Normally, Evers & Company has a strictly enforced "no grump" policy in the workplace. But this week, it has been temporarily lifted for the many Mac users in our office. So they are leaning out the windows to shout, "We're mad as hell! And we're not going to take it anymore!"*
As the first of my colleagues started to drift back to the office after they went for the conversion, they were livid.
No doubt about it, SentriLock is terrific in many ways. It slices and dices and minces and then cleans itself up as a home entry system.
But the little attacment for updates isn't Mac compatible! And the Sentrilock folks just said "Install Parallels."
Sorry, but that defeats the two main purposes of using a Mac!
- Macs don't have a big virus issue, unless they install Parallels.
- Macs are unbelievably fast, unless they install Parallels.
I haven't done the switch yet, but colleagues who have siad the GCAAR folks said it never occurred to them to think about Sentrilock and Mac, because, they maintain, only 1% of the agents use them. But when they did their survey, they forgot to ask me or any of the other many Mac users in my office.
Where did they get that number? More important when did they get that number?
A few years ago, I was a PC user. And like a lot of my colleagues, as PC's started to slow down or wear out, and as agents were faced with Vista and frustration with viruses and other web-based nasties, a lot of us started to look at Mac as an alternative.
When I first bought my Mac, I had two computers on my desk - my new fast and amazingly cool Mac and my trusty but turtle slow PC. Within a couple of months, I passed the PC on to my nephew. While the pre-Vista number may have been 1%, my guess is that the number is a lot closer to 15 to 20%, with the number growing.
I had no idea there were so many Mac users at Evers until the Sentrilock conversion. And it's hard to tell whether we're just a bunch who know a good thing (Donna Evers and Macs) or whether this is a trend among agents all over. And now that I think about it, everything we use for our business is now Mac compatible.
So, (as the loose cannon in this area) I'm starting to get calls and emails from Mac users who want to sue! Who or what, I'm not sure. Sentrilock? State and local Boards?
But wait! While it could be a fun class action lawsuit, we need to start out by communicating with the powers that be at GCAAR and MAR! They'll probably listen. And then if they don't we can get crazy.
I have this client who is a total mad dog lawyer.
* For those of you who are too young to remember, this is a famous line from the movie, "Network" - which I strongly recommend you check out on NetFliks.
I love the vision of agents leaning out the windows yelling! I also thought Macs were not used by many people. I used my daughter's when I first started learning computers but have been using the PCs since. Good luck in your fight.
Hi Pat... I am not a Mac user for a variety of reasons, but I have always been a fan of them and will defend your right to choose without threat of recrimination! I will stand with you in Solidarity!
Barbara, Macs are amazing! And we're a funny group of agents!
Steve, thank you!
Oh my word...I can just feel your frustration...and I can't blame you! Are they serious...totally change your system to accomodate something like a lock? So far with Supra, we haven't had an issue...let's hope it stays that way!
You can use Mac here either with our GE keybox. And now after only 2 years they are switching to another lock box again. I think we changed like 3 times in the last 6 years, always having to go and buy new lockboxes at 125 a pop. We bitch about that!
Patricia - Lockbox conversions are my pet peeve. When I looked inside my storage bin, I found I had 5 different kinds of lockboxes. Going back over a period of 27 years. I still miss the simplicity of use, the first ones presented. Currently, we are using Supra here in the Greater Sacramento area, and I haven't had any issues.
I feel your pain Pat. A realtor lead generator in our office that needs a browser to accept the lead doesn't work with the iPhone Safari browser. So dumb.
Like many things it might not be the best product that everyone uses. I don't have the energy to fight that battle. Good luck.
Patricia, You can really pi-- them off by calling their support number. They can give you a code that you put into any Sentrilock lockbox along with your card and it will update your card. The lockbox can be sitting next to your Mac, it doesn't matter. Tell them you have to do this because they don't support Mac.
I was a mac user years ago and loved my mac - I feel your pain -
Patricia,
Few things are more frustrating than technology breakdowns. It must be especially so for you, a Mac user, based on what I hear from my friends who abandoned PCs because they felt constantly under attack.
