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Depot & Advance Exchange

The replacement ships before the broken one comes back.

Depot repair usually means a store runs a register short for a week. Advance exchange inverts it: we send the working unit first, you swap it, and the failed one travels back at its own pace. The location never counts down to a shipping label.

Get depot coverage → Call (800) 551-7674

Available with or without a contract. Loaners at no charge on full contracts.

Your locationCentral Repair CenterREPLACEMENT SHIPS FIRSTFAILED UNIT COMES BACK AFTERStore stays openSame-day bench
Since 1994Serving hospitality and retail operators
10,000+Operators on the NorthStar platform
Same dayBench turnaround on most repairs
Ships firstAdvance exchange keeps the store trading

Already a CBS NorthStar customer and need help right now? Skip the form.

Open a support ticket Support page Emergency: (800) 551-7674, option 1, then 9

What This Is

What POS depot repair and advance exchange mean

POS depot repair is bench repair of point-of-sale hardware at a central facility, for faults that cannot be fixed in the store. Advance exchange is the part that matters operationally: CBS NorthStar ships a working replacement before the failed unit is returned, so the location swaps it in and keeps trading instead of waiting out a round trip.

The Central Repair Center turns most repairs around the same day and handles sub-assembly work a technician cannot do on a counter. Contracted customers also get loaner equipment at no charge, reduced on-site rates, and no-cost software upgrades as new releases ship.

The Arithmetic

A week without a register is not a repair delay. It is a week of lost covers.

Standard depot service asks a location to box a unit, ship it, wait for a bench queue, and wait again for the return leg. On a four-terminal site that is a quarter of your capacity gone for as long as the round trip takes.

The fix is not a faster bench. It is changing the order of events, so the replacement is already on the counter before anyone packs the failed unit.

What You Get

Coverage that keeps the counter full.

Exchange

A working unit, in front

  • Advance exchange: the replacement ships before the failure comes back
  • Loaner equipment at no charge for contracted customers
  • Return shipping handled rather than left to your manager
  • Spare stock held against the models you actually run
  • The location never waits out a round trip
Bench

Repairs a counter cannot support

  • Central Repair Center with same-day turnaround on most repairs
  • Sub-assembly work no technician can do on-site
  • Full repair history by serial number
  • Failure patterns surfaced so you can see which units keep coming back
  • Refurbished and returned rather than written off by default
Priority

Front of the queue, lower rates

  • Priority dispatch ahead of non-contracted work
  • Complimentary phone troubleshooting on hardware faults
  • Reduced rates on on-site field service visits
  • No-cost software upgrades as new releases ship
  • Installation and training available at discounted rates

How It Works

Four steps, and the store stays open.

Step 01

You report the fault

One call to (800) 551-7674 or a ticket in the portal. Phone troubleshooting is complimentary, because a fair share of hardware faults turn out not to be hardware.

Step 02

We ship the replacement

If the unit has to leave the store, a working replacement goes out first. Contracted sites get a loaner at no charge while theirs is on the bench.

Step 03

You swap and carry on

Your team swaps the unit and puts the failed one in the same carton the replacement arrived in. Return shipping is handled for you.

Step 04

We repair and record

The Central Repair Center turns most repairs around the same day. Everything is logged by serial number, so repeat offenders become visible instead of invisible.

Who It's For

For operators who cannot run a register short.

High-volume sitesDrive-thruSmall-footprint storesFranchise groupsAging equipmentRestaurantsGrocery retailersConvenience stores

POS depot repair matters most where there is no slack: a three-terminal site that cannot lose one, a drive-thru with a single order point, or an estate old enough that failures have become routine rather than rare.

Coverage is available with or without a service contract, and is not limited to equipment we sold you. If your equipment was installed more than a year ago, we may inspect a site first to confirm type, quantity and condition before quoting maintainability. Pair it with on-site field service and most faults never reach the bench at all.

Coverage

What we exchange and repair

Bench and exchange coverage across the hardware a location runs on.

