Welcome
The very first thing I want to say is that I did not want to create this website. Many of the people at the clinic were very nice, and it feels bad to write this about the clinic. But I feel the truth should be shown.
The purpose of this website is to help inform others who are considering getting a hair transplant from Sule clinic with information from a REAL customer who will give unbiased information.
I suspect that Sule has paid for fake reviews. What makes me say this? Take a look at Sule's Instagram account. It has 3.9 million followers! Many celebrities don't have this many followers. I'm guessing they have paid for a positive social media following.
In case you are wondering which clinic I am talking about, it is Sule Hair & Clinic transplant clinic located at Yeşilpınar, Çay Sk. No:2,İç Kapı No:1 34065 Eyüpsultan/İstanbul, you can visit Sule's official website here.
My experience
I am 35 years old. My hair started going bald 7 years ago, and last year (2023) I emailed several clinics in Istanbul to get quotes on a hair transplant. Ultimately I decided to go with Sule Hair Transplant Clinic as I thought they had the best communication, and it looked like they had plenty of good reviews.
Photos of my hair before the procedure:
In February 2024 I paid the 250 euro deposit and flew to Istanbul to the Sule Hair Transplant clinic. I was greeted at the airport and they brought me to the Windsor Hotel. The package comes with 3 night free stay at the hotel. It's a 5-star hotel and really nice - honestly, the hotel stay was the best part about the visit.
I had been messaging their point of contact about when my procedure would be, and received no reply until 8:30pm the night before, saying that I would need to be ready for pickup at 6:30am the following morning.
The next morning I was taken by shuttle with 3 other patients to the clinic. The clinic waiting room itself is actually very nice - you can see photos on their website. Comfortable seating and free coffee.
However, they group together all the patients together instead of going on a one-by-one basis, and the whole process feels very rushed, like a factory instead of a medical clinic.
Again, I should say that I feel bad, because the translator and the employees working in the common area were very kind people. However, when it came down to the important parts of the procedure, things were really awful.
The first thing before anything was collect 100% of the payment for the procedure. In my email communications, they said I could pay by cash or card, but only after I had paid the deposit did they tell me that in fact there was a 15% processing fee for card payments.
After they have taken my complete payment, only then do they inform me that they won't be able to complete the entire procedure at one time. They say I will need to come back in 8 months to have more of it done, which will only cost thousands more Euros.
After the payment, I was rushed into the room where my hairline was drawn. You might think that this would be one of the most important parts of the procedure, but the woman drawing the hairline rushed right through it with minimal input from me. I wanted to make sure that the new hairline was seamlessly blended into my existing hair, but she did not listen and now it looks just like a patch of hair with sharp borders has been pasted on top of my head. They are in such a rush to get through this part that there is seating for multiple patients - she takes out the marker and draws the hairlines of multiple patients together at once to save time. I was left with an asymmetric hairline that I am not satisfied with.
The procedure begins. They take out the hair grafts, and while I am hooked up to the IV one of the technicians kept turning in her chair and bumping into it, sending a shooting pain into my arm again and again. One week later and my arm still has a large bruise from this. After the grafts were removed they gave me lunch. For lunch I was given a very sad-looking sandwich of dry bread. I wish I had taken a photo of this sandwich, it was so awful.
After lunch, I am brought back to the procedure room. During email communications, I was told that the operation would only be completed by doctors but this is not true. There were three technicians, all young women who did not speak English and were very unprofessional. They were joking, gossiping, and laughing the whole time with each other. There was a TV on in the room for them to watch while doing the procedure, and at multiple points the technicians pulled out their phones to show Instagram photos to each other. I wanted to speak up and ask them to focus more, but they were in total control of my hair and I was worried they would purposely retaliate and screw up my hairline, so I kept my mouth shut.
Eventually toward the end of the operation I couldn't stand it any longer and asked her to put her phone away, but the woman just said "Sorry, do not understand." Yes, that's right: during the operation there was no one in the room who speaks English, you can ask for translator and it takes several minutes for translator to come and answer your question, then they just leave the room right away again.
