Gift Cards: POS Freezing + Items Not Hitting KDS
There are two known problems with gift cards we have received multiple reports of. Both are not the result of software/configuration under our control and will require an enhancement request to PAR to resolve. There are also additional implications to consider. Brief descriptions of each issue below.
Know Issue 1: If a gift card is rung in as the first item on an order, subsequent items will not hit the KDS
Explanation:
PAR completely suppresses gift cards from the KDS. This is to prevent a blank order from hitting the KDS and needing to be bumped off when an order only contains a gift card. No traffic is sent to the KDS whatsoever, including the header which is usually sent with the first item on the order. The header is used to identify the order and decide which screen(s) to send it to and what items belong to it. Since the QSR never receives a header, it is unable to display any items on the order.
Will this be fixed?
As mentioned above, the system works this way for a reason. I believe that if PAR resolved this issue, blank orders would hit the KDS whenever gift cards are the only thing rung up. This trade-off makes a fix less likely as PAR would either need to rework gift card and KDS functionality from the ground up or introduce another known issue to the system by fixing this one.
Workaround:
Ring up gift cards in their own transaction or ring up other items first.
Known Issue 2: The first gift card scanned causes terminals to freeze
Explanation:
This does not affect all locations. For this reason, we believe that network configuration and equipment may play a role in the problem. Our POS currently uses the default gift card functions in PAR, so the scripts are as simple as they possibly can be. There is nothing that can be done here from our side. Even the hardware we are using is some of their most up to date.
Will this be fixed?
The main question here is whether slow internet or inconsistent firewall whitelisting is the issue or if it is truly a shortcoming of Brink. We will need to get an idea of the scope of the issue and more specific information before we can begin pushing PAR for a fix or working with individual sites if we determine it is a network issue.
What action can I take?
- Submit a case with PAR to ensure they have a record of how frequently this is being reported.
- This will hopefully get the issue on their radar so they begin investigating it on their side.
- Do not escalate the case to ZFL if it is resolve or no action is taken/response received. Instead, follow step 2.
- Enter your information into this Google Sheet for tracking.
- Example entry with sample data provided for reference.
- This will allow us to keep a record of how many stores are affected.
- We can also use this information to pull logs from when this has happened.
- The information we collect here will allow us to trace down the source of the issue and push Brink for a fix if they are determined to be at fault.