Xola Software

Keeping both my regular paddlers and my one-off paddlers happy :)

Pros

I love how easy it is for my customers to use. Being able to customise the questionnaires is really important for my business. My life has been much easier, since being able to ask certain questions, such as coffee preferences, kayaking experience level, injuries/medical etc. It has saved me a lot of time. I have a lot of repeat customers in my business, as well as one-off customers, so it has been difficult to find a system that can cater for both. I'm pleased to say, Xola has been getting great feedback from my regulars, which has been great! One of the customer representative especially was very patient and helpful, answering my questions, always straight away, and working through my requests. Amazing on-boarding experience :)

Pros

The online interface for customers is very straightforward and makes filling out waivers and collecting payment a breeze.

Cons

Setting up the backend can be complicated, but the customer support team is incredible at taking care of any issues for you.

Lowered monthly fee. Simple to use. Very limited reporting.

Pros

Simple software. Easy to use. Good phone service for usual problems. They did a great job in migrating us from old booking engine to Xola. Nice people to work with most of the time.

Cons

They told me it 100% integrated with Google Analytics/Tag Manager. Not true! Definitely feel like they lied to me. It only generically reports some revenue occasionally. It should report revenue from specific ads if they 100% integrated with Google Analytics/Tag Manager. We have made numerous recommendations on how to solve problem, but they don't listen to us. They keep rolling out simple frivolous upgrades and keep ignoring something that will really help a business owner by telling them what ads are working and which ones are not. I'm very frustrated and I'm not sure they care about me at all as a customer.

Pros

Helpdesk staff is outstanding. The affiliate program is what sold us. Getting easier to use as we go along.

Cons

A little concerned about the cost. Has been a tricky learning curve. Wish there was an 'add guest' function.

Pros

The dashboard is great. It is easy to see what is available and book guests efficiently. The entire booking process is so user friendly from the initial booking to changing anything about the reservation to cancelling and refunding. Our staff had a really easy time learning Xola. The 24/7 support is great as well. Whether it is chatting right on the dashboard or giving them a call, everyone has been super helpful in answering every question we have had. As a rafting company it is important we do not overbook and being able to control the seats per trip so easily was a great help to us. The mobile app is great as well and we is used often when checking in trips away from our office computers. We would recommend this booking software and will be using it for years to come. Can't wait to see what updates they have for us next!

Cons

The only cons for us are the reports are not super easy for our accounting department but she makes it work. We are also still trying to figure out the best way to book private boats for our company.

It is enjoyable to use

Pros

It truly makes booking, customer management, and employee management very easy and straight forward.

Cons

There are some features I would like to see added to make a few of the processes easier such as Waiver process is a bit difficult if the customer looses the email they originally received. It also isn't very obvious to the customer they need to forward this on to the rest of their guests.

Pros

I can check trips quickly. I like the email reminders for trips. I like how I can access the program from my email on my mobile device.

Cons

It will not let me make changes to book trips the same days with the same people. Needs work on rearranging trips when necessary.

Pros

There is really so much I like about this program. I'm sure I will forget something here. When I get stuck and have no idea what to do, I like that the customer service team is just a click away, and they can usually figure it out unless I'm asking for the impossible. Really like the ability to change the inventory and add in extra time slots. I like that there are training videos to help us with the new employees. The affiliate program for Concierge and travel agents is good - not too many using it yet, and hoping for more. I like the way they pay us and how they get paid, and the good rate through their Stripe account.

Cons

Really I like least that I haven't mastered all areas of it and I still have to contact customer service so often. I wish they had more training videos that were more pertinent to our industry.

Ease of client interaction with company. Peace of mind with user interaction. The main barrier to online sales is your bookings engine. With XOLA I did not have that problem.

This system far exceeds anything else on the market. XOLA staff are very accommodating to new ideas and system upgrades from a user client level.

Pros

Intuitive without being nerdy. Clients as old as 85 and as young as 18 could purchase and become informed without barriers to sale. Impressive feat.

All of the benefits

Pros

It's easy, user friendly, has an excellent UI/UX and is very affordable for what it offers! Without a doubt Xola changed my life!

Cons

There's a few more additions I'd like to see developed but they are a new company and these customizations for all the clients they have would take forever to match each specific organization, but believe me they are trying!

I would rather process my clients' credit cards through Xola than any other merchant. Also, I'd rather give the small slice of flesh (percentage) to Xola than any other firm.

Pros

Xola's quick and easy to use for processing credit cards. Also, I have had great experiences with the support team on the rare occasion that something doesn't work as planned or when I have a question. They are very helpful and always prompt. I love Xola! Also, one of the customer's representatives is the coolest, smartest, hardest-working, totally most absolutely rad guy on Earth :)

Cons

The statements and receipts are a bit confusing to my customers sometimes. I wish there could be a way for it to show up on their credit card statement without saying "booking" (I sell print newspaper ads, not tour bookings), same with the receipts. However, I don't use the software necessarily as intended, so that's more on my end. Still, it would be nice to be able to change the way the statements and receipts appear to my clients.

Enhancements are made regularly. Any issues are addressed courteously.

Pros

Xola works very hard to maintain a great product while working consistently to improve it. Obviously, it's intuitiveness is its greatest strength.

Cons

The functionality of the app is limited.

Calendar/marketing capabilties I hadn't anticipated being able to have.

Pros

I love the chat feature, it enables me to make on the spot changes as opposed to going back and forth via email or making a phone call I might be too busy to make. The ease of manipulating my schedule and pricing is not something I even anticipated being able to do, but has made starting and tweaking my small business so easy. Changing my offerings, pricing and integration into my website is super easy, I thought I would need to hire a professional to do this every time but with Xola I can do it myself.

Cons

The mobile version is not the greatest, and the site has responsiveness problems when using a tablet. I wish there was integration with Travelzoo, but I did find a work around.

More options on setting up booking schedules. More user friendly for or type of business.

Pros

Many different options to customize bookings. Software is super easy to use and the customer support is very helpful and prompt!

Cons

This software is a little more expensive than what we were used to paying with our previous software.

Pros

I like the software because it does nearly everything I need it too on its own and gives me the time I need to work on my business. I like the company because they not only stand behind their product, but their customer support more than pays for the monthly costs

Cons

Honestly, I have yet to find a fault in the software. The only complaints I may have is at my own inability to correctly use all of the features that Xola has and not watching the training videos sooner.

Sales!

Pros

The ease of use for our clients as well as for our staff is great. We worked with Zozi previously and had a huge concern - especially when they changed ownership and didn't inform their own people in advance. Xola is a pleasure to work with. Changes are easy to make.

It has totally streamlined the booking process for our customers, and added an extra layer of professionalism to our business.

Pros

I really love the simplicity of the booking interface for customers (both in style and function). The calendar feature for customers to see all available dates is great. It's really easy to get around the back end, and the support staff has been super helpful. It's also awesome to be able to hook up a card reader to book customers on the spot as well

Cons

I really love the software overall, but the app functionality is definitely limited. It's really only helpful in terms of seeing trips already booked, but I always have to go to my computer to make any changes.

Easy booking platform to navigate with excellent customer support, which is a crucial aspect of using a reservation system.

Pros

Xola offers straight forward booking services. The dashboard FAQ and demos offer the chance to learn about the program easily. Customer support is always there to assist and the team is knowledgeable and ready to walk you through the steps and provide thorough explanation.

Cons

I understand they are still learning all the unique features each business requires but they take note of requests and do their best to produce functions to accommodate. Once you get to know the program a business can fully utilize all functions to increase profit.

Pros

Easy to use, and the fact that it is web based means that I can access it anywhere. I also love that I can book items for guests through the xola booking app. For us if was hard to find another software provider that covered the full extent of our program offerings and included the capability to manage and track inventories of equipment.

Cons

Sometimes we struggle with the functionalities on an ipad. Some of the drop down menus etc. are hard to touch just right to get them to open.

Pros

The help I got from Patrick and how helpful he was setting it up for me and listening to me change my mind many times was exactly the knowledge I needed..so grateful for this first few months of his assistance

Cons

Can send attachments on the messaging part..e/.g we would love to send photos or docs. The database side is very limited. I can't just look up a customer and message them