Purchasing Considerations for Prospective Shimadzu Clients
1. You (the customer) deserve the BEST!
2. You (the customer) can always do BETTER than Shimadzu!
3. Shimadzu sales people sometimes have a tendency to tell you the things they want you to
hear, but do they always tell you the things that you NEED to hear?
4. Be sure to request a field demonstration from Shimadzu of any technology under
consideration for purchase after reviewing our on-site customer demo
guidelines.
5. At the end of 1995, one US dollar could buy nearly 102 Japanese yen. At the end of
1996, one dollar was worth nearly 116 yen. This means that your money should have bought
you 14% more of everything imported from Japan with the start of 1997. If you decide to
ask for a Shimadzu price quote, be sure to inquire about these potential currency
differences! (The dollar reached a high of 150 yen during 1998.... did you get quoted
anything close to a 50% discount from Shimadzu? If not, then Why NOT? Who pocketed this
huge difference in currency valuations.... can you say S H I M A D Z U?)
6. Do you really need that quoted service contract? According to a report in Kiplinger's
Personal Finance magazine (2/96), "there are plenty of reasons to resist. Some 80% of
service contracts, which guarantee repairs if a product breaks during a specific period of
time, go UNUSED. They often duplicate the warranty. And if the company goes out of
business, your contract may be worthless. Now you can add another shortcoming to the list:
sometimes the service contract itself breaks down." Have you ever been charged for
repairs while your Shimadzu product was still under warranty.... email
shimadzu-sux@bigfoot.com
7. Will Shimadzu field and in-house technical support be there when you need them most?
According to Mr. Chris Gaylor (East Coast Area Manager), "it is one of the weak links
in the organization." Be sure to inquire about the level of product knowledge and
expertise of the technical support specialist who might be training you and your staff.
8. Can you tolerate a technical support specialist who learns "on the job" at
your work-place using your new Shimadzu equipment? How many times has this
happened.... more than you know!
9. Consider that you (the customer) may have to defend against a lawsuit after reading
about former customers that Shimadzu has SUED.
10. Why not call the competition (if they're not courting you
already?)
Expect Less Value and More Disappointment from Shimadzu
This page was last 
12/31/00