Choice Shadow Shopping Report

In 2015 Choice sent out random shadow shoppers to look into the hair loss industry and released a report on their findings. This is a very typical process that Choice undertakes. The problem with this shadow shop was that it was comparing all clinics in the hair loss industry from a standpoint they offered the same treatment services.. This is not the case. The majority of hair loss companies are of a non-medical nature. They do not have medical doctors working in their clinics and the main course of treatment options are actually non-surgical hair replacement like Strand by Strand. As they are not of a medical nature they do not have to abide by the regulations that are set down by AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency). Ashley and Martin clinics are fully fledged medical clinics with the medical doctor in each clinic being the gate keeper for correct treatment outcomes for our patients.

Choice also only mentioned the name of one other company in it’s report, while others were discussed but not identified.. We would have liked to have seen all companies that were shadow shopped identified.

A great example of how shadow shoppers get things wrong is by stating that Ashley and Martin uses Nioxin shampoo. Ashley and Martin in over 52 years has never used this product. Our company has always created our own formula for the products that we use.

We would like to also amend the record regarding Ashley and Martin’s guarantee structure. Firstly there is the “No guarantee is ever possible” statement; this is incorrect as our money back guarantee structure is very simple with its wording and meaning. Here is the full wording on the guarantee contract:

Your Hair or your Money Back

We will strive to achieve the most evident/measurable results of hair growth within the time duration of your RealGROWTH program. We say frankly “if you have diligently followed the “RealGROWTH” Treatment Program, using the hair hygiene and supplementary products as recommended and faithfully applied the prescribed pharmaceutical solution, following each and every part of the program explained herein, but you have experienced no improvement in hair growth (other than as a result of pre-existing medical or physical condition, which we did not know of) we both agree that you will receive a refund of full monies paid.

What constitutes improvement? Hair re-growth equals improvement.

How will we tell? The photographic recording, during your program before, during and post treatment will illustrate the result.

We are the only company that has a full money back guarantee structure and for us to photograph improvement we need at least 30% more hair to regrow back. This is not hard for us to achieve as the program is tested to on average double your hair density.

One other claim of made in the report is in regards to laser treatment: “If you’re interested in trying laser (there’s still not a lot of evidence it works)” This published study reported “This meta-analysis strongly suggests that minoxidil, finasteride, and low-level laser light therapy are effective for promoting hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia and that minoxidil is effective in women with androgenetic alopecia.”

The Choice article also mentions that you could look at doing this type of treatment yourself without a clinic to save money. This is the same as saying you can go for a run every day rather than use a personal trainer. If you want the very best result then you use the best the industry has to offer.