What POS system do use use? (Point Of Sale)

[Apple Repair Shop]

I'm currently using Square https://squareup.com
Pros: Good for the clients experience reliable great software interface saves me time accounting.
Cons: 2.7% interest
Considering switching to Capital One Spark. https://www.capitalone.com/small-business-bank

 

[larossmann]

I use repairshopr because I can bitch at Troy when I need something added. Custom statuses, check.Integration on an item-by-item basis with quickbooks, check. This makes it easy to see what type of repairs I've done, which were mail-in vs. local, etc.

Repairshopr can integrate with asterisk so that my PBX can use repairshopr to bring up caller ID. When a new call comes in, I can see the name of the customer and the status of the ticket. So I can tell if it is a call I should pick up immediately, or something to let the salesguy pick up because that call will be a nightmare, or if it is a new customer that has never been here.

Small stuff like that makes it worth every cent.

 

[CleverTech]

We currently are using Intuit Quickbooks POS v.12.
It has an epic inventory template you can use. We've used it to build a data where we can easily reference compatible parts via EMC, Model ID, Manufacturer part number, Apple part number, color.
We've tested it on 12-14 year olds (my brother and sister) and they can easily reference parts in are data base.

Its a lot of work to build but this allows us to easily keep every apple part in stock and easily reference the compatible parts.

Currently attempting to build a data base w/ same references but for IC, SMC, GPU's etc for apple motherboards.

Also has a lot of lower merchant services rates, customer support is great, no monthly fee. Work orders can easily be referenced.

Great stuff.

 

[mohammed]

We currently are using Intuit Quickbooks POS v.12.
It has an epic inventory template you can use. We've used it to build a data where we can easily reference compatible parts via EMC, Model ID, Manufacturer part number, Apple part number, color.
We've tested it on 12-14 year olds (my brother and sister) and they can easily reference parts in are data base.

Its a lot of work to build but this allows us to easily keep every apple part in stock and easily reference the compatible parts.

Currently attempting to build a data base w/ same references but for IC, SMC, GPU's etc for apple motherboards.

Also has a lot of lower merchant services rates, customer support is great, no monthly fee. Work orders can easily be referenced.

Great stuff.

We are also using quick books POS , version 8 I think. Looking to upgrade to a newer version. I may be interested in purchasing the inventory template you built, if you are willing to sell. That sounds like a good idea, and a lot less time consuming to build off of something you built and tried.

 

[mnaty]

Louis, whats your thoughts on repairshopr's in-store experience. I found it very redundant and cumbersome for processing in store customers. Been looking for a system that is truely paperless for in-store. However, repairshopr ended up causing us to have to double down on intake paperwork. We first had to have customer written up on paper with signature and then transfer and upload the ticket info + scans into system after customer left. This doubling effect of paperwork often ended up at the bench level which sucked.

Currently just using our own custom intake form on wordpress+woocommerce and using approveme plugin for digital signing and helpdesk/ticket tracking plugin for workflow. Its not perfect, but neither was repairshopr and other than server ive got no ongoing monthly cost. This option eliminated the need to transfer paperwork back to bench at higher traffic times, but the ticket tracking of wordpress lacks some of the robustness that repairshopr has. One of those pick and choose your battle moments.

 

[spakhnyuk]

We use RepairShopr in the service department I work at and we love it. We use a ViewSonic touch screen monitor (with a Mac Mini) and have the customers sign the intake form during drop off on the screen. Repair Shopr MADE our check in/check out process paperless. We use a Dymo label maker to print the ticket labels that we stick on the machine during check in. We are able to sign a specific repair to a specific tech, and the note history is awesome. I honestly don't know how I would ever be able to not use RS. It totally transformed our service department. The best part is the developers are constantly improving it. Every friday they come out with a new (usually extremely useful) feature.

 

[larossmann]

What do you mean by double intake paperwork? I use the checkin system where they sign the terms of service on a touchscreen monitor, no dual paperwork for me. It makes a ticket and autoprints 2 labels, one for them to take, one for the computer, their signature on terms is digitally saved.. works wonders.

 

[spakhnyuk]

larossmann I second that. We do that exact thing in our shop. Very efficient system.

