Protractor Reviews - Pros & Cons, Ratings & more

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Protractor is an automotive management solution designed to help small to midsize businesses manage estimates, scheduling, operations, inspections, invoicing, and more. The platform enables users to send customers automatic reminders, track revenue performance, and monitor key metrics in real-time.

Protractor

Linux

Web-based

Windows

Owner / CEO

As with any shop POS software, it all comes down to personal preference and is it a good fit for you. Protractor is a good fit for us.

Owner

There is not a part that can get lost or not billed out. We found a lot of lost dollars by tracking the cores and returns as the system does.

Once it all clicks the time it take to build a work order and order parts is amazing. It has been able to help increase the Average Repair order and the productivity in the shop as well.

owner

With the dollar exchange, it was costing me around $125. A few months ago, they notified me that I will be charged the FULL $149.00 plus I have to pay the foreign transaction fee.

The learning curve is small, Ease of use my wife (who is not from the auto industry) can build tickets and estimates very quickly. Parts lookup is nice and easy to use.

Training videos are very very well made and actually helpful. Tech support is awesome.

My experience has been great. If you are or are not in the market for SMS software you owe it to yourself, and the profitability of your company to check it out.

Owner / Manager

AMS foulks are great to work with. Always quick and helpful when we may have an issue.

I believe that AMS and Protractor have been the best investment for my company and am looking forward to working with them going into the future.

President

Many operating issues that protractor will not inform you about when they are selling the product. Customer support is nonexistent and overall very rude company to deal with.

The cloud based program is easy to use and as POWERFUL as you could want.

Best Automotive Management Software Out There.

Owner/President

Missing a couple of things that RO Writer did that Protractor is going to do in the future.

General Manager

Net was fairly easy both from the back office side and the front counter. Protractor support and Guy Lapierre have been extremely helpful during and after the transition.

We have much more control over all aspects of the day to day operations of the company. The advisers are able to write work orders faster, the integration with third party applications is flawless.

The time saved pays for the cost of the software. It's all in the cloud so my network issues with ROW  have gone away.

R.O. Writer

AutoShop

Protractor is the Best

After onboarding and the initial struggles of making a big POS change like this, it has been very good over all. We do not regret making the switch. 
As with any shop POS software, it all comes down to personal preference and is it a good fit for you. 
Protractor is a good fit for us. 

Powerful software that is very customizable.

Most shop management systems focus on auto shops needs. Protractor is an accounting program piggybacked with a shop management program.
I was with Protractor over a year and they did not fulfilled their promises for example,  an oil sticker label or to fix CarFax. 
I went back to my previous system where CarFax is working properly yet Protractor says it is not a Protractor problem, it is a CarFax problem.
I was told from the beginning that if I left, my data is mine.   They did not tell me that it was available in report form and you have to pay $149.00 a month ($1788.00 a year plus foreign transaction fees) to access it.
With the dollar exchange, it was costing me around $125.  A few months ago, they notified me that I will be charged the FULL $149.00 plus I have to pay the foreign transaction fee.
This is due to the support it requires. We are looking at previous data only and  NEVER need customer support???
If you choose to go with Protractor, I believe you will agree that the your experience is very AGGRAVATING.


Broken Promises 

Hi George,

I am very sorry to hear about your experience. Regarding product developments we are constantly updating the Protractor product based on customer requests and work on as quick a schedule as we can. As it happens we do now have an oil sticker integration available. Regarding carfax, there are no known issues at this time except for in a few territories that are out of our control which would be similar to any SMS. Perhaps you are talking about some vin decoding issues which are unrelated to carfax that have been rectified.

Regarding your data, it is always available to you in a file, however it would not be possible to access this without the use of an interface. Unfortunately the best option is to run any reports that you require from the Protractor system while you have access to it, or to maintain a current subscription. 

We apologize that you have had an unfortunate experience, but we do stand behind our product and believe that it is a top sms on the market.


AMS as a company is the best part of the experience! I delayed the conversion for about a year because I was agonizing over the learning process of changing the POS. Now looking back, I wasted a year of waiting. AMS made the process so easy! They are well versed in the product they support and they held our hand during the entire journey. AMS educated us extremely well before going live. On the day we went live, our personal trainer was there the whole day walking us through all the things we forgot. There was a total of one day where we struggled and I can't say it was a full day.   [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] is the best part of my experience! He is ALWAYS available to answer my question. He is always available to log in and help me through the more advanced questions. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] was our trainer and he went over and above to make sure we were comfortable with the software and be available to answer our questions.   Great job [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] at making sure you did not launch a support company without thoroughly training your crew!  AMS is the only choice if want to buy Protractor!

AMS is the only company you should consider when making your decision. 

Dependability and stable system, cloud based system with no back ups or disc needed. Made hardware expense much less 

Awesome Very User Friendly System

We had data corruption and the old software wasn't keeping up with new technology. Protractor is cloud based. 

