In this guide 6 sections
Software that feels wrong is usually a setup problem when only some users, one branch or one record type is affected. It is a product problem when every user, every branch and every record type hits the same wall. Run three tests before you blame the vendor or the staff.
Test one: does it happen for every user?
Ask the complaining person to repeat the task while a colleague holding a different role watches the same screen. If the manager can finish a termite quote and the front desk cannot, the cause is a permission, not the product. Setup fix.
A clinic desk shows the classic case. The receptionist cannot open the day’s collection screen, so she says the system hides things. The product is fine, because her role was created as read-only during the first week and nobody went back to it.
- Same task, two different roles
- Same task on a second computer
- Same login on a phone and a desktop
Test two: does it happen in every branch?
Try the same job in another branch or team, then compare the two setups line by line. Check the tax code, the stage names, the rate card for rodent baiting and fogging, the invoice number series and the print template. Differences hide there.
A pest control company met this on a job sheet. The treatment area field was missing at one branch only, since someone had switched it off on that branch’s form. Turning it back on took a minute. Nobody needed a developer.
Test three: does it happen for every record type?
Some tasks fail on one kind of record only. A quote saves. An annual maintenance contract does not. A cash receipt prints cleanly, yet a credit invoice shows a blank where the due date belongs; the pattern points at one template, one rule or one field.
If it fails on every record type and no setting changes it, you have met a product limit. The usual one is a report the product simply does not have, such as chemical usage by technician. Configuring will never build it.
- Quotes versus contracts
- Cash sales versus credit sales
- New customers versus repeat customers
- Single visit versus a recurring service
Read the pattern before you act
Write down what you found. One user means a role. One branch means a branch setting. One record type means a template. Everything, everywhere, means the product itself, or the way a shortlist of products was judged against the demo script.
Staff often call a setup gap a product failure because the first week with unfamiliar dropdowns felt clumsy, and the complaint then spreads through the office as fact. Do not accept that label. Test it.
What to ask the vendor once you know
For a setup fault, ask who can change it and how long it takes. A good vendor answers with a menu path, such as Settings, Forms, Job Sheet, rather than a promise. Ask whether the change survives the next upgrade.
For a product limit, put the missing report or field in a written request with a date. If the vendor refuses, price the workaround honestly. A spreadsheet export every Friday may cost less than a migration.
Three test fault log
Each complaint gets one line, with four columns: the task, which user it failed for, which branch, and which record type. The final column holds the verdict as role, branch setting, template or product limit, beside the fixer’s initials and the date.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
How long should a diagnosis take?
Most complaints sort out in one sitting. Repeat the task with a second user, a second branch and a second record type, then compare what you see on each screen.
What if staff just dislike the new screens?
Dislike is not a fault. Watch one person do a full task and note where they stop. Training gaps look like product faults until you watch.
Should we keep paying while a limit is unresolved?
Ask for the fix date in writing. Meanwhile, keep the old method for that one task only, so the rest of the work still moves through the new system.
Can a wrong setup be blamed on the vendor?
Partly. If they configured it, they should correct it. If your own team set it up, the fix is yours, though the vendor can usually advise.