The following email message was received by us on January 15, 1998:


To: concerns@oocities.com
From: faculty@medlib@georgetown.edu

Last year, I saw a copy of the Shimadzu Consumer Alerts posted on a student bulletin board here on campus. I punched up the homepage and read the information with much interest. At the time, I had a hard time believing that an organization like Shimadzu could have so many problems. So I decided to do some sleuthing on my own and here's what I've learned so far. Some of it is quite disturbing.

The Public Information Officer at the Maryland Occupational Health and Safety (MOSH) office in Baltimore was very conversant about Shimadzu's apparent problems. He provided credible information which substantiated much of the information on your Consumer Alerts homepage. This should be disturbing to any Shimadzu customer!

Then there is the story I heard from a corporate researcher who procured a Shimadzu photo-diode-array detector powered by EZ-chrom software. He commented that the Shimadzu sales representative called the chromatography product "Sleezy-chrom" because of it's abundant software glitches. Apparently EZ-chrom earned such a bad reputation that Shimadzu introduced Class-VP instead which this researcher has labelled as "Class-crap!"

After reading the facts on the Consumer Alerts homepage, I decided to call Shimadzu directly and ask for their perspective. On two different days, I spoke with Mr. Billy Hase and Ms. Iris Volkmann in the Customer Service department. Incredibly, neither one of them was familiar with the information on your homepage. To be frank, I find this amazing! These two individuals are guilty of not getting out enough and lying. Unfortunately, I'm inclined to think that they are both covering the collective butt of the Shimadzu organization. This is very disturbing!

All of this leaves me wondering: 1) what does Shimadzu have to gain by denying or lying when a state agency has the incriminating evidence available in a public file, 2) what else does this organization deny and/or lie about and to whom, and 3) why would anyone do business with this deceitful company? As noted on your homepage, if any lab personnel are considering the purchase of lab equipment, Shimadzu should be on the bottom of their list.

Finally, the interoffice memo from Mr. Terry "troll" Adams is the icing on the cake. I rather enjoy reading the Quote of the Month section which highlights his noteworthy observations. I hope the fat lady is not ready to sing yet. Keep up the good work! Hopefully, the bullies at Shimadzu will get their butts sued for their censoring activities.

Good Luck!


Sincerely,

Georgetown instructor

One would think that everyone in the Shimadzu family would be singing the same tune after a year of perusing our Consumer Alerts homepage. If the Customer Service department doesn't know which end is up, then what are the chances that similar deceptive practices have infected other departments at Shimadzu? When presented with embarrassing corporate wrongdoing, organizations have a propensity to deny, lie or offer no comment. Often times, this connotes a guilty verdict with the consuming public. Considering Shimadzu's current debacle, would you be surprised if they LIED to you? Where is the honesty, trust and respect for the customer.... need we say anymore!

n.b. There's a growing heap under the carpet in the middle of the atrium floor.... do you think that Shimadzu hopes that you DON'T notice it? One has to wonder how much other rubbish and debris has been deliberately swept under the rug at Shimadzu!

n.b. In our effort to cure the bad prevaricating habit that seems to be running rampant in the Customer Service department at Shimadzu, we will email and send under separate cover a copy of our Consumer Alerts homepage to Mr. Bill Hase and Ms. Iris Volkman (Customer Support Coordinator) since they don't seem to get out enough.... wonder if they'll change their tune or just find another convenient excuse?

n.b. Some managerial figurehead at Shimadzu should tell Mr. Hase and Ms. Volkman that they are not immune from possible judicial action including questioning in the form of interrogatories, deposition and subpoena. Hopefully, Mr. Hase and Ms. Volkman will do the right thing all of the time now that they know!