RepairShopr Review

Review by: Jennifer Griffiths
Video by: Philip Griffiths

Many of us are reluctant to change. We get a product, it works, we get comfortable with it and we just don’t want to chance getting something that may or may not do what our current product does. Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so. I am the same. But, if we look at it from an outside the box point of view, this can be said about upgrading a working computer. Why upgrade if it works? The reason is, to make it better! So, why should our office life be any different? We all know that a day in the shop can be challenging. But, what if I told you that you could cut your stress levels with a software purchase? If you are like me, you would be saying “I’ll have a lifetime subscription”. Today I am telling you that as much as I like my old system, it is dated, and it just is not the greatest when it comes to inventory levels. Therefore, when I got to review Repair Shopr, I was overjoyed at what I found out.

What I needed from my repair software:

Easy to use (especially when in a hurry)
Clean and tidy look yet customizable
Able to keep records of customers and repairs done
Inventory control made easy
The ability to print labels as well as paper tickets/invoices etc
Digital Signature capabilities
Ability to schedule appointments and sync to my calendar

What I was using had the first three covered. But, RepairShopr offered me the rest of the things that I had been looking for and then some. Now, when my customer comes in to pick up their item, they hand me their ticket, I scan it with my barcode scanner and automatically their name and assets are found for me. No more searching for days to find out which Mr Smith I am talking to. I am also happy with the inventory control. My old system was cluttered beyond measure with products I no longer stocked that needed removing. The problem was, I would need to know what needed removing, type it in and then remove it. Yeah!

With RepairShopr I can click the word inventory and I am greeted by everything I sell in a list alphabetically. The list shows me the cost of the item, what it retails for, how many I have in my stock, and the barcode number. So, let’s just say I ordered a new power supply from my favourite distributor. I click inventory, the list comes up. I see where I have ordered it in the past. I check the barcode is the same. I simply click the icon with the pencil to edit and I can change the barcode if need be, adjust stock levels, purchase prices, etc.

In the calendar section, I can schedule an appointment for callout, in shop or phone. So, if my favourite rep were to call and say he was coming to see me and bring me something to review, I just click on calendar and type in subject area J Bloggs, appointment type area is drop down, so I select In Store, and fill in the appointment time. I can even call attention to those that need to be there for the appointment with me. If I am happy with it, I click create appointment and boom, it’s on the calendar and I am not going to catch heat that I forgot to notify my boss man. Life made simple! The only downside to the calendar is if the person decides they are not going to be able to keep the appointment, I can’t just click on the calendar and delete it. I have to find my name at the top, click on appointments and then find the precise one I want to delete on the list. That’s a bit annoying.

Being we have ours synced up with Phil’s Google calendar, I chose to take it off of the Google calendar first. This way if he gets a call while I am in the middle of talking to a customer and have not had time to delete this out of the system, he will know he has a space available. I can go in the system later and take out this appointment when I have time. I will make a sticky note to remind myself to do this. I will not sit here and tell you that you will learn it all the first day. Like everything it takes getting in there and getting your feet wet. Some of the things that you think will be one place are in another. I am still trying to work out the POS part for when I don’t have the item in inventory. This will take adjustments, time and patience. I would suggest a few trial runs before changing over with a customer staring you down impatiently. However, the Customer Support I received more than made up for it. This is the first time I have had anyone from anywhere phone me up and ask me if I am OK with the product or need any help.

In each section of RepairShopr, there are videos to help you understand that section better. I do suggest that you and your staff watch these so as to avoid the “um so sorry it’s a new system and I am not used to it” in front of a customer. Nothing instils confidence with a customer like a tech that does not appear to know basic check in software. *Said no-one ever*

We found RepairShopr very easy to set up as well. You do not have to download it. Everything is cloud/web based. You just simply log in. To log in, you can go to your name.repairshopr.com or directly to their main website repairshopr.com and log in directly from there.

Statment from RepairShopr

RepairShopr is the all-in-one platform created specifically for repair businesses. With all of the essentials - POS, CRM, ticket management, and integrated invoices, estimates + payments - plus powerful extras like built-in marketing and reporting tools, RepairShopr is the most complete repair business solution available. Fully customizable to fit your workflow, RepairShopr is designed to save you time so you can focus on what you do best: serving your customers and growing your business.

Ian Alexander said "Many people on our team, including myself, have operated or worked in repair businesses and MSPs in the past, so helping our customers grow and thrive has always been a core value and very personal to us".

Customer Testimonials.

I have been using Repairshopr at 2 different businesses over the years, I find it super easy to use for managing repairs, stock and client details including automatic mailing and status updates.

It enables me to communicate and respond to my clients in a more effective manner and adds an additional layer of professionalism enabling my business to grow. Rob @ The Tech Surgery

We've just finished the free trial period. It's been a steep learning curve. Some things are slightly more effort than before (for example booking in stock orders), but we now have much more information in one place. Before we used webrcards, servicem8 and quickbooks, now we still use quickbooks, but everything else is in RS

We've seen far less phone calls already, as the customer can track their own job, and get regular emails (if they don't opt out).

It's also nice to finally be able to track serial numbers for all stock items, we can search for a serial number of anything and find the invoice it arrived on, the customer who purchased it etc.

I've spoken to tech support a lot as well, and they are incredibly helpful.

It's early days still, but I feel it does make us appear more professional. Andrew D

The Conclusion:

It’s a great piece of kit that will be most helpful in your daily life once you get to know it. Install it, play about with it like real scenarios we encounter in daily shop life before you go live with it. If you do this, it should be one of the best software purchases you could make.

Pros:

Packed full of features that we need on a daily basis.
Easy to set up
Customer Service
Easy to Check In a customer for repair

Cons:

Not being able to edit the calendar while in the calendar interface. *having to go in under my user profile*
POS could be a bit easier when checking out something not in inventory. Maybe instead of Forms it could say Items Not in Inventory. I really had to think on this one.

This was the first software I have had to review, so the grading system was different to a boxed item. But here is how I scored it:

Ease Of Setup: 5

Ease Of Use: 3

Features: 5

Value: 5

With that being said, I award RepairShopr the Gold Award.