Service Monster problems. its crazy

[joeynbgky]

So, sometimes I send invoices and estimate through SM. I found out today when I wasn't getting checks in the mail what was going on. So I had over $15,000 in bill email from the program. No one got my bills or estimates. So I called Sm they had to log into a special program... I had to give them the email address I emailed to. they said.... well this one wasn't sent and so on. come to find out aol and yahoo are at fault so they say. My thing is this.... How do we really know if an email is sent threw SM? we don't! They need to have a tab in the program with mail folders just like our regular email programs. none of mine have been sent. And the bad thing is this... I billed about 9 apartments and had to change the service address each time and hit save. well all of the separate invoices reverted back to one address. so all of the bills have the same exact address. not cool at al. Sm is not a good program for billing at all. I only use it every once in awhile. I use Quick books most of the time. I have been paying 50 bucks month or 4 years now and do not use it that much to even have it. but when I do use it, it seems like its just always something going on with. It is not acceptable to send an email and think it is sent to only find out a month later it hasn't been sent. So they say need to call AOL. Well, it is their job to fix it. so I am using my gmail account as of now.

 

[Mikey P]

I would tend to agree, some way to track emails is very much needed.

 

[hogjowl]

They're not listening.

 

[Terry]

A sent box would be great to keep track. I always copy to my email and also add the customers last name at end of subject line.

 

[joeynbgky]

Theres really no way of checking to see if the email is really sent. But... I feel like it was all blamed on aol and yahoo. And that was the end of it. No more help

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[BradFenstermaker]

We have had no probs as of yet. Amanda emails every job a pre cleaning letter/invoice.

Kinda scary that you bring this up.
Can you see anything about emails under the activities tab??

I will be watching ours since we link to yahoo email.

Hope you get it straighten out

 

[Louis]

This would explain why a few of my customers haven't paid. Going to snail mail all of them today.

 

[Charlie Lyman]

I had customers try to tell me that try didn't get my emails from quickbooks. So I started cc'ing myself. That stopped that. That might be something you do from SM.


....

 

[Jobber]

You could cc yourself to make sure they get sent, thats a good idea.

I wonder how Service Monster has their email delivery setup and what service they use to do it, or if it just goes through the users email.

There are email services where you can track if your customers received your emailed invoice and also if they opened your email.

-Landen

 

[Moser Brothers]

So, sometimes I send invoices and estimate through SM. I found out today when I wasn't getting checks in the mail what was going on. So I had over $15,000 in bill email from the program. No one got my bills or estimates. So I called Sm they had to log into a special program... I had to give them the email address I emailed to. they said.... well this one wasn't sent and so on. come to find out aol and yahoo are at fault so they say. My thing is this.... How do we really know if an email is sent threw SM? we don't! They need to have a tab in the program with mail folders just like our regular email programs. none of mine have been sent. And the bad thing is this... I billed about 9 apartments and had to change the service address each time and hit save. well all of the separate invoices reverted back to one address. so all of the bills have the same exact address. not cool at al. Sm is not a good program for billing at all. I only use it every once in awhile. I use Quick books most of the time. I have been paying 50 bucks month or 4 years now and do not use it that much to even have it. but when I do use it, it seems like its just always something going on with. It is not acceptable to send an email and think it is sent to only find out a month later it hasn't been sent. So they say need to call AOL. Well, it is their job to fix it. so I am using my gmail account as of now.

I had the same problem, I email the invoices to my email and then forward them to the client now



....

 

[kingjoelking]

Service Monster has gotten too expensive, and other then calling to see if your happy, (oh you want a new feature? Yeah we will put that on the list that has been building for the last 3 years), to unresponsive. I switched. I only used them for 4 months because I had to do something and then I found something I liked better.

For the life of me I cant figure out why they refuse to make it Google calendar compatible.

 

[Mikey P]

You all do know you can go to the "Activities" tab on a customers profile and see what and if an email was sent, right?

 

[joeynbgky]

No I didnt and support told me. Only they can go in to a different program they have to check it, to see if it was actually sent

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[PrimaDonna]

I have the same issue with outgoing mail. Don't want to, nor should I have to clog up my inbox by, cc'ing myself. I've asked for a way to see/track sent mail for years. For most of our clients, we receive payment at the time of service, so we are not emailing a bill. However, for our commercial accounts, we usually receive payment after the work has been completed and they receive the invoice. I have found myself (reluctantly) requesting that they "respond to the email to confirm they received the invoice as the software we use to send it out doesn't track outgoing emails". I hate doing that and feel its unprofessional.

In this day and age they should have this capability. Otherwise, I love SM. But I agree that they aren't good with training/teaching us about the capabilities. It wasn't until I got on this board and saw some ways that people (Mike) were using it that my eyes were open to what I've been missing out on. They really do need to have tutorials to show people how to do things and showcase or feature some of the tools each month via a prescheduled webinar or email with step by step instructions/user guide. (kind of like the info Mike posted on one of the threads giving step by step instructions on how to send an email campaign).

