Event Image Co review for Appointment Booking App | BTA

July 3, 2023

Welcome to the most in depth review ever written. HA! I kid. Firstly, if you've got appts, rentals, etc to book - you know my pain. It's SO lovely to have it all tied into Shopify, but choosing the right app is OVERWHELMING with A. so many apps and B. SO many with good ratings. I'm a super type A gal who created a whole spreadsheet trying to organize the madness as I tested. I looked outside of Shopify as well - and other platforms are ultimately complicated and I'd rather have it tied into Shopify. I searched and searched and went with BTA about 3 years ago. My business expanded this year and my circumstances got a little too complicated for their app - but guess what... it was also too complicated for EVERY other app I SPENT 40 HOURS TESTING, RESEARCHING, ETC. So take my word for it... Overall, I think BTA's features are very robust, possibly one of the most robust apps out there, and they are very helpful. There's one I think that would go toe to toe with, but the price point of that competitor is 4X that of BTA, so why bother? BTA is really helpful with customer service. The only struggle is sometimes it's really hard to explain everything via email and there's some disconnects - but eventually we all get it together. There's some disgruntled folks in these reviews and I can say.... I'm not always the most patient person... and I think at the end of the day, they'll match your energy. If you get irritated and short with them, when all they really are trying to do is help, you'll have a sub par experience. Try to take a breathe and know they really do want to help. In 3 years, I only had one glitch that caused some booking troubles. They got to it as fast as they could. Of course, I wanted it fixed IMMEDIATELY, but, being part owner in a tech company, I know it takes time to figure out a bug and implement a solution. Even instagram and Amazon go down, we can't expect perfection - but one glitch in 3 years is pretty dang good! Finally, if you are a design nerd like me... you might be fooled by a few other app options that just look soooo cool and pretty. haha. Trust me, the functionality is just not there. I feel bad mentioning this, but I want this to be an honest review. Plus, I know it is a selling point for a lot of people - myself included. I almost switched because another app was prettier. At the end of the day, it just wasn't QUITE up there with BTA. At the end of the day, I choose BTA for functionality, price and the fact that I have weird booking circumstances and they walked me through setting things up to finagle it to work for my needs. With an app SO robust, there's bound to be confusion - it's not like we customers wrote the code! I say this because you will have questions... probably lots of them, and they WILL be there for you, as a partner. IF YOU WANT MORE SPECIFIC FINDINGS FROM MY SEARCH: - BTA allows you to create booking fields and it's more customizable than any other app I've seen in this regard (again, one other goes toe to toe, but for 4x the price) - BTA's notifications are robust and better than most... and it's included in the price! Other apps have you alter liquid theme files and I hate doing that personally. - The bookings calendar and elements are customizable and you have more options with how to display things than with other apps - Their customer RESCHEDULE/CANCELLATION FEATURE IS PURE GOLD! Many apps do not have this. - I like that they have a different website login so I don't have to pay for a bunch of staff users on shopify - they can login there to check customers in, etc. Other apps all have them log in to shopify which I don't like for a number of reasons, one being the cost. - The multiple ways you can set your hours, blackouts, etc makes it really great for complex calendar/availability situations. - Once you get a few products set up, it's really easy to go from there. - I wouldn't waste your time poking around if you're confused - out of the gate just shoot BTA an email and give them your specific user case with as much detail and honestly just let them tell you what you need - you'll save yourself a lot of time.