Seekom iBex Reviews

“reliable backend with weak support

Pros

Working in the back end is easy, practical and dependable and the overall functions are very strong as well. It makes invoicing agents simple and helps keep everything tracked properly. There's also plenty of flexibility when it comes to emailing guests whether that's automated messages, saved templates or sending payment links.

Cons

Ever since the company was sold overseas the support has declined badly. Calling someone directly is no longer an option so everything has to go through a ticket and even then a reply might take a day or two if you're lucky and often as long as a week. The booking calendar guests use on the website also isn't very user friendly. Oher than that it costs more than many similar providers and they charge extra unless you use their own payment gateway.

“clean design!

Pros

Right from the start it has been simple to learn and use. The layout is pleasant to look at and everything feels clear and easy. We actually moved to another company because we thought it would be cheaper but in the end we came back to this platform. Paying a bit less just was not worth the extra trouble. Their team was also amazing in helping us through the transition back!

Cons

At this point things have been going well overall. The only thing that would really help is having someone available on call when needed. There are times when it can be difficult to reach someone by phone.

“awful support and account management

Pros

Getting around the system is easy and switching between our different properties is simple and convenient.

Cons

Support is basically nonexistent and the so called important staff (like the account managers) are terrible to deal with.

“Costly support

Pros

Moving to this platform was mainly driven by our need for a cloud based system and a working integration with the dynamic pricing provider we wanted. On both of those points this platform absolutely delivered and they worked essentially without issues. It has clearly been in the market for a long time and that shows in the range of features it offers. There are plenty of practical, useful functions built into the system. Another benefit of its long presence in the industry is that a fair number of people have already used or come across it which helped a lot when it came to staffing and training. We also used a third party payment gateway through it and that performed very well.

Cons

The biggest frustrations were the price and the service. To get the integration we needed we had to be on a package that charged commission on every single booking entered into the PMS. Once that commission was added to the PMS fee the total cost ended up far higher than any other PMS platform we considered. We spent a lot of time trying to work out a different pricing arrangement with them but the discussions went nowhere. Communication felt vague and circular and eventually I stopped pursuing it and started looking for another PMS provider instead. I genuinely tried to find a workable way to stay with it but it really seemed like they had no interest in making that happen. Just as disappointing as the pricing was the level of service (or really the lack of it) from them. Getting in touch with them was extremely difficult and when they did reply everything moved painfully slowly. It reached the point where the only dependable way to contact them was by submitting a service ticket and then waiting forever for a response. To be fair once the system was set up it was generally reliable. But if you needed support or wanted to make changes it was a struggle. The UI also feels old and dated. It functions but it is not accessible. The Booking Engine was another major letdown. They introduced a new version but its functions were flawed enough that we saw direct bookings drop and we had to switch back to the old booking engine. We were part of the beta test for that onboarding and when we eventually had to abandon it they showed no interest in understanding the problems or trying to fix them. One thing to be aware of is that in a few months their new Booking Engine will be the only option available on the platform.

“frustrating admin workflow

Pros

Cloud access is the standout benefit and the biggest reason I still haven't gone back to our previous system, Campground Master. As the owner being able to log in from anywhere in the world and assist our managers is genuinely valuable. The payment gateways are reliable and several of the built in reports are quite useful for month end tasks and tracking revenue in real time. If your setup stays mostly unchanged it's also not overly difficult for a new staff member to get by with.

Cons

Using it as an administrator is incredibly frustrating and it's one of the least flexible admin systems I've had to deal with. Even very simple changes can turn into a complicated process following a kind of logic that seems to make sense only to the engineers who built it. The help section doesn't improve things much either since it feels written for people who already know the system inside out. It becomes somewhat manageable only after spending hours learning how they think. The Airbnb integration is also very poor. We have one accommodation listing that blocks all future nights on Airbnb and while support has been able to reproduce the issue the response has basically been "it shouldn't do that try talking to Airbnb."

“Great team and usability

Pros

Very easy to use and their team has been excellent to work with.

Cons

I haven't run into any problems while using the system.

“accounting falls short

Pros

The booking side works well and is fairly simple to use although it still takes too many clicks to get where you need to go.

Cons

The accounting side is very weak. A lot of holiday parks now have multiple owners who rent out or lease their sites and the software really needs to support that setup.

“Dependable and keeps evolving

Pros

System makes sense and keeps up well with changing times. It's easy to use and I depend on it heavily to keep the business running day to day.

Cons

One thing that could be improved is the help section. It's not very accessible when trying to find specific answers and I often end up going in circles without getting the support I'm looking for.

“payment gateway needs work

Pros

Running two small guest houses with six rooms each we've relied on this as our channel manager for several years. In that time it has helped us avoid any major booking problems. The UK support team has also been consistently helpful and they always seem willing to assist with whatever comes up.

