Dr.Cole - "new technique"?

[RickH]

» This is definitley
» new and he clearly has been quoted that cost is not going to be a factor
» anymore.

Again, though, when he said cost was not going to be a factor anymore he was contrasting CIT with strip. That seems to suggest that the cost of CIT will drop near or equal to what he charges for strip ($6/g). I don’t believe the cost will drop below strip, but I obviously won’t lead a protest march if it does.

[hair911]

» » Did he say what does C2G stand for? Did he talk about pricing with you?
» » Did he offer you the new price or the old price?
»
» No, no, and no. You know everything I know. I mentioned it to him to
» see if he wanted to talk about it yet, and he clearly wasn’t ready to.
» But, if the new technology comes online in the next couple of weeks -
» which I think is what may happen - the new pricing will be in place by the
» time I go in for a procedure sometime in April. If the new technology isn’t
» in place by April, I’ll probably wait, because my strip scars prohibit my
» shaving my head.

LOL, thanks. Can I ask why you choose Cole and not Umar? I can’t decide between the two right now. They both seem pretty good. Price will be a major factor so I am anxous to see Cole’s new price.

[RickH]

» LOL, thanks. Can I ask why you choose Cole and not Umar? I can’t decide
» between the two right now. They both seem pretty good. Price will be a
» major factor so I am anxous to see Cole’s new price.

Well, they say not to make cosmetic surgery decisions based on price, but I actually did consider Dr Umar because of his lower cost (money is a factor for me, too), but only because he also has enthusiastic former patients and a few impressive photos. But, Dr Cole has more experience with FUE, he also has enthusiastic former patients, I am one of them, and I trust him, so he was always my preferred choice if the money difference wasn’t too great. When I started weighing the cost of flying multiple times to CA vs. driving to GA, the cost difference shrank some (obviously, on this point people on the west coast have the exact opposite situation and may decide to make the exact opposite decision). The announcement that Dr Cole’s new technology is going to further lower the cost of CIT and not require me to shave my strip scarred head made the decision an easy one for me.

The truth is, if I won the lottery tomorrow and had to choose a hair transplant doctor, I’d still be going to Dr Cole. I just think he’s the “go to” doc for HT.

[JonnyE]

» » LOL, thanks. Can I ask why you choose Cole and not Umar? I can’t
» decide
» » between the two right now. They both seem pretty good. Price will be a
» » major factor so I am anxous to see Cole’s new price.
»
» Well, they say not to make cosmetic surgery decisions based on price, but
» I actually did consider Dr Umar because of his lower cost (money is a
» factor for me, too), but only because he also has enthusiastic former
» patients and a few impressive photos. But, Dr Cole has more experience
» with FUE, he also has enthusiastic former patients, I am one of them, and
» I trust him, so he was always my preferred choice if the money difference
» wasn’t too great. When I started weighing the cost of flying multiple
» times to CA vs. driving to GA, the cost difference shrank some (obviously,
» on this point people on the west coast have the exact opposite situation
» and may decide to make the exact opposite decision). The announcement that
» Dr Cole’s new technology is going to further lower the cost of CIT and
» not require me to shave my strip scarred head made the decision an
» easy one for me.
»
» The truth is, if I won the lottery tomorrow and had to choose a hair
» transplant doctor, I’d still be going to Dr Cole. I just think he’s the
» “go to” doc for HT.

any new news on this technique?

[RickH]

» any new news on this technique?

I won’t hear anything before the rest of the world does. Dr Cole has a lot of patients and I doubt he remembers anything more about me than that one of the consults (me) mentioned he’d heard about the new tech. Sorry.

[rooster]

» » any new news on this technique?
»
» I won’t hear anything before the rest of the world does. Dr Cole has a lot
» of patients and I doubt he remembers anything more about me than that one
» of the consults (me) mentioned he’d heard about the new tech. Sorry.

I think the C2G stands for Cole Isolation Technique 2nd Generation. Possibly a robotic machine, which i know he was working on. Very fast and much less time consuming. My opinions.

[RickH]

» LOL, thanks. Can I ask why you choose Cole and not Umar? I can’t decide
» between the two right now. They both seem pretty good. Price will be a
» major factor so I am anxous to see Cole’s new price.

I just got off the phone with Dr Umar’s office and was quote $6 to $7 per graft, so he has raised his prices. I didn’t know this. I thought he was still charging $5. If Dr Cole’s new technology drops his $8/g price, as he has implied it will, it’s likely they will be charging the same, or Dr Cole may even be charging less. Plus, Dr Cole apparently won’t require the head be shaved to get that price.

