Start.ca
reviews and complaints

This company is amazin. I never give customer reviews and I am just so impressed with the customer service that I felt I had to.

I'm not impressed with how I keep losing my Internet access. After many calls to the help desk, they kept telling me it was my router. Today my actual Modem went down.

The internet is alright, but the TV is really terrible. The TV always freezes, skips, and buffers. Can't even watch a 30-minute sitcom without problems. Outages happen more often than not. The last outage lasted for a whopping 36 hours. These problems have been a constant annoyance since they introduced the TV service about two years ago. It's a good idea to check out the reviews or their Twitter feed before you decide to switch your TV provider.

Start.ca is the worst service ever! They take your money and don't provide the service you pay for. I went without internet for many months even though they were still getting my money. They told me to call back for credits once the issues have been resolved, but now they say Nope, you get nothing! It's a horrible service! I don't recommend it! I wish I didn't even have to leave 1 star, they don't deserve it.

I wasn't impressed at all. My digital phone was down for 2 weeks in total. I kept getting transferred back and forth and after email, phone, and live chat, my phone still wasn't working because they didn't know who should deal with it. I cancelled my internet and digital phone services. I had to pay $15 to return their own equipment to them. This is not acceptable. I will never go back to Start.ca.

This company, Start.ca, is absolutely terrible. We've been without internet for days, which is a huge problem because we need it for work and school. They promised that someone would come to fix it between 8am and 8pm, but no one showed up. When we called to find out what happened, they kept transferring us to different "agents" who couldn't solve anything. We're still stuck without internet and there's no sign of any help coming our way. It's been a whole 48 hours now and they haven't even mentioned reimbursing us, even though we pay them every month. They've left us completely stranded without internet and no way to get it fixed through them.

I've been with Start.ca for a few years and I'm really happy with their service. I just got a new wifi camera and had some trouble keeping it connected. I called them up and it turns out the camera was too far from the router, so it wasn't getting a strong signal. They walked me through the steps using their customer care app and we figured out the problem and found the right solution. I'm really impressed with this company because they always make sure I'm a happy customer!

I've been with Start.ca for like 10 years now. They've always had really good service and cheap prices, great communication service. But lately, their prices have gone quite high. I don't have cable, so I watch stuff on my Android boxes and half the time, I can't even stream anything. It just keeps freezing up or won't pick up the streams. So frustrating, you know? What's the point of having internet if you can't stream anything on your TV? If anyone knows a better and cheaper company, please let me know because I'm pretty much done with these guys. I can't afford these prices with crappy service anymore.

STAY AWAY. The worst company I have ever dealt with. I can't tell you how many hours of my time I wasted. Two months of service appointments and still no internet, yes, two months! On December 30th, I activated my account and scheduled my service installation. Fast forward to February 12th, 2022, I have had 13, yes, 13 service appointments and still no internet. Missed countless days off work, spent hours chasing Start staff. And I would simply get an apology email and nothing would change. They have no control of *** who's infrastructure they use. I wouldn't wish this service on my worst enemy. I can't tell you how frustrating my experience was. After over two months and 13 appointments, I switched providers and my internet was installed on the first appointment.

I've used start.ca and told lots of friends about it too. They were sick of the big companies and their terrible customer service. My only problem with start.ca is that they have to use the big companies' infrastructure, so their plans are limited. If there's an issue with the infrastructure, they have to rely on the big companies to fix it. My internet went out once because of the big company, and the techs at start.ca had a checklist from them to follow. They were pretty sure they knew what the problem was, but they couldn't do anything until they could prove it. They sent me a new modem from the big company, but that didn't fix it. I told start.ca, and they let the big company know, and magically my internet started working again. I could go back to using my own router. Start.ca is the best of the worst. I really don't want to support the companies that rhyme with *** and ***.

I signed up with Start in the spring of 2019. My contract was about to expire and they were going to charge me a lot for renewal. Internet still works okay. TV has been really bad since a week after I signed up. I've been on the phone with customer service several times a week for over an hour each time. It's a good thing I'm retired. This went on for months and months. Finally, a service agent figured out that my modem was faulty. I think this was just after I talked to customer service and asked to speak to the owner. I told the agent that I wasn't mad at her, but I wanted to talk to the owner about the terrible service they were providing. The only call I got was from a tech support agent. So they sent me a new modem to replace my faulty one. It worked great. For a WEEK. Then the same old problems started again. I admit I've been too lazy to switch to a new provider. But that's about to change. Since I got the new modem, I haven't had to spend any time on the phone with tech support. It's a complete waste of time. These people try their best to fix the problems, but anything they do only works for a couple of days at best. Usually, it only lasts a couple of hours. Now, I spend as much time unplugging the modem to reboot it so I can get TV for a little while as I do with the modem actually working. I'm finally at the point where I have to seriously consider getting a new provider. Start is cheaper than what I was paying before, but the TV service is so bad that in the long run, I've probably paid much more. I would tell anyone - STAY AWAY FROM START.CA. You pay less with Start, but the terrible TV service and the company's seeming lack of interest in fixing it make it a terrible deal for the customer.

I called start.ca to transfer my internet service on the 20th of October. We agreed to start the service on the 2nd of October. During the call, I asked about the compatibility of my router, which was listed on their website as compatible. The customer service representative assured me that it would work fine. However, four days before the start date, I received a call saying that my router was not compatible due to outdated firmware. They suggested renting a router for an additional fee or buying one for $120. We chose to rent the router, which arrived two days before the proposed start date.

On the morning of October 3rd, we had no internet service. Start.ca did not inform us about the delay. In the evening, I called them and was told that they were waiting for information from the previous ISP regarding the transfer. They said they would prioritize our transfer but did not provide an estimated time. On the 4th, we still had no service, so I called again and asked to speak to a supervisor. They said they would waive the installation fee, even though there was no fee for a transfer. They assured me that our service was a priority. They also agreed to provide updates via email.

On the night of the 5th, I called their help desk again and was informed that they needed a technician to figure out the issue. They requested the earliest possible date for the technician. However, I did not receive any communication about the service status, despite the agreement to send me updates via email. On the 6th, I finally received an email stating that the earliest a technician could come was the morning of the 10th, eight days after the proposed start. Another agent on the phone informed me that the agreed-upon monetary credit was not approved and that the agent who promised the emails had no authority. Furthermore, they mentioned that even if the technician came on the 10th, we might not have service until the 12th, ten days after the proposed start.

Not having internet service for ten days has been extremely inconvenient, especially as a student taking online courses. I am missing lectures and quizzes, and my mobile data charges have increased. One of my housemates had to relocate due to the lack of service. I have not received any compensation for the lack of service. Compared to other ISPs I have used in Ottawa and Toronto, start.ca has been the worst. They have not fulfilled their obligations and have repeatedly lied to me. I do not recommend them.