Pike13 Reviews

We LOVE Pike13. They offer everything a small studio, or a large gym needs to operate.

Pros:

Ease of use, and reliability are amazing! But my FAVORITE thing is definitely the staff app. I can do almost everything from the staff app, so I can work from anywhere, at any time. From running payroll to creating packages or plans, it does it all. Most apps come with limited function, but this software is almost as complete as the desktop version. And what I love about the company is they are always trying to get better. We have been users for man years and they add things I haven't even thought about needing. Its a pleasure to be a customer.

Cons:

The reporting can be a bit confusing for me. Recently they have added a new reporting feature which has much more information, but I still struggle trying to see exactly what I need at times. But I cant even call it a complaint. I had to really think of something to answer this question.

Outstanding Software!

Comments: Absolutely 100% positive and fantastic experience. Customers comment on how easy it is to use and I greatly value this software.

Pros:

I love how versatile it is. i need to be able to run both monthly tuition for regular, weekly classes, plus courses plus punch cards, as my business serves many different populations. I love how easy it was to set-up and how easy it is for my staff to learn. I don't have to provide training for new employees. For the weird times things don't go as planned, customer service is on top of it, very speedy, thorough and helpful.

Cons:

The reporting end is so versatile that I don't know how to easily pull up reports. there are so many ways to filter, which can be a good thing, but I don't know how to pull it up. I wish I could get notifications when someone buys a particular package that I am waiting to get sold.

Weird Set up

Comments: It's almost good. There are definitely things that need fixing, but they don't seem to care and are not evolving. I wish there was a customer service number though. I can't believe there is no way to get answers when you need them. Very disappointing.

Pros:

I do like the dashboard reporting. I can easily keep track of the money that comes in and any payments that fail, etc.

Cons:

The set up is super weird. Like, the software assumes all teachers that teach the same class make the same rate of pay. You have to manually add each teacher to each class in order for them to get paid as well. Instead of assigning pay rates to teachers, you assign them to classes, and even then, it doesn't assume any of your staff is allowed to teach that class. We have 75 classes a week on our schedule and several of them are different types of classes, so each time we add a class (or a new teacher), we have to manually add every teacher to the pay for that class. The customer service is bad. In fact, there is NO customer service number. You literally can't get answers unless you email them and the answers you get back are often a link to one of their self help articles and don't really answer your questions. Also, if you want to raise your prices on existing memberships, you will have to do that manually for every single person. The digital waiver set up through docusign does not work well and no one will help you set it up. Families are unable to manage each other so each child has to have their own unique email address to have a waiver on file as well as an account with us. Parents are always mad about this. Probably one of the worst features is that if someone is on an autopay contract/membership and their payment fails, it's not very obvious. They can continue to take classes (the system does not automatically cancel them nor do they show up as unpaid).

Great "real time" scheduling

Comments: Pike13 has everything we need and continues to evolve and change with the business. I really do like the most recent update!

Pros:

This software processed our monthly billing, scheduling, cancellations, and more. If this software went down, we wouldn't be able to operate our business. Thankfully, in the 7+ years I've been using it, I haven't had to worry about that.

Cons:

I wish that we were able to send emails to a whole schedule for the day. For example, if we need to send an informational email to our schedule, we have to do that for each person. We are able to cancel a whole day, just not send them a mass communication without cancelling.

Used Pike13 (formerly FrontDesk) for years

Comments: Overall I was pretty happy the experience, eventually we decided to part ways though.

Pros:

Very stable platform, app made it easy to access / manage remotely.

Cons:

I was a grandfathered user on an older plan - I eventually left since I got tired of having limited access to reports and metrics that would be included if I 'upgraded'

500 Errors, Slow, Unreliable

Comments: The software is unreliable, and user interface is not super intuitive as many features and settings are hidden in odd places that don't make sense. If I wasn't forced to use this product as part of our franchise, I would have moved to a different platform a long time ago. The unreliability is completely unacceptable.

Pros:

When it works.... It's fine. But definitely not the most streamlined software to use.

Cons:

I've been using Pike13 for just over a year now and am absolutely shocked at how often the site slows down to an unacceptable and unusable level - stalling our business during busy periods. Periodic 500 errors completely take our business down as we rely on Pike13 as a core part of sales, client bookings and schedule management. When the site goes down, we've had to turn away customers who were about to sign up, and we had no ability to check schedules or register them. So for us this means a potential loss in revenue as a result. At this moment, all reporting and analytic data is completely gone with no time frame as to when it will return. From a business standpoint, Pike13 affects our ability to conduct business efficiently.

Avoid... You will thank me later!

Comments: I would not recommend Pike13 to anyone due to their poor customer service and their lack of respect for their clients.

Pros:

Booking Emails: I like the fact that the program sends booking emails on a regular basis. Parents like them for the reminders. Credit Card Processing: It has a nice feature built in that allows credit card processing. They did not tell me upfront that there is a monthly fee associated with it and then said "oh someone should have told you that." Once again, blame game. Documents: The docusign feature is a nice ad on. However, if you want to customize your form, good luck. Pike13 doesn't really want to help you on this and once again try to play the "stupid" card on it. Reports: The reports are nice if you can understand how to use them. They are kinda difficult to get around if your account manager does not explain them in detail.