Cons

The move to support PCI compliance through a link with Payment Express makes complete sense. The problem is that the payment side feels like it was designed without much understanding of how the hospitality industry actually works. For example on the screen used to charge a stored card there's no proper way to save a Merchant Reference and pass it through to Payment Express even though it looks as if that should happen. That's a real issue because Merchant References can be essential for practical reasons such as bank reconciliation. Another big gap is with returning guests. In this business repeat bookings are common and you really don't want to ask people for their card details every single time they book. At the moment there's no way to connect to a card already stored in Payment Express under that guest's name. So while the software does a decent job of collecting card information the actual charging process is flawed. If these issues are fixed soon it would make the product much more useful and leave me feeling far more positive about it.

“booking engine issues hurt sales

Pros

A lot of the software is still the same as it was when I reviewed it a year ago. A few things have been added or updated but nothing that really stands out as worth praising.

Cons

Support in New Zealand has been terrible. They eventually launched a newer, more modern looking booking engine but sadly it fails if you set a minimum two night stay. Instead of showing available rooms the system just says "unavailable" even when rooms are open. We're already well past the halfway point of our summer season and a big share of our bookings should be coming directly through our website. Because of this issue direct bookings have dropped heavily and we're being forced to pay OTA commissions instead. We keep getting told a fix is coming but nothing actually changes. At this point it feels like they either can't solve it or simply aren't making it a priority. The UK agents have been pushing to sort it out but it seems like those efforts are being ignored. The PMS market is getting more competitive all the time especially with affordable feature rich systems coming out of India. We're now looking at other options.

“Good support

Pros

The team behind the software has been excellent, always quick to respond, patient, well informed and full of energy. It's also reassuring to see that they keep improving and developing the software over time.

Cons

It would really help to have a troubleshooting guide or brochure available. That could save the team time since I'm sure many operators are asking the same questions quite often.

“booking automation done right!

Pros

Bookings now flow directly into our system with hardly any manual work needed on our end. We used to spend a lot of time entering reservations by hand and constantly managing availability across different booking sites. Now that process is handled automatically which has saved us a huge amount of time.

Cons

Haven't come across any negatives with this.

“Added features

Pros

They regularly roll out improvements that bring about useful functions and genuinely help our business.

Cons

The interface feels a bit dated and I'd prefer the booking screen to be larger and display more days at once. It would also be better if the menus could be tucked away so the booking area takes up most of the screen like other similar software.

“amazing support

Pros

Switching to this after using another channel manager was absolutely worth it! It's very user friendly comes with a wide range of features and has been far better while also being more affordable. The support team has been outstanding too, the consultants are well informed, helpful and always respond quickly whenever we need assistance. Based on our own experience we would highly recommend this.

Cons

Don't have any issues to mention.

“flexible platform

Pros

The platform has been really solid for us, the customer service is excellent and the system can be customized to fit what we need.

Cons

The backend does take a little time to learn at first but the outstanding support team makes that adjustment much easier and is always happy to help.

“excellent guides

Pros

After they handled the initial setup, the system was quite easy to learn and work with. It definitely helps to have a bit of computer confidence so you feel comfortable clicking through the options but the written and video help guides are excellent and make things much easier.

Cons

There are a couple of small changes we'd still like to see in the Guest Check In Forms and we've already passed those suggestions along. At the moment it seems those ideas need interest from more users before they move higher up the onboarding queue. That said it would be really useful to have a paid option to request a feature with the possibility of a later refund if other users start adopting it too.

“OTA updates work brilliantly

Pros

All of my unit and site inventory updates automatically across the OTAs which makes managing everything much more efficient.

Cons

I'd prefer fewer pages to click through although that's probably hard to avoid given how much is built into their system.

“Simple setup

Pros

Right from the start the program felt simple and user friendly. Changing over to this platform at the start of the busy season was a bold step but the friendly support team made the whole transition feel smooth with their help and guidance. To the rep who helped: you rock!

Cons

Nothing specific to talk about here.

“stress free property bookings

Pros

Running property management has become far less stressful with this software and the support behind it. I no longer need to manually update multiple booking sites every time a reservation comes in and double bookings are no longer an issue. Arrivals and departures are clearly laid out and fully detailed which makes daily management much easier. The support team responds quickly with practical advice and solid solutions whenever needed. Another big plus is that the software scales as your business grows. My next step is to have clients pay me through the gateway instead of using a service that holds my funds for four days before clearing them.

Cons

No drawbacks!

“steady cloud booking tools

Pros

Being cloud based is a big plus and not having to deal with backups makes things much simpler. It supports multiple users well, the support team is responsive when needed and the integrated channel manager is really useful.

Cons

The only downside is that it can be slow at times.

“Practical channel manager backbone

Pros

Between the channel manager options available this platform works with nearly all of the sales channels we need and the ones it doesn't support usually aren't worth spending extra time or effort on anyway. The support team has also been exceptionally good throughout the transition period. It has become a core part of how we run the business and at this point we really couldn't manage without it.

Cons

I'd still like to see it integrate with Airbnb since that would create some healthy competition for Booking.com. I've been using this since the early days and while it has improved more and more over time it has also become more complicated.