TownSq

Pros: NONE.

Cons: They do not listen to their customers. They do not allow users to edit or delete their own posts to the forum or requests. If you make a mistake in your post you cannot go back and correct it once you post it to the forum.

Overall: The software holds it hostage. Only the administrator can delete posts. No product restricts users from modifying their own posts.

Pros: TownSq is not difficult to use. Based on feedback from our community management company who brought Town Square in for our community to use, it is not customizable. What you see is what you get.

Cons: My major problem with TownSq is that when a "request" is posted I only have visibility to MY requests. I can't see what other community members might have posted. This is a weakness in that there is no way to see which requests are placed for the same things.

Overall: Any software product MUST be able to be customized by the used to some extent. TownSq appears to be "what you see, is what you get". This is a terrible attitude and one that will force it to fail when other products are available that can be more flexible.

Pros: Can use to pay online, if you want to pay your Canadian ROA fees in American currency through an American bank, or if you want to pay a "convenience fee" on your credit card.

Cons: Having taken over ROA payments for Sage Hill, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, C-Era, using TownSq, has made payments more than difficult. They only accept American currency evidently. You can pay online by credit card, for an additional "convenience fee". You can pay online with a banking account, if you can supply a 9 digit routing number, an American banking convention; Canadian banks use a 5 digit transit number. You can set up Pre-Authorized Debit, but only if you sign away your rights to your legally required ten days pre-notification before withdrawal. C-Era will not process said payments if you do not initial their "pre-notification advice waiver". You can pay by cheque by mail, paying for cheque, envelope, and postage. You can pay by debit, if you can take the time off work to go to their office Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. My bank has better hours. If we had any choice, we would never do business with these people.

Overall: Violet, Deanna, and Jason all need a course in customer service. Rude and abrupt responses that only supply "pay us", never an actual answer to an actual question.

Pros: It enables my HOA and COA to communicate with residents quickly, and provides easily access to association documents such as committee charters, bylaws, meeting agendas and minutes, and the monthly activities calendars.

Cons: Although it's touted as an application that allows residents to communicate with one another seamlessly, the email functionality seems to be poorly designed. As a registered user for over a year, the first time I received an email within the app from another resident, the email invited me to join TownSq. Customer support is unsatisfactory at best; deplorable at worst. I submitted a support ticket but never got an answer or even an acknowledgment that the request was received. I called customer support to communicate problems; the representatives replied that the product was working as designed without even taking a few seconds to determine if there was a software issue on record. After waiting over a week for a reply to an email, and five days after sending a follow-up, I called and asked to talk to a supervisor but was told all the supervisors were all in a meeting. The representative didn't offer to have a manager get back to me when the meeting was over, and was totally unwilling to even look into why no one had responded after all that time.

Overall: My experience as a resident with no choice but to use TownSq because both our HOA and COA utilize it, I find the product to be full of flaws and the support severely lacking.