 

[mnaty]

What do you mean by double intake paperwork? I use the checkin system where they sign the terms of service on a touchscreen monitor, no dual paperwork for me. It makes a ticket and autoprints 2 labels, one for them to take, one for the computer, their signature on terms is digitally saved.. works wonders.

Two problems with their digital process flow. 1) i dont believe it meets the criteria of legally binding esignature due to broken-up methodology of how a user esigns. ***think docusign and how its fundamentally different.
2) our customers didnt like it (how it worked). Maybe its better now, but a year ago it was not. The system just doesnt flow well ony opinion and created bottlenecks for us.

My current system is just a simple form builder on wordpress that links form data to approveme plugin with our paperwork on template. Form fields link to document text fields for auto input.
Customer can interface with form intake independently or with guidance of staff. Once initial intake is done service desk can verify signature and completeness via approveme panel.

The key difference here is that after answering the form questions (similar to repairshopr) the customer now gets a digital pdf that step by step guides the signing process. ***my next evolution of this is to add if/so logic into form, so that specific disclaimers and warranty info can be acknowledge and/or initialized by signor to further ensure compliance and protection. These extra acknoledgements will also serve as primers for upsells, such as data back-up policy. If customer acknoledges that their data is their responisiblity unless explicitly accepting/paying for data backup/recovery. This way customer is already primed for the upsell at the handover.

And yes... I do enjoy doing shit the hard way, if it means im doing it the right way (or at least the right way in my opinion). But in all seriousness, i do not believe that any current repair desk software woth esign currently meets esign legal requirements. I may be wrong, but i 80% sure im not. @Louis maybe you can get an answer from your contact. Or has anyone that works with repairshopr taken the esign into court challenge and received judgement and set legal-precendent that the contract is valid, regardless of the outcome.

Bad customers can be scammers, stupid or just walmart fan club members... Or all three. In my first week work with B2C we had a customer file civil for a samsung that screen seperated between layers upon attempt to extract using newer suction machine. (this machine is idot proof and works like a charm) however we have found some symptoms tend to allude to this possibility of damage, such as excessive exposure to water and extreme side impacts. It is now our belief that these situations can greatly affect success of screen prying using suction. Failure to identify these issues can lead to delamination of layers with Samsung Oled screens.

Long story short. Rather paying the difference from our discount refurb service vs the full screen replace price the customer attempted to demand that i buy him a completely new phone. Fastforward, we went before the court and our contract stated the liabilities and policies clearly and showed the custers signature and special notes acknoledgements. We won; we could have counter sued but that was unnecessary. What i did discover is that having valid work contracts with clear clauses and acknoledgements with final sigutures is best protection and worth a shit ton more than any pos cost in the long run.

Again, i love repairshopr for ticketing... Just not for intake and without the two i stubborn towarda the idea that ill evetually get the ticlet tracking i want wordpress. But if repairshopr would tidy it up and validate its legal conformity... I would come back

 

[larossmann]

There is a box where they sign, and then they have to tap a checkbox that says "I agree to the terms", is there really more necessary?

 

[CleverTech]

Hi Mohammed.
We currently aren't selling the inventory template and not sure if it will ever be for sale.
There is current talks of how we will be distributing it in the future but nothing exact at this moment.

If you need any help feel free to ask questions and I can help you to the best of my ability.

 

[mnaty]

Yes, actually for a legal esign you need several elements... And im no expert but my understanding is that you need proof of atleast:
1) continuity of doc - all terms are clearly expressed and digital print has to be legible for establishing a 'meeting of minds'. The biggest problem i see with all (its not just repairshopr) esign option in repairshop pos systems is that terms are opened with sig box on webpage, but scroll and focus is on signature box and terms are actually skipped over. Some malicious html could be used to obfuscate terms for signature which opens the door that terms were never made clear. For small accounts this will probably never matter but making it better and compliant with UETA/ESIGN doesnt seem to be a priority for any pos vendor in this market. I definitely would it use it on a commercial account for a 10-20k+ server contract.

A good example of need for disclosure in electronic terms... Think of how many online T&C boxes now require you scroll terms before clicking agree. If removes the argumemt that terms were hidden and/or not made available. This change didnt evolve because the company likes to make people read. It evolved because someone sued and won.

