Upgrades and

After conducting a lot of research, we decided to go with PC America Cash Register Express (CRE) when we opened our small grocery store in 2013. Set-up was easy the tech-support folks from POS Nation. We ran with a server, 2 touch screens, card swipe and pin pads, one scale, thermal printers, USB and Bluetooth scanners, and a customer display pole. Everything was fine for the first 2 years until we started getting software upgrades. We were advised to upgrade our pin-pad to the new standards. Waited until the end of the tourist season to upgrade, and then things went to hell in a hand-basket. Credit cards would not work... EBT cards failed... and our Loyalty Program has been dead for nearly 6 months with no fix in sight. I'm not sure what happened with PCA after they were acquired by Heartland, but it has been one disaster after another. Our Purchase Order screen was jacked-up for months on end. Eaches and Cases did not compute correctly. They supposedly fixed that with the last upgrade, but now our margins are screwed-up. I have no way of accurately knowing what our margin is now because our "cost averaging" is incorrect. Of course, this affects profit reports, tax reports, and the list goes on and on. This is typical PC software. It functions with many bugs and is NOT very intuitive. There is no rhyme or reason to the menus, and burrowing down just leads to dead-ends.

Pros

The software is stable in the sense that it has only crashed 2 - 3 times over the course of 4 years.

Cons

See above...
Menus are NOT user-friendly.
Upgrades are obviously NOT tested.
Incompatible with many peripherals, and they try to force you into their hardware, which in turn forces you to their payment processor.
Tech support is lacking since I purchased from a hardware provider, and PCA forces me to go through the middle-man.

Cash Register Express from a 20 Year Reseller

We've been selling this software (and many others) to cater to our retail clients and it is by far my favorite. If you have a retail business, and you don't want to ever question the capabilities of your POS software while also having the peace of mind that you're not over paying, pcAmerica's Cash Register Express (CRE) is everything you need. We offer a free buyers guide that will compare this software against many others, feel free to visit our website at any time so we can give you a tour!

Pros

-Easy to Use
-Feature for Everything
-Best Value (Other companies charge more for same features)
-Supports Multiple Stores
-Supports MANY Payment Processors
-Supports Excel Import
-Supports Hardware from all Industries (Under the counter scanner scales (as seen in grocery stores), Coin Dispensers, Caller ID, etc.)

Cons

-Not Supported on Android / iOS / Mac OS
-Requires Intermediate windows knowledge for setup.
-Does not have the best cloud integration.

Life made easier

This system has benefited us so much at McDonals, because it helps keeps us organized and up to date with everything that we may need help with or inventory on. It also makes it a lot easy for our crew too.

Pros

The most that I like about this software is that I am able to manage everything on this system at McDonald's. I can check times, check products and look at all the orders that had came through that day. Also with this system you are able to do schedules and make sure that the inventory is put in. With this system you can do just about anything even knowing the total sales for that day and month. This system helps keep everything together.

Cons

The only thing that I did not like was the fact that sometimes when I was trying to do an order, it automatically started rebooting itself and doing an update. It did not happen too often.

Perfect for Liquor Stores

Pros

Cash register express has over 75 different reports that are available to view or print. This software is compatible with a large variety of credit card processors and equipment options to ensure compliant and secure processing. Great added feature such as card swipes for employee login, handheld scanner for efficient inventory management, scheduling features for your staff and plenty other funtions that will help reduce labor hours spent on payroll, consolidation and employee hours.

Cons

Cash register express has amazing functionality, but that can come at a high price. This is a PC based software solution, so depending on the size of your business or the number of pos stations needed, the initial cost may be significant. Some features such as 24/7 customer support and customized reports come at an extra charge as well. Since this software is so detailed, some functions such as inventory can become cumbersome and involve significant time to setup.

POS Nation tops the list

POS Nation offers great service. From the Rep in sales to the tech guys. They have always been polite, and quick with service. My only real complaint is that when I have an urgent call because a customer is waiting, I can never get through to someone right away. It can take some time for someone to get back with me. But when they do, it is usually handled.

Pros

I like POS Nation. The Cash Register Express software is pretty good but it needs more flexibility. Need easier flexibility to run comparison reports for year to year comparisons, comparing products, etc.

Cons

Cash Register Express needs more flexibility with all reports. Also we are a small business. Should have the ability to turn off requirements to enter passwords to do end of day and do backups.

Complete wast of time & money.

I am the manager of Marshalls Creek Plumbing Supplies in Pa and we 1st purchased Cash Register Express from a PC America sales back in 2012. With this purchase were spec that inventory would be able to support scanners. Pc America sold use a Honeywell scanner and then after several months they (PC America) could not get it to work with their program. Several other problem came up and then we got a lawyer only to find out the salesman was and (ISO agent) not and employee of PC America. PC America told us that we were not the original owner as the product was sold trough a contractor (ISO agent). We abandoned the product & mothballed the equipment. It gets better! FASTFORWARD TO 2016 A Heartland salesman came for our credit processing business and through the conversation he told us that they now own PC America. After going over some of the above he said that if we want to get it up and running he would make it happen. Well we figured that we have the stuff we might as well try it. So we got it running and have a large part of the inventory installed ( no scanner though) and the owner went on vacation for a few months. I got the notice that the yearly service/tech support payment was due, we were not using the system for sales. I contacted the owner and he said that as long as we can keep installing the inventory keep going and he will make the payment when he gets back. We got the 2nd notice that payment was due and (guess what) the system will not boot up now. No error code it just will not start. I called PC America and they said it was just a coincidence (it happens he said) we don’t turn off your system because of nonpayment for support. However if you pay us the fee you will be up and running today. I contacted a IT guy we use and he said that he knows that PC America uses a time bomb in their program and if no contact with home base by a set date it shuts down. So much for ownership. Don’t deal with this company!

