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 easy to use

The day to day use of RO Writer has become a natural part of our days.

Pros

Very easy to use, integrates with Quickbooks, easy to make labor lines to suite customer complaints, very customizable, has a DVI system that allows techs to attach pictures to RO.; allows text communications between service writers and tech which increase efficiencies. Has text capabilities from Service writer to customer and allows customer to text back for increased approval times; etc.

Cons

It is not designed to manage a large inventory (works great on a small inventory)

Was decent, then bad, then abysmal

9 years of honeymoon promises, updates, new sales reps, always promises and no delivery. For the last 5 years I averaged over 20 hours per both on tech support calls. That should say enough right there.

Pros

Details. You want reports, you got ‘em.

Cons

Almost everything else. Just gets worse with each iteration.

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.

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.

It was great back in the 90's when it was designed - now it's like driving an antique car

RO Writer was a solid option for a shop management system about 10 years ago. The software is very comprehensive and highly customizable. That said, we have suffered from constant technical problems over the last several years. RO Writer tech support has required us to spend a small fortune updating and replacing network hardware(including our server) to fix the technical problems, but the problems were never fixed. After spending a ton on upgrades to our network, we finally gave up and replaced RO Writer with another software. I've been trying to contact their billing department for months in order to be released from our service agreement due to the constant technical problems, but I can't even get them to return my calls or e-mails. RO Writer was originally designed around a Microsoft Access database, which is ancient technology in 2021. The "new" version(which they will charge you another $10K for and make you sign a 3 year agreement) is based on SQL, but it's half-baked and doesn't function properly. This software should have been scrapped and totally redesigned a decade ago, but the company keeps dragging along their antiquated system and selling it like it's a modern shop management system. Let me finish with this: If RO Writer's website was based on the same technology that their software is, NOBODY would even consider buying it because you would load the website and realize it was designed with twenty year old technology.

Pros

Good parts ordering options and great product documentation

Cons

Constant crashes, extremely slow response from software. I spent half of my day staring at my screen waiting for RO writer to catch up with me.

Great in 1999

RO Writer is a large improvement over using just paper, but does not measure up to newer platforms and cloud based systems.

Pros

The best feature about RO Writer is Smart E-Cat. This is an add on feature, but does more to drag this archaic platform into this century than anything else. That said RO Writer functions as a great shop management system in 1999.

Cons

While the program functions it does everything VERY slow. There is also very little customization for most operations.

Efficient & effective automotive repair software

Pros

I like the speed with which I am able to determine availability for products and create repair order estimates. Find quite accurate.

Cons

At times will ask questions like 4wd vs 2wd, automatic vs standard shift but then will display both options on parts screen even after I have narrowed down the search. I dislike that you have to get out of an estimate for any other work in rowriter- example I am estimating brakes on customers vehicle when receive call from another customer for an appointment- have to exit estimate in order to set appointment in scheduler- I am constantly having to go back into or restart estimates. Also would like to be able to look at part pictures from the ro once on a ticket- with current system have to go back into smart jobs if I would like to reference picture again.

Legacy Automotive

A C has been fantastic. He made the switch over process seamless. Software is doing exactly what we want and look forward to future updates.

Pros

Simple to use. If you can read it's self explanatory.

Cons

Almost too basic in some areas. Example: maybe a more modern look instead of blocky 2000s era software.

Great program to organize repair orders for Auto Business

Helpful in organizing all aspects of automotive database.

Pros

Easy to input information into the system. Keeps customer database and inventory organized. Easy to check customer's history on vehicles

Cons

RO Writer is not always easy to navigate. It took some time to learn. Sometimes has glitches, however Customer Service is available to assist.

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.

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.

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.

Excellent & professional!

From the sales rep Stan helping me out multiple times from one business to another and A.C. Moore being very active in making sure I was taken care of . Two thumbs up and will recommend this to any other shop

Pros

User friendly I can almost do anything from selling parts or looking at my inventory this is a go to for any shop

Cons

Needs more advertising for sure this will get better in time I’m sure . As for the accounting this isn’t very user friendly even after the training

Exactly the way I Imagined it could be.

This software is great, gone are the days of stacks of papers, and techs not knowing what to do next.

Pros

RO Writer is the ideal way to manage your shop. Seamlessly integrates with VirtualVehicle, and Quickbooks.

Cons

There are a lot of moving parts of this software, and its a little hard to learn but when you get the proper training from the RO Writer Team, its incredibly powerful.

Very helpful

Very easy system to use. When you call rep she take care of you and gives you to the right people to call.

Pros

I really like using RO writer. It is very user friendly. I would recommend this system to customers and family and friends.

Cons

The only thing I have a con is with inventory. The reports for inventory does not work since the RO has been updated. It dup. parts number on reports.

Best Automotive repair shop software, Hands down.

Super fast and easy to build RO's and estimates. Lots of good reports. Would recommend to everyone in the Automotive repair field.

