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Selected Vendor Evaluations
To provide service to its business community, Syncopated openly shares information regarding its current and potential use of many vendors and solicits comments and questions via its contact page. (Prospective vendors are requested to review this site and to contact Syncopated if appropriate.)
All organizations should make and use records of transactions in order to avoid repeating poor experiences. (Recall the old adage, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.") For more information, see the Operations Management article.
Entries are listed by type of product and/or serivce provided and stock-keeping unit (sku) used by Syncopated, the vendor and the manufacturer.
Stata of examined vendors fall in these categories:
- preferred
- authorized
- marginal
- disqualified
| SKU/Description | Vendor/Mfr. Name | Status/Remark |
|---|---|---|
| automobiles | Daimler-Chrysler (U.S. brands Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, etc.) (Germany & MI) (mfr.) | disqualified due to poor designs |
| Ford Motor Company (MI) (mfr.) | disqualified due to poor designs, involvement in Bridgestone-Ford tire safety scandal | |
| Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru brand) (Japan) (mfr.) | preferred; comfortable, rugged, sure-footed, low-maintenance, long-lasting | |
| General Motors (MI) (mfr.) | disqualified due to poor designs | |
| automobiles: truck: rental | Penske | preferred |
| U-Haul (Florida) | disqualified 2006 due to poor service, breach of contract | |
| automobile tires | Bridgestone/Firestone Tire (mfr.) | disqualified due to poor quality (original equipment on Subaru), involvement in Bridgestone-Ford tire safety scandal |
| Discount Tire (MI) | preferred; consistently the best price, service and overall value | |
| Michelin (mfr.) | preferred; consistently the best quality | |
| conferences | Austin Game Conference (TX) | disqualified 2004; identified as source of much poorly-targeted unsolicited commercial email (a.k.a. "Spam") |
| Game Developers Conference (California) | authorized | |
| construction: residential/homes | D.R. Horton (formerly Milburn Homes) (mfr.& vendor) | disqualified due to poor product quality |
| document production | FedEx Kinko's | preferred: open always, helpful, wide range of services, fair prices |
| electronic printed circuit board fabrication | ExpressPCB (California) | preferred (for 2-layer p.c.b.s only); consistent, surprisingly fast and accurate order fulfillment and delivery, free software |
| electronic components vendor, stocking distributor | Digi-Key Corp. (Minnesota) | preferred; consistent, surprisingly fast and accurate order fulfillment and delivery |
| electronic components: energy cells and batteries, one-time use (use discouraged due to environmental impact) | Duracell (mfr.) | preferred |
| Energizer (mfr.) | authorized | |
| electronic components: semiconductors | Altera (San Jose, California) (mfr.: programmable logic devices) | authorized |
| On Semiconductor (formerly part of Motorola) (mfr.: analog, discrete, power) | authorized | |
| Freescale Semiconductor (formerly part of Motorola) (TX) (mfr.: microprocessors) | authorized | |
| Lattice Semiconductor (OR) (mfr.: programmable logic devices) | preferred; fast, simple, inexpensive logic solutions, free software and free/inexpensive download cables | |
| Maxim Integrated Products (California) (mfr.) | preferred | |
| Texas Instruments (TX) (mfr.) | preferred | |
| Xilinx (California) (mfr.: programmable logic devices) | disqualified | |
| electronic computers | Apple (incl. Apple Store) (California) (mfr. & vendor) | disqualified 2006 due to
...all within a 5.5 year period (2001-2007). |
| Dell (TX) (mfr. & vendor) | disqualified; warranty terms incompatible (requiring release of right to sue for breach and arbitration through the National Arbitration Forum) | |
| Gateway (SD) (mfr. & vendor) | disqualified; warranty terms incompatible (requiring release of right to sue for breach and arbitration through the National Arbitration Forum) | |
| General Dynamics/Itronix (California) (mfr. & vendor) | preferred for former Tadpole Computer rugged (including mil. spec.) SPARCbook notebook and laptop computers | |
| Hewlett-Packard (H-P), incl. Compaq, Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) (TX) (mfr. & vendor) | marginal | |
| International Business Machines (I.B.M.) (NY) (mfr. & vendor) | authorized | |
| Lenovo (China) (mfr.) | authorized for former I.B.M. ThinkPad products | |
| Panasonic (Japan) (mfr.) | preferred for rugged (including mil. spec.) Toughbook notebook and laptop computers | |
| electronic computer components: fixed (hard) disk drives | Fujitsu (mfr.) | marginal |
| Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (mfr.) | preferred for former I.B.M. brands DeskStar, TravelStar | |
| Seagate (incl. Conner Peripherals, Maxtor, MiniScribe, Quantum brands) (California) (mfr.) | disqualified 1989 due to poor product quality (Maxtor separately in 1993 due to poor product quality, warranty issues) | |
| Western Digital (mfr.) | authorized | |
| electronic computer components: networking devices | Cisco Systems (incl. Linksys brand) (mfr.) | preferred, though a failed a.c. adapter and customer service lack quality |
| D-Link (mfr.) | disqualified due to poor product quality (incl. obvious design mistakes), poor customer service | |
| electronic computer software | Microsoft (Washington) (mfr.) | marginal due to poor product quality, unlawful trade practices |
| electronic equipment: test & measurement | Naptech (California) | authorized |
| Telogy (California) | authorized | |
| electronic equipment: video production | HiTech Enterprises (Florida) | disqualified 1999 due to fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of contract |
| electronic products: consumer: retail | Apple Store (California) | disqualified (see Apple) |
| Best Buy (Minnesota) | marginal (2007) due to poor returns policy (customer must prove item is defective or pay 15% restocking fee), poor customer service (Web-based contact form nonfunctional) | |
| Fry's Electronics (California) | marginal due to poor service, rebate fraud; good returns policy | |
| financial | Charles Schwab & Co. (California) | disqualified due to poor and declining quality of service |
| Wells-Fargo Bank (California) | disqualified due to poor service, billing practices | |
| financial: insurance | State Farm Insurance | disqualified due to unlawful trade practices (including "bait-and-switch" methods), apparently common to many offices and agents |
| food: supermarkets | H-E-B Supermarkets (San Antonio, Texas) | preferred; consistent low prices, good quality and value |
| food service | In-n-Out Burger (California) | preferred; consistent good quality |
| McDonald's Corp. (IL) | disqualified due to poor quality | |
| Starbucks Coffee (Washington) | marginal due to poor value, apparent predatory operation | |
| Internet Web site development services | see Austin Area Web Site Developer Rankings | |
| legal arbitration | National Arbitration Forum (N.A.F.) (Minnesota) | disqualified; dispute pending (2007/04/11-) |
| office supplies | Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) (Minnesota) (mfr.) | preferred; consistent good quality and value |
| Office Depot (Florida) | marginal | |
| telecommunication | American Telegraph and Telephone (A.T.&T.), formerly S.B.C. Communications (formerly Southwestern Bell Corp.) and Cingular Wireless (San Antonio, Texas) | disqualified due poor quality of service (inconsistent with federal law), poor customer service, billing practices; apparent abusive monopoly |
| T-Mobile (Deutche Telekom) | authorized | |
| Time-Warner Cable | authorized | |
| transportation: passenger: air (use discouraged per policy) | America West Airlines (AZ) | disqualified (twice) due to poor quality of service, poor customer service |
| American Airlines (Texas) | marginal due to poor ground service, breach of contract (devaluing frequent flier program) | |
| Southwest Airlines (Texas) | preferred; good service overall, good frequent flier program | |
| transportation: passenger: surface rail | AmTrak | disqualified due to poor schedules, poor value, (unconstitutional) prohibition on possession or transportation of firearms |
| transportation: parcel | Federal Express (FedEx) (TN) | marginal due to poor service |
| United Parcel Service (U.P.S.) | marginal due to poor service | |
| United Stated Postal Service (U.S.P.S.) | marginal due to poor service, lost mail (usually only when sending checks), forwarding requests not processed as advertised, (unconstitutional) prohibition on possession of firearms | |
| utility: energy | Austin Energy (City of Austin) | authorized |
| Texas Gas Service | preferred | |
| Web site development services | see Austin Area Web Site Developer Rankings | |
Related Reading
For further reading about business management, see An Introduction to Business and Operations Management.
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Chamber of Commerce
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