Booker Reviews

Booker is a godsend for so many salons. It is very user-friendly and they have implemented the use of embedded training videos for all the features; this is a wonderful tool and works very well for people who are visual learners, which most stylists happen to be. For salon managers and owners, Booker offers a variety of tools: time-clock, sales tracking, inventory, tip allocation, expenditures/budgets, etc. Being a web-based software, it's very easy to add a widget or embed a link on your website and/or Facebook page to allow customers to easily schedule themselves for services. In addition, there is a built-in point of sale system that makes it easy to check out clients without needing to switch over to another program and/or system.

The downside to being a web-based software: if the server is down or there is an issue with the website, you cannot access your calendar or your point of sale system. Booker has been awesome enough to provide a separate website where they allow you to report issues of the system being down and also announcing known issues. Their customer service makes up for this issue.

Ease of use so, easy to train. In the Day Spa industry front desk turnover is frequent so it is nice to be able to quickly show a new gal how to use the system.

We were previously Salon Iris customers and I am a programmer. With access to the database on that system I could run queries on anything in the database. Booker does not provide access to the SQL database so that is not possible. I do however have all of the reports that I need.

Also, it would be nice to have the ability to set access a little more granular. For example, if I give a gal access to look at gift card balances, I will also have given her access to modify gift card balances.

Online scheduling option for clients. Option to require credit card to hold the appointments.

Unstable, often (typically weekly) goes down without warning - our solution - keep all client service data on another platform (box.com) so we provide service to scheduled clients. Unstable, Unable to accept payment due to instability of the system - solution - we use a mini clover and have pricing of services stored on a spreadsheet to reference and complete transaction thru mini clover with client. We have line item in booker - "bookernotworking" as recommended in their FAQ section to close out transactions when this happens.

Ease of scheduling, quick to learn/intuitive platform, broad range of reporting options.

The customer support could be faster and more helpful. The client end of scheduling could be easier for the client.

You can be very thorough in booking your appointments. Especially like the details tab where you can add notes for each client & can even scan pages into their account. Can easily see their appointments & past orders.
We like the add ons to the software, as well - [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]

Sometimes, when you make a mistake, it's hard to back out of it, especially with payments. You just have to force other transactions to make the outcome that you needed in the first place.

I really like how Booker allows clients to schedule on line and purchase gift certificates. Most clients love the ability to schedule on line.

It can be difficult to maneuver around in the settings.

I like the marketing until it became defective and they have made no attempts to fix it.

Booker was great until they got bought by mindbody. Has went downhill and technical support issues don’t get resolved ever. They patronize you with excuses and never offer any discounts for defective software.

It helps an adhd man stay focused and happy.

I don’t dislike anything about this company.

Booking software can be tricky - I especially like that Booker allows multiple ways of looking at availability

The biggest downside is that the search function is really awkward. Otherwise great

It's also super easy checking out clients, I can use it to it on my phone which makes it easy

the confirmation some time can get too confusion for the client

I love that they have created many updates for this software over the last few months. It has been really nice not experiencing any lag or issues with the booking features like we were having just a few months ago. I love that you can choose how far in advance the confirmation emails are sent out and I really love that the clients can confirm the appointment through the email. Another AMAZING tool is that you can now see when a client is booking an appointment online that way you are not trying to compete with anyone online trying to book. I hated in the past where I would be booking a client at the desk and right when I went to book, it said that I was not able to. Come to find out when I refreshed the page it was because someone else had booked it online. It truly makes a huge difference with these little improvements that they made.

One thing at the moment that I am not liking about the software is that sometimes the confirmation emails do not send even when the emails box is checked, this also happens when I book re-occurring appointments for an entire year where these clients of all clients should receive all the emails. Another thing that gets frustrating from time to time is that the clients future appointments is not showing up on their account under the appropriate tab therefore some clients have not showed up for their appointment and we can't charge if they can prove they didn't see it online. I try to see if they have duplicate accounts as well but they do not. And lastly, every now and again Booker will give us booking issues while trying to book for any of our services, it will state that the appointment cannot book because no equipment is available however, I know that is not the case. That is frustrating because we have to then just create a block out on the schedule with the client's service along with their information but they don't receive any emails through the system when it is booked that way.

I love the way Booker works directly with my web page. My clients and potential clients can book right from my web site, purchase gift certificates from the comfort of their homes or offices, and print them or email them right from their computer without having to come to my office. I am often in service with a client and don't have a lot of time to answer or return calls during my work day let alone meet people to hand deliver gift certificates. I don't have a receptionist or assistant to assist in these matters. I love the fact that I have my very own App to give to my clients so they can save ME to their phones and book on line any time of the day or night, without having to try to find me first. I'm just a click away. The best part is that after you set up your booker to work with your website, it just makes scheduling my clients appts soooo much easier. They get an email notification with Appt details and directions. Then an appt reminder 24 hrs before their Appt so they can click the confirm button, so I don't have to make confirmation calls the day before, then a text reminder notification 3 hours before their Appt which cuts down on no shows, and late cancellations. I love it!!