Pros

1. Super easy to use. 2. Accounting link is the best. 3. Takes two minutes to build an estimate. 4. My sales rep is awesome [AC Chauhan]

Cons

None at this time. RO Writer ROCKS. Have had two other software companies, None compares to RO Writer.

Long time user, early adopter - I'm out.

When we first bought in RO Writer in 2009 was among the best available. Had many features other software didn't address. At first the company was actively interested in feedback and improvements. As time and versions went by no changes or improvements were made. As updates rolled out, critical faults were repaired, but we noticed a slow loss of screen handling ability. With version 2.0, we lost significant mouse functionality in critical screens, and many useful features regarding inventory handling were eliminated. Version 2.0 is a significant downgrade. This is not an isolated incident as a scan of reviews and forums will support our experiences.

Pros

Integrates with 3rd party software. Basic point of sale functionality. With a paid Pro support subscription response is fairly quick, Tier 1 personel are fairly knowledgeable.

Cons

Screen handling, Window sizing, and placement, Field Navigation. Inventory control process. Loss of automated backup processes. Tier 2/3, and programming support ineffective when they respond. Improvements promised but never delivered. Follow-up non-existant.

Awesome

I will recommend this software to everyone, R.O Writer is the way to go. Had a bad experience with Mitchell 1 and would not recommend that to anyone.

Pros

It does everything a Mechanic Shop needs.

Cons

I love everything about it. There is nothing I do nit like about it.

12 Years with RO Writer

Pros

This product makes us money. Not only in grosses on sales, but on efficiencies. It makes ordering part very easy and you can compare competitors pricing.

Cons

Hard to learn, but the best product once you do learn it. The system does lock up from time to time, but easy to restart. Sometimes takes quite a while to get through to customer support.

Gen II

Pros

Gen II system works well, love the scheduler . AC helped me with information about our new move, and thanks for reminding to forward then our new address.

Cons

I think the number of steps that it takes to close out the repair order when final to pay is to long , customer gets a little upset sometimes.

Very helpful customer service

Customer support were very quick to respond to our issue which is very much appreciated!

Pros

Easy to Use- even for first time users Customer Service is very Helpful Quick Response Time

Cons

Unable to think of a con at this time!

VERY EFFICIENT WAY TO RUN A LARGE OR SMALL SHOP.

Pros

THIS PROGRAM ALLOWS YOU TO RUN YOUR SHOP AND CROSS CHECK ORDERED PART WITH INVOICES BY PUTTING AN OPEN INVOICES TO A PARTICULAR STATUS. VERY OFFICIANT. IT HAS ALLOWED ME TO RUN A $2,000,000 SHOP BY MY SELF.

Cons

I WISH I COULD LOOK UP FACTORY PART NUMBERS UP WITH THIS SYSTEM

The most powerful tool for your shop.

Pros

The overall usability and control the software gives you is unmatched. You can really customize things to suit your needs.

Cons

Wish it had more mobile features such as ability to view schedule remotely from a mobile device. As well as operated on Mac! Cmon guys!

AC is a smart cookie!

Pros

RO Writer is easy to use and we love the scheduler. Allows purchases from multiple vendors which allows us to shop pricing as well.

Cons

Not a con for RO Writer but some vendors do not always support the smartecat updates which would allow for updated catalogs.

Customer Service

Pros

Thank you to the customer rep for always assisting myself and my coworkers. He always gives us fantastic customer service.

Cons

The only issue we have ever had with RO Writer is that the wait times are very long on the phone when trying to get through.

Sales Manager AC is great! showed us the new features for RO Writer and explained them to us. He has great Customer Service.

Pros

RO Writer is easy to use and the new functionality is going to make our job easier. We really like the new features of RO Touch.

Cons

Sometimes customer support is slow to respond but most of the time you can work around until they get back to you.

Good product overall, gets the job done and for the most part done well.

Pros

RO Writer helps you run a profitable business. It is very strong in reporting, and having all the separate modules is very helpful when multi-tasking. Smart-e-Cat is nice having all your parts vendors on one screen and the integration with SpeedDial is great. With my current reps, AC and Stan, recent support needs have been met quickly and efficiently.

Cons

The product as a whole is a bit dated and occasionally will need to be restarted due to errors. There is an updated 2.0 version out, we have not migrated to that yet in order to let them get some of the bugs worked out. Was expensive to purchase up front.

Helpfull and easy

Pros

Lots of configurations to fit your needs. Electronic ordering parts and labor matrix help with profits.

Cons

Sometimes support can be slow, luckily we are usually able to work around most issues, Thankfully there are not many

Great service

Ive had great experience with RO Writer and their team. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] have been extremely easy to work with and always prompt

Pros

This system is easy and fast to use and learn

Cons

I have no complaints with this system at all

A good system for the automotive world

Overall a good and logically laid out program for automotive repair facilities.

Pros

The ease of creating repair orders and how the flow of the program operated, it is focused for the automotive repair world.

Cons

At times getting access to it while out on a road call, customers location, or in a poor internet service area.

