POS in Spanish in Miami: what to ask before you sign

Most systems sold in Miami will tell you they support Spanish. Nearly all of them mean the buttons are translated. That is not the same as your counter working in Spanish, and the difference shows up on the first busy Saturday.

1. Is the guest screen in Spanish, or only the staff screen?

These are two different things. A register whose admin is in Spanish but whose customer-facing screen is English helps your cashier and nobody else. Ask to see the screen the guest touches.

2. Is support in Spanish, and at what hours?

Ask what happens at 7:40 on a Saturday morning when the printer stops. Chat in English with a two-hour reply is a different product from a phone number that answers in Spanish in ten minutes.

3. Who writes the menu, and in how many languages?

Your menu has to exist once per language. Ask whether they load it for you, whether translating it is your job, and what it costs to change a price in both languages later.

4. What happens to the receipt?

A receipt in the wrong language is a small thing until a guest asks for it. Ask whether the receipt follows the guest's choice or the venue setting.

5. Who installs it, and who trains the staff?

Ask whether a person comes. Ask in which language they train. A box on the counter with a QR code to a setup video is a real answer, but it should be a known one before you sign.

6. What is the contract, and how do you leave?

Ask for the term in months, the notice period and the early-termination fee, in writing. "Month to month" and "no contract" are not the same sentence as "you can stop in 30 days at no cost".

7. Whose merchant account is it?

Ask whose name is on the payment account, how long payouts take and what the fee is per card. If the answer involves a bank you have not met yet, ask who you call when a deposit is short.

What our answers are

Ours: the guest screen runs in English, Spanish and Russian; support is one WhatsApp number answered the same day in all three; we load your menu on install day and you change prices from your phone; the receipt follows the guest; we install in about two hours and train your staff in the language they work in; there is no contract; and the Stripe account is in your name, paying you in two days at 3.25% + 15¢.