Complaint Review: BERRY BUSINESS MACHINES - Shelby North Carolina

I've done business with Berry Business Machines / Systems for years, and have got to know Tony Berry, and others at this business quite well over the years. They are upstanding, honest people, who often "Bend over backwards" and spend money they do not need to, or should, to fix issues with customers.  The POS supply business, especially to restaurant owners, is indeed very tricky. Restaurant owners are typically the least-tech savvy business owners you will find, and yet also THEE most demanding. It's a harsh environment, and most restaurant owners have "A Champaign Taste, on a beer budget".  I've expereinced this while working for NCR, Micros, Panansonic, SICOM, Aloha, and RM POS. 

I'd speculate that the $1,000 dollar PC that the writer refers to being charged $3,500 dollars for is accurate. He "COULD" buy a stripped down, off-brand PC (maybe not even a true server, with RAID HD, enuff RAM, and a slow(er) processor) for maybe a grand, (certainly lower today, but does it meet "specs" ? ?) 

As a former POS dealer myself, we, and many in the industry, order custom-built PC-Servers, with licensed s/w, AND, bundle in the loading of the s/w, peripheral s/w (anti-virus, back-up, etc) to the PC-Server. We also have to PRE-TEST all of the software, to make sure there are no conflicts, (there usually are, with all the patches that Microsoft puts out) with the POS s/w. Simple tasks such as turning on and off programs, (like Windows Automatic Updates, Spyware, etc.) and then "Locking down" the PC-Server so that it CANNOT be used by staff to check email, surf the web, or do their banking, often take hours of set up and testing. Add to that the hoops that the dealer has to go thru in installing credit card, and all of the PCI and security steps, and you very, very, very, easily have that $1,000 PC" costing much, much, more.......

"Service" also cost money, a lot. If you think about it, a POS dealer has to have TRAINED employees, on staff, ready 24 X 7, to service a customer when a call or internet request comes in. These highly trained technicians don't work for free....  After the warranty period is over, it is entirely normal and justified to require the restaurant to subscribe to a service plan of some kind, be it very BASIC 9-9, Monday thru Friday, or PREMIUM, 24 X 7, which will cost a ton. Uusally parts are not covered, and many times the technician will install a new printer, (moving parts break, mind you) and then just invoice the cost of the printer to the restaurant. 30-60-90 days later, when the restaurant hasn't paid for the new printer, they place ANOTHER call for service, and then ask "Why do they want to hold me hostage for the printer, when I need your help NOW". 

You don't walk into a restaurant, eat a meal, and then tell the owner, "I'll pay you the next time I come in......." POS dealers are not banks......

Why does the writer has an issue with the "rate" for a thirty minute service call? IMHO, what Berry charges is WAY UNDER PRICED. I just had a technician come and fix my hot tub. It took him THREE MINUTES. My bill? $130 bucks. I had been trying to fix it myself for over two weeks. I PAID FOR HIS EXPERTISE, KNOWLEDGE, and TIME. 

Lastly, the writer thinks that claiming "Been in Business Since 1976" is an alternate fact. Dude, if a business CHANGES the NAME of the business, it doesn't mean they START OVER.  Berry HAS BEEN IN TH POS business for a long, long, time.

Tony Berry is an honest man, who runs a business you can trust YOUR business with. I owned a restaurant for five years, and only WISH I had a POS dealer HALF as good as Berry.