Cons:

Customer Service Attitude: They don't care once they have your money. Make sure you put a note on your calendar one year out or your service contact will be renewed. Don't expect to speak with anyone over the phone, everything is done through email. On Boarding: I was indifferent about the on boarding process. The guy belittled me several time about coding and whatnot. I was a graphic and website designer by trade and on numerous occasions he talked in circles to try to confuse me. Basically their software doesn't allow for many custom changes and they would prefer to confuse you instead of being straight forward about it. Text messaging: This is not default on the product. I was told that it was. All clients have to enable the feature. When you are dealing with 200+ clients you don't want to have to go through this process with every single client on how to sign up, sign on, go through all of their individualized settings - just to set up a text message. Interface: The interface is very straight forward. There isn't any real customizations on it. You get what you get.

Pike13 is Ever-Evolving

Pros:

It allows our schools to run their business and track key information. We have worked with them to continue to evolve and fine tune this software to our unique business case and a lot of features have been added in the 4 years I have been administering it. Their reporting and API have also progressed over the years which as been a key component to allowing us to customize and expand functionality for our system. Since this is one of our core platforms we have to be able to support our system/franchisees if issues come up, and their support team has always been super timely and helpful.

Cons:

As with any software, there are some growing pains and functionality that do not completely meet our unique needs. Their team has been committed to working with us to change this and as a result a lot of features have been added. In a perfect world we would like to be able to have more control over the reporting integrations, as well as global administration. We currently operate this software in 235 locations, 9 countries, and in 3 languages so there is a lot of visibility/functionality that we need. 2019 is a big year for us as we continue to grow as a business, so we look forward to working with Pike13 to help meet our needs.

What I LIKE about PIKE!

Comments: Pike 13 (in particular the support team) have been first-class and first-rate since day 1. The ease of use and the highly-customized features and benefits make me feel like the entire platform was designed personally for me. Customer service makes me feel as if it was designed only for me. Excellent product. Pike 13 helps me stay engaged in the business of making money (not sitting and staring at a computer trying to get the software aligned with my goals- like so many other products). Pike 13 allows me maximum effectiveness with my clients and business goals.

Pros:

High-level functionality and effectiveness made simple. Ease of use makes staff training expedites their ability to utilize benefits right away. Ability to customize plans and passes. Reporting capabilities.

Cons:

Inability to freeze coaches' schedule once classes have been assigned. Limited to only 1 email account (especially if they workout at multiple facilities). Inability to create a multi-facility pass or plan.

Gets the Job Done

Pros:

User-friendly for end users to book classes. On the company side also user-friendly to administer classes and sessions.

Cons:

The back end reporting functionality is cumbersome and not user-friendly. Makes analytics challenging​.

Our experience with Pike 13.

Comments: Pike 13 satisfies 85% of our business needs. Their alliance with TransNational provides speedy and affordable payment processing. Their customer service has been exceptional even when their answer is no!
Their platform works well with multiple locations. Their financial reporting is excellent and the payroll module is accommodating to a wide variety of compensation plans.

Pros:

Pike 13 is robust enough to provide the services and information that we need to operate our business without being overly complex. Ease of use and adaption for multiple locations is a bug plus.

Cons:

There are 3 things on our "Don't like" list. These items have been on our "Don't like" list since 2013. It's pretty likely that they will remain there since they are not a priority to Pike 13. We continue to struggle with member reporting. Dashboard information is not customizable. We get information that Pike thinks is important, not what we think is important. The merchandise sales portion of the software is not user friendly. POS transactions are multi step time consuming processes, and doubly so if a customer wants to purchase more than 1 item.

Very disappointed and frustrated

Comments: My experience in the last year has been so horrible. Pike 13 is the worst vendor I’ve ever worked with.

Pros:

They used to have customer service. And I could speak with a live person. Now I can’t. I’ve requested to speak with someone over 2 months ago and no one has called me. They only send emails and ask me why I want to talk to a representative. I want to talk to them I want to them to hear what I have to say about there product and customer service.

Cons:

I switched from Mind Body to have better customer service and experience. The last 2.5 years with Pike customer support has gone way down hill. I’m very disappointed. I asked for a call from a representative and no one will call. I only get emails. I want to talk to a real person.

Love it...really....But...

Comments: Short story - I was glad to find a software that gave me a lot I needed, but as my music school offers primarily one on me, private lessons, the class/gym structure made it pretty difficult to configure for my purposes. Good news, is FD Support was a great help! Also, the business model I must use of not having employees, but self employed contracted teachers, adds more difficulties of complexity and lack of ways to incentivize them to carry out necessary functions. Although not a problem of FD, but never-the-less, an issue I must deal with.

Pros:

Overall, in spite of comments above, I do love what Front Desk offers in the way of reporting and communications with my customers...and the Support team is really amazingly helpful and always willing to do whatever it takes. THIS is a true pass of an excellent company , to not just offer a great product or service but BE THERE for the users.

