One-sided contract
Be very careful – rollover contract and service issues.
The software itself is decent, but the problems start with the contract and support. I feel I have not received the level of service promised, yet the company is very quick to rely on the contract when issues are raised.
Support is limited to set hours and no help is available outside those hours, even in emergencies when the system is down and a business is affected.
Another important point: this is a rollover contract. If you don’t cancel within the notice period, it automatically continues, regardless of whether the service has met expectations. This was not made clear enough at the start.
Also, having two tills does not mean business continuity. If the master till fails, the second till will not work independently. Any workaround relies on them enabling it remotely again, only during their working hours.
Overall, the system may work, but the contract terms and lack of flexibility when service falls short are a big concern. I strongly recommend negotiating terms upfront and fully understanding the rollover clause before signing.
Reply from Image Retail Solutions Ltd
Thank you for your positive feedback on our software and also your several years of custom.
We have tried to explain that your recent issues have been down to your choice of card payment providers, one of whom still relies on 20 year old technology for their solution. We have tried to recommend alternatives and are more than happy to pick this up with you again to help you find a more reliable solution.
We have also tried to explain that your current system failure relates to a terminal not purchased from us, and also that you only have a software-only service contract with us for the store in question.
We try and be very transparent about the opening hours of our help desk. Whilst it is not a 24 hours service, it is open every day of the year. The opening hours are detailed both in the contract and in bold text on the main screen of the software. Where we are assisting with third party issues (such as the card processing service) we are also reliant on the opening hours of their own help desk and the speed of their response.
We have also explained that we do offer solutions that allow running tills independently of each other.
We do try and make as clear as we can both in the contract, next to the signature box in bold, on the covering email, and also our quotes, that our service contracts are an annual commitment of a rolling nature. As we have to pay or commit to a number of the costs associated with our contracts in advance, we rely in good faith that customers will honour their contractual commitments. Where some companies expect annual payment upfront, we give our customers the convenience of spreading the cost over the year. The majority of our customers are only small businesses and appreciate this flexibility.
