Manager SE

Pros

I'VE BEEN USING THIS SOFTWARE FOR 17 YEARS AND WOULD NOT USE ANOTHER PROGRAM TO MANAGE MY AUTO REPAIR BUSINESS. THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS GREAT, I'VE NEVER HAD AN ISSUE THAT 1 PHONE CALL DID NOT RESOLVE. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

Cons

SOME OF THE REPAIR PROCEDURES ARE A LITTLE VAGUE, BUT A GOOD TECHNICIAN CAN ALWAYS FILL IN THE GAPS ON THE REPAIR.

Pros

fairly easy to use and navigate, diagnostics is pretty good. middle ground between alldata and identifix

Cons

when compared to its main competetors it is a middle ground solution the best of both worlds i guess.

Pros

Very capable shop management software that includes many amenities.

Cons

Software is dated and does not offer many of the latest options that make customer communication and presentation in the current century.
Many of the settings need to accessed through different menus. It can be complicated to understand how to change some of the settings.

Pros

Manager SE is a well established company with lots of knowledge.

Cons

Manager SE was not moving with the times of modern technology

Pros

Easy to use. There's a place for almost any kind of customer or vehicle information. Easy to customize WIP screen by user. Lots of useful reports for reporting metrics to outside CRM companies or in house marketing. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SUPPORT! Full of features for tracking every imaginable metric. The software platform is always evolving and updating with new features. Best feature of all: Integration with the digital inspection platform Bolt On Technology.

Cons

The layout of parts and labor in "estimate" or "invoice" is very poor. For some reason, it puts parts on one side of the sheet and labor on the other instead of just presenting each job as an item. This format is confusing and hard to read. The font for the final dollar amount is so small it seems slightly deceptive. I've begged Mitchell to get with the program and offer another format. The good news is that if you have Bolt On it can generate a sensible and good looking invoice.

Pros

Some stuff was ok but it’s an outdated over priced system

Cons

The outrageous cost compared to what we get now

Pros

Customer tracking was great, recommended work/revisions are easy to track.

Cons

No online way for Technicians to communicate recommended work with service advisors and parts. Mobile App is useless. Not cloud based Additional charge for every computer that needs access to it. cannot be accessed remotely.

Pros

The simplicity of the software is amazing

Cons

They are outdated in many areas of operation

Pros

Nothing,

Cons

Everything, The clunkiest over engineered program to use. Horrible

Pros

It did the basics. Nothing special. Hard to navigate sometimes.

Cons

Customer service is garbage. They will lock you into a contract without you knowing it and they will keep charging you even after your contract is up. There are better and cheaper companies out there that won't rip you off by charging way too much for services you don't need.

Pros

Ease of use. A lot of options for reporting. Various account levels/ add ons to fit various budgets.

Cons

Program is very dated- feels like the user interface hasn't been updated since Windows 95. When we updated our systems we had a bit of a glitch. It was worked out but system definitely feels dated.

Pros

It is ok for daily work in auto repair shop.

Cons

poor layout for invoices. Very expensive if you want to add additional services. It can't handle medium duty vehicles.

Pros

I liked that it wasn't overly complicated, but it was clunky and annoying and not a nice looking software.

Cons

I didn't like a lot of things. Mostly how clunky it is, how unprofessional it looks, all the things you have to add on to it to get what other softwares have, as well as the price and customer service "crew"

Pros

Easy to use. Fairly flexible. Easy to read, etc. Been using it for years.

Cons

Really, REALLY want it to be online! I think if Manager wants to keep in the game they will need to step up more innovations. It's not as flexible as other products, which I will be looking at this year.
There have been slowdowns recently, which have been frustrating!
We have used Mitchell for years, but may move on if things don't change.

Pros

Very easy to use, Transfering and ordering parts from the invoice

Cons

Price. And only being limited to connecting to the host computer

Pros

The wiring diagrams

Cons

Half the time it wouldn't pull up parts I needed, some of the labor times were WAAAAAY off. It took way too many clicks to pull up a customer's vehicle when doing an estimate. We never used the billing software as quick books worked much better.

