Fresha

A great experience so far...

Pros:

We switched from Booker, who we had been with for 8 years, and so far the experience has been great. I love that Fresha works great on all devices and that our customers can do pretty much anything from their phones, including make and amend bookings, complete consultation forms, add payment cards, see their history etc. It's easy for our customers to book and check availability with their favourite therapist in a few clicks. The integrated payment system is good value and Fresha provide everything .. so no separate card processing, payment gateways or machine rental charges. The UK support is helpful and friendly and there are lots of articles, videos etc to help you get set up.

Cons:

New features are being added all the time (you can see what's planned on their community pages). Features not currently available but in an ideal world I would like are, the migration of appointment history and existing gift vouchers, discount codes that can be promoted to clients and entered online and more options for sending out emails along the lines of MailChimp. Some of these are planned so it's still a great choice.

System is Intuitive

Comments: I am UTTERLY pleased. After a NIGHTMARE of crappy customer service, buggy system, and overall a NEVER AGAIN experience without last system (vagaro) Fresha was just that a breath of FRESH-Air.

Pros:

The system is very intuitive. It is easy to learn and use. It is easy to set up the catalog - for everything and I love how you can quickly move things to be in a different order than just in the order they were made. You can send forms manually there is a GREAT product and inventory tracking system. their customer Service is TOP NOTCH, I especially recommending spending the money to get an account manager- totally worth their weight in gold and is VERY reasonably priced.

Cons:

Is it perfect? Nope they have some things to address. Even with the issues that need to be addressed, this is, by far, the best system I have used. I have used Massagebook, Square, Vagaro, Wix, and Meevo. I am highly impressed and LOVE my account manager (can’t remember the title you all give them).

Alternatives Considered: Boulevard, Square Point of Sale and Meevo

Reasons for Choosing Fresha: Gaslighting customer service reps, antagonistic to non Christians, buggy systems, terrible GUI, charge you to death for EVERY single thing- the list is exhaustive.

Switched From: Vagaro

Reasons for Switching to Fresha: Price, percentage for credit card processing (1% lower!!), the way the product worked

Fresha should be protecting business owner of theft of service

Comments: Overall is okay, it will be better if you offer loyalty system so we can record clients rewards or beauty bank service to deposit money.

Pros:

Easy to Use. Didn’t have the option to turn off market place and we have to stick with the 20% referral fees unless we quit using Fresha.

Cons:

Regarding theft of service, we are unable to process the payment without client provide us a security code sent to their phone. The system should provide more protection to us as a business owner. If we require their security code to charge their card, then it didn’t make sense anymore. I wasn’t aware about this issue because normally small amount processing was working fine, until we had a more premium service like hair extensions required payment over $1000 and client did a runner, after that I realised we won’t be able to charge her.

Beware of Fresha’s Hidden Fees and Unethical Practices

Comments: Great when i wasn't aware of the hidden fees. Id say terrible overall.

Pros:

Ease of use, set up for "FREE", client interface, The app

Cons:

Beware of Fresha’s Hidden Fees and Unethical Practices If you’re considering Fresha for your salon, be prepared for steep costs. For a busy salon, monthly fees can easily exceed £350—and that’s just the start. One of the most frustrating aspects is their hidden 20% “new client fee.” This charge isn’t transparently shown anywhere, and you’ll need to manually check each client to see if they’ve been hit with it. Fresha makes accessing reports that might reveal these fees an additional expense, charging a premium of £60-90 depending on staff size. Want chat support? That’s an extra £17 per month. Access to reports, client texts, emails, marketing, and payroll? You’ll be charged for every single feature. Everything in the system comes with a cost, and it quickly adds up. Even worse, some of their “new client” fees are enforced through dubious tracking methods, which may not even be legal. Fresha seems more interested in squeezing as much money as possible from its customers than providing transparent and fair service. I’m in the process of leaving Fresha because I can’t justify paying upwards of £10K per year for a booking system that doesn’t respect its users. If you’re looking for a booking software, do yourself a favor and find one with fixed costs that treats its customers fairly and transparently.

Thank you for a great product.

Comments: I have been with Fresha since its inception when they were called shedule and I have enjoyed using this program ever since. [sensitive content hidden] is usually great at answering questions quite quickly and I’m grateful for that.
Thank you.

Pros:

The ease of use, the comprehensive tools available

Cons:

I’m honestly having trouble answering this question because I don’t think there’s anything I don’t like.