Cons:

Again, my biggest issue is functionally in my business model, as the structure of FD is based more on class offering and not geared toward private, one on one, services. I would also like to see more functions in breakdown of what staff members can and can not do.

Pretty good, a bit overpriced.

Pros:

Pike 13 is super intuitive and easy to use. If it has the function, you'll be able to find it and utilize it rather easily. Customer service was always quick to respond to my needs, although it was limited to emails only -- no call center.

Cons:

For the overall functionality compared to other brands, I think Pike13 is overpriced. Also, the ability to put training plans on hold was supposedly a feature this software had, but it didn't work correctly; it gave my clients significantly more sessions than they had paid for. Pike13 admitted to me that it didn't work correctly and said they didn't have the resources to make the fix anytime soon. As an independent trainer I needed the ability to put training plans on hold for when I or my client's went on vacation, got sick, etc., so I found another software provider at a much lower cost.

New User Review (1 year)

Comments: For the amount of Clients and Staff we have, the program simplicity is much needed and great for our community. Customer Service and Set-up/Account Rep are quick to respond, friendly, and work with you to get things resolved. This is one of the main reasons we enjoy Pike13 for our business so far. Although we are waiting for some better feature/functionality developments to give it all 5 stars.

Pros:

Customer Service is superb and best in the business. Ease and simplicity in teaching staff and clients to use on front and back ends. Notices posted at the Top of Pike13 when developments/updates are coming.

Cons:

As a newer product, features need development to increase efficiency. The ease of use can also hinder needed functions when trying to make things too minimal. Examples: App, Kiosk, Services, No Charge Services, Use of Gift Certificates, etc.

Front Desk Review

Comments: As a FIT4MOM franchisee, Front Desk makes my life a lot easier than it otherwise would be, keeping track of scheduling, billing etc.

Pros:

Ease of setting up class schedules, client profiles, credit card billing.

Cons:

I have trouble running the reports I need. Figuring out numbers for budgeting purposes etc. When I track things like new clients in an excel spreadsheet separately, where I know my numbers are accurate, I can't get Front Desk reports to give me the same results.

Great service

Comments: Over all, as my first booking software, I loved it. It was great.

Pros:

[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] first off all, the account manager helped me a lot. thank you. Secondly, the system works great, it has many great features and I enjoyed using it.I was able to easily figure every piece of the system out with relative ease. Also, love the widget feature.

Cons:

It wasn't always easy to get ahold of someone to help with issues.

Intuitive, powerful, affordable software

Comments: Pike13 has allowed me to grow from scratch to over 2000 clients and has performed equally well every step of the way. It seemlessly integrates with my credit card capture system and makes reporting simple and also helps notify me of any issue I may need to deal with.

Pros:

The ease of use such as navigating through different "sections", the powerful reporting capabilities, and the stable, dependable platform.

Cons:

the calendar function (scheduling) is somewhat cumbersome

We are so grateful to have found Pike13 and to provide our owners with such user-friendly software.

Comments: A user-friendly platform that cuts down on day-to-day business tasks.

Pros:

We love how easy Pike13 is to navigate. Time spent on day-to-day admin work for our franchise owners has been reduced drastically so they are able to spend more time on building their business.

Cons:

Some features could be structured better for franchisors, such as mass customization and locking features.

I am THE WORST when it comes to technology, but I know we couldn't do it without Pike.

Comments: running our business remotely

Pros:

NOTHING compares to your support. We are a small gym so as the owner/operator, I ma also the person handling all things with Pike. Without her I would have to return to MindBody and I do not want to do that. It is lifesaving to know I have a lifeline when I don't understand something.

Cons:

The time it takes to get a notification in my inbox that someone hasn't paid their billing months. Reporting is clunky for me as I try to use the filters.

station ahtletics

Comments: wonderful customer service very helpful and respond very quickly.

Pros:

Great software for multi gym owner. Easy to transfer info and get accurate information

Cons:

was a little challenging for myself to learn but i am not super tech savy.

Support 5 Stars - application needs more specific business functions

Comments: I spent a great deal of time searching for a scheduling app for my music school. FD is the only one that fit into my business model. The BEST aspect is their customer support. This is the most important aspect of a software company.

Pros:

Reporting functionality and BEST Customer Service

Cons:

Application is not as user friendly as it should be.

Easy to use and easy to recommend.

Pros:

The flexibility of the features. I can tailor them to my business needs.

Cons:

I wish that my franchise company would invest in an app for my clients as I can't do that myself, it has to be company wide.

Game changer!

Pros:

We love the ability to keep everything in one place.

Cons:

Note: not a con but would be great to have the ability to directly use pike for processing instead of a third party. Same with paycheck and direct deposits For employees.

Excellent !

Comments: Easy Access
Informative Scheduling
Events
Purchases
Memberships
Emails
Phone #s
Credit Card Details

Pros:

Easy to Use & Organized ! Members are able to easily access the schedule, their profiles and plans !

Cons:

Nothing ! I think it is a fantastic system for any gym/studio that has a membership or class base.