Pros

Creating invoices is so simple, you can link suppliers, transfer labor time, and transfer parts right into the invoice.

Cons

Searching for repair information is tricky, you have to know the system to find right diagrams. Customer service also always has a long wait.

Pros

Repot section. Being able to transfer info to invoices.

Cons

Customer service is terrible. They try to trick you into to getting more services to drive profit.

Pros

The database of vehicles and parts list from the dealers is comprehensive and my go to guide for parts pricing. I am able to customize my software to best fit my company's needs. I also greatly appreciate the technical support provided to me by the Mitchell team.

Cons

There is nothing I do not like about this software, new features are constantly introduced and old features are rapidly enhanced. I LOVE MITCHELL!

Pros

I honestly can not think of one. Maybe the possibilities the software has, but it just is not written well in my opinion.

Cons

Where do I start. Much more complex to use than Napa Tracs. Extra steps to do the same thing I could do in Tracs. No where to add expenses such as shipping to a P.O. Support just told me to add it as a canned job! That will add it to the customer's invoice, but will not show the cost of shipping I paid, therefore considering the amount as profit. No where to break down bulk items such as oil into individual units. This also happens from time to time with no known cause or solution:
01/29/19
Error: DBConcurrencyException

An unknown error of type DBConcurrencyException has occurred.

Began after Spell Check and would not save the text entered; continued to pop up after modifying a part quantity.

02/22/19
Many times when opening ProLink via a repair order the vehicle information won't be transferred.
Never happens when opening FirstCall.

Pros

Software is great, I have used it for 18 years

Cons

Billing Department took 2 years (Feb of 2017) to advise me my billing was off. Then they advised me I had to provide the burden of proof to them it has been paid. So after talking to their Rep. My account was brought up to date. No more than 4 days later I received yet another letter telling me they would gladly toss away an 18 year relationship to collect a debit that CSR assured me was paid in full until 6/20/19
Doing very rough math Silzer Auto Repair has paid Mitchell1 around 87 thousand dollars over 18 years but this was very unimportant to them

Pros

easy to use. software is fine and very easy all though I found some other companies out there that use the same layout as Mitchell and it cost half the price. Once I get out of this 2 year contract Mitchell scammed me into I will be switching.

Cons

Price is very high shop around you find out Mitchell is over priced. Also when I got Mitchell they were running a CRM special 3 months free CRM. well I used it for 6 months and then decided I was going to cancel it. Only to find out I had to cancel with in 3 month trial. So I said ok when can I cancel it I was told 1 year. 1 year came up and now they tell me ohh no its a 2 year contract which i WAS NEVER TOLD THAT. so now when my 2 year is up I will be dropping Mitchell completely.

Pros

this, has everything, Manager SE or aka Mitchell 1 is a great tool that keeps my customer info organized
keeping the shop running smoothly

Cons

it takes some getting used to, there are training videos on youtube, but i suggest you get familiar with it before you start to depend on it or it can be a bit stressful

Pros

It is easy to learn. Has all the functions that a shop needs.

Cons

Seems like it can be disjointed at times. Most modules are an upgrade option.

Pros

Good part finder and labor times, good to have the recall info on the main screen.

Cons

Nowhere to put photos, or hide labor/parts cost to show quotes

Pros

love the search feature that makes it easy to type in a fault code and then find the diagnostic path to repair iT

Cons

dont like the estimating feature as it can be confusing for new employees that will require a bit more traininG

Pros

Parts ordering and accounting

Cons

Wiring diagrams could be easier to find

Pros

It had a lot of different options that you can use on the software

Cons

IT was not user friendly, it was just to bulky to get used to and just never really could get used to and everything that you use you have to pay a fee fr

Pros

It did what it needed to. But that is about it.

