Aloha - Price quote problem?

[joenoreason]

I do not really have a dealer, but a friend of mine ran the sales department at the local aloha dealer. He left the company for a better position at another job in late 09, unfortunately.

My question, or problem rather, is that after receiving a quote for "1 license upgrade, 1 command center remote support software, 1 aloha delivery, 1 aloha takeout with non radiant hardware mapping, 1 days staging and installing, 0.25 days for boh training, 0.25 for foh training" I talked to my friend, and he pretty much said that the price wasn't correct, and that they were full of "it"...

So, question number 1. Do dealers have any kind of pricing rules they have to follow, or can they just make their own prices up?

Which brings me to question number 2... If so, then can I "shop around" for aloha dealers?

I'm really trying to get my system up to date as soon as possible, but I don't want to pay that much cash if I can get it done for cheaper.

Assuming the above is legit, and doesn't break any kind of agreement issues, any dealers that want to talk privately about this matter, please, send me a private message.

Thanks for the help.

 

[SwampGas]

You are probably stuck with the reseller in your area. If you go to Radiant directly, they will charge more to try and keep you to using their resellers (Channel partners).

I've been lucky and never had to go through the reseller route, so I wish you well, and hopefully you can find someone you like.

MegabyteCoffee.com

 

[DTSMAN]

The dealer that sold you that license key will have to be the one to upgrade it unfortunately. Yes all dealers are different in pricing. There may be one in Kansas that charges $95/hr to stage it and implement it, and the one in Chicago may chare $150/hr for the same service.

You can use whomever you like to service your system, it is Radiant that oversees the dealers and keeps them out of each other's territories.

Now the tricky part. You could get the bare minimum out of your current dealer such as just having them upgrade your software key to the needed specs. Then you could shop around for another dealer to meet you hardware and training needs easily.

Radiant has approved customers to utilize a different dealer if they request because of conflicts. This is usually multi-store environments not single store. But it could happen..

Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[joenoreason]

Can I just get them to update my keys and send me a cd? I was the one that ran our network, built the BOH and FOH terminals, installed printers, installed and configured the aloha software from the 5.3 cd, so I am confident that I will have no problems...

What sucks, is that on my quote, the software update and new keys are 90% of the cost, or about $3.3k before tax...

Thanks for the help

 

[DTSMAN]

If you think your dealer is being unfair, get a quote from another dealer. If there is a big difference you will have a leg to stand on, if you decide to call Radiant and request a different service provider.

Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[SwampGas]

That sound like full purchase costs. Probably since you've not been on maintenance. Typically software maintenance fees would be around 18% of purchase costs, except when it has lapsed.

I could be off because of whatever markups may be tacked on from resellers. But if someone buys an advanced pos system, maintenance needs to be calculated and budgeted into the cost of using it. Because of regulations and laws always changing you cannot compare this the same as buying a copy of Microsoft office.

If someone isn't going to keep maintenance on any pos system, then they should have purchased a Casio cash register from Sams Club. I'll probably hear some flak for that, but let's be honest, it's the truth. These systems are not cheap to begin with.



MegabyteCoffee.com

 

[TobeThor]

18% sounds very high. Is that 18% of software, hardware or both. The Dealer we work with is charging $10 monthly per POS station for software membership.

 

[SwampGas]

I stated 18% as a generic number based on most enterprise level maintenance averages, not specifically aloha. -It was given as an example.


MegabyteCoffee.com