MemberSuite

Supporter
MemberSuite

Average Ratings

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization

Big Potential but Company Growing Too Fast

Reviewed on Mar 24, 2015 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
We started using MemberSuite in its infancy as a company. We were thrilled by the level of customization that was available, and many of the features increased efficiency and communication with our volunteers. Unfortunately the company grew rapidly and had a difficult time keeping up with customer needs. The owner Andrew Ryan has done a good job trying to keep the communication going with his customers, but at the end of the day, we have experienced poor customer service now for nearly 2 years now and its time for us to move on.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function:

Number of Years Used:4-7 years

Maybe one day

Reviewed on Feb 26, 2015 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
MemberSuite may be a solid program in 3-5 years when they work out the "bugs" that are piled up and are able to provide a reliable user experience. We experience constant issues with speed, error messages that come and go and a lack of support materials to help you get set up. We are consistently told issues are "known bugs" but no one seems to know when or even if the bugs are going to be worked out.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Marketing

Number of Years Used:Less than 1 year

Best for Very Simple Orgs with Straightforward Needs

Reviewed on Jan 21, 2015 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
Very interesting from a technology standpoint. Can be broadly customized. Certain things such as backend administration and financial integration work very nicely. Unfortunately, customer service is nonexistent; they do not have the staff infrastructure to support the customizations, and they have a tendency to break customizations each time they release an update, which can then take weeks to fix. The front-end interface with end users is complicated and cannot be customized very easily. E-commerce is poorly implemented; the number of our members ordering products by phone increased exponentially since we implemented their system. There's an API, but outside programmers struggle with it. They are affordably priced, and should probably charge more so that they can invest in more people and better customer service. The system may work well for your association if you are an individual membership organization, with a straightforward dues structure and limited e-commerce needs.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Executive Management, Strategic Planning, Governance

Number of Years Used:1-3 years

If you want a working AMS, try something else

Reviewed on Jan 20, 2015 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
We implemented with MemberSuite in 2014. Apart from their implementation team taking more than 6 months to fully transition us to MemberSuite, their customer service is horrible, their system is unreliable and slow, and our integration with our CMS provider, Higher Logic, has been almost impossible to perfect thanks to MemberSuite's slow support ticket response time and refusal to work with Higher Logic directly--we've been forced to play the support ticket middle man in all of MemberSuite's communications with our other partners. If it weren't for Higher Logic's great customer service, we'd be lucky to have the two integrated at all.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Communications, Public Relations, Publications

Number of Years Used:Less than 1 year

Core product issue

Reviewed on Jan 20, 2015 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
No matter, what question we ask support or what issue we have. Their response is always: After further investigating, this ticket appears to be an issue with the core product. I'm assigning this to the Product team, who will verify the issue and attempt to create steps to reproduce. Once that's done, it will be passed along to product management for scheduling.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Technology

Number of Years Used:Less than 1 year

AMS is hit or miss

Reviewed on Jan 7, 2015 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
MS is easy to learn but doesn't have the customization preferred. Although it is easy to learn, the way it is designed doesn't make a lot of sense in many instances. There are far too many clicks required to get to information needed and it is difficult to link data together correctly. The saved search options are broad and very easy to tweak which makes pulling reports quick and easy. The system runs very slow and has errors far too often.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Sales

Number of Years Used:Less than 1 year

Flexible future-focused AMS

Reviewed on Jan 2, 2015 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
We moved into membersuite and overall had a good experience with the implementation process. They were very close on their SOW for hours, and did not charge us more when we went a little over (due to our own issues). We were able to get 6 full years of financial data/member data/event registration data into the system and configured. Membersuite is a very flexible platform. Its not perfect, but the company has a very aggressive software development lifecycle and they are constantly working to innovate and improve. Their event module is very robust, and we have moved from 8 data silos down to 3, and will soon be down to 1. The other core reason we bought into this system was the flexibility and openness of their API, which we have found to be true to their word, we have integrated SSO with multiple platforms and its performed well overall, and we just initiated a more full integration with our Learning Management System. If you are looking at this system, it is extremely robust, there will be a learning curve for staff, so make sure you invest time and budget for some training. Don't rely on one person in the office to learn a system this powerful, they will be a bottleneck and you won't be leveraging the value of the software.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Operations, Administration

