# Smart Start Client Portal — user reviews > 60 indexed App Store user reviews of Smart Start Client Portal by Smart Start, Inc, rated 2.00/5 from 112 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smart-start-client-portal/id1365215627/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smart-start-client-portal/id1365215627.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 22 · 4★ 2 · 3★ 6 · 2★ 6 · 1★ 76 ## Newest reviews (19 of 60) ### 1/5 — Completely unreliable *2025-05-28* No clear payment screen, impossible to track payments, can’t see if and how far behind you are. Every button leads nowhere. **Developer response:** Hi Cbjfacbjf, We're sorry to hear you're having trouble navigating the app. We understand how frustrating that can be. For a more comprehensive walkthrough and help resolving these issues, we recommend reaching out to our Technical Support team—they’ll be happy to guide you step by step and make sure everything is working as it should. Thank you for your feedback, and we’re here to help get this sorted for you! Best regards, The Smart Start Ignition Interlock Team ### 1/5 — Bad *2025-03-04, version 4.2.0* App won’t let me enroll and customer service number doesn’t even ring it just hangs up. ### 1/5 — Bad Company / Very Unethical *2025-02-04* The services they say they provide are not what they say. The app is flawed in multiple aspects. The crazy part is they continue to raise price of services but there services continue to get worse. C suite of this company should have to answer why? In addition the staff members are lost, they don’t provide any support and all have different answers for the same question. **Developer response:** Hello Waxer18, Thank you for providing feedback for one of our service centers. If you could provide more details about the issues you encountered, it would greatly assist us in addressing them and ensuring a better experience for you and other customers in the future. Please feel free to reach out to our customer service team at your convenience. Please call us at 800-880-3394 if we can help in any way. Best regards, The Smart Start Ignition Interlock Team ### 1/5 — Horrible Company Stay Away *2024-12-18, version 4.2.0* I take my car to the mechanic. THE DAY I DROP IT OFF I take take it in for REQUIRED CALIBRATION. The mechanic calls DumbStart for a “bypass”. The car is in the shop for a week. WHILE ITSIN THE SHOP they send out a violation countdown… I get a 1.5 HOUR RIDE to pick up my car…it’s in VIOLATION???? No one at DumbStart picks up the phone, app is vague hinting I owe $. I make a payment, car still won’t start. Call in again, I notice the “automated” system is selling $35 bypass codes. Ok, let’s try this. Car starts, code lasts 6 hours…it’s 7pm. 8AM car no starty, finally get a VA from ¿ who wants to SELL ME ANOTHER CODE. 7 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS I’m sure the owner is slurping margaritas on a beach along with all the “other affiliates” in the continued fleecing of the poor. ### 2/5 — Unreliable *2024-12-05* The app fails to notify when payment is due. The payment is monthly, but MULTIPLE times it would tell me my next payment was due in two months. Besides that, I did however One Time let it slip my mind that I had to pay, and the app NEVER NOTIFIED ME OF THE UPCOMING PAYMENT, even though for other months they would notify me within a week of the payment. The app is unreliable. And obviously the monthly fee of 150$ is RIDICULOUSLY unnecessary. Customer service is terrible, I “missed a test” because I walked away from my car for a few minutes to let it defrost, but I came back in and blew for the machine and PASSED and it still notified me my car would be locked out in 4 days, despite proving it wrong by immediately PASSING THE TEST AND THEN DRIVING. Called multiple times to sort it out and no one has ever answered, on hold for hours at a time even though I called during their regular hours. Terrible service, unreliable app, and wallet gauging that borders on extortion ### 1/5 — Garbage, Predatory Company *2024-11-06* This company will install a device that constantly malfunctions, provide the worst customer service imaginable, and gouge you for every penny you have. Smart Start should be shut down and replaced with a company that actually tries to serve its customers. Don’t drink and drive. ### 1/5 — Surpass my time *2024-10-19* So i surpassed my 6 months having the interlock it’s already been 9 months and i still haven’t gotten any response from smart start no emails or any phone call from them to help me remove this. I already had to replace it twice this past year and I want it gone since I already served my time. ### 1/5 — Terrible *2024-10-07, version 4.1.0* Can’t get signed up for the portal. Been waiting on the phone for two hours now waiting to speak with someone. What would I do if I really was locked out and needed help. Get it together ### 1/5 — Constant interlock malfunction *2024-08-21* Constantly not starting my vehicle even though I don’t drink or mess with my Interlock device only use it to drive to work and back and my dui classes. The smart start workers are no help. I’m not going to pay for a tow truck to get my car there if I can’t even afford it with all these dui payments. Bad service and no help ### 1/5 — Horrible customer service *2024-07-09, version 4.0.1* Very bad customer service, most shops don’t care about you. You WILL keep jumping though legal loop holes with these guys. App keeps crashing and not user friendly. ### 1/5 — Horrible App *2024-06-01* App resets with the facial recognition too often and what should take 30 seconds to complete takes 5 to 10 minutes. I would never recommend to anyone. ### 1/5 — Don’t buy this one *2024-03-26, version 3.8.1* Take it from us the unhappy customer ### 1/5 — Scam worst company ever for this *2024-03-06* I back this 1000% percent it’s a scam there’s always extra fees or the machine stops working by it’s self and locks you out or that machine kills your battery and they lock you out I even passed blew again failed blew again and passed all in 10 minutes worst customer service ever not once have I ever got help and I’ve never been on hold for less than 2 hours ### 1/5 — DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY *2024-01-24* Get a blow n go anywhere but this company. They treat you as if ur garbage. Their customer service is trash. 