I have 2 locations and Booker does not have a place to differentiate either location. So when my clients book on line, there is no way of telling them which days I am at one location and which days I am at the other. So when they are looking at my open appts, they don't know which location they are booking for. This kind of takes my 5 star Status and brings it down to a 3 because this causes my clients much confusion when trying to book, and me soooo much stress, because what good is it if I always have to call them anyway when they are trying to schedule on line?? This defeats the whole purpose of online scheduling. This needs to be fixed and upgraded. Another thing. The mobile app is limited to its back of the house functionality. It's very easy to schedule appts, but looking up Gift Certificate numbers and entering them for payment after a client redeems them is time consuming and not user friendly. I also wish I had Email/ text Marketing built in so I could send my clients daily, weekly and monthly specials. There are days that I would love to send out a quick text telling my clients what time slots I have available. This would be soooooo easy since all of their contact info is already in the system. I would also like to see yearly reports and just imagine how great it would be if the accounting software was built right in! All in one place! Now that would make Booker the leader in the industry!

Integration of scheduling, merchant services, marketing, reporting. Everything I need in one place to run the business. I don't have to import or export information to run reports or go through multiple programs to send out reminder texts, ring up a client to check out, and check hours worked by employees.

There are a few things that the system just doesn't do intelligently where I have to override certain scheduling rules (Example: if an appointment was scheduled in room 2 with one girl, and i want to change it to another girl, it will not automatically switch it to room one. It will just say it isn't available.) So I have to go through round-about ways to override it to get it done, but those are just nit-picking.

The "all in one nature" of the platform but also the ability to have an online store that links to our actual inventory and pricing levels in real time. The confirmation email for appointments are a great asset to in terms of revenue loss prevention and saves time for our staff, not to mention our clients love the convenience. The pre-authorization of credit cards is a great function again for loss prevention.

1, There have been times recently were the downtime or stability (slowness) of the platform has not been acceptable.
2, The ip lock function only works with v4 ip addresses (most ISP's are now using v6's rendering the function useless unless you pay extra for static IP's.

Booker is so great. Everyone of my staff has their own logins to look at their schedules at any time. My accounting department (that is in a different building) has access to check balances....my HR department can also access it to do payroll....making it easy for us all to stay on the same page of the business. At any time my GM can look at the dash board to see where we stand any any given time of the month. The clients love it because they can make appointments on line and they love the text reminders for their appointments. As the director I want to make sure clients are happy...I get feed back from surveys that let us know if we are doing things right or if we need to improve on things. Bookers Customer service used to be a little frustrating but I feel like they have really stepped it up lately. Thanks Booker for helping us do our job in a very efficient way!

I wish we could add specials or notes to certain days...their really isn’t any place for that. We end up putting notes in someone’s schedule so it shows up on the day...it works but not ideal.

Salesmen are very attentive, attempt to find questions to any answers and are quick to return calls. Software is very clean and easy to use as long as you stay within their realm of "basics".

Unfortunately, if you have any type of development background this software will not allow you to utilize it unless you upgrade to the API. Prior to purchase we were told we would have Full Access to all features and everything was 100% customize-able. However, there are areas of customization you still need to have a "Super User" (call in to tech support + talk to a manager) to change. Example: Accepting cash in office.

The second issue I had is their merchant processing. They don't have syncing with Amazon Pay (primary issue we were told could be done with this software), PayPal or Square. You are charged additionally to use their merchant processing (and with companies my accounting had never heard of/didn't want to use). Again, while promised we would be able to find a work around, eventually it was found even with upgrading to a higher tier with API access, there was an extremely slim chance that different integration methods was possible.

Third: The price. Please understand if you desire to let one company manage everything then this software is helpful. However, if you don't then per month charge is rather high when other simple services are free or offer nearly every feature Booker does for 1/5th the price. So, do your research and speak with both Sales force and Tech support before making a decision.

I appreciate that my clients can book online and purchase gift certificates when I'm too busy to answer the phone. It's also super easy checking out clients, but best of all is that I'm able to manage our calendar for both therapists and clients, and reschedule with ease. I love that I am also able to track client history and their progress. As we get busier and our client base grows, it can become more challenging to manage paper files and this has helped us cut down on paperwork, thank goodness!

There is definitely a learning curve with Booker and there have been times when I've been unsure of how to do something, and have had to contact their support team. One of the glitches that annoys me, is that when I add a new staff member, it adds or populates their name in the calendar even before their official start date! It can be confusing. The same happens when I terminate a staff member or switch them to 'inactive' - then their name and client appointmentss that day, all disappear from view. This is probably one of the more frustrating things for me. I also wish I could do a bit of my own customization like removing things from a drop down table that do not able to me.