Protractor review

AMS Protractor Implementation and Use

AMS foulks are great to work with. Always quick and helpful when we may have an issue. 

Protractor has been great to see the margin of sales and service we provide without guessing. 

Best Shopware for the automotive business

Great POS Software with Excellent Customer Service

We already see an increase in our bottom line due to the effortless integration of the estimating process and the linking of recommended services.  We look forward to understanding better than ever the inefficiencies of production as we now have a way to track that better than we have ever had.  Our techs are on board with the production tracking and seem to be surprisingly interested in this feature as well.  Just sitting here many things come to mind inventory and core tracking abilities, all the many reports that reveal the inner secrets of the entire operation like never before.  There's a lot to work with here.


Protractor is leading edge tech

Larry, we love that you are already seeing an increase in your bottom line!   You and your team did a great job preparing for the transition, and it paid off.   If there is anything else we can do for you, let us know.   - Scott, AMS

overall it's been a positive experience. I was new to the program last year in July, and was able to pick things up quickly. And also teach myself some other things. 

Easy to use!

Excellent Service Management System. 

Hi Mark,

Thank you for choosing Protractor and we are happy that you are experiencing higher RO and hours per RO.
We are constantly listening to our customers requests and adding productive features on a regular basis. 

My experience has been great. If you are or are not in the market for SMS software you owe it to yourself, and the profitability of your company to check it out. I believe that AMS and Protractor have been the best investment for my company and am looking forward to working with them going into the future.

Growing to success!!

We used protractor, and switched from it to try to save a few bucks per month...We hated the other system we went it, tried more systems and ended up back with protractor and couldn't be happier.  This system is so easy to use, so accurate, its a no-brainer to end up with it.  All the custom reports you can run, to inventory setup, automatically looking up labor and parts.  5/5 stars.  Would buy again. 

We switch from protractor, and ended up with it again a few months later

Kurt, we are glad to have you back!   And thank you for the shout out to our customer support.   Customer support is a top priority for us. If you need anything else, let us know.   - Scott, AMS

Do Not Recommend

Best Automotive Management Software Out There

Very good product. 

Glad we made to change from RO Writer.

Mark, glad to hear things are going well since your switch.   Stay tuned as Protractor keeps rolling out new features every month.   Let us know if you need anything else.    
Thanks, Scott Thorley, AMS

Started January 1st 2018 and moving along smooth.

Eric, thanks for the nice review!   Glad to hear Protractor is going well for you, and like you, we love seeing all the new updates each month.   - Scott, AMS 

We have increased the bottom line and I wish we implemented this last November when I sign up for the software.

What a great software system for the Automotive Service Business

Roy, glad to hear things are going well, and that Protractor has been able increase your bottom line.   We appreciate you being an AMS Protractor customer.   Let us know if you need anything else.    Thanks, Scott Thorley

I have been using Protractor since the beginning of 2013. The .Net version is considerably faster than the older version and has a lot of new features. I like the fact that it is a web based system and I never have to worry about backups. There support is great, they usually get back to us in less than an hour.  I like the fact that they come out with an update each week. They are always adding new features.  As with any software change there is a learning curve, but the instructors were very helpful.  There are some features that my old software had that I wish were integrated into protractor but we found away around most of them. Its integrated accounting system is great. It saves having to have a conversion program to upload it to a book keeping system. I found that the inventory system is very tight. There is not a part that can get lost or not billed out. We found a lot of lost dollars by tracking the cores and returns as the system does.  I would recommend this to anyone.

Great Product

Most shop management systems focus on auto shops needs and most accounting programs are hard to use for shop management.  Protractor combines both accounting and shop management.  

combines both accounting and shop management

I have been using Protractor for 8 years. The system called Legacy has been upgraded to the .net version and I really like this version because of the speed difference from the older version and the ease of use. Its easy to setup but like any new software , it takes some getting used to but I would not go back to the old version now. 


Pros : Work Speed , ease of use , multiple invoices can be opened at once. Management actually listens to user requests and occasionally implements them into the newer upcoming versions of the software. Training videos are very very well made and actually helpful. Tech support is awesome.

Cons : Can take a while to log in the morning. Still some polishing needed but very good as is honestly. It takes a while to setup and learn the MANY features give yourself a few weeks , you won't be sorry after. 

From a Long time user

I find that this software is old and outdated. It is not user friendly and very slow regardless of the connections. Our accountant calls this software a nightmare. There are never any useful updates. Customer service is pretty quick and will assist you with all of the issues you WILL have.  There is no direct line to get a hold of customer service and you have to email and hope they get back soon.

Not the best

Hi Heidi,

After a review of your account it appears that you were using the original Protractor version and not the latest program, Protractor.Net. Protractor.Net is a superior product and has updates that come out every 2-4 weeks. We hope to speak with you in the future.

Protractor Reviews

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