Great system for the European repair industry

Pros

I pushed for RO Writer when we decided to open our own shop due to the great experience I had at another shop. The system is well built and is VERY customizable so we can build it more to our everyday use. I like the fact that is integrates World Pac as that is our main parts source. My partners have only been working with the system for a few days and already love the overall simplicity of it and how relatively intuitive it is. The scheduler is another great feature so we are able to see what we have at a glance. We also like the training that comes along with getting the program as they make sure that you understand the basics of the system and provide plenty of guidance time and time for any questions. Customer support has been great so far and sales was a great experience as we were only sold what we were looking for and did not feel pressured to get anything we didn't need.

Cons

The only real issue we have at the moment with RO Writer is the accounting software integration is provided by a third-party vendor. This requires an additional up front cost and then a monthly fee thereafter so RO Writer can integrate with Quickbooks. It would be nice if RO Writer would offer this integration with the system rather than having a third party vendor, but at the same time RO Writer makes a great product.

RO Writer 2019 Gen 2 Migration

My workflow has improved significantly since the migration / upgrade. My employees are using the software far more effectively. We even took advantage of training that RO Writer offers and it has been a breath of fresh air for us. In conclusion, I had issues with my previous set up, RO Writer made promises that If i upgraded to Generation 2, a lot of my issues would be eliminated. I appreciate that they were right and that they made it incredibly easy.

Pros

1. Had problems with querying data (IE History) Was told that this issue would go away if I migrated to Generation 2. I was skeptical. RO Writer was absolutely correct. Looking up info is now incredibly fast thanks to the SQL Server back end.
2. Sales, Install and Training called me WHEN they said they would and everything worked around my schedule, couldn't have asked for it to go better. The team was fantastic.
3. I have several different POS systems. RO Writer is my favorite when it comes to ease of use, hands down.

Cons

I honestly don't have any cons to list here. I am upset that I didn't migrate to Generation 2 sooner.

An Awesome Shop Management Program

The Support team at RO Writer are awesome. CSR respond to all our issues in a prompt manner. The Level 1 and 2 support staff can fix any issues we have in the same day. It happens on all software packages these days.

Pros

What we like about RO Writer is the ease of use and the ability to navigate through the Software. It is very user friendly even for new users. The Accounting side of RO Writer is a must for shops looking to increase their profitability, knowing where the Margins are is very important. Our CPA recommends it also as it is very powerful in that feature. The Support team is awesome.

Cons

Speed issues, but we are on an older version and soon moving to the newer 2.3 version. Sometimes the older version will run sluggish but our database has grown leaps and bounds over the last few years.

Ransomware Killed Me

Thank You R O WRITER for working hard to get us going and doing a GREAT JOB.

Pros

I thought I lost everything on a Friday afternoon. Went out and bought a New Server and one Workstation. Called R O Writer and was up and running on Monday,
without losing anything except one day of work. Found out by R O WRITER, after software was installed that the Backup that CARFAX does every night had all of the DATA I needed to get back up and running. I thought that weekend I wad Dead in The Water.

Cons

Not being able to set software to back up Automatically. Other than not having this on my version of R O WRITER, I believe it is a Great Software for Vehicle repair.

BAD TECH SUPPORT

Pros

Good, but uninspired program. Decently easy to learn. Does everything we need it to. Better than paper system we had previously.

Cons

Tech support. There are other issues, but the tech support is very bad. Don't get me wrong. The tech support isn't so completely horrible that you will be forced to switch to a different program. It's just good enough that you will probably stay using their program because you don't want to go through with retraining your technofeeb employees on a new system.

Let me elaborate on how bad they are:
No online knowledgebase.
No user forum
No email blasts on known issues occurring
Calls to tech support have approximately 20% chance of being kicked out of the queue and hung up on because nobody picked up the phone after 5 minutes of waiting.
Calls to tech support have a >25% chance of not returning your call. Yes, I really am saying they sometimes do not call me back. Frequency of failure does increase as the severity of the problem decreases. In other words, they've always called me back on critical issues. But on very minor issues, they've failed as much as half the time to call me back.
Calls to tech support rarely reach someone who can fix your problem. They almost always have to call you back.
Tech support consistently and repeatedly fails to return your system environment back to it's original configuration after remotely logging in. For example: regedit is often left running and UAC is never turned back on before they log out of your system.

