Smart Start
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Smart Start Reviews
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Terrible experience... They make this company mandatory in Canada to deal with and everyone at Smart Start knows it so they take advantage of everyone. My device requires me to blow when I turn my vehicle off and go in a store. I’ll come back and catch the device counting down from 10 minutes asking for a rolling retest... and most of the time I’m not so lucky. 60 bucks a pop and 5 days to make your appointment which is a 3 hr drive for me. This happens several times a month. Within 4 months the lady said my account is now at 1400 dollars paid from violations not including the 500 dollar install. All fingers are pointed at me... keep paying if you want to drive even if you're being scammed.
I have gotten violations just sitting in my vehicle charging my phone. Now they are requesting a breath to use the battery source??? Apparently, you cannot sit in your vehicle and turn your accessory power onto the vehicle without providing a test... It took until today for someone in customer service to tell me If you leave your key forward for 10 min without blowing it will automatically give a violation. News to my ears... They are so back and forth it makes me sick. Everything about this company makes me sick... to the managers, customer service and the people installing them are all liars.
If you turn your vehicle off/ vehicle not running and then turn your key forward to do up a window or put your seat back the device won’t recognize you shut your vehicle off.... nothing but a Scam! I got videos of the device doing some crazy stuff but no one even cares to look at it. They tell you to take a screenshot. Unreal. Try any way possible not to deal with company. I have 9 months left out of a year and I’ve already paid them 2000 dollars Total and booked in 5 days with another violation. Tell me I’m not the only one.
I don't know where to begin with this company, Several problems at installation? Customer service? The businesses they use to represent them for equipment install? Let's start first with my latest complain, how they will basically steal your money. I have the unit for 3 months now they put the cord across the top of the steering wheel where it was contently ribbing and actually wore a hole thru the cable but the thing that got me was it ran down the side of the ignition switch. Well one time when car was shut off the switch didn't go all the way to the off position causing a false alert that the car was left on by making horn go off and lights flash. I went back into the garage and found this to be the problem.
I immediately called Smart Start and after 40 min finally talked to someone who said, "You won't be charged if you go to the web page and file a dispute." WRONG. They never got back to me so after 6 weeks I called again. After another 45 min wait and talking to a rude young woman who talked in circles, she told me that her supervisor said it stands and they are keeping my money. This is what she told me after first telling me to file a complaint again which now I can see would have been a waste of time.
I have read complaint after complaint about this company but I thought naaa not me. I just hope someone who is considering using this service to go somewhere else, anywhere else, because apparently they are making enough money off charging people for false alerts and blaming their lack of professionalism on other people. They don't have to care about customer service. More to follow...
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I’ve had a Smart Start installed now for 18 months. I’m an air conditioning installer/refrigeration mechanic and average at least one - two if not three unscheduled services a month due to the contaminates on my clothing or on my hands. Eg refrigerants, pvc glue, hand sanitiser or refuelling my vehicle with the window down and allowing fumes to enter my vehicle. Obviously none of these mean that I’ve consumed alcohol and still receive Breaches. I’ll try and keep this brief and only describe three unscheduled services....
#1 Left home .000 drove for less than 10 minutes and arrived at my client's address. Within the first five minutes of driving you have your first random test which means the camera is still on so they can see your movements, again .000. Started to unpack my tools And then got asked by client if I could move my car So they could do a school run but was unable to start my vehicle due to a high reading and got locked out for half an hour. After the lockout period a .000 reading was recorded. Unfortunately those kids got to school late that day.
#2 Due to Covid 19 the use of hand sanitiser Or any type of hand wipes Sets it off. Depending on what you have for lunch Vietnamese salad roll with chilli and soy sauce any sort of Chinese or Thai cuisine, most fruits Will cause a breach with you being locked out.
#3 The one that upsets me the most. Batemans Bay and surrounding areas recently experienced devastating bushfires which meant most of us had to evacuate. After queueing up for over a kilometre to get fuel And arriving in your only opened service station in town which was very chaotic and very crowded at the time and all 24 pumps going at one time the atmosphere was full of fumes which put my car again in lockdown mode. Having to get help to push my vehicle off the premises which was very distressing and upsetting at the time. Due to the bushfires and the holiday period my local service centre was closed, which meant my only means of transport severely Restricted.
