Does Anyone Use The HALO POS System?

[mosscreekranch]

Has anyone ever used the POS System called HALO?  I find it very hard to understand and we are trying to get the kitchen printer to work again and it takes forever to get someone on the helpline and everyone on the helpline has no clue what they are doing anyways.

 

[chef ryan]

We use HALO and the help line is useless, they never really resolve problems it's a major hassle.

 

[halopos]

@Mosscreekranch - I understand that you've been in touch regarding your technical issues and they've now been resolved. 

@chef ryan - Can you let me know what restaurant you work with so I can look up your support tickets? I'd like to help resolve any problems you are having and improve your experience using Halo.

Thanks

 

[qsrs in bc]

I agree,  I use halo in 4 of my QSR's in BC.  I find technical support terrible.  Internal communication between the technical support staff is slow.  It takes multiple calls and constant follow up for us to resolve issues.

My advise is to research other providers with true 7 days a week customer service.  Customer service hours are very limited with halo.  Weekends are only for emergency and often you have to leave a voicemail for someone to return your call hours later.

Halo is very Dissapointing 

 

[foodpump]

Have the system in our shop.  Same problems as the others have said.

 

[halopos]

@qsrs in BC and @foodpump - would you mind sending me a PM? I would like to get any outstanding issues resolved for you and improve your experience with us into a positive one. We're working hard to ensure all of our customers are happy with our service and product.

Thanks

 

[james benson]

I realize I'm late to this party, but after another Friday night on the phone with support I have been looking around to find out about other users' experiences.

Yup, Friday night. Again. It seems that our experience is in line with those listed.(network issues, CC information, etc, etc)

Our systems freeze and have been told that they don't work well with an update that took place on 7/7. Better than that, we were told it can't/won't be resolved until a new update in two weeks. Sweet.

When we spoke to these guys at the show in Chicago we were told that we wouldn't need a dedicated server OR "master terminal" so that any issues might take down one terminal. Not so, we do have a Master and are on replacement number who knows how many now SO if it takes a crap on a Friday night they all go down.  On a fairly regular basis. They also have a good knack for doing it on the weekend. 

They now use an answering service and/or have someone to answer phones. It isn't any quicker toward resolution BUT you do speak to someone quicker and you do get a case number to reference!! 

To be fair, the system seems to be working fine this morning. Unfortunately, around here we know it is only a matter of time before we'll be back on the horn with them trying to manage network issues, credit card issues or any number of other reasons we have called recently.

As has been said above, go with something else. I have probably used five or six different POS systems in my years and have never been a part of something so frustrating.  

We all speak bottom-line here I'm sure so here it is: using this system will cost you money and productivity. Don't do it

 

[epos developer]

I'm trying to determine if a browser based epos works, primarily because my boss is getting all hot under the pants about designing a new epos system. I suspect browser based epos is a bad idea, but i would like to be proven wrong. I assume halo pos is such a thing, as the manufacturers say software updates for it take place without the customer knowing - which in my experience generally only happens to remote web sites.

A manufacturer that puts software updates high on their list of features makes me wonder how reliable their software is. There is an age old saying in the computer industry - 'if it ain't broke, dont fix it' - which implies the more you try to fix something, the more chance there is of breaking it. None more so in fact, than after your original software development team have moved on to higher salaries and cheap and cheerful monkeys have moved in to 'maintain' the code. Additionally any manufacturer that claims software updates are free and then charges a recurring fee for using the software is contradicting itself. In my brief experience of building webservers, the 'free' software updates are an unavoidable side effect of having your epos application run off the same server as numerous other customers of your epos supplier, who if they all decide to run the same long running report at once, will most likely overload your epos server and cause your epos application to hang for an indeterminate amount of time.

Surely an establishment who's reputation revolves around getting food delivered on time shouldnt be depending on systems that are at risk of hanging in mid operation - not only due to the inherent fluctuations of internet traffic in general, but also due to the actions of your epos suppliers other customers ?

 

[aces1321]

Halo is the WORST pos system I have ever used (out of about 7 or ...customer service is useless - takes them a month to get back to you, and the answer is usually that they can't resolve the issue anyway.  If you are considering Halo, do yourself a favor and spend the extra money and go with a system like Aloha - it will save you lots of time, frustration, and in the long run - money!