POS terminalsFixed stations, iPad and Windows
Receipt & kitchen printersThermal, impact and kitchen chit
Cash drawersLatches, solenoids and interface faults
Card readers & PIN padsChip, contactless and mag-stripe
Touch screens & monitorsDigitizer, backlight and controller
Handheld & tablesideDevices, cradles, sleds and batteries
Back-office PCs & serversDrives, power supplies and boards
Network hardwareSwitches, access points and I/O units
Scanners & scalesBarcode scanners and integrated scales
Kiosks & displaysSelf-order kiosks and customer displays

Most faults never reach the bench at all. On-site field service fixes the majority in the store, and depot covers what a counter cannot.

Already With Us

Need support right now?

Current customers, start here. You do not need the quote form below.

Support Portal

Create a ticket and track it

Open a new ticket, check status on an existing one, and review your history. Available any time.

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Support Page

Every way to reach us

Support request forms, CBS Assist, and the 24/7 options for contracted and non-contracted customers.

Go to support →
Emergency Line

(800) 551-7674, option 1, then 9

For anything stopping the business. Live 24 hours a day, 363 days a year.

Call now →

Questions, Answered

Depot and exchange, in plain terms.

What is advance exchange?
A replacement unit ships to your location before the failed one is returned. Your team swaps it and sends the faulty unit back in the same carton, so the store keeps trading instead of waiting out a round trip to the bench and back.
How fast is depot repair?
The Central Repair Center turns around most repairs the same day it receives a unit. Advance exchange matters more than that number, though, because with a replacement already on the counter the bench time stops affecting the location at all.
What does a depot contract include that pay-per-call does not?
Priority dispatch, loaner equipment at no charge, reduced on-site service rates, complimentary phone troubleshooting, and no-cost software upgrades when new releases ship. Depot repair is available without a contract at standard rates.
Do you hold spares for our specific equipment?
Yes. Spare stock is held against the models in your estate, which is one of the reasons standardising on fewer models pays off. A mixed estate means more spare types and slower exchanges.
Can you repair equipment we bought elsewhere?
Yes. Depot coverage is not limited to equipment CBS NorthStar supplied. If it was installed more than a year ago we may inspect the site first to confirm equipment type, quantity and condition before quoting maintainability.
What happens to the failed unit?
It is repaired on the bench, tested, and returned to your spare pool rather than written off by default. Everything is logged by serial number, so a unit that keeps failing becomes visible in the record instead of quietly costing you service calls.
How is this different from on-site service?
They are the two halves of one programme. On-site field service sends a technician with parts and fixes most faults in the store. Depot and advance exchange cover what a counter cannot support: sub-assembly repair, and getting a working unit in place while that happens.
What does depot coverage cost?
It is priced per site against the equipment at each one. Send an equipment list and we will price contract coverage against pay-per-call so you can compare them honestly. Call (800) 551-7674.
How quickly does an advance exchange unit arrive?
It ships as soon as the fault is confirmed, which is why phone troubleshooting is complimentary and happens first. Transit time depends on the location, and we will tell you what that looks like for your specific addresses rather than quoting an average.
Do we still need to hold our own spare terminals?
Usually less than you are holding today. Spare stock is held against the models in your estate, so advance exchange replaces most of the reason to keep capital sitting in a back office. Operators running a standardised estate need the fewest spares of all.
What is spare-in-the-air?
It is the same idea as advance exchange, described from the shipping side: the replacement unit is already in transit before the failed one has been collected. The location is never simultaneously without both.

Get Covered

Send us your equipment list.

Tell us what is at each location and how many terminals a site can lose before it stops working. We will come back with what coverage looks like and what it costs.

  • What is serviceable across the equipment you already run
  • Which sites have no slack and should be covered first
  • Contract versus pay-per-call, priced side by side

Prefer to talk? Call (800) 551-7674. Already a customer with an issue? Use the support page instead.

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