It is joys like you described that has kept me a PC user. Macs are an after thought for most vendors.
Good luck Pat but you may not be fighting a winning battle. You may have a struggle for the next couple of years.
Yes... Technology and BOARD offices are two words that don't go together! I asked my Board about holding Social Media classes - they didn't know what it was! Seriously??? They also don't have a "place" in MLS system for Energy Star Rating! Unbeleivable!
Patricia, my next purchase is going to be a new laptop and I've been considering a Mac. Yet, I'm a bit torn because I'm not sure about compatibility. Your post gives me pause..
Find out how many Mac users there are in your MLS - send out a mass email asking. Encourage all of those users to petition your board and Sentrilock for change. And notify all those Mac users about the Sentrilock customer help number. Why should you be forced to use inferior technology and the worry of malware on a PC?
Paula, there were no issues at all with Supra. Not sure why we're having to go through all this goofiness!
Katerina and Myrl, these new ones have a lot of bells and whistles, but the Supra boxes had almost all of them. I hate change for change's sake with this stuff. Like if it ain't broke!
Gary, all of the other real estate programs we use here seem to work with Mac, and some of the vendors made adjustments to fit the demand.
Terry, I'm hoping there won't be a battle and these guys will do a fix fast.
and Richard, this is brilliant! I'm going to share it with my colleagues! Wow!
Pat- Now that is one problem I would not have to face....and you almost had me thinking I should check out a MAC before I purchase my next laptop!
You can really pi-- them off by calling their support number. They can give you a code that you put into any Sentrilock lockbox along with your card and it will update your card. The lockbox can be sitting next to your Mac, it doesn't matter. Tell them you have to do this because they don't support Mac.
Richard - This is a brilliant idea. And as a Mac user in Pat's office, I fully intend to call Sentrilock everyday with the same request and complaint. It's insane that GCAAR and Sentrilock would so cavalierly dismiss even 1% of their paying customers. As Pat said, about 25% of our agents are Mac-heads. I'm curious as to how manyyyyyyyyy there are in other brokerages.
I feel your pain, Pat. One of the reasons I never converted to Apple in spite of many postive endorsements is that there are still essential Realtor type applications out there that just don't write to Macs.
It might be interesting to see if anyone really did a study of PC/Mac users in the Realtor community before converting. Supra worked because it was not computer dependent. Supra sucked otherwise. Maybe you should try to go after Sentrilock. They're the source of the problem and probably have deeper pockets and it would provide them with the incentive to write code to Macs.
I get aggravated with the changes in the lockboxes. As to the mac/pc issue, I guess 1% or 15% isn't a big enough population to worry about . . .
I have a somewhat related question. Is it possible to obtain Sentri-Lock without being a memeber of GCAAR? I have researched this, and it seems GCAAR (or MAR) control access. From an emotional standpoint, this seems like cooercion. Legally, it seems as though there non-competition issues.
I am not a GCAAR member. I write my own contracts (I am a lawyer too). I have no use for GCAAR. It frustrates me that I HAVE to bilk over money in order to use a lock-box. MRIS allows me access -- why not sentri-lock?
I am sure they can get away with it, but it doesn't make it right. Forgive me, listing agents, when I cannot let myself in. Don't blame me. Blame GCAAR.
Ken, there is actually very little pain to using a Mac! Everything else works like butter - MRIS and Zipforms Online. They are just beautiful machines, and while they are more expensive, they last for a long time and tend not to do the dreaded blue screen.
Christine, in my office, it's 25%, which is a larger market share than any other computer company, and we are learning that they do have the ability to make SentriLock Mac friendly - they just haven't done it.
And my independent broker friend, I'm not a lawyer, but didn't NAR just get sued over this stuff?
We went through the same thing out here, although I haven't used a Mac in over 20 years. I had one of the first Apple Lisa's in the city of Houston, and stuck with Apple for a few more years, but when IBM came out with the PC, I could buy five PC's for the price of one Apple, which allowed me to expand my business by hiring four more employees. I've been PC ever since.
