Pike13

Pros

Ease of use, and reliability are amazing! But my FAVORITE thing is definitely the staff app. I can do almost everything from the staff app, so I can work from anywhere, at any time.

From running payroll to creating packages or plans, it does it all. Most apps come with limited function, but this software is almost as complete as the desktop version.

And what I love about the company is they are always trying to get better. We have been users for man years and they add things I haven't even thought about needing. Its a pleasure to be a customer.

Cons

The reporting can be a bit confusing for me. Recently they have added a new reporting feature which has much more information, but I still struggle trying to see exactly what I need at times.
But I cant even call it a complaint. I had to really think of something to answer this question.

Pros

I love how versatile it is. i need to be able to run both monthly tuition for regular, weekly classes, plus courses plus punch cards, as my business serves many different populations. I love how easy it was to set-up and how easy it is for my staff to learn. I don't have to provide training for new employees. For the weird times things don't go as planned, customer service is on top of it, very speedy, thorough and helpful.

Cons

The reporting end is so versatile that I don't know how to easily pull up reports. there are so many ways to filter, which can be a good thing, but I don't know how to pull it up. I wish I could get notifications when someone buys a particular package that I am waiting to get sold.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Pike13

Pros

The fact that it was clear on the registers if a student hadn't paid their fees. It was easy to schedule classes. The format and layout of the registers was very user friendly. One brilliant feature was that teachers had to take the register in order for the class to appear on their payroll!

Cons

There wasn't any integrated mail and SMS. The back end was quite complex to set up.

Pros

When it works.... It's fine. But definitely not the most streamlined software to use.

Cons

I've been using Pike13 for just over a year now and am absolutely shocked at how often the site slows down to an unacceptable and unusable level - stalling our business during busy periods. Periodic 500 errors completely take our business down as we rely on Pike13 as a core part of sales, client bookings and schedule management. When the site goes down, we've had to turn away customers who were about to sign up, and we had no ability to check schedules or register them. So for us this means a potential loss in revenue as a result. At this moment, all reporting and analytic data is completely gone with no time frame as to when it will return. From a business standpoint, Pike13 affects our ability to conduct business efficiently.

Pros

This software processed our monthly billing, scheduling, cancellations, and more. If this software went down, we wouldn't be able to operate our business. Thankfully, in the 7+ years I've been using it, I haven't had to worry about that.

Cons

I wish that we were able to send emails to a whole schedule for the day. For example, if we need to send an informational email to our schedule, we have to do that for each person. We are able to cancel a whole day, just not send them a mass communication without cancelling.

Pros

Pike13 is easy to set up and easy to use for the most basic services.

Cons

Features are limited, reporting is also limited. Website navigation is not user friendly or intuitive (until recently there was no "back" button and even now the "back" button is limited to a small range of functions. Customer service can be responsive, but generally is unable to do much to help you.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Pike13

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Pike13

Pros

If it worked, I’m sure it would be helpful. But it doesn’t....

Cons

On both of the App stores, as well as on their website Pike has their kiosk app listed as “compatible with Android Devices.” I ordered a 4th generation Samsung Galaxy Tablet to run the app so my clients can check themselves when they come in. Unfortunately the app DOES NOT work with all Android devices. After 4 days of back and forth emails I was told: “Looks like there is some incompatibility issues between the Kiosk app and Tablet/OS you are using.” I was never told which tablets work, nor an eta on the fix. As of now, I am stuck with a tablet which I don’t need and still do not have access to their Kiosk App. While there could be room for potential, Pike13 has repeatedly proven to be a sub-par company.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Pike13

Pros

Very stable platform, app made it easy to access / manage remotely.

Cons

I was a grandfathered user on an older plan - I eventually left since I got tired of having limited access to reports and metrics that would be included if I 'upgraded'

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Pike13

Pros

Booking Emails: I like the fact that the program sends booking emails on a regular basis. Parents like them for the reminders.

Credit Card Processing: It has a nice feature built in that allows credit card processing. They did not tell me upfront that there is a monthly fee associated with it and then said "oh someone should have told you that." Once again, blame game.

Documents: The docusign feature is a nice ad on. However, if you want to customize your form, good luck. Pike13 doesn't really want to help you on this and once again try to play the "stupid" card on it.

Reports: The reports are nice if you can understand how to use them. They are kinda difficult to get around if your account manager does not explain them in detail.

Cons

Customer Service Attitude: They don't care once they have your money. Make sure you put a note on your calendar one year out or your service contact will be renewed. Don't expect to speak with anyone over the phone, everything is done through email.

