Anyone having trouble with FreshKDS?

[1369Coffeehouse]

Is there anyone who is having trouble with FreshKDS?  We're having tons of trouble and their support team is not responsive.  

The problem I am encountering is that whenever I add a second tablet to the system, it isn't recognized by square.  Often it then breaks the first tablet.  We've tried multiple types of tablets, uninstalled and reinstalled everything, made sure all of our OS's are up to date, etc...

Is there anyone else struggling with this?

[EJ_]

I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble with Fresh KDS.

Unfortunately we don't have much insight into the integration, so our troubleshooting is limited. 

However, this integration requires a strong Wi-Fi signal to function properly. One of the most common issues is Wi-Fi strength. 

This might not be your issue, but hopefully one of your fellow sellers can chime in and help out. 

Keep trying with Fresh KDS support and they should get back to you. 

[NewYorkPizza]

FreshKDS is unresponsive to nearly all requests as this must have been a pet project that caught traction but wasn't their core business. There is no one to speak with and I've been asking for a simple change over the last 18 months to display additional order screens beyond the 2 screens it currently maxes out at. Crickets. 

As for adding another tablet, we've never had an issue. You download the app to your android tablet, start the app, log into your FreshKDS account, name the tablet something different than the first and off it goes. We have 4 running simultaneously and they all work well. Our issue is being busier than the average store the app was designed for. 

[Sean]

@NewYorkPizza - Sorry to hear about this experience. I'll reach out to our Partnerships Team to see if we can help you find a resolution with FreshKDS. Thanks for your patience in advance. 

[NewYorkPizza]

Thank you. I've called into square perhaps 3 times this year about it to no avail. My suggestion is for Square to buy the program from FreshKDS. It has the beginnings of a great piece of software and would allow Square to retain businesses that might look to a more full-featured POS including kitchen displays and online ordering. As companies like ours grow with Square, the loyalty builds. Adding features makes it more difficult to move away from a tried-and-true system. To-date, our Square usage has been absolutely flawless, even offline. That's incredible from my perspective. FreshKDS' display program begins to slow when you have too many orders in history so we clear it often and it could be great with a few small changes including a label printer. 

[Sean]

@NewYorkPizza - I did hear back from our Partnerships Team, they let me know that it doesn't look like Fresh KDS has any other troubleshooting tips to provide around their software specifically. From the sounds of it, it seems like the wireless connection in your business may be the culprit. Would you mind sharing what troubleshooting steps you've taken so far? Perhaps I can suggest a few more! 

[candlepins]

i too have issues with freshkds. i've even gone out to buy a whole new set of devices just to rule out device issues. i use 2 tablets as printers (from the list of freshkds' supported list). i get dropped tickets often and Register keeps showing devices connecting and disconnecting. i have comcast and my devices are within 10 feet of the router. i've even removed every device off the wifi and left just the ipad + tablets connected just to see if there was any interference from another device. no such luck, i still get dropped tickets. it's really frustrating and i dont think enough people use kds for square to care all that much. something this shoddy shouldn't be offered as part of Register's functionality. i really don't want to go back to paper tickets, but i'm even less likely to buy another device (like the star bluetooth printer) only to have it lose connection. another equally frustrating aspect is being bounced between square and freshkds support. we as a customer have no idea if this is an issue with square, freshkds, android, our router, a random wireless landline signal, or some reandom interference. paperless tickets should really be under squares umbrella and not outsourced to a 3rd party. i'd be just as happy to give my money to square for a rock solid paperless ticket system.

[Sean]

@candlepins - Sorry to hear about the trouble! By chance, have you already had a chance to sync up with FreshKDS to help troubleshoot? 

[candlepins]

Yup, I've gone through all the basic trouble shooting stuff that I had already done on my own (updating the software, power cycling every device, removing unnecessary devices from the wifi). I have Comcast business internet, I don't experience packet loss. Freshkds hasn't provided a solution. The last message just said that "the issue is with your wifi".  If anyone is thinking of using freshkds, I would suggest a better ticket solution. I'd also suggest that square remove it as  an advertised option for sellers. 

[candlepins]

Also, it's very frustrating when a ticket doesn't go through but at least a message would pop up about a device not being connected. Half the time there is no indication of a ticket not going through.  

[Tom]

Hi @candlepins — very sorry to hear that you're still encountering trouble with this. Thanks for taking the time to troubleshoot your wifi and hardware. I'll be sure to flag your suggestion about the popup notification for when a device isn't connected with our Product Liaison team.