I miss my mac sooooo much. It was my first computer, 20 some years ago -- so user friendly, so easy to be creative. I still have one - my fourth, but I can't use it for real estate, I use it for my photos and graphics. RMLS and everything real estate related is PC based. I think about getting the intel chip mac -- but everyone who has it complains and seems to have issues. Hope they can work out the issues for you!
I am a dedicated MAC user and will never go back to PC for a variety of reasons. There are several agents in my office that are faithful MAC owners as well. Seriously, we do exist and there is definitely a need for SentriLock software for MAC.
There are many MAC users in the biz - and I am also very angry that Sentrilock was not quieried as to whether it would be able to be used cross platform.
I can even run TP using the vm side- ZIP is going to be totally cross platform soon- but offered a Citrix program that would at least allow anyone to do their work.
If the board of realtors for our jurisdictions don't start thinking outside their box- we are doomed. This software should be as easy to use as the Supra. I am furious- 8 boxes and I cannot get the USB card reader to load. It's buggy.
Solidarity- many of us have been MAC for years. MRIS- Sentrilock-Zip- TP - anyone who wants our money should be able to offer it to any user.
Kathy Fong
Keller Williams Arlington
No one should be surprised at the fact that Sentrilock does not support the MAC. The overall decision in the DC Metro Area to change to Sentrilock was not based on what is best for the agents or, more importantly, their clients. It was a political decision. The new Active Key by Supra was never shown to agents as an option. Therefore, agents are being forced to convert to a technologically inferior product.
Personally, I like the Supra Active Key and feel the consortium which made this decision made it for the wrong reasons.
Barry Allbright
Keller Williams Realty - Reston, VA
I've realized over the many years that when Realtors go to conversions, such as the SentriLock conversion, they fail to pay any attention at all. Whether it be how to use the box in general, where to find their PIN number or the fact that they said that they are currently creating a Mac compatible version of the software. Let's face it, Macs are great computers and the people that usually purchase and use them are in the design, editting fields, not realtors. That is where Macs are superior to PC's, in the design industry. I'm sure when SentriLock came out with this system it wasn't feesible to create a Mac compatible version or think that we were "hip" enough to even own a Mac. This is why I still have a PC. It isn't just SentriLock that isn't Mac compatible, but many, many other things won't work on a Mac either. I think it's extremely unfair to judge SentriLock for not having this version YET, especially when they're in the works of making one, because so many other programs are only PC compatible.
Lei - I, too, am on a Mac and work in Patricia's office, where fully 25% of the agents use Macs. This is not a matter of us cavalierly deciding to switch to Sentrilock without doing the research. This is a case where our association, GCAAR, made the erroneous assumption (without doing the research) that everyone but a tiny percentage of their DUES-PAYING MEMBERSHIP in this market used PCs. We're not accusing Sentrilock of not developing Mac-compatible software. We are disappointed and upset that was an ill-advised decision on GCAAR's part to switch prior to Sentrilock being a usable product for all of GCAAR's members. Because of their decision, a significant number of agents have been inconvenienced.
And just so you know, we don't use Macs because we're "hip." Macs are powerful and adaptable machines. They're faster than PC, more transparent in their architecture and more intuitive in their use. They are compatible with every program we realtors have to work with in this area, from navigating the MLS to using ZipForms, to spreadsheets, email, browsers, writing, et al. You might want to try one one time. Once you go Mac, you don't go back.
As a Sentrilock employee I can assure you all that before we got the DC area there were very few agents using MACs. Less than 1% of all the calls we took nationwide were MAC calls.
Now after getting the DC area and realizing how many of you use them there we have developed a MAC version of the card utility. I'm sorry we are taking longer than you would like, but we can't write and develop software overnite.
In the meantime feel free to call and update your card over the phone as often as you need to.
Mark,
I was impressed by Sentrilock sending me the information I needed to do a Beta thing, and as soon as I get back from Paris, I'll try it out. But the 1% nation wide thing was never even close, especially after Windows got replaced. That's when I switched, and that was over a year and a half ago. And I really don't think you all did your homework on the whole Mac thing. I never got any kind of contact asking me what system I used.