On Boarding: I was indifferent about the on boarding process. The guy belittled me several time about coding and whatnot. I was a graphic and website designer by trade and on numerous occasions he talked in circles to try to confuse me. Basically their software doesn't allow for many custom changes and they would prefer to confuse you instead of being straight forward about it.

Text messaging: This is not default on the product. I was told that it was. All clients have to enable the feature. When you are dealing with 200+ clients you don't want to have to go through this process with every single client on how to sign up, sign on, go through all of their individualized settings - just to set up a text message.

Interface: The interface is very straight forward. There isn't any real customizations on it. You get what you get.

Pros

High-level functionality and effectiveness made simple. Ease of use makes staff training expedites their ability to utilize benefits right away.

Ability to customize plans and passes.

Reporting capabilities.

Cons

Inability to freeze coaches' schedule once classes have been assigned.

Limited to only 1 email account (especially if they workout at multiple facilities).

Inability to create a multi-facility pass or plan.

Pros

Very easy to use, modern / clean interface. The site is essentially identical on a Desktop and on Mobile devices. Note that some would say lack of an "App" was a Con (that was my first reaction) but the Mobile friendly website performs very well on all platforms.

Lots of flexibility around pricing models - per class as well as per instructor pricing, e.g. Prices, Discounts and Coupons are all clearly delineated in their roles and each is modifiable at time of sale. The Merchant Account Rates were the best we found also.

Viewing schedules for a few dozen teachers can be overwhelming; Front Desk has great flexibility in filtering the schedule (by person, activity, location, etc) as well as flexibility in presentation (list, day, week and month formats). Innovative use of colors also helps make attendance status clear at a glance.

I am also very pleased with how flexible the Customer view of the website is. The presentation of our "Course Catalog" can be very customizable, including defining what navigation tabs are available in the interface, etc.... not just what colors and icons are used! (We have yet to integrate the Front Desk website with our main site, but will do so next quarter.)

Cons

The Payroll functionality appears good with one glaring exception, which is that it does not support hourly pay; instead, you use either commission rates or pay per task (as opposed to per hour). In other words, an instructor earning $20/hour must be separately configured to earn $15 for a 45 minute class and $10 for a 30 minute class. This makes payroll setup (and maintenance with changing rates) quite a bit more labor intensive. So, the system is flexible, but not very efficient. In our case, we've opted to use the reporting functionality to generate all payroll statistics we need, and roll them up in a spreadsheet, rather than take on the multiple Pay Rates per Instructor overhead. We can always adopt their Payroll tools later if we wish.

The Reporting function has apparently recently been revamped; the Interface has "Classic" and "New" Reports sections. So, my hope is that the New Reports functionality will be enhanced soon. The data content, and its filtering are very robust - however, right now there are still significant shortcomings; Column order/width cannot be adjusted, for instance. Reports can be grouped only at one level (by Instructor, or by ClassType, but not both).

These problems can all be worked around by using the Export to CSV or Excel to handle those requirements offline.

Hard copy printouts are also not very impressive for the schedules and reports, although they're functional.

Pros

No doubt, dependability of the system, being available but the support is really excellent. They know the system they support and response to issues as well as resolution is one of the best I've ever experienced.

Cons

The system is applicable to private instruction businesses, such as music lessons, but the mindset of being able to adapt the system to bring the best user experience to people of the business world of the Arts, such as music education, can be a struggle and I have asked for some changes in future upgrades but have yet to see them. For example - being able to edit naming like clients to students, or allowing automatic attendance taken, enabling the instructor to only need to manually change for cancellations, etc. There needs to be a part of the applications design that can address the broader needs of their targeted customers, such as a music school and not a one size fits all, like an exercise business.

Pros

Pike 13 is robust enough to provide the services and information that we need to operate our business without being overly complex. Ease of use and adaption for multiple locations is a bug plus.

Cons

There are 3 things on our "Don't like" list. These items have been on our "Don't like" list since 2013. It's pretty likely that they will remain there since they are not a priority to Pike 13.
We continue to struggle with member reporting.
Dashboard information is not customizable. We get information that Pike thinks is important, not what we think is important.
The merchandise sales portion of the software is not user friendly. POS transactions are multi step time consuming processes, and doubly so if a customer wants to purchase more than 1 item.

Pros

the sales pitch

Cons

the actual product that came after the sales pitch

Pros

Overall, in spite of comments above, I do love what Front Desk offers in the way of reporting and communications with my customers...and the Support team is really amazingly helpful and always willing to do whatever it takes. THIS is a true pass of an excellent company , to not just offer a great product or service but BE THERE for the users.