 

[epos developer]

well if anyone is looking for a reliable epos system suitable for a restaurant / bar / takeaway we have one in the pipeline and i need beta testers - let me know if anyone fancies an epos system for zero licensing cost. i originally linked to our website here, but i remember blogs get flooded with garbage links if everyone does it - so i removed it. It requires windows based epos terminals with touchscreen capability. its designed to print kitchen tickets to epson compatible kitchen printers and/or kitchen-video-style displays. compatible with lots of epos hardware - although currently being integrated to J2 and EBN and POSIFLEX hardware.

 

[halopos]

Hello James and Aces1321,

I understand your frustration on product reliability. You stated, “They also have a good knack for doing it on the weekend.”

Your POS system is critical to your restaurant’s success.

I’m here to help.

My name is Lyndsi and I work at Vivonet, the makers of Halo.

Please contact me directly at [email protected] and I will get any outstanding issues addressed.

Our clients deserve the best service possible to help their business succeed.

Our company has gone through tremendous growth over the past year, Deloitte chose us as one of the fastest growing technology companies in North America. (See article in Bloomberg Vivonet Recognized in Deloitte Technology Fast 50 List) With that growth came some growing pains and we are working hard to continually improve.

We’ve made a number of changes to improve our product and service:
 

• We have streamlined our Support process and restructured the department
• We have hired a number of extremely talented and proven developers, who, working with our existing team, have released a        build of the Halo software that is more stable than ever before
• Our customer service team now monitors the support lines personally

The results are showing significant improvements,

• The majority of Support calls are now answered in under a minute
• Customer satisfaction has increased as a direct result of our latest software release
• A call into the Support line now is answered by a technician ready to help immediately or, if there will be a slight wait and the issue is not urgent, a customer service specialist will offer a call back at a convenient time for you

Recently, Sodexo, one of the largest food services and facilities management companies in the world selected Halo as the point of sale and payment processing solution for the majority of Sodexo’s 6,000 North American client sites. (See article in Hospitality Technology POS Upgrades Planned for Sodexo's 6,000 North American Sites)

Vivonet is committed to helping restaurants succeed. It’s feedback such as yours that drives improvement, and for that I thank you. Like I mentioned, please contact me and we will make things right.

Sincerely,

Lyndsi

 

[westpoint105]

Horrible Customer Service.  I just had a terminal go out and they sent the replacement - quickly enough - BUT the one I received has deep scratches on the screen - called support and basically told me to turn it on and I won't notice them quite as much.  They send refurbished machines as replacements!   Paid $2,000 for the Hardware 10 months ago along with ongoing monthly maintenance fees and I get a USED terminal as a replacement for a bad terminal to start with???!!!!  I am very upset to say the least.

Numerous issues with Halo and we are a franchisor of about 35+ shops.  Thankfully we only rolled out three machines and realized the HUGE mistake we made with Halo.

We have since rolled out Brink POS (www.brinksoftware.com) to all of our shops and are really pleased - they programmed the POS to fit our needs, is very user friendly, and have great customer service.  The system was affordable and the monthly maintenance fees are so worth it!  Just to be worry free about maintaining and updating the software in my estimation is worth the cost alone but they have additional features you can 'add on' for low monthly costs. 

If you are thinking about Halo - stop immediately.

Horrible customer service, training, and their Sales person outright lied about future features to get us to buy.

Halo POS / Vivonet = Disaster.

 

[richardlaz]

Hello westpoint105,

My name is Richard and I work at Vivonet, the parent company of the product Halo.

I am very sorry to hear about your experience with Halo and customer service.

Certainly, telling a customer to turn on the screen so you won’t see the scratch is not our standard training response so I must apologize for that. This is unacceptable and something we have addressed with the individual you dealt with.  

Our clients deserve the best service possible to help their business succeed and this incident is not representative of how we support over 2,000 restaurants across North America.

Client feedback is very important to us, each month an independent 3[sup]rd[/sup] party organization surveys our customers to rate their experience. We want to hear the good and bad so that we continually improve. The results for 2011 show;

·        Customer Satisfaction regarding our customer’s overall support experience: 8.31/10 (a random sample are surveyed by an independent 3[sup]rd[/sup] party after a    support case is closed)

·        Customer Satisfaction regarding the customer’s overall implementation & training experience: 8.41/10 (every new customer surveyed after they have gone live with Halo)

·         The % of cases resolved within 24 hours: 80%

·         Average hold time: 1minute and 40 seconds.