Great Place to Start

Pros:

It was easy backend to use and update. It also has a free option

Cons:

There was a constant issue with clients booking online and it caused confusion for my guests

Alternatives Considered: Vagaro and GlossGenius

Reasons for Choosing Fresha: Clover was sold to me from my bank and not salon friendly and had hidden expenses monthly

Switched From: Clover

Reasons for Switching to Fresha: It was free to use and seemed also very easy. In the begin

Poor customer care

Comments: Horrible can never reach anyone $200 balance that 90% should not be charged for

Pros:

Nothing. Dishonest company. Can never talk to a real person to get things resolved. They charges things by fraud

Cons:

Dishonesty. Charge for things they should not. They book fake appointments to collect 20%. They charge for existing clients. Too many glitches and always an excuse like the owner is using links incorrectly. So they have a link that no mater who schedules from it, we are charged 20% I’ve emailed 5 times in a week and have asked for someone to call and have yet to get a response

Recommend for new business owners

Pros:

Clients find it easy to use the online booking

Cons:

Setting up was harder than other online booking systems, hard to sync with google calendar, not mobile friendly, the fees are high

Alternatives Considered: Timely

Reasons for Choosing Fresha: Online booking had option to take deposits

Switched From: Goldie

Reasons for Switching to Fresha: Just mostly testing it out for 6 month, found it harder to use than Goldie

The best software for business owners

Comments: Love it.

Pros:

The fact that its so easy to use and modify menu for specials. Its simple and easy to the eye. The customer service is excellent they are super responsive with me since I started with them when they were shedul. Love this app.

Cons:

I haven't quite figures out how to transfer all my great reviews into google reviews. Google is a big thing for consumers so its important to have a link where this transfers or they automatically load into google is huge.

Looks good on the surface- but cumbersome- NO CUSTOMER SERVICE other than email which is only occasssionally answered

Comments: I do not understand all the glowing reviews. This is a Buggy program with little customer service.
Definitely a hassle. Won't let you do some basic things a med spa needs.

Pros:

Price point Visual is ok Theoretically some features that are nice (but often awkward to use)

Cons:

Customer service is HORRIBLE. NO PHONE to call anyone. They don't always respond to emails and when they do it's never the same person so ongoing issues are difficult to resolve. The demand screenshots even when you adequately described the issue and it is easy to u understand- this is frustrating when it's intermittent (like it doesn't want to integrate the credit card payment) They deploy new features, but it is difficult to utilize them sometimes as the instructions are vague.

Review

Pros:

Honestly the customer servicethey reply quickly with screen captures so I actually know what I am doing

Cons:

Things changed and I wasn't sure where to find the features where they used to be

Alternatives Considered: Acuity Scheduling

Reasons for Switching to Fresha: it was back in 2016 im not sure to be honest but as the needs of my business grew fresha was able to accommodate , its nice the debit system ties right into my booking

Pharmacy vaccine appointments are never an issue

Pros:

WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE using fresha at our community retail pharmacy! We are independent so we dont have any fancy apps that book our appointments for us! So we started looking online to see if there was anything that we could use that would help us with appointment scheduling! Im sure everyone knows in the pharmacy world that booking appointments for covid vaccines, flu vaccines, and all other types of shots is very difficult during the fall season! this makes it so easy and we even color coordinate our shots so its clear and easy to see

Cons:

Fresha charges for text messages to send to people that make appointments which as a small business you may not want to opt into. We actually don't opt in as its pricey however we would love to if it becomes available for free or at least cheaper

I am currently using it and am satisfied with it.

Comments: Because it was a small company, we only used Excel. After learning about this software, I was able to achieve overall integrated management.

Pros:

It is convenient because you can also manage it with your smart phone. We were able to attract more customers and new customers through the online reservation system. Inventory management is easy. It is also convenient to automatically send SMS notifications to customers.

Cons:

There aren't many inconveniences yet, but I wish the cost of sending a text message would be a little cheaper.

Fresha for appointment keeping

Comments: Overall I like the use of what’s it’s for. It keeps my current and past appointments which is handy to view.

Pros:

I currently use Fresha to keep track of my nail appointments. It’s easy to navigate through and I love the reminders it sends via sms.

Cons:

I do wish the particular layout I have was easier to read. I find if I have multiple appointments, that I’m having to scroll through vs it would be nicer if they were in a grid-tile type view.

Appointments, scheduling and notes | An all-in-one no-brainer app

Pros:

First of all: FREE! Second: Complete! Third: take notes, upload pictures which is great for before/after pictures or medical exams, prescriptions, etc. Fourth: Patient notifications by e-mail and SMS... is that enough?

