This is another area where almost everyone claims their support is the best. Don't believe any of them...even us. Anyone can say they have great support in a brochure but that doesn't mean it is true. The only true way to know what you are getting with customer support is to put everyone to the test and compare each company. Pick a time in the middle of a day and call each customer support number and ask them to show you how to do something simple like booking an appointment. On March 1 2005, 53% of calls to our customer support line were directly answered by a support rep while 47% were sent to voice mail.

Of the customers that had to leave a message, 94% were called back within 30 minutes. On the same day, our sales department spoke to three customers that wanted to look into switching to Insight because the support they were getting from their existing software was brutal. In each case, they were upset with the amount of time it took to have their initial calls returned. Three separate competitors...the best response time was 2 days, the next was 3 days and the worst was over 2 weeks. I can't even guess why it would take that long to return a phone call. So, I ask you this. "When you have a question, how long can you afford to wait?"

Is The Price Fair?

Believe it or not, the software available for salons and spas can range in price from $200.00 up to well over $20,000.00 and I think both extremes are ridiculous. The company selling for $200 would need to sell 180 packages every month just to pay two employees. At the other end of the spectrum, if you pay $10,000 for software it should come with a free employee to do all the work as well. Our pricing model is one that is fair to all size businesses but we do get a lot of questions about why we have the different levels. If you want details on our pricing model, call your Insight Salon Solutions we will be happy to answer any of your questions.

Are There Any Hidden Costs?

Insight has no hidden costs. You are purchasing the software and you own it. We include unlimited customer support and free software updates for a full year after your purchase. After that, you will have the option to renew your support contract for another year. The renewal prices are very affordable as for many of our competitors this is not the case. One company doesn't even mention support costs unless you look in the deep dark corners of their web site. Their brochure states that support is initially included but doesn't say for how long (it's only 90 days). In order to find out what the costs are after that 90 days is up you need to find it on their web site.

As it turns out, they give you many different options: you can pay $0.85/minute, $39/hour, $249/month, or a whopping $1999/year...oh and did we mention that you aren't calling a 1300 number and software updates are extra? So, their software sells for under $1000 but their support is $2000/year...that is not support...it's armed robbery! Make sure you know exactly how much support and updates are going to cost you before you make a decision.