Pros

It seem to be easy to load in our inventory through Excel. The stations communicate with the main station very well.

Cons

No support, repeat no support. We were just loading in our inventory no sales yet. Support payment came due while owner on vacation & upon the email for the 2nd notice they system will not boot up. No error code it just will not start. PC America told us to By the support & we will be back up today. We purchase the software complete but they can still shut it down to blackmail you into paying more money.

POS Nation Technical Support Is The BEST!

POS Nation Technical Support is AMAZING! When the system gets hung up or any problem, they answer and have the system going or problem solved quickly.

Pros

The software suggested by POS Nation is easy enough for anyone to use and yet is able to keep up with our growing business.

Cons

The software requires you to create modifiers for so many little changes.

POS software review

Pros

Fairly easy and intuitive for our front line staff to use and understand. We have had the CRE for a few years now and meets most of our needs.

Cons

With the Pro version, we were not able to have both of our locations communicate with each other. We are hopeful an upgrade to Enterprise will make a difference.

Post systems review

Overall it's a perfect product! It got the job done in an easy and effective manner. Highly, highly recommend!

Pros

I love this software!!! The best pos system I've ever used. It's so easy to process orders and manage sales.

Cons

I did not have any issues using this product. It was perfect for my business

Administrative Assistant

It is better than what we had, it has it's pro's and con's but all in all, it is a great addition to our Museum Store and Admissions.

Pros

I like that it collects information about our attendance and makes it really easy to run reports so that we can find out how many people visited a certain exhibit

Cons

We could not get a report that tells us how many visitors from different states and countries. It would really be nice to have something like that to refer to.

I worked as a server at multiple establishments that utilized a POS system.

Pros

This software allowed efficient customer service and quick delivery of quality product. It allowed the staff to communicate orders efficiently to the kitchen.

Cons

There really weren't many cons associated with this software.

Restaurant ProExpress

Pros

The product is Easy to use, easy to set up, it has modifier groups, and it has a good detailed daily reports

Cons

Limited settings options such as printer setup, limited reporting, can't work if main PC is down, and poor customer service

POS Nation was the best decision I've ever made.

Pros

It helps me run my business! It gives me the information I need to make decisions. I know my best and worst sellers. I know my margins by department. I can run promos to get my customers back in the door.

Extremely helpful, patient and courteous support technicians, sales reps and accounting reps

No problems whatsoever.

Pros

User friendly. We are a culinary school, so the training mode is very useful.

Cons

a bit hard to figure out how to completely void guest checks and set up dining room tables

10 of 10

Their software and CS is excellent. No problems!

Pros

Everything (really!) I can't think of anything that is not in their software.

Cons

I believe you have to use their PC hardware.

REVIEW

GREAT PROGRAM FOR INVENTORY CONTROL, EASY TO TEACH , LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY

Pros

EASE OF USE, GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE, LARGE ENOUGH TO GET ALL OF OUR INVENTORY ON IT

Cons

TRYING TO USE THE IPAD FOR ORDERS, WISH I HAD MORE TIME TO LEARN THE SYSTEM MORE , HAVING TO LEARN AS I GO

Made my life easier today

Pros

Easy to use and found it really easy to teach the basics to all our new employees. Everything is well organized and readily available with a click of a button. The tutorials online are a huge help on how to use and customer service is the best.

Cons

I don't have anything bad to say, most of our problems are user mistakes. If we do have a problem we call our tech support and they help.

Worst POS on the Market

If you decide to purchase this software, you are in for long hours on hold with customer support and so many issues that you will wish you had never heard of PCAmerica.

Pros

GUI is nice and seems easy to use. Large buttons make it easy for employees to see and navigate the software.

Cons

Where to start... Quickbooks integration is a joke. You have to be in itemized transactions for the POS to adjust inventory. That means that EVERY single sale is entered into QB individually instead of entered as one line item for the day and inventory adjusted in bulk. I know they could do it because the end of day report has the inventory grouped together. If you use the handheld device for purchase orders, you will have to run the QB export multiple times in order to make the PO go over to QB. We use the vendor payout function, but when it pushes to QB, it enters the paid out as a check and not cash that was selected at the time of the payout. These are but a few, trust me, there are TONS more issues with the software. Support doesn't seem to know how the software works and tells you that that is how it works and there is nothing they can do about it.

Product is ok but lord help you if you need support

Pros

Software has nice features for a liquor store like age verification via scanning of drivers license. Nice granular permissions to enable you to give access to only what you want to to your team. Inventory controls are great.

Cons

Support!!!! Anytime you have an issue you end up on a call to a support desk in India. I do not have a problem with support desk being in India but the techs that you get are horrible. They are consistently speaking over you and instead of helping just want to prove you are an idiot in there eyes. They insist on the system and all users need to have administrator rights which is not secure. I fell like I have to fight to get anything fixed and leave the call felling frustrated and ready to give up and move to another vendor.

A good starter POS system for beginners

Pros

Very Easy to use
Most Transactions work seamlessly
Good system for those just starting out with a POS system

Cons

Not able to customize statements for accounts
Sometimes puts weird numbers in the end of the day reports
Does not warn you to open shift if you pull up an on hold