethical  (i.e., prohibited, improper, potentially misleading and confusing messages marketed by hair restoration surgeons)  by the ISHRS, a medical trade group.

Not Permanent

Results of hair restoration can eventually diminish or disappear.

Hair transplants not permanent

A long term study found that over 90% of the patients had degrading hair transplants.

Even celebrities used to promote the surgery can end up with unexceptional outcomes.