Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Point of Sale Systems, what do you use?

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Topic: Point of Sale Systems, what do you use?

Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-16-2010 01:18 PM

David - no, as I understand it if you want to use somebody besides Mercury Pay you still have to pay the $1000. Sensible Cinema has that same requirement.

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David E. Nedrow
Master Film Handler

Posts: 368
From: Columbus, OH, USA
Registered: Oct 2008

posted 12-16-2010 01:40 PM

Mike,

Thanks, and drat!

I know they clearly have a financial stake in pushing people to Mercury Pay. And now, apparently, ReadyTicket.net as well, given that they want $500 if you want to use MovieTickets.com.

This sort of stuff just comes across wrong to me, in a "nice town you got here, be a shame if something were to break it" way.

-David

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Jon Petersen
Film Handler

Posts: 6
From: Des Moines, IA
Registered: Nov 2008

posted 12-20-2010 05:52 PM

quote: Mike Blakesley
I wouldn't mind it but there have been no visible upgrades or changes in the last 5 years at least.

Not entirely true, Mike. Just last year they changed the font on the login screen!

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Jack Ondracek
Film God

Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 12-20-2010 07:11 PM

quote: Mike Blakesley
I've only had to call their help line twice in all the years we've had this system and I'm no network expert by any means.

That's because I've called them for you! [Big Grin]

quote: Mike Blakesley
Counting those, our monthly CC charges run over 5%, which is way more than the industry average. So if RTS added their own fees on, it probably wouldn't be worth it to take cards.

Couldn't hurt to call them. I've been with Mercury Pay since '92. I got my rates reduced this year, just by asking.

Whether it's worth it or not is a matter of opinion, I guess. For me, the system has been bulletproof and very reliable. Transactions are at least as fast and convenient as cash, and the oft-used opinion that people tend to spend more at the snack bar with plastic is definitely true here.

Given all that, the product I receive is well worth the fees they charge me... but again, that may not be true for all.

quote: David E. Nedrow
They dropped the $1000/year fee to use an existing CC processor? That was the biggest reason I never pulled the trigger on RTS. I din't like feeling as though I was being extorted into using Mercury Pay.

I think there's now a second processor that's in the "free" category. Not sure which. Others do come with a fee. I don't know why, and wouldn't want to speculate. I'd expect there's probably a reason for it that goes beyond it being a simple money-grab.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-20-2010 08:50 PM

No, it's not a money-grab -- the fee is for the extra programming and etc necessary to make the software work with the alternate CC processor. I'm not sure if the work they have to do is worth that much, but I think they make the fee super-high to encourage the use of Mercury Pay.

Is taking credit cards worth the fee? Absolutely. There is a theatre near us that doesn't even take checks, let alone credit cards. Big mistake IMHO. I have found that almost nobody ever even comments on what their total bill is when using the card, but they sometimes do comment when paying cash.

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Edward Havens
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 614
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Mar 2008

posted 12-20-2010 11:35 PM

The last two exhibitors I've worked for have both used Radiant, and I have no problems with it. We recently updated from Radiant 5.6 to 7.4, and I understand we're getting another update after the first of the year.

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Cody Martin
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 214
From: Edinburgh, IN, USA
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 12-22-2010 05:23 AM

I find the credit card "programming fees" ridiculous, but I do understand why they/we impose fees for different processors.

The big credit cards companies VISA/MC are requiring all software to be PCI compliant. PCI compliance has a lot to do with the security of the data that is swiped.

There is an auditing process that software must go through to be deemed PCI compliant, and the bottom line is it isn't cheap.

Mercury Pays system is self contained. The POS vendor has very little access to the secure parts of the transaction when they use it. Mercury Pay PCI certifies the transaction processing part so that he developer doesn't have to eat the cost of certification.

A few other Credit Card processors are going the same route now as to save the developer money and get new "partnerships".

If I can find the list of requirment for software to be PCI compliant, I will post it on here for reference.

Also, I have worked at several theatres who use Mercury Pay, if you feel your rates are too high, or have a better offer from another processor, call them and negotiate. We had done this several times as transaction volume went up. For a non profit I worked with we were even able to get them to temporarily reduce the swipe/% fee during the months of December and January, our 2 high volume months for CC sales.

Hope this adds a little information to CC discussion.

Cody

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Robert D Hall
Film Handler

Posts: 65
From: Abingdon V.A USA
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 12-29-2010 02:53 PM

quote: Jerome Holmes
Exactly how big is your theatre that you've never had issues with TPro?