Cons

Again, my biggest issue is functionally in my business model, as the structure of FD is based more on class offering and not geared toward private, one on one, services. I would also like to see more functions in breakdown of what staff members can and can not do.

Pros

Pike 13 is super intuitive and easy to use. If it has the function, you'll be able to find it and utilize it rather easily. Customer service was always quick to respond to my needs, although it was limited to emails only -- no call center.

Cons

For the overall functionality compared to other brands, I think Pike13 is overpriced. Also, the ability to put training plans on hold was supposedly a feature this software had, but it didn't work correctly; it gave my clients significantly more sessions than they had paid for. Pike13 admitted to me that it didn't work correctly and said they didn't have the resources to make the fix anytime soon. As an independent trainer I needed the ability to put training plans on hold for when I or my client's went on vacation, got sick, etc., so I found another software provider at a much lower cost.

Pros

Efficacity And rapidity
Suport system

Cons

When the syste IS doun or there IS updates take tomuch Time to back to normal

Pros

Customer Service is superb and best in the business.
Ease and simplicity in teaching staff and clients to use on front and back ends.
Notices posted at the Top of Pike13 when developments/updates are coming.

Cons

As a newer product, features need development to increase efficiency. The ease of use can also hinder needed functions when trying to make things too minimal. Examples: App, Kiosk, Services, No Charge Services, Use of Gift Certificates, etc.

Pros

-User Interface
-Intuitiveness
-Customization of appearance
-Logical approach to page progressions from the front and back end of the software

Cons

*Important to note that although constructive, these aren't the key features to Front Desk's software and are just based on our needs as a business.
-no virtual storefront for clients purchasing merchandise
-The only unintuitive feature in the software is the sign in kiosk
-No perfect merchant integration solution

Pros

Cloud based with extensive documentation and very reliable customer support.

Cons

Non integration with Square technology. We are now using Square for some merchandise sales and it would be nice to have the two work together, with Pike13 being the source of all data.

Pros

It makes it super easy to keep track of my teaching schedule for the day and communicate between our staff in real time.

Cons

Maybe the website could refresh a little bit more often, to show real-time changes. That's a very minor issue, and that might not be desirable of it makes the software heavy on CPU.

Pros

Easy to use, the scheduling works perfectly

Cons

There is really nothing I don’t like about this software. It’s a wonderful easy to use software.

Pros

Customer service is A++. Ease of use and functionality is a close second!

Cons

Can be difficult to make big batch changes on the back end, but customer service and support is always available if we need them to help or assist!

Pros

When it works, it's okay but still not right for my business.

Cons

Reporting is difficult. It is not intuitive. It is quite frustrating when it is slow.

Pros

They used to have customer service. And I could speak with a live person. Now I can’t. I’ve requested to speak with someone over 2 months ago and no one has called me. They only send emails and ask me why I want to talk to a representative. I want to talk to them I want to them to hear what I have to say about there product and customer service.

Cons

I switched from Mind Body to have better customer service and experience. The last 2.5 years with Pike customer support has gone way down hill. I’m very disappointed. I asked for a call from a representative and no one will call. I only get emails. I want to talk to a real person.

Pros

I do like the dashboard reporting. I can easily keep track of the money that comes in and any payments that fail, etc.

Cons

The set up is super weird. Like, the software assumes all teachers that teach the same class make the same rate of pay. You have to manually add each teacher to each class in order for them to get paid as well. Instead of assigning pay rates to teachers, you assign them to classes, and even then, it doesn't assume any of your staff is allowed to teach that class. We have 75 classes a week on our schedule and several of them are different types of classes, so each time we add a class (or a new teacher), we have to manually add every teacher to the pay for that class. The customer service is bad. In fact, there is NO customer service number. You literally can't get answers unless you email them and the answers you get back are often a link to one of their self help articles and don't really answer your questions. Also, if you want to raise your prices on existing memberships, you will have to do that manually for every single person. The digital waiver set up through docusign does not work well and no one will help you set it up. Families are unable to manage each other so each child has to have their own unique email address to have a waiver on file as well as an account with us. Parents are always mad about this.
Probably one of the worst features is that if someone is on an autopay contract/membership and their payment fails, it's not very obvious. They can continue to take classes (the system does not automatically cancel them nor do they show up as unpaid).

Pros

Scheduling weekly lessons and rehearsals is easy to do in Pike13.

Cons

We would like to see a more flexible way to mark students as canceled for one group class, rather than removing them from the roster for one week.

Pros

It allows our schools to run their business and track key information. We have worked with them to continue to evolve and fine tune this software to our unique business case and a lot of features have been added in the 4 years I have been administering it. Their reporting and API have also progressed over the years which as been a key component to allowing us to customize and expand functionality for our system.
Since this is one of our core platforms we have to be able to support our system/franchisees if issues come up, and their support team has always been super timely and helpful.

Cons

As with any software, there are some growing pains and functionality that do not completely meet our unique needs. Their team has been committed to working with us to change this and as a result a lot of features have been added. In a perfect world we would like to be able to have more control over the reporting integrations, as well as global administration. We currently operate this software in 235 locations, 9 countries, and in 3 languages so there is a lot of visibility/functionality that we need. 2019 is a big year for us as we continue to grow as a business, so we look forward to working with Pike13 to help meet our needs.

Pros

This software is easy to use on my phone, which is very helpful. I use it daily to keep track of attendance and also leave detailed notes on how the lesson went, which is beneficial for me to review before the next lesson, or to share with another coach who may sub. The scheduling aspect is professional and most families are able to navigate it on their own.

Cons

The scheduling process is sometimes a little confusing to families, and they have to call or email our scheduler to work them out.
When I am doing attendance and notes on my class roster, I can't just click "back" to return to my list. I have to go through the process of picking the calendar day and reloading.

Pros

Easy to use and love the accessibility though the phone app. This has been a good program for our small company budget too.

Cons

We find the reporting to be difficult. It's ok when you need to pull one bit of info but if you need multiple layers of info/filters in one report its near impossible. You essentially have to run multiple reports and then compile the data from those several reports to get the info you need. This may not be the case for everyone, but it has been for our company. Several of our necessary reports are impossible to get and I've had to do a lot of searching for info the very difficult and long way. Customer service folks have been helpful in trying to find alternate work arounds but the reporting is my biggest issue with FrontDesk.

Pros

Their Mailchimp integration is great. While there is no way to section clients based on membership purchased, it gives us some great ways to follow up with clients. Although this is more thanks to MailChimp's versatility, not so much Pike13's.

Cons

We were sold a contract to this software on a false pretense. We were told that their software integrates with a third party site (ClassPass). Once we signed the contract, management informed us that the integration was not working, but would be fixed. It is now close to 5 months later and there has been no progress made. They also refused to compensate us, or take any responsibility for any inconvenience they have caused. There are several other components of the software which are also significantly inferior to Mindbody Online and other fitness studio software.

Pros

Clients think it is easy, and they have updated their system to send reminder emails and allow clients to get on a waitlist! Been wanting that for a long time.

Cons

Dishonest rates, lack of quality systematic improvement making things more efficient for the trainer.

Pros

works on mobile and ipad through web function, easy to take attendance in sessions, easy to see client images. payscale for paying coaches per client is best feature.

Cons

again, no improvements in two years, hasn't updated any feature for sales, integration, Zapier integration - poor leadership, went to report functions as their key improvement for past two years, but doesn't work, integrate with Zapier or Google Sheets, doesn't allow shared reporting, so each staff person has to customize their own reports leaving a business to have more time on boarding, rather than less time to onboard. Focus was supposed to be easy for people to buy online and is actually the worst software to purchase online for parents of kids in a sports program. Lost thousands of dollars went we went to Front Desk from EZ Facility. As a former ICON Small Business Finalist with Infusionsoft, I DO NOT recommend this software to anyone wanting over per year in revenue. We've had to modify every feature of the software to make it work, would leave in a heartbeat if it didn't waste thousands of dollars in changing.

Pros

I enjoy the options for courses and series and most things I can figure out on my own without calling customer service so it is easy to use. I like the reports feature and making schedules is pretty easy as well.

Cons

I dislike that there is not a retail option to track retail, make labels, track inventory. So much extra work. I wish there was an app or easy way for clients to access their schedules. I have trouble understanding the revenue screen sometimes. I also dislike that I cannot use a dependent's parents credit card that is saved. For example, if enrolling a child who has a credit card saved under the parent, it doesn't show under the child so I have to enroll the parent in the class to charge that card. I will probably look into MindBody for next year because of the inventory issue and I have heard it is similar in price to Pike? I also would like to use the app "Loyal Snap." Many studio owners have said it is AMAZING for retaining clients and inviting clients back and I saw that app is only compatible with MB. If Pike was much cheaper I would like it more since it doesn't have the same features as MB, I don't think it should be the same price. Also would love training videos/tutorials to train staff and for myself when I started. A manual only option is not helpful for most people.

Pros

Ease of use. I can train new staff members very quickly in how to use FDHQ. The mobile functionality is great, too.

Cons

I wish their were billets for class services. That way I could assign different pay rates for each class to the same person for doing different jobs.

It would be a lot cleaner of a look if the FDHQ website could be separated by services and embedded into the gym website. Also, this would create a more seamless experience for the user.

Courses need to have wait lists.

Pros

I like having the options for classes, events and private sessions.

Cons

The reporting is sometimes hard to get just what you are looking for. I would also like to have an option to for different price points on courses and options to sign up for just one date of a series.

Pros

I like the simplicity of the software. We were able to create training for our other locations with ease. Onboarding was so quick when we hired a new staff member.

Cons

As our company was growing we needed members to be able to go to any location they wanted to and check in with their original account. The software wouldn't allow for this.

Pros

It is scalable and there is plenty of room for us to grow into it. The new bulk enrollment feature makes it easier than ever.

Cons

No customer service telephone support. Can't tag plans and passes so they appear where you want them in the menu which forces you to make custom HTML menus. Clients sometimes find the interface confusing mainly because you can't just sign up for a class or workshop without going to the date of that class or work shop first.

Pros

The software is very user friendly and has a quick learning curve for new users. Scheduling classes, managing multiple locations, processing automatic recurring billing for tuition, and booking recurring appointments are at the top of the list.
Having the ability to see class openings across the week allows staff to quickly sell enrollments to new and existing customers. Scheduling new classes is a simple process with just a few clicks. Customizing memberships is also a simple process and billing is automatic.
Pike13's Customer Service is outstanding and they really listen to feedback from their clients.

Cons

The lag time in reporting is frustrating. I would like to see all reporting in real-time. I would also like the ability from the Franchisor side to control the standard service offerings across all locations.

Pros

It has an app which was liked by our staff. Duplicating a session and editing it was easy for repeating classes.

Cons

No ability to do payment plans, enroll multiple students at one time, do auto discounts. It would work better for a gym/studio but did not work well for our mostly youth programming. Was impossible to get financial info (credit card fee report) from them.

Pros

I basically works, if you can spend the time managing the system. The API is a major plus.

Cons

I've been using Pike13 since it was Front Desk. I signed up for an account Jun January 2015. The system uses proprietary billing, so you can't easily move to another system. It's been nothing but trouble since we started using it. Its not intuitive and the system has many ridiculous limitations.

Pros

It schedules, emails clients, bills, reports and keeps me on track.

Cons

The refund process, there is no safety net. If you have a new employee they could easily refund the tuition without any stop gap. There needs to be a level of security such only allowing owner level to refund, at the very least force you to comment why your refunding or have to put a code in. We deal with thousands of dollars and it could all be refunded with 1 click of the mouse. I have used this software for almost 3 years and have to train that NO one other than me is allowed to refund.

Pros

I love the look. It fits very well with the layout of our website. Customer service is always awesome and is always right on with their "fixes" and have even helped me with work arounds that they didn't initially have answers for.

Cons

I feel like you guys are pretty good about keeping up with customer needs. I've run into a few issues over the years of Pike13/Front Desk just not having a solution for my issues but in most every case I blame that on our business. We do a lot of different things with our Youth Program and it's hard to expect one service to meet all of our needs.

Pros

It has good uptime. It doesn't charge per-user or per-staff. That is a pleasant difference. Not much else.

Cons

Super slow. Reporting functionality is lousy. Doesn't integrate with other services, particularly Zapier. Waivers generated are flawed and have cost me hundreds of dollars in lost revenue.

Pros

We love the ability to keep everything in one place.

Cons

Note: not a con but would be great to have the ability to directly use pike for processing instead of a third party. Same with paycheck and direct deposits
For employees.

Pros

- Easy to use and does what it is supposed to
- An incredibly powerful integration with Mail Chimp that allows you to programme automated emails based on member/customer activity.
- Great reporting
- Customisable customer site / front end
- PayPal integration

Cons

- A few features of minor importance are still missing

Pros

It's honestly not as much about the software as it is about the people. I find the software requiring some workarounds

Cons

It'd be cool if clients with account credits can have plans attached to them that are auto debited monthly instead of manually having to go in and do it. It'd also be nice to be able to create a plan that allowed for unlimited of one service and a set amount of another service so I don't have to sell one person multiple plans and have them accept multiple terms and conditions as a result.