The following unsolicited letter was received by us while being forwarded to Shimadzu:


Dear Mr. Tom McKillip (VP, Sales & Marketing),

Thank you for your letter concerning our recent purchase of HPLC equipment from your company. The situation has been a trying one for us. The amount of time it took to get this equipment all in place and functioning has definitely been inordinate....

We are at present using the system but I must point out that all the bugs are not yet removed. The remaining problems are more in the category of nuisances rather than impediments to our work. Your staff is looking at these but I have a hunch some of them, specifically those related to EZChrom, may never be solved. By the way, I hope the new version is better than this one. I have used other chromatography software so I have some basis for comparison. EZChrom has some excellent virtues but its vices are not slight.

I must reiterate something I pointed out on my card. Your manuals need a complete overhaul. It's beyond me to know how you issued some of them without an index. Those that have an index, for example EZChrom, are far from complete. The one for the LC- 10AD pump is in some parts difficult to understand (a euphemism for incomprehensible). Don't worry though. As soon as the weather gets better, I will put these publications to good use. I will use them to start my barbecue grill!


Sincerely,

Dr. Erich Grundel
Food & Drug Administration
Washington, DC 20204