The ease of scheduling. It is simple to teach new people and services just pop up when you start typing them. I like that.

Sometimes the system can be a little bit slow. It is truly only difficult when there are lots of people waiting on you.

- Ease of use
- Mobile application
- Partnership with Frederick
- Easy to book online
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Easy access to customer service (with real people!)

There are certain limitations to the software that I don't quite endorse, and would love to have more accessibility to customize the features inherent in the system. For instance, we would love to be able to format, on our own, the infrastructure of the Administrator, Reservationist, and Staff roles to allow for certain levels of access to information. Although we have found a way to "Macguyver" the system, we'd love for there to be a more direct system for integrating digital SOAP notes, as well as intake form and profile management by the client when they log in to book an appointment. There have been other, very slight issues, which have caused some annoyance to our clients - such as the automatic CC authorization process when opening orders, or when clients are unable to cancel upcoming appointments online at their convenience (so long as it does not violate our 24-hour policy).

I like how easy it is for people to book appointments, how it keeps track of room usage, payroll and other functions. Great that is can be used on smartphones for booking appointments on the fly, notifications via text and email!

System slow downs have been awful the last few months, we have had intermittent notification glitches (ie people not getting notified of appointments), problems with people thinking they booked appointments but for some reason it didn't go through this needs to be better - customers are unaware that it didn't go through because of missing information on their end - a tiny red star doesn't really cut it for people to see. Should say somewhere - at the end if you do not get a pop up saying Thank you for your appointment - you are missing information or your selection didn't go through. I wish there was a more integrated system for marketing that allows target marketing, I didn't like having to purchase yet another system like Mail Chimp and now HireFredrick. Really gets very expensive.

Booker does help us with booking appointments. Our clients really enjoy online booking, however i saw there is going to be an update in the next week. I will be curious to see how quickly they ruin what already works...

something is always wrong with the software. dropping credit cards, dropping appointments. they took away simple features and moved them to its new Frederick site. as a long time customer, we felt this move was unprofessional. you have to pay so much extra for something as simple as text or appointment reminders. (a feature that used to be FREE). the busiest Fridays, they will do site maintenance and you will be very embarrassed in front of your clients. happens way too much.

Smart, friendly people in customer support that live in NYC or SoCal. They really know their stuff and try hard to help you. And they don't speak English as a 3rd language or live in Bangladesh!

Well thought out, elegant interface.

Booker needs to hire more/task more programmers to fix glitches in the system—fixes trickle in, but far more slowly than other SaaS providers in other industries.
Feels like they are resting on their laurels with features—slow to fix or add features

I like the fact that Booker can be used for multiple locations and is helpful with daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly statistics. I can use the data to determine what I need to do differently regarding sales, promotions, etc. I can also use the data to determine what services, promotions, etc. are going well and should definitely be continued.

The customer support is lacking. It has been so frustrating to speak to so many different reps. The notes they take and calls they log has been very inconsistent, making follow-through to a resolution impossible. Even when issues have been pushed through to technical support or the development team, we have gotten little to no helpful feedback. I feel the software could use some updating to improve on the ease of use. Mostly, I feel customer support reps should be trained to actually offer "support," rather than offer a "pat" answer and such as, "This is not a Booker issue," or "I can't really tell you why that is happening, call us again if the problem reoccurs." Overall, our experience has been frustrating. In all fairness, our particular "case," which includes many different issues has been escalated to someone in management, but this has taken several months.

Almost everything.

There are a few bugs that still need to be worked out, especially with the app. Sometimes I have to cancel an appointment instead of just adjusting it, and then the client gets confused about the cancellation email. Also, I'm confused about the referral program. I recently referred a friend and she signed up. I have heard nothing back about it.

Online Booking.
Flexibility with using Rooms vs. Employees.
Reporting.
Ability to manage all aspects of clients and employee data.

There's a lack of Sales Funnel Integration with Frederick i.e. There is so much data that is in Booker/Frederick, that should allow us to create customized sales funnels in order to remarket and market to our existing clients.

Frederick is limited into the emails sent, and there should be more control/flexiblity given to the owner.

Currently, i'm using Clickfunnels and other email software to close that loop to create email sales funnels as well as other sales funnels from paid traffic sources.

Digital Marketing is the future of all businesses and a crucial component of that is Sales funnels from organic traffic and paid traffic from FB ads, Youtube Ads, Instagram Ads to enter into Sales Funnels. The power to remarket and retarget those clients from Booker/Frederick Data can really scale each business and should be in the hands of the business owner/marketer.

We have been doing that manually using Clickfunnels and Other Email Software providers.