 

[PrimaDonna]

You all do know you can go to the "Activities" tab on a customers profile and see what and if an email was sent, right?

But that doesn't tell you if it was received. Sounds like these never reached their intended party and there was no error email/message generated. That at least would have alerted him that there was an issue. Not like when you send something via outlook and receive a message that the mail was returned/user unknown so you can go back and check if the email addy was wrong and resend it.

 

[hogjowl]

Yesterday, I couldn't place a referral source in the account source code. I was told they'd changed something and I had to go into my settings and change a bunch of things.

Still dealing with that.

It aggravating.

 

[handdi]

i remember a few weeks ago they sent an email saying that yahoo mail was non supporting of sm and ya need to change it

 

[Russ T.]

SM has always been excellent in supporting their product over the phone. I can be dense at times but all it takes is a phone call to clear it up. I think they are unmatched when it comes to customer retention.


The Clean Machine

 

[kingjoelking]

Great customer service by means of talking to you and helping with problems. Horrible customer service by updating and adding new features that have been requested for years.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[Papa John]

I love Service Monster--I couldn't grow/operate my business without it.. The Email issue had to do with the way Yahoo was trying to reduce spam. I just changed to a gmail account n problem was solved. The one thing I want all of you to take from this post is this:--- Customers Lie!
SM has helped us catch them in their lies when they try to tell the tech that they have always paid a lower price-- the tech simply says: "ill pull up your history on SM and show you what you paid" they start "back pedaling" immediately-- SM pays for itself and more if you use "Fill My Schedule"
Also-- make your customers pay you before the work is even finished!!!-- You pay for food and fuel and most everything else when you purchase it- RIGHT!?! so why should Carpet cleaning be any different!?? You are not a Cable or Utility company-- so get your money---
I used to waste 2 full weekends a month trying to chase down deadbeats-- now I enjoy my weekends.

 

[hogjowl]

There are definitely positive aspects to SM. More, in fact, than the negatives. It's just that the nagging little things seem like they should be so easy to fix, but they're not fixing them.

 

[jkowalski]

First let me say thank you for all the kind words. We work very hard to make ServiceMonster the best option for cleaners.

Regarding the email issue: I'm not sure how much more "communicating" we are able to do with our Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs). We send emails, post on our blog, and post all over Social Media. This was a change by yahoo and everyone outside of yahoo is pissed. But other mail provides are following suit.

First comment; Why are you using a free-bee email address for your business? It's unprofessional and disturbs your clients. That being said, the vast majority of our clients do the same thing.
Secondly; We do not BS here. I fire people for that. Period. We are transparent and forthcoming as we are able to be...

but don't take my word for it;

https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail/SLN24016.html

</pre>The original TSB sent on 4/16/2014

Dear ServiceMonster Users,It has come to our attention that Yahoo has changed its email policy. Yahoo has restricted the use of “@yahoo.com” when sending emails via third-party platforms. Platforms such as MailChimp, Constant Contact, and ServiceMonster have been affected. If you use Yahoo for your business email address, you will need to make some changes in order to continue sending email via ServiceMonster. This policy change from Yahoo was made as an effort to combat email spoofing attacks, but the change has made it so that some of the emails you send via ServiceMonster will no longer be delivered. Unfortunately, we are not able to bypass Yahoo’s security settings.If you are a Yahoo email user and would like to continue sending emails via ServiceMonster, we recommend changing your business email address in ServiceMonster to an alternative provider such as Gmail or a domain you control.For more information, please refer to Yahoo’s official announcement about this update:https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail/SLN24016.html~ Team ServiceMonster</pre>

 

[jkowalski]

Regarding the lack of communication and the 'feature request' process; I will take complete responsibility for that one. I tell my staff that we do not release dates or promise features under any circumstance. We have over 450 feature requests in our backlog (yes we actually DO log every one). When we plan our next release(s) we fight over all of em' o determine which one we complete and which one will have to wait.

We produce move then 12 major updates a year on ServiceMonster alone. The development staff also supports all of our internal applications and tools that we use to support ServiceMonster. The landscape changes, business models change, expectations change, and technology is always changing. We have tippled our staff in the last 24 months. There is no reasonable way we could let you look at our plans to far ahead because I can guarantee it will change. Notice I did not put down a single date in the post above.

We are working on a solution however. We are putting together a User Advisory Group. This group will be made up of 12 clients that represent different demographics in our organic client base. These are clients that purchase ServiceMonster directly from us. Over the last few years organic clients have not had the voice to compete with our corporate clients. I want to give you that voice and allow you to peek behind the curtain to help determine the priorities of our backlog.

