Earlier this week someone commented on a post on this blog that they had been blocked from getting XchangeIT invoices by their software company because they had decided to not take up software support coverage.
It frustrates me that a newsagency software would block a newsagent from accessing business-critical magazine invoice data.
The software company involved should not block access. XchangeIT should not allow it to happen.
If a newsagent has software that meets XchangeIT standards they ought to be able to load data from any external source. If they need support from their software company to address any issue and are not covered by support then, by all means, charge them. But to charge just to get the data – this is poor behaviour that reflects badly on all software companies.
Yes I am conflicted, I own Tower Systems. I’m lucky in that our market share of 1,800 newsagents positions us to not have to rely on pressuring newsagents by blocking XchangeIT access to those who do not maintain software support. But we created our position over many years.
Newsagents have enough challenges in their businesses. They should not be forced to pay for a software support service if they don’t want it.
Software companies should rely on their customer loving their software and their support enough to keep them in business.
was it in their contract about the no access .
In this case no. Others I have spoken to don’t have a contract, only an order form with no terms and conditions.
This is one of the reasons we are now a 3 week new Tower Systems user that and expensive support fees
Considering we all pay $440 per year for xchangeit what right has a POS provider to block access?
Shayne, while not the case this time, some systems are sold sometimes on the basis of an annual fee – the systems stops working if not paid. This is why newsagents need to be very careful.
First of all, I have to thanks Mark. I am the agent who was blocked from accessing XchangeIT by our previous software provider. It was so frustrating. I had no choice. It’s like someone pointing a gun at your head. I made a decision to change our software to Tower Systems. It’s a big learning curve, but it’s worth it. I found Tower Systems is efficient and helpful. I am very happy. Thank you Mark.
Thanks James. My view is that newsagents should never be blocked from accessing invoices through XchangeIT. It frustrates me when I hear of this happening.