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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Good parts ordering options and great product documentation

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

When the company was knew they did good work however, since they’ve been bought by someone else, their quality in customer service has gone to zero

When it first came out, it was too pricey, and it did a lot but now other automotive software is out there for a fraction of the price and does the same

Lack of customer support, lack of billing support, and basically over priced for what it is

We wouldn't be here without it!

RO writing, Epicor, service history, inventory management

Latest version 3.0.3 is overall very clunky, slow, and missing some features

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

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.

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.

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

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

It worked for as long as we used it, easy to use.

Labor guide was not useful. Froze all the time and closed the program out and lost work

None, been causing more problems than it cured

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

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!!!

R.O. Writer is a quality software to help keeps things organized.

R.O. Writer has everything you need in once data base to find out how to repair a car, quote the repair, and invoice the customer.

R.O. Writer has so much information within the software it doesn't make it very user friendly to someone with little experience.

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.

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!!!!!

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.

Being new to the industry, I have found the program to be user-friendly and easy to navigate through.

User-friendly, great customer service. The hard drive crashed, and customer service was extremely helpful. [sensitive content hidden] got the shop and running after a couple days of frustration.

Not experienced enough to give an honest opinion.

This software provides ease of use when looking up history for customers. Able to find any customers vehicle with great VIN look up procedure.

The only con I have with RO Writer is the software upgrade/update process seems to always have at least a couple hiccups. But they are usually quickly solved by the awesome RO Writer support team and Holly!

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

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.

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

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

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]

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

Really great with the ease of use and the support features have been really nice. AC has been amazing with helping implement new systems.!!!

easy to use and very intouch with todays needs. AC very knowledable and helpful.

n/a just the learning of new system issues but RO writer team was very supportive.

Years ago it was great. Now Stay far away, Run away.

easy to use software at first but constantly have issues. Not stable Even on Gen2

no tech support. They will leave you on hold for an hour or more.Takes days to repair software

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

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

Unable to think of a con at this time!

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

it's a shame this company took such a bad turn to the worst. after all these years I am actively looking

there are none it's just aggravation there behind the times the marketing aspect of the program is terrible you cannot even pull up a declined items so you can reach out to your customers

constant crashes customer support is ill equipped to handle any questions they always say we need to get you two tier 2 that will take a couple days for them to call you back... if they call. in the meantime your system is down you can't collect any money of nor write any invoices

I would not recommend this product to anyone.

The smart E-Cat function when it works. The customer support is so poor that I can not say anything else positive about this software.

The customer support is awful. The tier one technicians can rarely help you and tier two is slow to respond if at all. I have frequent file corruptions.