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Post by greenergrass on Aug 9, 2016 23:57:23 GMT
I don't think you can use another processor. Corporate can do an audit and find that you don't comply with using their preferred/required providers. You could say everyone pays by check I guess and then using statements can work. But it's either impossible or difficult to get fitware to accept a $0 membership fee. So you would then need to go into every account after billing and void that amount billed. So it's really not worth the time.
I have not yet bought the new card reader. I like that we can do electronic agreements eventually, with this. But I already don't make enough money to start spending more on this mandatory new expense. The electronic agreements could still be months away.
I do wonder if corporate has financial issues and that is why they continually look for new ways to generate revenue. I think it is not just because of the reduction in the number of locations. Also consider they own quite a few locations still right? How many of those locations are doing well? Are some losing revenue for corporate? High rent can really have a negative impact.
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Post by cheryl on Aug 10, 2016 1:36:45 GMT
One thing I've found is that we're paying extraordinary processing fees on our recurring dues compared to what's out there. The going rate seems to be 1.5%. Some companies will bring this down to 1.25% and 1.125%. Currently we're paying almost 3.5% to Fifth thirds. Am I missing something? Is there something else these guys are doing that I'm not aware of? Are you seeing this percentage? I can't believe it's more than double the going rate. I can't believe we're all paying this sort of rate. I think I need to make a phone call and find out what's up.
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Post by cheryl on Aug 10, 2016 1:47:08 GMT
Hi Greenergrass, sorry I didn't see there was now a page 2. I've looked through the franchise agreement and don't see anywhere in it which states we have to use a specific processor. We would still be paying Snap all of their inflated fees and would still be maintaining a list of active members. Therefore, the franchise fees we would be paying would be the same. As I understand it the purpose of an audit is to verify that you aren't paying fees on 100 members, when in fact you have 200 members. Regardless of whether you collect $100 from a member or $0 from a member (can you say Silver Sneakers) Snap collects the same active member fee.
As far as the work involved to change the status or something else, this is where the fiverr guys come in handy. They can run fitware with different inputs to have it automatically go member by member. This takes the human out of the equation.
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Post by Amy on Aug 10, 2016 13:03:51 GMT
Cheryl I would not doubt it if what you say about processing fees is correct. I have reached out to a friend in that line of work to get a competitive going rate for the processing fee and will let you know what I find out. If what you say is indeed true, we need to hammer corp. to improve our rate. That could save thousands/year.
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Post by cheryl on Aug 17, 2016 17:45:37 GMT
In talking with the different credit card processing companies the auto update capability is available for both Visa and Mastercard. It's not available for American Express or Discover. However, I believe this contradicts what corporate is trying to tell us, which is that it's only available for Visa. So, once again corporate is spouting off lies. It's not bad enough that they don't do anything to help franchisees, but are quick to implement policies which harm franchisees and then lie about it.
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Post by Disappointed on Aug 18, 2016 16:38:08 GMT
Cheryl I would not doubt it if what you say about processing fees is correct. I have reached out to a friend in that line of work to get a competitive going rate for the processing fee and will let you know what I find out. If what you say is indeed true, we need to hammer corp. to improve our rate. That could save thousands/year. Chances are they are taking a cut of the processing pie just as they pretty much everything else.
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Post by thatkidfromjersey on Aug 18, 2016 16:53:08 GMT
Cheryl I would not doubt it if what you say about processing fees is correct. I have reached out to a friend in that line of work to get a competitive going rate for the processing fee and will let you know what I find out. If what you say is indeed true, we need to hammer corp. to improve our rate. That could save thousands/year. Chances are they are taking a cut of the processing pie just as they pretty much everything else. Yes, I'm pretty sure corp. takes a cut of just about everything.
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Post by Fred on Aug 18, 2016 16:59:14 GMT
Cheryl please update us on the feedback from corporate and how things are working out! Thanks
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Post by Lurker on Aug 31, 2016 22:32:02 GMT
Cheryl, you can't set dues to $0 - the lowest you can go is $19/month for a single membership. That's the price I'm forced to enter for all my Silver Sneakers, Silver & Fit, and Prime members. But setting them up as prepaid may just work.
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Post by YUP on Sept 1, 2016 20:17:27 GMT
Cheryl, you can't set dues to $0 - the lowest you can go is $19/month for a single membership. That's the price I'm forced to enter for all my Silver Sneakers, Silver & Fit, and Prime members. But setting them up as prepaid may just work. I enter in all my insurance members as "home club" and only give them access to my location. This allows me to set their dues at zero. I don't care if thats not how it is supposed to be done. None of my insurance members complain about only being able to use our club.
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Post by snaplongtimer on Jul 29, 2017 14:30:00 GMT
About this cc reader...anyone else have their cc reader deliver an occasional error in Fitware or is it just me? It's not that often, but does happen once in a while. It's a crap shoot whether an error will pop up or not once a customer swipes and signs the reader. I always break down in prayer hoping everything works. They always tell me, "It went through." I then have to do it by hand hoping they won't look at their account for a few days till it clears. I'm always resetting the unit before using it in fear of this happening. Got caught up in the cable the other day and the reader fell off the desk and slammed on the floor. I accidentally commented in front of the customer "I hope it's broke." oops..lol Honestly, I was overcome with a huge sense of satisfaction once that bitch hit the floor.
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Post by snaplongtimer on Dec 12, 2017 15:40:38 GMT
What is the savings of using the cc reader as opposed to not using it? At one time I thought there was minimal savings on processing fees.
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