Cons:

I'd love to be able to edit the SMS reminder. I love the fact it has Portuguese as a language, since I'm based in Portugal. HOWEVER, the fact that it uses Portuguese from Brazil (as if that's even legit) is annoying. Words like "gerenciamento" and "oi" on a reminder for a health appointment in Portugal shouldn't exist if you want to look professional :(

Fresha Review

Comments: Very good use it for many services personally

Pros:

I am able to book appointments through fresh easily and get reminders

Cons:

It sometimes logs me out and doesn't keep me signed in

Scammers and dishonest

Comments: Do not trust this company with your credit card!Fresha was free until it wasn't. I started with Fresha when it was free. after building up over 3000 clients on their software, they started makin shady charges to my card. for example, I started asking to store credit card info for NEW clients. but they started charging my existing clients. They claimed it was a glitch in their system. So, I reversed that feature. then, when I restarted capturing CC's, they started charging 20cents per credit card capture. Then They started charging a percentage of charges at check out IF the booking was made through "their marketplace". But a client booked by clicking on my google ad (which already costs a lot), but now they are charging my credit card a ridiculous 20% for that client, claiming it was booked through their market place! Do Not trust Fresha. very shady and dishonest practices.Do Not Trust Fresha. They will use shady tactics to charge your card, and You have absolutely no way to defend yourself.

Pros:

easy to use, and relatively easy to set up.

Cons:

1. dishonest about why they charge your credit card2. constantly thinking of new ways to charge you3. Credit cards captured for no shows, frequently say "insufficient funds" and no customer service help, and in some cases say "code sent to client" to allow us to charge for the no show! Just laughable.4. Nickle and diming for everything for their "Free" app, and shady charges

Even a guy can use this

Comments: Im a happy customer and will recommend it to friends and family.

Pros:

As a guy who always wants to look good, Fresha helped me booked appointments easily without any hassle. As a guy who is always on the go, I can easily use this seamlessly.

Cons:

Hmmmm.. I can't think of any because I enjoyed using this alot.

Booking made easy, concerns with customer service

Comments: Makes booking online easy however I wish there was better customer service

Pros:

The platform is easy to use and has lots of features that improve online booking

Cons:

The customer service isn’t the best in responding promptly

Easy to make reservations from the website

Pros:

It’s easy to see what’s available and what services the stores/companies provide, and easy to make an appointment with the app.

Cons:

It’s not that obvious to find the exact service I’m looking for, if we can contact the stores (like leaving messages) directly from the website, it would be great

Hiding fees £72

Cons:

I work with Fresha about, five years and someone take online appointments. And she didn’t even come “no show “ and they charge me £72 for thisLast couple days I’m trying to contact them no contact number they don’t answer they don’t explain to me. This is not fair I will take this to all media group. I will try my hardest to tell everyone. Kind regards mutlu taskin

First Class App

Comments: Easy to find the venue you require and find a time/treatment you require.

Pros:

Very easy to make and change bookings.

Cons:

Nothing - everything is very easy to use.

Excellent System

Pros:

Easy to use and the booking system and with accurate data. I opened 2 ticket and the support tickets "Caitlin" was very professional and resolved everything.

Cons:

- Customize SMS reminder. - Is not possible to activate Membership with partial payment?

Realized they were stealing my tips!!

Comments: What started off free, became low fees, then they became high fees, and now I’m feeling like they are robbing me by stealing 20% from my tips and ge tax. I initially recommended this app to so many of my friends and businesses in the industry and left a stellar review for them. Currently looking for another system I can switch to.

Pros:

Easy to use, somewhat customizable. Has an app and is also usable online.

Cons:

*Fresha takes a 20% “new client fee” on top of the 20 cents and the credit card processing fee. They say it’s for clients who found them through the fresha app but none of the clients I’ve asked actually found us through them. In fact no one even knew what fresha was. * They take the 20% new client fee from the TOTAL AMOUNT CHARGED TO THE CLIENT. This means the GE TAX & TIPS TOO!!! I confronted them about this and they emailed back asking to make an appt for a phone call for them to go over the fees. Without answering my question. *If you have existing clients and they make a profile through the fresha app, you’re getting charged 20%. *If your client forgets their password and makes a new profile, you’re getting charged 20%.*On top of that, if the client makes 2 profiles the system will not let you merge them. *They charge a fee to hold the appt with a credit card. Yet, when the client no-shows and you charge the card it gets declined. So what’s the point of cc on file and all the fees if we can’t even charge them??

Very happy with Fresha

Comments: I had some quieted which [sensitive content hidden] was able to answer and help with. Overall I’m really happy with the app and customer service.

Pros:

It’s simple and easy to use with lots of great features.

Cons:

No contact number, everything by email. [sensitive content hidden] kindly contacted me via phone.