Cutera is a major player in the cosmetic space with a number of platforms and systems:Cutera Coolglide, Cutera XEO, Solera Opus, the LimeLight IPL, ProWave Nd:YAG and Solera Titan. So what's Cutera's reputation with physians?

If you read the discussion threads on Cutera there are some positive opinions about the technology but there's a a lot of negative reactions to the company policies around sales and support practices. Much of it mimics these opinions in the comments on this Cutera discussion thread from way back in 2007: Is any Cutera technology work buying?

Many of the comments or reviews fall in to a couple of buckets that are recognizable and are often repeated; problems with the effacacy, pricing and costs too high, buyer felt lied to or misled by the sales rep (oversold and under-delivered), and the companies desire to lock in the buyer and extract every possible dollar. (We're working on series of posts and a guide to address all of these areas.)

Cutera's not the only laser manufacturer facing some negativity of course. All of the cosmetic laser companies have some issues that they deal with all of the time. In some cases it's unrealistic expectations from buyers but there's a lot of sales reps that aren't doing these companies any favors in overselling and promising revenue outcomes that are much more dependent on the buyers business sense and marketing that the IPL or laser they're buying.

Don't Buy New comments:

I'm new to this site and so happy to see that I'm not alone. Recently wooed into purchasing the Cutera Excel V (at a conference) BIG mistake. Free drinks, good salespeople, and me-new to industry, naive and inexperienced with lasers and zero business savvy. I was told by the speaker at the event, who was also a friend of a friend who I thought had my best interest in mind, that I was getting "the best deal the salespeople are allowed to give" for the demo unit at that conference. Paid $125,000, it broke on day of training and then 2 more times over next few months, and I did not see the results I expected. Long story short...after 6 months of minimal use, I am trying to get rid of the laser, have been offered $30,000 by 2 different laser re-sale companies! Called financing company Cutera had me sign with-Heartland (no options given and no discussion of terms) who informed me that my payoff is actually $170,000 with no ability to pay less early! Can't resell on my own because warranty doesn't transfer unless I pay Cutera another $30,000 to transfer ownership.

and from LH

... The only Cutera piece I still use is the 1064. I will never buy new from Cutera again. I may buy a used 1064 for 20 cents on the dollar or less. The secondary market is very crowded with Cutera products which continues to devalue them.

but one anonymous poster (sarah) said this:

As a Cutera owner I am shocked to stumble across this site. I have been working with this system 2 years. I have very satisfied patients, many of them are thrilled with the how much better the 1064 works for hairs than other treatments they have had elsewhere.  There the no equal to the 1064 for safely treating facial veins.
Also, anyone who is not getting great results with the Titan is just not doing right. I have people coming over from Thermage all the time. Just prepare your patients, doing this treatment to get great results comes with a lot of discomfort. 
Anyone complaining about a warranty... should have bought it at the beginning. My sales rep is amazing, we can always count on him to support our events and set up extra training whenever we feel under prepared.

In short, We love our Cutera system! It just took learning how to use it correctly.

My impression in reading Sarah's comment is that she is not the owner of the clinic or buyer of the system. (Just a hunch.) Most buyers are always talking about the business costs vs return rather than the personality of the sales rep.  : |

Notes: We allow anonymous comments on this site for obvious reasons but you might want to judge the voracity of those comments vs commenters who are identifying themselves (which you do when you login and comment.) All comments are individual opinions and don't necessarily reflect the views or opinions of others on the site. Make your own decisions.

Anyone have thoughts on the current state of Cutera's technology or sales practices?