[canadadry]

» » LOL, thanks. Can I ask why you choose Cole and not Umar? I can’t
» decide
» » between the two right now. They both seem pretty good. Price will be a
» » major factor so I am anxous to see Cole’s new price.
»
» I just got off the phone with Dr Umar’s office and was quote $6 to $7 per
» graft, so he has raised his prices. I didn’t know this. I thought he was
» still charging $5. If Dr Cole’s new technology drops his $8/g price, as he
» has implied it will, it’s likely they will be charging the same, or Dr Cole
» may even be charging less. Plus, Dr Cole apparently won’t require the head
» be shaved to get that price.

It would be nice if the price fell and the quality improved but it is unlikely; what is my worry is the constant changes made and new techniques and then after a while they are nothing and we forget about all the hype and take it as normal again. Would be good to see some proof before the great launch as he is a doc I am looking at; how many people have used this and can we see results before we pay out money

[RickH]

» Would be good to see some proof before the
» great launch as he is a doc I am looking at; how many people have used
» this and can we see results before we pay out money

I agree. In the beginning, this “new technology” will be just that: new. It is pretty much a given that it will take Dr Cole some time to get as deft with working with the new technology as he is with doing everything by hand. It seems reasonable to think that a fast, new technology will lead to more damaged grafts. I have nothing to back this up, of course. I’m just saying that seems reasonable. And when I say “more damaged grafts”, I don’t necessarily mean “a lot more damaged grafts.” It may just be a very small number. And again, it may be no more damaged grafts. Like I said, I don’t have any inside info. Whatever the case, I agree with the poster above who said Dr Cole wouldn’t bring it online if it were unproven. He has a great reputation, and turning an out-of-control robot loose on our precious follicles wouldn’t exactly make him Mr Popularity.

[NoHairNoPrayer]

If this is a robotic technology, I would not want to be a guinea pig to be honest, no matter how cheap. Actually there is Dr. Berman in San Francisco area who offers free robotic hair transplants in association with another company (which makes the robots I guess) on an experimental basis. I dont see why if you are taking the risks with new technology you should even pay for it. You are doing them a favor to study the effect.

But it could be something else, so lets wait and see the announcement first. If strip is at 6 dollars at Dr. Cole, that must be the floor no matter what the improvement is. How can it be cheaper than something that takes only an afternoon to finish and is pretty much commodity now?

» » Would be good to see some proof before the
» » great launch as he is a doc I am looking at; how many people have used
» » this and can we see results before we pay out money
»
» I agree. In the beginning, this “new technology” will be just that: new.
» It is pretty much a given that it will take Dr Cole some time to get as
» deft with working with the new technology as he is with doing everything
» by hand. It seems reasonable to think that a fast, new technology will
» lead to more damaged grafts. I have nothing to back this up, of course.
» I’m just saying that seems reasonable. And when I say “more damaged
» grafts”, I don’t necessarily mean “a lot more damaged grafts.” It
» may just be a very small number. And again, it may be no more damaged
» grafts. Like I said, I don’t have any inside info. Whatever the case, I
» agree with the poster above who said Dr Cole wouldn’t bring it online if
» it were unproven. He has a great reputation, and turning an out-of-control
» robot loose on our precious follicles wouldn’t exactly make him Mr
» Popularity.

[RickH]

» If strip is at 6 dollars at Dr. Cole, that must be the floor no
» matter what the improvement is. How can it be cheaper than something that
» takes only an afternoon to finish and is pretty much commodity now?

Yeah, the context of Dr Cole’s comment about the new technology was a comparison of FUE with strip. He listed the downsides of FUE (cost and shaving the head) and said both would be non-factors with the new technology. That suggests that the cost for FUE will be no more than the cost for strip (which, as you said, is $6/g). So, whatever the new technology is, it seems reasonable to believe it increases the speed of some aspect of the procedure such that an FUE takes no longer than a strip. The most likely part of a HT that could be sped up is the extraction of donor hair.

[rev]

Don’t get too excited. I hear Dr Cole will use these robots
…compliments of skynet

[RickH]

»
» Another possibility, not as good, is that he is saying that the cost of a
» non-shaven CIT/FUE ($10 per graph)

That should have read $20/g for unshaven CIT/FUE, not $10/g.

[fuzzo]

So whats going on when will we know what this is all about.

[RickH]

» So whats going on when will we know what this is all about.

Not soon enough to suit me.

[mwinston]

» » So whats going on when will we know what this is all about.
»
» Not soon enough to suit me.

I agree. Hopefully a change in costs would be an outcome of it all. This would be beneficial for guys who don’t shave. Not sure what “rev” is insinuating in this thread.