Thanks for the questions....we do have Dealertrack DMS (Arkona)....and yes our patience has been pushed to the limit recently. Unfortunately they seem to have made some mistakes regarding support and internal hardware in relation to rapid increase of new dealers on their system.
Up until recently the system has worked beautifully....the last 3 Mondays we have experienced either complete system downs or very slow system performances. When the system is performing properly it is truly a pleasure to work on - everything from deals to ros has met or exceeded our expectations. Having come from R&R the year end process was sooooo simplistic on DT DMS that I felt we were not doing something properly. Lots of headaches saved when comparing the actual DMS system compared to R&R. However - those headaches plus have been received due to the support and internal system errors that they are experiencing.
I've communicated with DT DMS as to what I (as a dealer) feel that need to do to make things better.
1. add no more dealers until they remedy their current infrastructure issues & bulk up & educate their support staff
2. when experiencing a known issue - communicate that immediately via email to their dealer body so we can know that they are working on it and not feel compelled to call support (waiting 45 minutes for assistance) only to be told "they are working on it"
Here's what our rep from Dealertrack said in response to our complaints:
"Again, I’m so sorry for the issues you are experiencing. I’ve been with Arkona going on six years and our growth has, unfortunately, created support issues. I still believe in the product and the business philosophy of Dealertrack/Arkona and I’m confident that these system performance issues will be remedied very soon.
Steve Windham
Dealertrack DMS
Cell 216 272 4346
Office 801 617 8911
eFax 216 916 4982
www.dealertrack.com/dms"
To be fair - when we were with R&R we had system downs as well....however, their support was always excellent. Unfortunately they have priced themselves out of the market.
Ohio: we do own our own computers - the only hardware that we had to buy for the conversion was a router and new f&i printers. My contention with your "new computers w/o a dime out of pocket" statement is that, you are paying for those computers in your inflated support and lease payments to R&R.
As of right now, I'm glad we switched, it was the right business choice for our dealership. I'm extremely disappointed with the system issues we are experiencing w/ DT DMS; however, I feel confident that DT will get their **** together and fix their issues - they can't afford not too. If you are considering switching - do your research regarding costs & support, and know that no decision will be without it's pros and cons.
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