Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:23/08/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We used their software as our point of sale system for the past 4 years They told us when were shopping for POS systems that we could pay monthly or yearly and could cancel at any time. We paid yearly in advance until this year, when we asked to be put on monthly. They claimed they never told us that was an option. I asked what their cancellation policy was if I paid for the year like they demanded. I was told that I could cancel within a 30day period, but would receive no money back for the remaining unused term.I decided not to continue with their services and asked them for a complete backup of our data. On July 30th, I spent 3 hours on the phone with one of their representatives and they told me they had downloaded all of my information to my computer and that it was complete. I chose to believe them On August 22nd we discovered the employee only gave us partial data and we were missing large sets of invoices. I tried calling their company, spent 3 hours on hold and then was hung up on without speaking to anyone. I sent an email to them, had a reply on Aug 23 that we needed to pay them $3500 for the information. I responded stating that they shouldn't be holding my paid-for data behind another paywall They called, I spoke to ***** and ***** and they called me stupid for not getting all of my data out of their system when I had a chance, and that I would have to pay them to retrieve it. They said my data is going to be deleted right away unless we agreed to pay to turn it back on.They finally agreed to give me my data after I told them that I paid for the data, and that I am entitled to it. They sent me a cloud-based link that I cannot open. They are withholding my accounting data behind a paywall. They refuse to give it to me in a file that I can open without paying for another year of their software. I spoke to the *** and they told me that Windward has to give me data that I can open, Windward laughed at us and said not unless I pay them for it

  

  Business Response

  Date: 29/08/2024

  Response to BBB Complaint #********
  

  As the CEO and General Manager of the business in question,I am disputing the claims made by this former customer in their complaint to the ********************** and will address them here.
  

  Until June 30, 2024, this former customer was a valued customer.We understood them to be satisfied with the software and services provided over a period spanning 4 years. We are surprised and disappointed that this customer has made the decision to terminate the relationship in such a hostile manner. The contract between this former customer and us expired on June 30, 2024. We fulfilled all contractual obligations to this former customer, and they are no longer a customer.
  

  Monthly Cloud Contracts: We do not offer monthly contracts or monthly payment options. Therefore, we have no record of a communication with this former customer that monthly payments were offered or that they could go month-to-month and cancel anytime. Our standard payment terms require full payment in advance for the term of an annual contract. We cannot provide any further insight about this misunderstanding. However, in a gesture of empathy and goodwill, the Account Manager offered this former customer a payment plan on a contract renewal to provide some cashflow relief. This offer is non-standard, but we make exceptions in special cases with management approval. They declined the offer.
  

  Complete Data Backup: This former customer claimed in their complaint that they requested a complete backup of their data and that they didnt get it. They also claim that we are holding their data hostage: Contrary to these claims, our records clearly document that the customer requested only invoicesand in a specific format.
  

  On July 30, 2024, a month after the customers contract with us had expired, we provided complementary support to the customer to export invoice data in the format requested. The work was completed according to customer requirements.
  

  On August 13, 2024, our COO called the business owner at this former customer to get confirmation that the business had the data they needed and to confirm that we can proceed with deleting their data from our cloud environment. The business owner confirmed they had the data and that we could delete their data.
  

  On August 23, 2024, This former customer contacted us again claiming that they did not get all the data they needed. This was almost 2 months after their contract with us had expired and 10 days after we were told by the owner of this former customer that we could delete their data. The data had already been staged for deletion and our obligations to This former customer have ended June 30, 2024. As a courtesy, we offered them several reasonably priced options to restore their data before it was permanently deleted and irretrievable. They declined all of the options that would address their needs. Like any healthy business, we do not provide software or services for free to businesses off-contract. In this case, we have already provided some services as a courtesy and out of empathy. This former customer had opportunity while on contract to download their own data. We are happy to help when we can, however, we expect our software and professional services to be paid for.
  

  Some points of note:
  a) Our cloud application allows customers to export their data on their own.  This customer chose to not download what they required or validate what is needed while they had an active subscription to access our solution. 
  b) Data extraction or migration services are not included in our software support and maintenance services contract. These are a paid professional services that have been offered to this former customer. They declined.
  c) Our ********************** licenses are not free. A single user/site license is required to open the database files we have provided.  A single user/site license for an on-prem ************ is a one-time cost. This has been offered and declined. 
  

  CRA Requirements: any obligations that this former customer has to the ********************* are theirs alone. We are a 3rd party vendor.  We do not oversee or have any responsibility for retaining data on behalf of customers to enable them to meet their record retention obligations to any tax authority in any country.
  

  Employee Professionalism: Regarding the claims that our employees lied, called them stupid and laughed at them: Unprofessional and disrespectful behaviour in any form is contrary to our core values.  Our employees communicate respectfully with professionalism and operate in good faith according to the contractual agreements and commitments we make with customers.
  

  We have been fortunate and privileged to provide business management software and services to thousands of customers for over 40 years. Most of our customers are small to midsized businesses run by people who value using our software and working with our people. Our success has been built by serving customers we care about. We value, respect and admire small business owner-operators and their employees.
  

  Conclusion:
  In conclusion, this former customer did not give us formal written notice of their intentions to end their subscription/contract. As per the contract, we require 30 days written notice of termination within the term of the contract. As a courtesy (at no charge), we allowed this former customer to continue to access their cloud software subscription up to August 14, 2024: one and one-half months beyond their June 30, 2024 expiry date. We incurred hard costs associated with keeping their environment active in our cloud, along with significant soft costs associated staff time spent providing consulting services to this former customer after their contract expired.   
  

  We have fulfilled on all commitments we had with this former customer and the relationship is ended. We wish them nothing but the best and hope that their business thrives into the future.