VitaLink Vs. Revention

T

TexasRookie

New member
I have had both of these systems recommended to me, and I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on which direction I should go. Pros and/or Cons of either system? This is a big ticket item in my new store, and I don’t want to make a decision I will regret.

I will be operating a pick-up & delivery only location.

Any advice/opinions would be appreciated!
 
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Installing Vital Lynk was a bad decision for me and I replaced it after 4 years. Revention has not impressed me in my conversations with them and their price had climbed so much that I didn’t consider them when replacing Vital Link. I went with Microworks Prism at nearly 60% the cost of Revention and am very happy with the system. In other words, I would recommend you look at other systems than just these two.
 
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I’ve 5 stores that have been running VitalLink for many years.

I can count on 1 hand the number of real user improvements that have been made to the system in the past 6 years. If you had not used the system since, say, 2002, you could walk into my stores and ring up an order and not see anything different.

A few years ago they announced a totally new package but it never came to market, and from what I understand it never will.

They have a list of “planned” features/changes - it’s been basically the same list for the past 4 years. Maybe 1 thing on the list gets implemented every 18 months or so.

That said, it works. I don’t have any problems with it at all - runs day in, day out - but it is missing some key features (like “smart couponing”) that are found in just about every other option available today.

If I were buying today, I’d have to go with someone else simply because of the missing features and no plans to implement any of them.

Revention’s stuff is nice. I thought they were a bit pushy and cocky, but they have settled down lately. I think they overcharge for the hardware by an obscene amount, but I don’t have any other comparisons. Revention wouldn’t consider an install on my own hardware a couple of years ago, but they will now. I’ll probably be moving stores over to Revention in the next year or two.

The above is my own personal opinion and reflects my own experiences. Do your own due diligence.

(BTW, with a name like “texasrookie” I hope you are not a Revention employee try to start of discussion on how good Revention is…)
 
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I heard Vital Link has gone out of business and Revention is on the way out too. Some contacts in the industry mentioned Revention started out okay, got better, and has been getting worse for a while now. I spoke to one of the sales guys and he was trying to rip me off on the price because I only have one restaurant. He also never said no to any of the items I asked for like integration with my accounting software, but someone I know has their software swears at it won’t work with his accounting.
 
Pizza22 - Do you have any sources that the rest of us could reference verify what you say about Revention & Vitalink? I am coming up on my deadline to pick a POS, and Both of these companies are still returning my calls. (I talked Revention today.) Which I would not expect from a company that is out of business.
 
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I don’t feel comfortable giving out names of people who shared their opinion wth me. I would suggest that unless you get the system dirt cheap don’t go with either of these companies and even if you get it dirt cheap remember that you get what you pay for.
 
I had the pleasure of speaking with a sales person at Revention. They were very cocky and when I told them I was looking at their direct competitors, it seemed that they were offended. (Firefly and Speedline). I wanted to compare and make an educated decision. It is a huge investment. I finally gave up on Revention when I called my rep back and the guys wasnt there. The new guy was nice but a little green. This is when I gave up. He brought in his boss and CEO and I was talked to like I was a piece of garbage. Not cursed at or anything, just spoken to like I was a child asking for permission to look at this guys software.
It was nice software, a bit pricy, but had a nice feel to it. After several months of sould searching and contacting references who they provided me. I decided that I will buy my own hardware and work with anouther company. There are 100’s if not 1000’s of companies who do what they do. It’s software… what really am I buying into… THE COMPANY?? I didnt like the whole force feed me Hardware that was over priced and not necessary for my store and also the fact that they seem to have the power to do ANYTHING!!! (software wise) Can Revention run my shop? Make dough? I am sure if I asked the sales guy he would have said hmmmm… let me get my boss and see what he say…Makes you wonder.

Keep looking. Every software is not for everyone, but there were some slimy tactics and verbage that I did not like and will look in other directions for my choice.

Thanks,
Best of luck with your expensive decision.

Tony
 
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TexasRookie -

Vital Link, like all software companies, has multiple versions of their software (they also have a “build” inside a version ie. a build is a small change or fix that was needed after one of the verions was released). Be sure you ask them what version and build they’re on now. PM me and I’ll let you know what version/build I purchased 5 years ago so you can see what (if any) developments have taken place.

Jerry
 
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I use Revention and overall the system is very good. I would look into Foodtec , they seemto have a great system with great features. I know a guy who has 13 stores and they love Foodtec.
 