The operation took about 8 hours, much longer than they said it would. During the operation I got a major headache from the non-stop talking between the 3 technicians, and overhead I saw several flies buzzing around. All I could do was hope that they were not laying eggs in my exposed grafts on the operating table and that I wouldn't run into major health problems in the future.
After many hours of operation I came out and this is all the food they had to give me: a muffin and small glass of orange juice:
As I and all the other patients for the day were finished, we still had to sit around for an hour for one of the last patients to finish up before they took us back to the hotel.
The next day I was brought back to the clinic where they removed the bandages and given instructions on shampoo use and how to care for the hair. In email communications I was told I would receive a free dental exam but they never gave me one.
Here you can see the asymmetric hairline, as well as the poor job they did blending into my existing hair:
Unfortunately I found that over and over again, it was a bait-and-switch: the clinic told me one thing, and then after I had given them my money it turned out to be something else. I would not go back to Sule Hair & Clinic.
Summary
Pros
The Stay was Comfortable
- Comfortable common seating area at clinic
- 3 nights at Windsor Hotel included in package
- Staff in the waiting area are friendly with smiles
Cons
Cheated Out of Money
- I was told I could pay by card or by cash. Only after paying the 250 euro deposit, they then informed me that if I paid the remainder by card, there would be an additional 15% processing fee.
- WORST OF ALL - Only after I had paid for the entire operation in full and was expecting to have it all done in one visit, they informed me that I would need to come back for a second visit. Bait-and-switch!
- During the procedure, I made friends with another patient. It turns out that despite the fact that he was having more grafts transplanted than me (he had 4800, I had 4600), I still had to pay more than 500 euro more than his total cost, for no reason.
- In email communications, I was told I would receive a free dental exam and x-rays, but I never received these.
Poor Communication
- During the drawing of the hairline, which you would consider to be one of the most important parts of the procedure, it takes place with multiple other patients in the room (not one-on-one) and the woman draws the hairline quickly without first taking input on what you are looking for. The result is that my new hair looks like a "patch" of hair that is placed on top of my head, instead of a more smoother, integrated look that blends in with my existing hair.
- I kept messaging asking for the specific date and time of my operation, and was only informed at 8:30pm the night before that my operation would be the next day and that I would need to be ready by 6:30am.
- No flexibility. I was sick the night before, I had a fever and a cough and runny nose, but was told there was no way for me to postpone the date of my operation and that I would need to proceed regardless. One week later I am still sick.
- The technicians in the operating room do not speak English. Multiple times I asked them a question during the procedure, only for the woman to say, "Sorry, do not understand."
- The teams don't communicate with each other. I told the woman who drew my hairline that I wished to have it seamlessly blended in with my existing hair, and she just hurried me along saying, "ok ok", and it was clear that this was not communicated to the team.
Poor Results
- I was told that doctors would be completing the operation, but it was instead completed by inexperienced, immature women in their 20s who kept checking their phones and who did not speak any English.
- New hairline is drawn in a rush with no input. I asked for the hair to be blended into existing hairline, but my needs were not communicated to the operation team.
Unhygienic Conditions
- In the operating room there were several flies buzzing overhead. Technicians kept checking their phones with their gloves on!
- Several times the technicians dropped items on the floor and picked them back up without sanitizing them.
Poor Treatment
- Procedure took 10 hours. I was picked up from the hotel at 6:30am and didn't return until 7:30pm. They grouped all the patients of the day together as one big group so that we all had to wait for each other at the beginning and at the end.
- Massive headache, the technicians were joking and gossiping the entire time.
- After the procedure was over, I was told to wait for an information sheet but the crew kept trying to rush me out the door. I'm glad that I stood my ground, as information sheet contained important information about showering/sleep/sweating, and if I had not stood my ground I would have surely mistreated my hair.
Conclusion
Unfortunately there was just too much deception from Sule's clinic, combined with all the other negative experiences I've listed. Oftentimes they just tell you what they think you want to hear. Saying "yes yes" without actually listening. I would NOT recommend Sule Hair & Clinic to anyone looking for a transplant. You may be wondering, "If not Sule Hair & Clinic, then where should I go for a hair transplant?" Unfortunately, I do not have an answer to this question. All I can do is tell you where not to go.
I wish you better luck than me in your journey for a good hair transplant!