Number of Years Used:Less than 1 year

Right Idea/Bad Execution

Reviewed on Nov 12, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
MemberSuite offers a SaaS AMS geared toward a small and mid-sized associations, though they are now starting to position the product to serve large associations. Unlike many solutions in this category, MemberSuite can be highly customized to meet association requirements. MemberSuite is is growing rapidly. Customization: Development was slow going in part because their engineers where spread thin with other work. However, there were often problems with QA. After features were completed, they frequently didn't work or work as specified. Financial-- The financial, GL functions, and reporting tools are one of the biggest problems. There are frequent discrepancies between reports, bugs in the way transactions are processed, and logic failures in the MemberSuite system where the software will allow staff to execute processes that should be prohibited. User Interface. For the association staff, the management console is pretty good, but for our members, where it matters most, very little thought has been given to the user experience. The interface is clunky and layered, with process and workflows requiring click after click to execute a function or navigate the portal. Our members frustrated and are frequently confused about how the console works. MemberSuite, as of August 2014, was not able to produce a certificate of PCI Compliance. Documentation is very weak, but slowly getting better. MemberSuite isn't mobile-ready.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Executive Management, Strategic Planning, Governance

Number of Years Used:1-3 years

MemberSuite drops the ball

Reviewed on Oct 22, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
We entered the relationship with MemberSuite pumped and eager to learn a new AMS. That enthusiasm was short lived. We conducted the ÒDiscoveryÓ meeting where members of the MemberSuite staff took notes on customizations and assured us the software was able to handle other needed tasks. We left the meeting feeling good, like something was accomplished. In reality, we were being duped. The functionality we were assured was there simply was not or at best about 75-80% there. The customizations didnÕt hit the mark either. After countless phone calls and online meetings to try re-explaining what was needed we had to give up as our internal processes were beginning to suffer. MemberSuite states you can simply call them for support but when you do call the recording states the best way to receive support is to submit a ticket. ThatÕs all well and good because things are in writing but when a ticket is over 6 months old Ð itÕs a problem. I honestly do not remember even one time where calling in rendered support. The responsiveness of staff is greatly lacking as you will be told (through the ticket system) youÕll have an answer the next day when in reality it will be several days before an update is given. Usually the update comes only after asking for it. While their reporting system seems robust, itÕs very difficult to retrieve the results needed. You have to know exactly where the data is stored to have a usable search. Now it goes without saying that you need to know where the data is stored but how would you know this without documentation. Documentation was touted as online during our meetings but I actually donÕt know if they have any. I guess all of this could be summed up in one statement: Over promised, under delivered. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Technology

Number of Years Used:1-3 years

We want to break up

Reviewed on Oct 21, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
Our experience with MemberSuite has been rocky at best. The product we were sold was sexy, sleek, offered a fresh UX compared to our outdated AMS which needed an expensive upgrade (the reason we decided to shop around) and we were in awe of all the promised capabilities that appeared to work perfectly in "demo" mode. Unfortunately, this fancy package does not have the brains to back it up. MemberSuite has potential to build a very good AMS, they just haven't made it there yet. However, I'd be willing to give them a chance if they blew me away with Customer Service but that has by far been the worst part of our experience. They offer a ticket submission system with a great response time, but the response is generally "we'll get to this sometime in the next 6 weeks to 6 months and POSSIBLY find a solution." Try explaining that to thousands of members who expect an accurate invoice or not to be double or triple charged because they signed up for an installment plan - which is supposed to help ease the financial burden. That's one of many functionalities that sold us on this AMS and we've discovered doesn't actually work the way it should and so we can't use it.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Operations, Administration

Number of Years Used:1-3 years

Do not use MemberSuite

Reviewed on Oct 17, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
This company is in their infancy stage and do not have the infrastructure to accommodate even the smallest association. They did not provide adequate training and most of our time has been spent fixing problems with their system and dealing with unqualified employees. We've taken a step back in the work we can accomplish.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Membership, Customer Service, Data Entry

