According to an article published in the September 1998 issue of Scientific Computing & Automation, the author (Randy C. Hice) wrote that "the most valuable reference information [about a vendor] frequently comes from those 'problem' customers." When emotions are set aside, problem customers can reveal solid facts about the pitfalls, traps and shortcomings of a particular organization. Mr. Hice noted that "it should come as no surprise that vendors trot out tried and true references when asked, and hide those in litigation."

Now comes the sorry case of Shimadzu! First of all, how many problem customers does Shimadzu have? If you dig hard enough, you'll find there is a direct correlation between the number of bad references about Shimadzu and the grains of sand at a given beach! Second, do you think the trolls at Shimadzu comprise a litigatous bunch? Well, if you open a dictionary and look up the definition of lawsuit, you'll see the name Shimadzu captioned! Lastly, do you honestly believe that the snakes at Shimadzu will fully disclose to you (uncensored) all the disparaging info sent in by their customers? We'll just remind you of the sneaky tactics employed by the Japanese when they launched a surprise air attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941!

n.b. If you want the poop on Shimadzu's products, request read-only access to their internal bulletin board back to 1995. Make sure its the same one used by all their in-house & field sales, tech support, service and marketing personnel. They have a toll-free 800 number available which their field employees use to call-in to connect to this remote server.... be sure to ask for the toll-free number and let Shimadzu foot the bill!

n.b. If Shimadzu denies you access to their bulletin board, then you don't need Shimadzu. Remember, you're trying to avoid a headache.... you don't want to acquire one that won't go away!

n.b. Some of Shimadzu's most loyal customers (there's only a few) already have access to this bulletin board. Why shouldn't all prospective customers have this same privilege? Are they playing favorites? Do you want to be one of their favorites.... probably NOT! Do you know about the associated risks?

n.b. If Shimadzu won't open up their bad reference files (plural) or their remote server, check out an established newsgroup at www.dejanews.com like sci.chem or sci-chem.analytical. Better yet.... do a complete archival search for "Shimadzu" at the dejanews domain!

n.b. As Mr. Hice concluded, "Good Luck, and remember; in this case, bad news may be more useful than good news" ....especially if its Shimadzu telling you the good news!