Thoughtful Systems

A short list of the insurmountable problems include latency that caused updates taking as much as 60-90 seconds for basic scheduling data entry, constant crashes, particularly when using the email module (that we use constantly), and email and estimate functions that cannot use images, fonts, etc.  Moreover, we were informed setup and installation was easy, yet we found it was impossible to set up the software on six computers with out extensive IT help for each unit. Including 3+ calls to your support staff. Finally, our database and network expert worked extensively with Thoughtful Systems support and could not get any confirmation that these weaknesses in programming were going to be addressed in a reasonable amount of time that would allow our business to feel safe in the investment into Thoughtful Systems.  The program, quite simply, will not work as advertised, even with experienced in-house IT support.  All this at a very hefty price for our small business at $500 a month.  We believed this would be an investment that would enable us to grow and run more efficiently.  However, we were unable to use it for our most basic daily operations without being constantly infuriated at the lack of performance.  
We had several experienced IT staff working with this software for a full month trying to get it to work.  We finally contacted Thoughtful Systems to try and get a refund even though we signed paperwork that stated that there are no refunds. We received a long email back from Sarah Thomas stating that we did not provide enough information regarding the details on our issues.  Here is a copy:
Yes, we did receive your request to cancel the rental and we have done so you have not and will not be billed any additional charges. You say that you had problems with the software. However, I don?t see those documented here in our support notes. We keep very extensive notes about all interactions with clients. You state you had ?insurmountable problems?. I don?t see this documented in your notes and we keep very detailed notes of all interactions with clients and we stand behind our software to make sure it meets reasonable user expectations. We have  been doing this for 25+ years and of course we are very concerned that users have a good experience. You state that there were problems with ?latency?. You don?t say with what, and it?s not documented in the support notes. You say ?constant crashes?. I find that hard to believe. If the program constantly crashed you would not experience problems with latency and I also don?t have any documentation of reports of crashes. Can you document any of these alleged crashes? If you can provide us with exact details for these alleged latency problems or crashing problems we can investigate. With regards to the estimates you say that you cannot use images or fonts, etc, but you have not provided details of what you mean here. The fact is that you are able to modify all the email templates as you want. We do not advertise anything beyond this. Brendan spoke with you and assisted you with setup on several PCs. We do not see any record that you had any further difficulty with installing or setting up the software on any other PCs. The only issue we see in our support notes is something to do with setting up the INI file, which Brendan says he explained to you in detail. If you had problems you could have called and we could have assisted you with the setup, but generally users do not have a problem with changing the INI file. I?m sorry that you feel the program didn?t work out for you, but we feel that your allegations are not justified. We are quite clear in our agreement, which you signed, that there is no refund on the rental.

 I understand that we signed an agreement, but we signed it with the understanding that the program would be able to do the basic advertised functions in a timely manner.  Honestly, this software is extremely old and outdated.  Overall, I feel taken advantage of and that this company is not truly concerned with customer service.  Also, they have a D- rating on the Better Business Bureau.  I have learned a lot about shopping for software too.  It has cost my business a lot of staff hours and a $500 monthly to deal with Thoughtful Systems.  Our total cost in resources so far is right at $1200.   :(