When I rang Smart Start they offered me a code at my cost but still needed to have an unscheduled service done within a time frame which was impossible... They once again displayed No common decency, A Lack of compassion or understanding of the situation and blamed me for the situation I was in. There was no concern regarding my safety at the time.In all three circumstances there has never been any alcohol consumed
Terrible and RUDE customer service!! Had the device in my car TWO months longer than court ordered because SmartStart would not process the letter from my court stating it should be removed on certain date. Repeatedly sent emails trying to communicate and received nothing in return. Was supposed to get out on July 11 and finally got it out SEPT 16. - Another car at the shop where I was FINALLY getting it removed at had been sitting there for OVER a week because SmartStart would not send them the code to fix it. DO NOT RECOMMEND TO ANYONE!!!!
To be blunt - I am scared shitless to get in this car. Their advertisement of Easy to Use is just ridiculous. It is so difficult to blow and I am so scared that I will be stranded on the side of the road (happened the first day) that I don't want to even go near the vehicle. There was no booklet, no directions and little to no training provided at install. The unit is also massive. Had LifeSafer before which was so easy to use. Never felt scared to drive the car or that I would be stranded. The unit itself was also smaller and more discreet. Very disappointed so far and scared to death to drive it.
As the headline says, don't use Smart Start- you will regret it! Why? Extremely poor customer service! Hold times of greater than 10 minutes when you need to call in. Employees who are rude on the phone and fail to answer the phone and properly introduce themselves, like they are working from their living room watching TV. Incident reports that should be answered within 7 business days that aren't.
Refunds that are due to their customers that are never provided because employees won't answer their phones but instead place you on hold for indefinite amounts of time-- all sales strategies to avoid providing refunds due to their customers. In my case I pre-paid 2 months for an inter-lock device and then when I was eligible to remove it, and owed over $120, I can never get the collections and credit department to either return my call or answer their phones! Think trying to call a supervisor would work? Tried calling Hugo to complain about poor customer service from Ashton and Decora and can't even get a call back from him.
I'm still on hold while writing this review, going on 20 minutes! When you call to get your device installed, the sales department will be nice as pie! But when you need to call them back for other issues, which most certainly will arise, it will be nearly impossible to get any help! Instead you'll get to listen to their background music, of very poor taste, along with details about how to schedule a payment plan on their online portal, which will certainly fail to address the other 99 reasons you might be calling and especially if it includes any money they owe you in the form of a credit!!!! Stay away from them and find a better provider! They are amateurs and can't adequately support the clients they are lucky to have. You've been warned.
This company is extremely helpful when you call to set up your account and then they ask you to put a review online and they send you a link. I initially went online left a great review prior to having the device put into my car because that's what they asked of me. After having the device into my car I realized that the device was not up to par. It was almost impossible to blow in it at times for that long. Within four days I was locked out and had to pay $75. They refused to reimburse me to $75 even after I got a new device that works fine. All the five star reviews are probably given right after people deal with customer service and not after they have used the device. I was given a second device that works fine and they still refuse to reimburse me to $75 even though the first device did not work well. I suggest anybody looking for an interlock device stay as far away from Smart Start as you can.
My prior review and what I had to go through is nonsense. My husband could blow (not allowed to drive) but I can drive. Car sat still for 3 months and only time I drove was for calibration (otherwise you're violated). He blew, I drove. Had to appear, before a judge, hoping he would sign my Smart Start paperwork. Had to go to a doctor to make sure I couldn't blow who then sent me to a pulmonologist to prove it (cost me $250 and I don't work and test lasted maybe 15 minutes). After all of that they reduced my device and haven't had any problems.
I had this device put on my car 4 days ago. Still haven't been able to drive it because says, 'breathe longer' or 'hum harder'. Then it says 'test' and want me to go through process again. I've blown so much I literally passed out in my own driveway! Easy and simple I call **!
I had a violation as soon as I left the shop. Called and said I have a violock but I just left the shop and didn’t know what it was. Well 6 months later my car just finally got all new wiring. Sonic sounds is the best. But I had 1100 hundred in violations since it got fixed not one. Also it burnt my battery out. They say there is no supervisor. Oh his name is Larry but don’t have a number. We all need to get together and get our money back. This isn’t right what they're doing to people. I’m contacting the Better business b. Or does anyone else know what I can do to get my money back?
I was lied to about month to month payments. I was lied to about no fee to take it out. I have been scammed out of over 250 dollars from this company. I suggest this company should be federally regulated not state.
Smart Start Company Information
- Company Name:
- Smart Start
- Website:
- www.smartstartinc.com
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