Service Autopilot Reviews

“Saved us from a false accusation

Pros

During one winter season, my crew and I were falsely accused of striking a car in a parking lot while we were on a plowing job. Fortunately, Service Autopilot includes a job time-tracking feature and because we kept it running I was able to prove the exact times we were on the property which exposed that the manager was trying to pin the hit-and-run on us. The site also has security cameras so we demanded that they show both us and the vehicle owner the footage covering the timeframe when we were actually there. Ultimately it became clear they had brought us in to scapegoat us for the accident but thanks to the timestamps and records in Service Autopilot, their attempt to blame us failed.

Cons

I don't have many complaints. It occasionally glitches but no powerful app or software I've used is completely free of hiccups.

“Effective for communication between staff

Pros

I really appreciate the way job notes let me bridge communication between the job site and the office. It makes interacting with customers far more simple and efficient than before.

Cons

Honestly, I haven't faced any problems. The support team responds promptly and is always ready to troubleshoot and resolve any issues I run into.

“Has potential but makes a lot of mistakes

Pros

I'm impressed with the estimate and invoice templates and how flexible the letter customization is. It makes branding and client communication feel professional and polished. Other vendors should seriously consider offering similarly easy-to-edit forms for invoices and estimates because this stands out. In practice the software is great for emailing out detailed estimates and personalized letters. Converting leads or estimates into active customers is simple and painless. The pricing matrix, converting size or piece-per-job details into accurate prices is exceptionally well executed. Overall the setup shows a lot of promise and I'm convinced it could easily become the best option out there if they would fix the basic issues I note below.

Cons

I like parts of the platform but they simply don't have the fundamentals right. Payments I apply to balances regularly become unlinked from accounts so I spend 10-15 hours each week rechecking and correcting this problem. It creates serious billing problems and has cost me customers. Payment checkboxes also tend to lose their association occasionally which adds several more hours of extra work. Routing is a headache because single accounts can't be pulled reliably. When I add a customer to a day's route the entire day's work has to respool for printing which can take up to two minutes to load plus another minute or two to scroll through pages and find what I need. Routing, call logs and To-Do items are all queued for route printing and sorting that out wastes a ton of time and paper. My business of lawn care, fertilizing and pest control depends on renewing accounts each year yet there's no way to auto-renew and push updated pricing and service schedules to existing customers. Every year I have to recreate completely new estimates for every active customer and send them individually, then delete the prior year's services and convert the estimate (pre-pay letter) into a new package. For a few hundred customers this process consumes about 90 hours. Customer information is split across multiple screens and I have to pull up job history by manually opening prior invoices. Support will answer the phone but they haven't fixed any of these issues or provided real solutions.

“Lets me work remotely

Pros

The web-based interface and the freedom to work from almost anywhere is nice. It has made billing so much simpler for me because my workers can clock in and out of jobs and invoices are generated automatically.

Cons

For me, setting everything up took a lot of time and felt very tedious. When parts weren't configured exactly right, it became a real headache trying to track down what went wrong and where the problem lay.

“Single solution for everything

Pros

What stands out is that I don't need multiple programs to cover different functions. It takes care of nearly everything, including employee time clock, GPS, scheduling, CRM, estimates, job communications, automations and more.

Cons

I find that costs rise as I add mobile users and the platform is hard to understand due to its complexity. However, once I get the hang of it, using the system isn't hard.

“GPS tracking has disappeared

Pros

I value the dispatching features and the time clock. I'm told QuickBooks online integration is on the way now. Tracking used to function reliably, it's affordable and overall fairly easy to operate.

Cons

One major issue I'm facing is that the app has stopped providing GPS tracking for my employees and their trucks. When we reinstall the app on our iPads it no longer prompts for permission to access device location and that permission is critical to our operations. Because Service Autopilot hasn't been able to explain why the location permission prompt disappeared, I'm likely to start looking for alternative software. It's worth noting that on the iPads where we haven't reinstalled the app, the location permission prompt still appears and tracking continues to work as expected.

“Difficult to get the hang of

Pros

If I'm willing to invest the time and learn how it works, I can accomplish most of the things I want with this program. The customer service team is polite and responsive when I reach out to them.

Cons

Overall, I find the software pretty buggy. The client portal fails to connect with clients roughly ten percent of the time and the initial setup is unnecessarily convoluted. Having used similar solutions before, I know you can often be fully operational in a matter of days with other platforms but this one took far longer. It felt cutting-edge back when it launched in 2008 yet now it comes across as outdated and clunky. Learning to use it isn't simple, although it does include most of the features you'd want if you're willing to spend several weeks studying it and attend their training class. Support staff are consistently friendly but they can't assist with integrations or third-party tools so I sometimes end up calling multiple companies to resolve a single issue. For the price I pay, I don't think it's a good value. I would only keep using it if they fix persistent glitches and I could afford to hire someone full-time to manage the system. Otherwise, don't waste your time and money.

“All-in-one solution

Pros

In my experience, it's an all-in-one, excellent routing app that's simple to pick up and makes moving from a desktop setup to a cloud-based system simple. Plus, I can reach my data from anywhere as long as I have WiFi and cellular service.

Cons

I feel the customer portal is somewhat overpriced compared to what it offers.