Recently, Sodexo, one of the largest food services and facilities management companies in the world selected Halo as the point of sale and payment processing solution for the majority of Sodexo’s 6,000 North American client sites. (See article in Hospitality Technology POS Upgrades Planned for Sodexo's 6,000 North American Sites)

Vivonet is committed to helping restaurants succeed. It’s feedback such as yours that drives improvement and I apologize again for the service you received.

Sincerely,

Richard Lazazzera

[email protected]

 

[charlie carden]

Our company, Charlie's BBQ & Grille, took a leap of faith in the early months of 2012 and went live with the HALO POS.  The support at HALO has been phenominal, and it has streamlined our front-end, as well as our back-end management processes.  Our customers appreciate the investment we've made to upgrade and simplify our daily operation procedures, thereby offering everyone a valuable time savings.  So impressed have we been with HALO, Vivonet, Charlie's BBQ and Grille expanded its use of HALO and developed an iPhone and Android App to further expand its outreach opportunities to amass a new customer base.  I have been a member of the restaurant/catering community since 1974, and I did not grow up in the technology world as others have.  Technical support at HALO, Vivonet, as provided a patient response to every issue we have confronted them with.  In most instances, our problems have come about as the result of operator error on our (the restaurant's) end, and we just needed assistance to remedy the problem.  Thank you for the opportunity to respond in this matter.

Charlie Carden

Charlie's BBQ & Grille

919-934-0093

 

[magscookies]

I use Halo in 4 of the stores I manage -- I actually really like it. I consider it a STEAL for what other companies promise and then don't deliver. I would not hesitate to use to for any other store we would open. Set up was very easy, there weren't a bunch of hidden costs and we've been able to modify and personalize the system exactly as we would want. I find the reporting on the back end easy to navigate (this is in terms of simple things like sales and hourly employee clock times as well as complicated tasks -- the information you can export is robust enough that I can create item by item pivot tables to track sales, etc). I also find that their customer service is very responsive -- I've used Micros and Aloha, and have had experiences that make my eyes bleed.

 

[chef bilby]

The fact they took over a year to reply in this thread just enforces the notion they are slow to reply and offer crappy service .......POS isn't just a acronym for Point of Service you know 

 

[gabrieller]

We use Halo now at 7 locations and are very happy with it. Whatever problems they were having are seemingly fixed. I find the help line extremely helpful (imagine that!).For 99% of the time, the system runs smoothly. Once in a great while something happens, like the drawer sticks, but when I call the help line, they are always able to fix the situation quickly. 

The only grips that I had was that we couldn't use our Macs to work in the back office without downloading Parallels and Windows. However, Halo offered to pay for those upgrades, and better yet, they are making Halo Mac friendly in the next month or two! Yahoo!

I wouldn't have picked a different system, knowing what I know now at one year.

 

[foodpump]

I guess you're not located in B.C., eh?

 

[daverob67]

FYI - If you have'nt noticed yet, Halo does not give you the freedom to choose who you want to process your credit card transactions with. Why? - because they are partnered with and making residual money off your credit card transactions with the processor they force you to use. This tends to leave the door open for yearly increases (sometimes twice a year ) that they are profiting from. You are forced to stay in a contract with the Processor that says they can increase your fees whenever they want. This should never eat into your profits!

 

[richardlaz]

FYI - If you have'nt noticed yet, Halo does not give you the freedom to choose who you want to process your credit card transactions with. Why? - because they are partnered with and making residual money off your credit card transactions with the processor they force you to use. This tends to leave the door open for yearly increases (sometimes twice a year ) that they are profiting from. You are forced to stay in a contract with the Processor that says they can increase your fees whenever they want. This should never eat into your profits!

Please Note:  To comply with the terms of service on ChefTalk.com we have changed our name from Vivonet (Our Company) to RichardLaz (My Personal Name)

Hi DaveRob67,

I apologize if there has been some confusion in the market place around our pricing model and the merchant processors we work with.

We work with a number of payment processors including First Data, Global/Mercury, Moneris, WorldPay, Chase Paymentech and Elavon. All of our customers have the freedom to select which provider to go with.

If you have a few minutes, please watch our video demo which lists all of the payment processors we work with.

Payment Providers - 
Please let me know if you have any questions.

You can always email me at [email protected]  or call me at 1.866.512.2033 x 625

Richard