Number of Years Used:Less than 1 year

Endless Challenges

Reviewed on Oct 16, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
While core member functionality is more or less stable, and improvements are being implemented, there are many other serious issues. First and foremost, financial reporting has been exceedingly difficult (near impossible). Getting reliable figures out of the system continues to be a problem. Reports rely on different data (Orders vs. Invoices vs. Payments). If an individual pays for an order listed under the organization, reports do not clearly relate the two. Discounts frequently result in very confusing GL account listings. Lack of documentation meant early products were setup incorrectly (that is, not according the system's rules) resulting in numerous and time consuming accounting errors. While anything related to refunds or credits is so convoluted and confusing to staff and accounting that it is essentially unusable. In short, they need to hire a team of accountants to overhaul the financial programming. Next, the member portal--the outward-facing portion of the AMS--is clunky, unhandsome, and confusing. It looks to have been designed by an engineer with very little thought to actual end users. Additionally, advertised systems such as committees and member groups are so basic as to be essentially nonfunctional. One cannot set useful roles, with appropriate entitlements (that is, who gets to see what and who can edit what data), and getting to the member groups and conversations requires far too many clicks. This has meant that we have not been able to turn any of the touted member connection modules to actual member benefit. Last, the customization seems to be always ongoing. While the customer support team does its best to help, they are overloaded and cannot respond in a timely manner. They are simply receiving too many requests. Though items get fixed, it often takes weeks to months. (We were informed that several key pieces of our conference registration had been fixed and were now functioning... two weeks after we held the conference.)

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Membership, Customer Service, Data Entry

Number of Years Used:1-3 years

Bad customer service

Reviewed on Oct 15, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
Memebersuite is not a super intuitive AMS for running more advanced reports. And whenever one calls customer service there is a lot of attitude about not being able to do it ourselves. Just yesterday, after struggling to enter many people manually, our receptionist called one more time, spoke to a different person, and they informed her of an auto upload feature!

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Finance

Number of Years Used:Less than 1 year

Not designed for Company Membership Organizations

Reviewed on Oct 3, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
Good product for companies with individuals as members but it appears that allowing for Company memberships was an afterthought and as a result there are limitations. Fixes don't come quickly.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Operations, Administration

Number of Years Used:1-3 years

Integration Issues

Reviewed on Oct 1, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
The AMS is great but the data migration has been troublesome. Same mistakes happen.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Membership, Customer Service, Data Entry

Number of Years Used:Less than 1 year

One problem after another

Reviewed on Aug 13, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
We're using MemberSuite - the full platform. While this system appears to be a good solution for mid-size to large associations, it's ripe with problems. There are many bugs within this system that prevent mass updates of member records. Additionally, there is no import wizard, so good luck adding large groups of new members - it MUST be done one record at a time. Their customer service is non-existent. It often takes weeks and multiple reminders to get basic responses back from their accounting department. Currently, they have suck a backlog of problems that any issue is given a six-month window for resolution. SIX MONTHS!

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Marketing

Number of Years Used:

MemberSuite Review

Reviewed on Aug 12, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
We have had MemberSuite for a number of years now and they keep making improvements! Choosing an AMS is a big decision and we did not take it lightly when we switched over to MemberSuite. We wanted a cost effective solution that allowed us to fully intergrate our client websites. Another big factor was a web-based solution. We had previously had a server-based solution and wanted to have immediate access anywhere. No AMS is perfect, but MemberSuite listens to their clients and make adjustments from that feedback. I appreciate a vendor that takes what I have to say seriously. MemberSuite is a great AMS solution for an association or association management company!

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Finance

Number of Years Used:

Worst AMS in existence

Reviewed on May 13, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
took almost 2 years to finally deploy the software... WITHOUT any meaningful customization completed (we had to go online due to pressure from above)... so what we received, was a software full of bugs (we had over 80 open tickets and most were told not solvable / will be solve in future updates) .. then we asked for a customization, they said ok and started on it. we never get to the development phase... they simply asked us to have online meeting over and over and over again to finally get them to pin down on the specifications, then told us its not doable..YET they billed us $10k for all the "meetings". 2 years later to this date, we are canceling.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Technology

Number of Years Used:

Untitled Review

Reviewed on Jan 20, 2014 - Archived Review

Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability
Customization
Membersuite is a great idea -- if only it worked. We spent a year trying to get this software to function as was promised. After a year of hobbling along, and spending significant staff resources to make up for the software's shortcomings, we gave up. Unless your needs are very minimal, look elsewhere.

About Reviewer

AMS Version:

Membership Size:

Industry Type:

Organization Type:

Primary Job Function: Executive Management, Strategic Planning, Governance

Number of Years Used:

Page 3 of 3