SaaS aint' like dustin' crops back home kid. :-)

 

[TomKing]

There is a middle aged fat man in Indiana available.

. We are putting together a User Advisory Group. This group will be made up of 12 clients that represent different demographics in our organic client base. These are clients that purchase ServiceMonster directly from us. Over the last few years organic clients have not had the voice to compete with our corporate clients. I want to give you that voice and allow you to peek behind the curtain to help determine the priorities of our backlog.

SaaS aint' like dustin' crops back home kid. :-)

 

[knoxclean]

Joe one of the big requests is for an online scheduling program. Why did you decide to use Fittlebug? Many other programs like yours for the industry have online scheduling built into the program free of charge. Filltebug may be a good program but not worth the price. No one wants to give up a portion of each job booked online. Are you willing to look at other possible programs?

Also most other service software programs like yours don't limit the amount of vans that can go on the schedule. I have 4 but you only allow 3 for the basic price of $80 but to add one more van it was an additional $50. Not cool. I have been scheduling my 4th van on paper because I refuse to pay that for 1 more van. In the end that will be a deal breaker when changing programs.

 

[TomKing]

David we schedule rugs and marketing on sm also. That makes going to the $125 a month work.

I agree on fettle bug.

Joe one of the big requests is for an online scheduling program. Why did you decide to use Fittlebug? Many other programs like yours for the industry have online scheduling built into the program free of charge. Filltebug may be a good program but not worth the price. No one wants to give up a portion of each job booked online. Are you willing to look at other possible programs?

Also most other service software programs like yours don't limit the amount of vans that can go on the schedule. I have 4 but you only allow 3 for the basic price of $80 but to add one more van it was an additional $50. Not cool. I have been scheduling my 4th van on paper because I refuse to pay that for 1 more van. In the end that will be a deal breaker when changing programs.

 

[jkowalski]

Yes. We will be offing a web-form shortly. And Steve knows we will.

Without going into too much technical detail, we have just finished a complete lead distribution system for our corporate clients. Fittlebug was a way for us to begin the marketplace, deliver a proof of concept, and test our new API from an external point of view (the same API we will be using ourselves).

Once I get the project on the board we will be offering a competing product. Until then, Steve benefits by being first to market, which gives him value and a huge advantage from a 'let's figure this out' point of view. Regarding our completion; The current fad is to create a very simple and single purpose "app" and hook-up to difference services. Fair enough, if all you need is really simple scheduling etc.

The reality is this; if it's so important to get a lead portal (and I completely agree that it is), why haven't the cleaners in general built a simple web-form? It's simple and cost effective to take that route first. Then, when you have enough volume to warrant it, that’s when you look for a direct injection into ServiceMonster (or wherever). But the average cleaner doesn't even have a website! If they do, the majority of their traffic is "accidental". No SEO. No pay-per-clicks. This solution does not DELIVER leads, it simply helps you convert the lead that already go to your site.

If you have a web-form already, how many jobs are you getting/month from that?

 

[jkowalski]

Also most other service software programs like yours don't limit the amount of vans that can go on the schedule. I have 4 but you only allow 3 for the basic price of $80 but to add one more van it was an additional $50. Not cool. I have been scheduling my 4th van on paper because I refuse to pay that for 1 more van. In the end that will be a deal breaker when changing programs.

No. You are right. They change you for support (if they even offer live phone support), add-ons, and licenses per-user. We don't charge you based on our expenses alone. We factor in your income potential as well.

User Licenses Look like this
If you're a mom and pop; that's 2 licenses needed for 1 truck. Add an office helper and an assistant tech, you could need 4 or 5 users licenses before you ever have the potential for additional revue. But I know you guys. You will get one licenses and share it like you do with ServiceMonster. But they know that and won't deal with it for long.

Truck Pricing
If you are growing to the point where you need another truck, that means more income. For us, it also means more data push, more integration, more CPU on the servers, more persistent storage, and more support costs. So yes, it's teared. You are not paying $45 for one additional route. You are paying $45 for unlimited additional routes AND you DIDN"T pay the fees necessary for 3 routes. You were saving money all this time, while you were being subsidized by the upper tier.

I can fix that though if you like. We can charge you $95 for 3 route, which is closer to what is should be. Then when you upgrade to 4 vans we will only have to raise your subscription by $30 dollars! . I joke of course but you get my point. we have been through several pricing model over the past 10 years.

Under-priced SaaS happens all the time. They go out of business all the time too. Just like under-priced cleaners. Taking data with them. I've seen it time and time again.

 

[jkowalski]

There is a middle aged fat man in Indiana available.

You were already one the list.

Expect a call in the next month or so.

 

[joeynbgky]

I understand yahoo but I got. No email from you guys on aol. And was it fair for me to find out a month later that my emails were never sent? You need an internal mail tab just like our personal email inbox sent and so on, so we can see whats sent and what hasnt been.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk