In Ihe October, 2001 issue of Microscopy Today, Randy Tindail described and compared his experiences with service contracts offered by insurance companies versus those offered by equipment manufacturers. As a small business with limited funds, we, too, grappled with the onerous costs of service contracts on our SEM and EDS units. However, we believe that we have found an extremely cost-effective means of protecting our equipment investment against the expense of a major failure.

First, a bit of business philosophy: We believe insurance should be designed to protect the insured from catastrophe, and not be expected to take care of every minor expense or inconvenience that may develop.