Customer supportless for hard problems

Sad

Pros

Had it a long time got used to it hard to quit now

Cons

Not intuitive expensive heaven help you if you run into problems

Gone but not forgotten

I rarely give negative reviews, but since Capterra keeps prompting me to review RO Writer, here we go! We enjoyed our relationship with RO Writer for many years and truly hated that we had to leave. The deciding factor for us was their refusal to go cloud-based. We have frequent power outages in Florida, and being 'tied to a computer' was affecting us adversely.

Pros

ROW has always been very easy to use. It served us well for over 20 years.

Cons

Customer support has become slower over the past few years, which caused time delays for our shop.

RO WRITER IS A FANTASTIC PRODUCT.

love this product, WE USE IT ON 3 COMPUTERS IN MY SHOP AND ALL WORKS WELL. THE CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS DONE BY KNOLEGABLE PEOPLE IN THEIR FIELD. CONSTANTLY UPGRADING AND IMPROVING THE PRODUCT!

Pros

R O WRITER easy to use, great support. CAN CONNECT TO MULTIPLE SUPPLIERS FOR PART PRICING. KEEPS CUSTOMER DATA ORGANIZED AND IS EASY TO ACCESS .

Cons

none! THERE ARE NO CONS I'M APPLING ON LINE AND CHECKING FOR PRICES ON UPDATES AND IMPROVEMENTS. DIDNT KNOW ABOUT ALL OF THE BENNIFITS AVALIABLE TO US.

Stick with old software

None, been causing more problems than it cured

Pros

Can't give no pros. Been having problems ever since updated to new software.

Cons

Keeps messing up. Have to call in all the time because something not working. After 24 years using R O Writer I have to say this new software is crap. More money and a lot of wasted time getting it to work correctly. Which they seem can't fix! Never had problems with older version. This new update version has problems all the time and have to wait on hold for 30 minutes for support . I DO NOT RECOMMEND this new version of R O writer!!!

RO WRITER, TWO THUMBS UP

No matter what the problem is, tech support can always solve it. Great customer service and this system does everything we need it to do.

Pros

Ease of use. Attention to Small Detail.

Cons

Few small glitches. Lack of part description space.

R.O. writer

Pros

ease of use and great customer service. highly recomended

Cons

no negatives really once you learn it. very straight forward

Downhill spiral

Been using software since 1999, this company keeps going down hill with support n service. Once was the best. I’ve got over 30k invested so I’m held hostage. What’s good is I’m seeing some well thought options from competitors. Support people are good, their just not supported by corporate

Pros

Old platform that really simple. It turns on every time we turn it on I guess that’s a Pro. Needs work

Cons

No good improvement. Took years change database. Glacial tech-support week support to call back...

ABSOLUTE JUNK, BURNING MONEY IS MORE PRODUCTIVE

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Pros

THE NUMBER ONE PRO OF THIS PROGRAM IS THAT IT VERY CONSISTENTLY DOES NOT WORK, AND YOU CAN GUARANTEE THAT IT WILL RANDOMLY LOSE CUSTOMER INFORMATION, APPOINTMENTS, AND CRASH. THE ABSOLUTE LACK COMPETENCY TO CREATE THIS PROGRAM WILL BLOW YOUR MIND. IT WILL COST YOU SALES, EMPLOYEES, LOST TIME AND VARIOUS OTHER EXPENSIVE UNNEEDED PROBLEMS WITH YOUR BUSINESS

Cons

THE ENTIRE PROGRAM! THE PROGRAM NOT ONLY NEVER WORKS, BUT IT ALSO CAUSES OTHER CORRUPTION ISSUES ON ANY COMPUTER THAT HAS THE SOFTWARE INSTALLED

best ever15 yrs ago

get something else

Pros

it truly was the best ever ! it was a money machine, awesome records , tracking of techs, mor reports than you could ever need, inventory control, parts ordering, they had the bases covered

Cons

too many owner changes, support not there, guessing their best people left over the years, nothing but trouble & disappointment , its now a mussel loader with wet powder!

Crashes and support is awful

I would not recommend this software to anyone. Any new system needs to be cloudbased. It will cause your Service adviser to quit.

Pros

Smart E Cat was nice to use when it worked. I like the parts return system. You need to run AutoApps with it to run efficiently.

Cons

Tech support was not good. Software would crash DAILY. Loses information constantly. Slow to update or improve any features. Expensive.

Overly complicated system with NO tech support

Working with r.o writer has been the most difficult part of doing business. constant interuptions in service with NO tech support. Having to wait over 2 weeks for a call back only to have them tell you they have no record of the original call/ problem.

Pros

switching to another software. The day we get rid of it

Cons

The list is too long. not user friendly.

Horrible Software

I would NOT recommend this software. We will not be renewing when our contract ends!!

Pros

There is absolutely nothing good about this software. It is a total waste of dollars spent. Unfortunately I can't come up with a single pro.

Cons

Customer support is not friendly to work with, the software is always glitching out on us, you can't track invoices/emails sent