To answer your question, it does work, but it depends a lot on the coach and his methods. I did a bootcamp with a kick-ass PUA about a year ago that truly changed my life (and the life of other guys that I got to meet). But I also know people that basically wasted their money with other coaches. I also know some mediocre coaches myself.
As to how he worked, it included pushing me far beyond my comfort zone in day-game and night-game for a weekend, it was extremely intense mentally, the term bootcamp was very appropriate. All while giving constant feedback on the spot. To me that’s where the value was because I became aware of a million things I was doing wrong (and right) that I knew in theory but wasn’t able to be aware of in action. I feel like my game improved two years in two days.
The trick is that my coach was really good. He was able to identify my personal needs, what my weaknesses were. Also he was all about principles, not so much techniques, so the whole bootcamp was a true experience of personal development – become a better man. In my opinion, paying someone to teach you techquines or how to manipulate women is a waste of money because their results are quite limited, it’ll help you here and there but won’t help you become a real attractive man.
The problem is you can’t know if the coach is good beforehand. So the advice I give you is that you look for references of the coach before spending any money. Talk to his previous students and see what they say. But it does work if you choose the right coach, you won’t regret paying for it.