"Dale Harris and the Feature of DOOM" Version 7.04n

[daleadmin]

Another installment of my policy of no longer saving users from themselves.

Well several of you folks asked for it so here it is. Crab, crab, crab.

If you go to the "Password and name" feature of the POSCONFG.EXE program you will see a new setting to the right of the "VOID" password. "[YES] = Need password in sale." If you set this to [YES] then when you are in a sale and press [F5] to void the sale or a line in the sale you will have to enter the VOID password (or MASTER password) to do it. To set this to [YES] the highlight bar must be on the VOID password and then you press [F1] to toggle it.

This applies even if the function of the VOID password is set to [0]. However to use the MASTER password for this, the function of the MASTER password must be set to [1]. If you have not entered a VOID or a MASTER password then this will not happen even if you have set it to [YES].

The good news (?) is that if you use this feature your employees will not be able to void a sale (or a line in the sale) once they have begun to ring it up unless YOU type in the password.

The bad news (!) is that you better not wander away from the register. If the employee has rung up the wrong item, the wrong price, the wrong amount, the wrong tax, the wrong anything, you have be there. If the customer decides that she does not want that item, that item costs too much, her credit card is rejected, she is 0.50 short of cash, the total is more that she thought it would be, you have to be there.

Because if you are not there then either the employee has to finish ringing up the sale (with the wrong information) or the register is locked until you return to enter the password.

So for you, there will be no sitting in your office, no trips to the bank, no going out for lunch, and the idea of an uninterupted spell in the bathroom will be fond memory.

Will I be using this this feature? Are you nuts? My only purpose in creating this feature is to stop folks from sending me email asking for it. Once they actually use it they will know what pain really is.

Enjoy.
Dale

After making backups do a full download at http://keyhut.com/pos3.htm

[brucef2112]

Ohh.. the pain,in just reading about this.
I can't even imagin the tyranntical opressive environment of the store having implemented this.
I vote this as the worst "Can't save users from themselves feature" ever added to POS in the last 5 years. BAR NONE!

The pain you endured while writting the code for this, Dale. I feel for you.
You made it too easy to enable this feature for those who want it.
A labiryth of at least 25 menu levels should be needed to enable this 'feature'.
Better yet, a menu option requiring $100 to your paypal to enable this feature!
Now *there* is some quality code time!

Later,
bruce
[bruce wondering 'Just how many e-mails does it take for Dale to fold these days?']

[daleadmin]

Bruce,

Vast amounts of Vicodin was consumed writing this feature. It took about 5 years worth of emails and chat talk to make me throw in the towel on this. I held out as long as I could.

The complaint is that cashiers were ringing up sales and then after getting the money were voiding out the sale thereby ripping off the store.

My reply has always been that if they did that the cash drawer would not open (how did they give the customer change?) and the receipt would not print (how did the customer get a receipt?) To help with the receipt thing I suggested that they post a sign on the register and at the door saying "No refunds or credits without a receipt." Then the customers will insist on getting a receipt.

But what do I know? They want what they want and now they've got it good and hard. Not my problem any more and I still get to go to the bathroom whenever I want.

Dale

[brucef2112]

I agree with you Dale.
Nothing can beat a simple sign that has every customer 'police' your employees for you at the register.
I like your sign. Mine is a nice engraved sign right at the register and reads:

IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A RECEIPT CALL ###-###-####.
(you must call at time of sale)

I have yet to get a call.

Other things that help without the need for more restrictive register operations is:
Let employees 'see' that you monitor the End of Day Closeout for number of Voids and Returns, NoSales.
For Returns I require the employees to have the customer sign the store's copy of the receipt along with their phone number to get their money back.
These type of actions put your employee on notice that you and others are watching and their activity can be verified.

Get ready Dale. Now that the Till is safe from pimple faced teen employees who would try to steal directly from drawer, Next they are going to want you to code a feature that keeps the "crook type" employees from just taking merchandise and sell it on eBay. Or have their friends come in and they ring 1 item and place 3 in the bag. Again off to eBay. All real crooks know to go the indirect path to get the cash. And the real professionals know its about bumping the books in the back office to make up for what goes out the back door.

PEOPLE, There *are* some things that a computer cannot fix.

Dale, I'll be in the stall next to you if you need to talk....

[daleadmin]

BUG! In version 7.04n if you use the new void feature and wanted to use the "park" feature to "Void this sale, load parked sale" and the current sale had nothing in the sale, you would be asked for the void password. This has been fixed.

[daleadmin]

In response to yet more crabbing I have a test version 7.04n6 of the program. You only have to download this file of the POS.EXE program at http://keyhut.com/pos.exe after making a backup of your current file.

Bruce crabbed that weird things may happen if for a debit or credit payment if you entered more than the amount due. So I have changed the program to not allow you to enter more than the amout due except for cash. So now you cannot over pay for credit, debit, check, or user defined.

In chat CB crabbed that if you have set the discount password and you have preset discount amounts that he had to enter the password more than once to get to discounts #2 or #3 and that he had to enter the password to cancel the discount. So I have changed the program that when a password is used for preset discounts you will have a menu of discounts to choose from. If a discount is already set and you press [F3] the discount will be canceled.

So check out this file and report back. If it is OK I will add it to the full download soon.

Dale

[cpb14]

i have tested for a lil bit it good so far. i will report to chat tonight to inform more

[daleadmin]

CB,

Today I did your other feature where the PURCHASE.EXE program will not only find 1. A specific PO, 2. All POs from a specific vendor, and 3. All POs but now all unpaid POs.

I have combined all the recent updates into a full download version 7.04p at http://keyhut.com/pos3.htm

Dale