We are a 12 plex. It runs 5 box 8 concession 12 led door signs 2 outdoor led signs and is all so linked with the internet ticket sales. Yes from time to time it needs a reboot but other than the 3 min it takes for that. its never left use with out a POS.

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Jerome Holmes
Film Handler

Posts: 35
From: San Jose, Ca
Registered: Nov 2008

posted 12-29-2010 03:59 PM

quote: Robert D Hall
We are a 12 plex. It runs 5 box 8 concession 12 led door signs 2 outdoor led signs and is all so linked with the internet ticket sales. Yes from time to time it needs a reboot but other than the 3 min it takes for that. its never left use with out a POS.

Sounds like your system runs pretty well then. Its always left something to be desired here. Mind if I ask what CC gateway you're using and its reliability? Ours has intermittent service issues, and the customer service isn't there when we need it (on a friday or saturday night, if our CC gateway gets knackered, its impossible to reach a tech).

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Robert D Hall
Film Handler

Posts: 65
From: Abingdon V.A USA
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 12-30-2010 11:23 AM

Jerome we use printix usa and they go through heartland payment systems. one thing i did forget to add was after the frist year or so of useing the ticketpro and printix computers supplyed my ticketpro. Was they where the cheepest junk you could buy. And did lock up all the time. So i told john shaw he could keep his 50 dollers worth of yard sale hardware. And i would use the 3 grand he charged for it to build a real computer.
After that the lock ups stopped and the software ran fine

As for your cc gateway internet connection problems. We all so ran in to some of that. turns out the printix sever needs a rock solid internet connection. And that was some thing we where not getting from time to time with our DSL. So we switched over to cable and connection problems went away.

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Jerome Holmes
Film Handler

Posts: 35
From: San Jose, Ca
Registered: Nov 2008

posted 01-02-2011 11:22 PM

quote: Robert D Hall
So i told john shaw he could keep his 50 dollers worth of yard sale hardware. And i would use the 3 grand he charged for it to build a real computer.

Yeah - the printix computer was the cheapest thing ever. We had to replace that thing last year. Our Tpro server may not be too new, but it is more powerful than I thought it was initially. It runs a lot of processes though, so maybe I underestimate the computing need of the Tpro server.

We've had a bunch of locking up in the new year, and I remember that last year this time we had about the same number of issues. A couple weeks ago it was running smoothly, but now I've run 7 ticketing system resets in the last 4 days, with at least 2 complete resets for the weekend (which is more than average for us anyway). Has your new year been smoother?

Also, sorry guys for threadjacking, its just rare for me to be able to speak about ticketpro to anyone...

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Mandy Moncayo
Film Handler

Posts: 9
From: Sunnyside, NY
Registered: Jan 2011

posted 01-09-2011 02:36 AM

We use ticketsoft...

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Jake Spell
Master Film Handler

Posts: 294
From: Johns Island SC
Registered: May 2009

posted 01-16-2011 12:47 AM

Our theater just changed ownership and now uses most of the available features in RTS. We have everything set up so that closing takes about 20min most of which is in counting down the drawers. Inventory and payroll couldn't be easier in my opinion.

Also worth noting is that I called their tech support many times to get everything setup just the way we wanted and they were always available and very helpful even after calling many times a day for small things.

I would highly recommend RTS to any theater.

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Robert D Hall
Film Handler

Posts: 65
From: Abingdon V.A USA
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 01-16-2011 12:00 PM

quote: Jerome Holmes
Yeah - the printix computer was the cheapest thing ever. We had to replace that thing last year.

We have upgraded three times in the last 14 years. Things have seemed to get better with every upgrade. The first few years was just like you are saying lockup ofter lockup. That was with the wise monochrome terminals. We then upgraded to the ADDS terminals but still had lockups from time to time. But after building the new server the lockups where rare.

Now the last year or so we have been running the new touch panels that run windows xp. I think the fact that the terminals are now doing most of the work that the sever was doing. has realy took a load off the server becouse it has not lockedup one time.

The only lockups we ever have now are the terminals themselves but is very ez to just reboot that one. Its not like we used to have to do and reboot the server and take them all down.

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Sam King
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 120
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Oct 2006

posted 02-15-2011 06:30 PM

First TMS/PacerCATS, then Radiant version 5.somethingsomething and now Radiant version 7.somethingsomething All in the span of 5 years, hearing a new Radiant is coming to us this year...yay?

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