2) ueta/esign doesnt get as much into melding of minds as it instead mostly pertains to establishing link of the parties through attributes with validation and documentation storage requirements for esign. I dont know for sure, but i dont believe any of the repair pos solutions ive seen are ueta/esign compliant. They certainly dont claim to be.

3) there are also state specific requirements for esign plus contracts in general. this is more where youre melding of the minds comes into play. Does you state feel that you have made youre terms clear and available. Also, some states still have no official stance on esign which means precedent is yet to be set. The only way to know your truely safe within your state for your particular esign practices would be to know what your state requirements are. This means consulting a laywer and accepting/implementing their interpretation. Im not going to do that, but instead i chose the best esign options available and for me repairshopr wasnt it. To me, there is a lot of arguability in the disclosure practices of repairshopr's esign, whereas the approveme esign docs have very little. However, this is just my opinion.

One other thing i really wanted in my esign was pop-up terms. The ability to link a specific term for pop-up with a specific service(s) or even goods and have those key terms individually pop up at time of signing for additional initialing. This guarantees disclosure and removes all opportunities for customer to say you never told me that. Some of my big ones i want for pop-up are:

1) we are trained repair facility and not an authorized... Yada-yada... Voids Warranty
2) data backup policy
3) data privacy policy
4) abandoned device policy

No company wanted to make the above features possible, but i can do this myself via a web form and some pretty simple if/then logic. So this, for me, was one more reason not to choose approve me as my best option.

This topic has become a long one for me over and over again and i think ive beaten this hoarse to death. If it works for u then use it, but will it hold up on court?.. I doubt; esp. in New York where there is much precedent already set for esign requirements. If you're re curious, pay a lawyer 450 or whatever the going rate is for an hour of time and see if they approve.

My bottom line is that for me it felt clunky, clumsy and looked unprofessional when i had to scroll because the terms were out of view and customers couldnt see what they were signing other than a block that said sign here. For those reason we kept with paper at the point of sale and then had the bench enter into system. This eventually led to not being entered at all and then that was the end of that... Immediate need for change.

Maybe i could have implemented better, but thats what i got out of it. Making it work felt like settling, so i moved on.

 

[mnaty]

Cant edit previous post. So to clarify. Statement regarding 10-20k plus server contracts should read as 'definitely would not use'

 

[larossmann]

Jeez.

I haven't been taken to court yet. I can't imagine it happening over some stupid laptop shit. At the end of the day this is a consumer device, chargeback and bad review is the worst one can hope for.

For chargebacks they could care less what was signed/agreed to/proven, it is just up to the discretion of the person deciding(usually in customer's favor).

Court is something I have limited experience with when it comes to consumer devices.

 

[mnaty]

Youre right, its rare and for the most part not necessary and that is why i think the pos companies are avoiding/backlogging inprovements to this feature. So much any other upgrades will show immediate and recognizable benefits... But good legal practices and process flow not only covers your ass, but also build trust with consumers when they are made to feel everything is transparent and easy to assimilate.

I think that most people using currently avail esign for repairdesk, if willing to admit, will say it works best when presented as sign here and done (ie. Dont read, just trust me).

Thx Louis for bearing with me while i vented and hopefully you never need to test the legal strength of your system .

 

[pcfriends]

im going to share what I learn on how to not have problems that involve court :

Don't do business with people with full gray hairs , people age 65 or more or if you know they are retired , they have all the time in the world to fight you , take you to court represent themselves because they learn that before they fight others before you , and that great advantage save them them the money of the lawyer the one you need to pay to fight them back , they are not going to be ok , even if you have a paper with their signature on the agreement , they will look for other weakness on your business , like taxes , license , illegal services or products , they will find the way they have nothing else to do anymore.

I hope it helps !

 

[larossmann]

Doing business with old people is fine so long as you understand a few basic truths. They understand and listen to half of what you say when it comes to technology. Not all old people, but some, hate technology. They resent technology. They see you as the enemy because you represent the technology that they hate.

My job is to make people happy through fixing their problems. For people who see technology AS the problem, I can never make them happy, so I do not do business with them; regardless of their age.

But yeah shit like data recovery for older people... if you give them their files and folders in the structure they were on their machine, they will LOSE THEIR MIND. You mean I have to reinstall applications, and reimport libraries, etc... I have had old people break down crying in the store because they had to remember their email password. Just crazy.

Be careful and always be thinking.