The second worst problem is lack of user input. There are several areas in the program that work...but require many extra steps that could be reduced with minor coding additions.

Excellent Shop Mansgement Software

Pros

We have been using ROWriter software for over 18 years. We currently have 10 shops and a central office using the software. The software is easy to use and to train employees on. It is a real asset to our shops. We also like the recent tablet extension to make ROWriter mobile in our shops. With all of the features available in ROWriter, this is the best shop management software you can buy. Support has also been really good over the years.

Cons

Would like to see more detail in the Central History between shops like parts supplier and parts invoice numbers.

Welcome to the 21st Century, with R O Writer

The fast R O Writer make my shop, the happier I am. Keep improving, please.

Pros

Been a customer with two locations since 1999. This program is the back bone to my biz. You guys have made some major changes to your new 2.0 update and R O Touch. It fells like the Giant has awoken. Good job. Love your team of professionals. AC is a Rock Star! The support staff "gets it done" Another satisfied customer.

Cons

Follow up when calling in and leaving messages in timely order could use improvement. It's tough to have to call you back to find out when someone will fix problem.

RO Writer seen its beter days

It brought me to a new level of business understanding, I have simply out grown this program

Pros

It worked great for years, definately contributed to the growth of my biusiness. Once you use it it has some good logic and flow. It was a definate improvement over what i came from.

Cons

SUIPPORT, SUPPORT, SUPPORT, to much down time waiting on support. when there is a windows update it kills your license, not everytime and not on every computer. Database corruption wore us out. Spent thousands of dollars in hardware improvement only to find out it was a software issue.

Long Time RO Writer User

The seem to have much better Regional, Field and Phone Support. That is a huge help. ---Thank you

Pros

It is user friendly. and has great support. Our Regional and Field Manager has taken the time to make sure that we are aware of all the new features that RO Writer has to offer. We have stayed with RO Writer through thick and thin and very happy that we did. They are adding some really neat features that are taking our shops to new levels.

Cons

No cons at this time, they seem to be handling any issues that I have had in years past.

Ro writer covers all your needs

I have used it for 5 years in both of my shops. As an owner I have the data I need even if I'm not at the shop. It has streamlined our flow 10 fold. Love it. Highly recommend it.

Pros

Reports are plentiful, repair orders are easy to read, ease of use, and has more than you will use for a shop. Easy to open and process repair orders. Ro touch is the bomb. Awesome product

Cons

Theres a lot of stuff to use. But sometimes it just takes time to decide wHt u need to use cor your situation to run your shop profitable and productive

User friendly program!! Long time user of RO Writer

My sales and support reps are great and are ready to offer any advice or guidance needed to continue to improve our experience with RO Writer.

Pros

Very user friendly and great customer support- New user can use this software almost immediately without too many obstacles. Great and almost seamless integration to QuickBooks!!!!!

Cons

Some of the more technical parts of the program are not as easy to navigate through but with research through online help and training, etc. -It is a great program for any repair shop.

its been the best software we have used

i think its getting better every day. I think its still the best point of sale software out there. I dont think there is the perfect system.

Pros

easy estimating at All three of our locations. I really like the new updates with the new version. Another thing i like is the the new smart status on ro touch.

Cons

it locks up at times, and i"m sure its probably something we did wrong along the way. The system gets better every day. I think this system is going to be awesome, once all the bugs are worked out.

THE BEST SOFTWARE EVER!

TIME IS MONEY AND MONEY IS TIME! IF YOU WANT THE TWO WORKING TOGETHER GO WITH R.O. WRITER.

Pros

MOST EFFICIENT AND EASY TO USE. EASY ACCESS TO ALL APPLICATIONS ON THIS SOFTWARE FROM CREDIT CARD MACHINE TO QUICK BOOK FINANCES , PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENTS , CAR FAXES, ALL LINES TO PART SUPPLIERS TO DEALERSHIPS.

Cons

LITTLE PRICEY FOR SMALL SHOPS BUT STILL WORTH THE VALUE. COULD BE FASTER SERVICE ON RETURN CALLS BUT THE PEOPLE THAT HANDLE THE CALLS ARE VERY EFFICIENT.