“Powerful reporting feature

Pros

With its powerful reporting I can easily view metrics like "revenue per lead source" and compare "actual time versus budgeted time", plus dig into job costing, payroll details, sales commission breakdowns, lead conversion rates and much, much more. It wires up a flawless end-to-end flow that moves a contact from lead to proposal to contract to job to invoice to payment to receipt of payment and even to the thank-you note. "Sales Campaigns" let me run targeted marketing and precise cross-selling. The mobile dispatch keeps office staff and technicians in the field communicating continuously. Asset management and tracking are solid. Being able to capture signatures and take payments on invoices and proposals via mobile speeds up sales and cash collection. Their customer service is genuinely outstanding!

Cons

It does take effort to understand it because the platform contains so many excellent features. The tutorial videos are really helpful and explain things clearly but it still took a bit of time and practice before I felt truly comfortable using every part of the system.

“Works well for our needs

Pros

I feel it handles most of the fundamentals well and there's a lot of upside. I'm impressed by its cloud-based approach, the broader vision behind it and the potential it has to create real impact. Their customer support tends to be solid and responsive.

Cons

the system can be a bit glitchy, although I've noticed it has improved significantly over time. The team seems to actively work on fixes but reporting still falls short of my expectations. I'd love to see time- or date-triggered ToDo and job notifications or text alerts. Also, having clearer tracking and receiving feedback on enhancement requests would be very helpful to me.

“App doesn�t work for tablets

Pros

I've found this product delivers an excellent user experience. The layouts are clear and user-friendly so new users pick it up quickly without a steep learning curve. It gives our crews an easy way to check in and out at each client site and captures real-time data which dramatically cuts down on the admin time needed to enter information. We also appreciate that it syncs with QuickBooks smoothly.

Cons

The database response time when I'm scheduling is painfully slow and it ends up costing our team a lot of time every day as we sit waiting for screens to load each time we jump between views. The way the system forces jobs (work orders) to first sit on a waiting list and then be dispatched adds extra steps, unless you set up a recurring job to auto-populate on a given day. When the waiting list and dispatch board are loading it can easily take more than 30 seconds sometimes noticeably longer and those delays add up fast. For a small company like ours that's already inefficient and expensive and I can only imagine how unworkable it would be for a larger organization. We've reported this poor performance to Service Autopilot but so far we've heard nothing back about whether they'll fix it. Another major downside is the mobile experience, the app is available and works on smartphones via a downloadable app yet it doesn't function on tablets. The website will open on a tablet but the experience is incomplete because the interface isn't supported and the screens don't scale or adapt properly to that device.

“Allows me to focus on my business

Pros

It has really simplified how we run our operations on a daily basis. It frees up an enormous amount of time that we simply didn't have before and frankly I still can't believe we waited as long as we did to make the change. The routing tools, dispatch board, crew management features and invoicing all integrate smoothly. It's a CRM that keeps getting better and the biggest benefit is that it has allowed us to focus more on the business so we can scale and grow faster.

Cons

Getting everything set up took a bit of time but it wasn't a major problem for our team. To be honest, we delayed far too long before finally making the switch to Service Autopilot.

“Huge range of features

Pros

This program can pretty much handle any task I throw at it. After testing nearly every maid service software available, I can honestly say Service Autopilot beats the rest and gives the widest range of customization and capabilities. On top of that, the sheer number of reports you can generate in SAP is astonishing. At a glance I can pull up a clear snapshot of my business whenever I need it. I'm really impressed.

Cons

It does require patience and a fair amount of time for me to learn and get everything configured properly. Thankfully, the training can be approached in layers which makes the whole onboarding smoother. I also see the upside in that it takes a while to master every feature but that's because the platform really offers a huge range of powerful functionality once you invest the time.

“Increased my productivity

Pros

I find the software very easy to use, it boosts my productivity and the customer support has been excellent.

Cons

Because it includes so many capabilities, I noticed there's a real learning curve when I try to set it up and make full use of everything it offers.

“Helped our company grow

Pros

Its quite userfriendly. I've seen it totally transform how our company runs. Since we adopted it more than two years ago our operation has grown, become easier to manage and overall improved. Give it a try now and you'll see how much better life gets as the owner of a service business!

Cons

Reporting features are somewhat limited though they keep improving and the team is aware of the gaps.

“Made for landscaping industry

Pros

In my experience working in landscaping, I see this as a cloud-based software crafted specifically for our field, leveraging state-of-the-art technology and a platform that's continually improving.

Cons

I do think it's not the most user-friendly program to use so I often have to spend extra time learning how to use it.

“Timesaving software

Pros

I've found this to be a great time saver.

Cons

I've noticed it takes a little while to get everything set up.

“Love everything about it!

Pros

Love the two-way QuickBooks synchronization, the batch credit card processing feature, the dispatch tools and the excellent mobile app. Everything about is great.

Cons

I'd love the ability to text several customers at once. I suspect the system might support bulk texting but I haven't figured out how to do it yet.

“No more missed jobs

Pros

Now I no longer miss jobs as the scheduling is reliable and I can see strong marketing potential thanks to the included templates.

Cons

Personally, I haven't had any issues so far.

“Can do everything in one place

Pros

I like that I can schedule jobs, map out routes, track progress, generate invoices and manage billing all in one place.

Cons

Every so often the mobile app glitches for me and doesn't behave as I'd expect.