Whaley Foodservice Repairs, a Lexington, South Carolina, company that sells and fixes commercial kitchen equipment, first discussed buying an ERP system from Epicor in 2006, according to a complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Whaley wanted a vendor that could provide "a fully integrated, real-time software solution capable of handling its operations, including the parts, sales and services aspects," the complaint says.

The project was supposed to be up and running in Whaley's main office and 12 branch locations by March 2007, but was delayed multiple times and never worked as advertised in more than two years of use, according to the complaint.

The implementation costs were supposed to be US$190,000 but have reached more than $1 million, the complaint says. Whaley is suing Epicor for fraud, breach of contract, unfair trade and negligent misrepresentation. It wants its money returned along with additional money for damages.

Epicor was recently acquired by private equity firm Apax Partners in a $976 million deal. Epicor did not reply to requests for comment. A spokesman for Apax Partners declined comment.