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All of reventions staff came from Vitalink actually. Interestingly, rumor has it, when they left (all at the same time), a few computers went missing as well. I can also say that they are some of the nicest guys to deal with, whereas the revention guys have nothing good to say about anyone. It is almost as if they think putting people and companies down is an effective marketing strategy.

I know it sounds like an ad hominem, but the software is actually great stuff. The company management leaves something to be desired though.
 
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Bobbio’s concerns have been heard by Revention and we have a strong commitment to designing solutions that help build business throughout the restaurant industry. This is what keeps Revention motivated to help its customers achieve success. Bobbio’s is currently experiencing a Microsoft problem on a personal computer and all of the files that are necessary to use the Revention software are on his system. Bobbio’s is unwilling to pay for the repairs that are needed to correct the issues with his computer. This could be corrected by a third party company or we are more than happy to evaluate his unit in our repairs lab. We have graciously offered Bobbio’s a refund for the software that they purchased from Revention as an effort of good faith.

Revention strives to satisfy all of our customers. Sometimes in a rare situation like this one, we are unable to make the customer happy and we believe that we have offered a mutually beneficial solution to the problem and we wish Bobbio’s success in their future endeavors.

Kind Regards,
Revention Product Manager
 
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Whoa. Totally unprofessional and lame. Do you really work for revention? Talking about a customer’s private issues here on an open forum? What a bunch of unprofessional yahoos you are.

Did you notice you spammed the forums 7 times with the same message proclaiming your own unaccountability? Bobbio, willing or unwilling to do anything, is not satisfied. That it is a hardware or software problem pales in comparison to coming here to the forum and making excuses and pointing fingers like a teenager.

Save us the, “Revention strives to satisfy all of our customers.” Do you do this to everyone who has a problem with your stuff?
 
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I been reading this issue in other threads as well and I’m trying now to understand it.

but if one got Revention software and decided not to get hardware from them and then support runs out, and this is a Windows issue, they arn’t responsible.

Its most likely a windows issue in which if they didn’t sell it to you and the hardware… then I don’t think they should be responsible for it. Sure they can assist you with there software configuration and installation. but most companies don’t pay their technicians to support Windows failure. And windows doesn’t support hardware failures.

If they suggested to have you ship it to them to fix, that beats having to hire your own technical staff and would be nice of them to fix it for free. or just get a local PC repair store to fix it.

My view is in general to companies selling software and not to Revention specifically. Just from my experience, this is the way it is.

This is your personal PC ?

They should have givin’ you a software disk though imho. and basic support, and maybe try and to walk you through a windows reinstall since you are loyal customer.
 
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ah ok… I understand little bit better about this machine.
  1. your backups were on the same drive? if they were, they are lost most likely. You should have backups to another drive.
  2. I know you have 3 machines, do you have a license from them to use it on 3 machines? you are allowed to? this was the deal?
  3. You make a good point about the software source… I would never buy software in which I did not have a copy. what do they do with people who buy the software and don’t want them to install it? don’t they get a copy of the software? maybe you DO have the software and just don’t know it? ok i’m starting to understand… that is why you bought another hardrive as their software is built into it? well if the agreement is that you can use the their software on you other personal machines, then yea you shouldn’t have to send it back to them. You bought the software and should have it yourself for you own use. now if the software is there, they should just give you the keycodes if that is all you need.
 
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I do not have any experience with VitaLink, however i gave my thoughts on Revention in this thread,

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6258&start=30

page 3 reply number 40.

Also please echo Bobbio’s concerns, thinking about Revention crashing or having a hard drive failure on one of my systems frightens me, i have no CD’s for the software… my efforts in contacting them by phone might as well be a letter i mailed which they throw out everytime they get.
 
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Bobbios, or whoever, PM me, there’s another POS out there, that can get the job done VERY inexpensively!! IE, it can handle a $50K week with no problems. I know, I use it and maintain it. While its not as ‘pretty’ as the garbage mentioned here, its the HOBART (minus the cost) of POS’s. I’ve used it for 3 years - one of the best decisions I’ve made in this business!
 
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I was contacted by Revention about my previous problems and they offered reasonable resolution.

See my post here:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6258&start=30

Things happen, i made that post without expecting anything to come of it, however i respect the effort put forth to amend the situation.
 
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