While we aren't able to offer additional troubleshooting from our end, I did want to surface another resource: in many cases, Boomtown can assist with remote or onsite support for connectivity issues. Hope this helps resolve the Fresh KDS issues.

[candlepins]

Can't see what boomtown would really do for anyone in this situation. All the connections are already established. All devices are compatible according to the software developer. I've already determined that I don't suffer from packet loss. I have another store that has the same issues with freshkds. Is there someone that can tell me straight up that there is an issue with freshkds? It seems like there is if you read the comments on the android store. I'd rather not keep banging my head against the wall trying to figure the issue out. 

[mikejuliehaas]

Just to add in, my restaurant has also had/has many problems with Fresh KDS dropping tickets. Sometimes the Register will notifiy that the ticket didn't print to the KDS. But, sometimes it just straight up never goes back with no warning. This is a huge problem as customers are sometimes waiting forever for their order because it never came up on the KDS.

I did recently move our router from the basement much closer to the tablets and we have experienced less drops, but still not perfect. I have a friend that swears by Apple AirPort Extreme/Express routers in their reliability so I might try one of those and see if we can eliminate drops completely.

@NewYorkPizza hit the nail on the head when s/he said "FreshKDS is unresponsive to nearly all requests as this must have been a pet project that caught traction but wasn't their core business." I did some research myself and found that Fresh KDS is just a little "side project" by a couple guys (Matt Bodnar & Robert Brock) at a bigger company called Fresh Technology out of Alabama/Nashville. Since they launched KDS, it seems they've moved on with their carrers and left this project behind while we all struggle with no updates or support.

I wish Square would realize how crappy and neglected Fresh KDS is by its original developers and either pressure Fresh KDS to get their s#!& together, or like @NewYorkPizza suggested, have Square's programmers and support team just take over the KDS and improve it. We're all paying at least $10/mo to Fresh KDS to use their stale app while they just sit back and let their bank account fill up. I would much rather pay more money to Square who I could trust to support it and update it.

#LabelPrinterComingSoon!         #not

[candlepins]

I have one last option to try before i give up on fresh kds. All of my tablets/register are less than 10ft from my router. I bought new devices and I still getdropped tickets. The last new device I can try is a router. Right now I use the Comcast router that comes with the modem. I really hate the idea of buying a new device as troubleshooting but what else am I going to do? If that doesn't work then this is what kds told me:  "If you've done all this and still having connection issues it is network related or environmental (something in your location- under a hood or too far away from access point). These are issues we can not trouble shoot or support. FreshKDS may not work with your set up." Next time I'll include a picture of my setup and list every single bit of troubleshooting I've done on my own plus what kds have told me to do. 

[candlepins]

Also, if a square employee has their finger on the "try boomtown!!!" copy/paste button, don't even think about pressing it. 

[Sean]

@mikejuliehaas @candlepins - I'll be sure to share your comments with our partnerships team who works directly with Fresh KDS. Also, thanks for taking the time to share such detailed feedback. I apologize for the less than ideal experience so far. 😕

[1369Coffeehouse]

Sean, 

I would really appreciate it if the Square team would take this seriously and either purchase FreshKDS or create its own solution.  There are THOUSANDS of cafes/restaurants/etc…  that use Square, and the management of ticket systems is something that other providers do seamlessly.  As software people, I would hope they could realize the impact of what would happen if when a ticket was submitted it disappeared without notice 5%-10% of the time. 

I appreciate you forwarding this on.  Will you update this thread with a plan for action/update on the issue?  It doesn't help to "know that its being passed on" into the void.  

[1369Coffeehouse]

May I suggest that the others in this thread take the time to review Square's app in the app store, providing this feedback regarding FreshKDS.  This is not just FreshKDS's problem.  It is square's problem.  They know that they are used heavily in cafes and have done nothing to address their partner that does not service or update their product.  

[Sean]

@1369Coffeehouse - I promise it's not a void! It's the team that works directly with our 3rd party partners. Boomtown is a company that provides on-site tech support, especially in regards to network set up. 

[1369Coffeehouse]

Thats great!  To follow up on my prior question, will you please update this thread with a plan of action and what square is doing to address the situation?

[Sean]

@1369Coffeehouse - I'd be happy to report back anything that I hear from our Partnerships Team. Having said that, FreshKDS tends to handle troubleshooting issues on a case by case basis.