Cons

It could be hard to navigate and stay organized, much harder to navigate. Even now we have access to the history, but you can't look up by customer name? It lookd very out dated and often lagged. Customer service and guidance from the provider was also lacking.

Pros

Scheduler makes it easy to track incoming work, and the software is very easy to adapt to and use.

Cons

Wish i could print more reports involving all the vehicle a customer has on their account.

Pros

I love the integration with Snap On diagnostics software, color coded wiring diagrams and factory information.

Cons

There really is not a whole lot to be unhappy with here. The cost is on the higher end, but that can be recouped through proper utilization of the diagnostic info and labor estimating.

Pros

The software had everything needed to run day to day operations of automotive business. Made it easy for front staff to quotes/invoices and such.

Cons

Cons: pricing. Expensive for what it provided, and company was using QB, software doesn't connect to that. Accountant wasn't happy and I had to pay more for accounting work to be completed which ended up costing even more money.

Pros

Very simple to use. Wasn't difficult to teach the shop guys how to navigate through the software. Way more user friendly than the software we were using before Manager SE. Find, print, copy, fax repair orders with ease. Group repair orders and print R.O.s specific to one client. Simple and effective scheduling functionality.

Cons

The social CRM is too complicated to use for the average shop manager. The support is on point, but it takes up too much time to use all the features as they should be used.

Pros

was good for computer based but unable to use other than on 1 computer

Cons

not usable in mulitiple locations without additional charge

Pros

The VIN and plate identification addition makes searching vehicles faster and more convenient. This program aids in quick and general vehicle references.

Cons

The specifications are contradictive, as general specifications may not match the procedural specifications. Newer vehicles may lack information.

Pros

User friendly, quality features, and friendly customer service when needed. We also use the bolt on package along with it

Pros

nothing on the OnDemand program

Cons

Misrepresented

Pros

It is easy to create invoices and track shop appointments step by step.

Cons

At times this software glitches due to having to connect to a host computer. Therefore you must use a computer within that network.

Pros

This software would hold all customer information including name, address, phone, email, and vehicle information.

Cons

The customer service was not always the best. It was sometimes easier to just learn by trial and error.

Pros

The product over all was easy to use and met our needs. It was easy to train employees on it and it upgraded the way we worked on the computers.

Cons

We went away from this product to a cloud based product so that we could be more mobile. That was the missing element.

Pros

I liked the fact that you can do invoicing with labor rates and parts all in one.

Cons

The cost of the software. I have found other products to be about the same.

Pros

This shop management software was very helpful when it came to factory information and parts list. It was nice that all of our data was backed up. I was recommended to try out this software from a relative and we were mostly happy with it for the 2 years we used it.

Cons

Our shop used this before we switched to another platform. Some of the diagrams were hard to find but with our shop working on similar vehicles everyday, our technician got used to it.

Pros

The ease of navigation in the program. The reports that are available give me a great snapshot of the business, daily, monthly or yearly.

Cons

The set up is combersome, and help options are available by video. Video catalog not arranged by topic but alphabetical.

Cons

It was very expensive for what they offer. I signed up for the free trial. I decided I didn't want it. They continued to bill me to my credit card. I stopped the billing to my credit card. Now they call me every few days from an attorneys office threatening to sue for the full 3 year contract. I never should have agreed to sign up with the salesmen but I did to give it a try. It's now a huge regret. It was too expensive and didn't meet my needs. I was looking for a different type of solution that would allow me to track work my mobile techs completed on the road and be able to bill it back to customers.

Pros

Easy to use, great reports and cusotmer service

Cons

A little pricey but fair, as with any software and amount of use

Pros

I love how this program is extremely thorough.

Cons

I do not like how much time it takes to become familiar with the program and yo become used to how it operates.

Pros

the estimating features

Cons

Poorly thought out layout and process, lots and lots of duplicated entries needed, even for simple procedures

Pros

I loved Mitchel, So easy to navigate through. Super user friendly. Makes it really easy to make invoices.

Cons

The only reason i dont use it any more is because we found another program that will allow us to order parts