24/7 my a**. I called and had to wait 2 hours for a call back. I use their text option and the representative ended the chat before answering all my questions after I waited TWO HOURS for this response. They transfer you back into the queue where u have to wait the two hours again if they “don’t know the answer”. I get my system removed 7 days after my last payment and they expect a full months payment for those 7 days. This company is the worst of the worst. They are money hungry and awful human beings, if u request to make a complaint they throw u back into that queue because they know u aren’t willing to wait 2 hours to make a complaint. Avoid smart start at all costs!!!!!! ### 1/5 — App doesn’t work with latest Apple iOS *2023-11-06, version 3.7.0* Yikes! There’s literally no way to get assistance. The texts they send are incorrect. Very odd. ### 1/5 — This company is awful *2023-09-09* Password reset doesn’t work and I tried to call their customer service and they hung up on me. If only they had competition to run them out of business. ### 1/5 — AVOID THIS COMPANY! *2023-05-31, version 3.6.0* They appear to be always available and able to help, it’s all a front. If you have any issues the people on the phone can’t do anything. They always refer you to the shop, who pretty much can’t do anything. Or they ask to submit an incident report that is a one sided interaction.They do a terrible job on the up front training and explaining of how it works. If you have an issue there’s no incentive for them to correct it because why would they want to refund money. This app is only good for taking your money! ### 1/5 — Terrible APP *2023-02-04, version 3.6.0* App updated and crashes, can’t login the website portal either. Customer service is lacking, and when the app did work it wasn’t informative by any means. ### 1/5 — Bad connectivity *2022-12-10, version 3.5.4* Device won’t stay connected. Takes ten plus minutes every time. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — broken device *2026-08-11* My device is not shutting off every time I shut my engine off and has given me 3 false violations. When I called they said that I had to pay and to fill out an incident report, when I filled it out they responded that I needed to wait 15 seconds to exit the car in case it asks for a final test. I’ve sat in my car for TEN MINUTES and it doesn’t shut off. I am so mad because customer service does not care and then when you fill out the report they accuse you of not being intelligent enough to operate the device. It’s a scam because they know we need the device in our car to drive and they don’t care because they’re making money off these violations. I am very unhappy with this company. Corrupt. ### 1/5 — Worst *2026-05-20, version 5.0.2* False Violations, device never works properly. Balance due isn’t correct on the client portal. customer service is no help ### 1/5 — Worse company EVER *2026-02-04* Please look else where when it comes to this. You will regret servicing with this company. They are money hungry and careless. They give out faulty devices and charge you when it’s their fault in the first place then doesn’t give you your money back when proved they are at fault. Save your pockets & yourself the HUGE headache ### 1/5 — If you have too, find another company. *2025-11-26* I have had this thing on for over 6 months & the first month was terrible. I had to get it serviced 4 times all at my expense & even the guy who does the recalibration is fed up so much he wants to stop doing them. This company costs me so much money & time not to mention the tow fees I had to chose this over groceries or necessities. There were times I had to tow my car despite being up to date with my payments. It’s super frustrating to say the least. PLEASE GO FOR ANY OTHER COMPANY. ### 1/5 — Does not let me test *2025-09-16, version 4.7.0* Does not detect face with new IOS 26 update on iPhone. ### 1/5 — SCAMMMMMM *2025-09-09, version 4.7.0* SCAMMMMM DO NOT USE THIS TAKE THE 2 STARS IN TO ACCOUNT ### 1/5 — Absolute scammers *2025-09-03* If you’re ever in a position where you need to get a handheld device or one installed in your car. DO NOT use smart start as your vendor. Terrible people that know they’re scamming people. When I was first looking at these reviews I thought, oh can’t be that bad. It is that bad, never again. ### 1/5 — This Company is Terrible *2025-08-14, version 4.7.0* The customer service is horrible. Absolutely atrocious. They refuse to refund anything that they should. They charge ridiculous amounts that are essentially predatory. ### 1/5 — Worst customer service *2025-07-15, version 4.7.0* Actually got this breathalyzer installed on my vehicle because I fell asleep driving my vehicle and had Percocet in my blood. Not sure why he gave me a breathalyzer for driving on opioids Got this installed and no one told me how to use it in terms of if you let it idle and don't blow into it. It counts as a strike. And if you get five strikes you get locked out and then you have to pay for the code and it's only good for six hours.. When you call it takes about an hour to get someone on the phone. When you search Google for location, locations half of the SmartStart locations are not even open. They charge you around $130 just to calibrate every month. It's absolutely ridiculous and then you have to blow into it every 30 to 45 minutes while you're driving.. I'm pretty healthy and when I blow into it sometimes I feel like passing out because you have to buzz your lips while you're blowing into the device. I guarantee you the old CEO of this company knew somebody in Texas department of transportation or whatever state and they get cut of the profits. What a scam. ### 1/5 — Unprofessional customer feedback *2025-05-31, version 4.5.3* Why would I need a comprehensive lesson on using the 3 buttons that work and the 16 that don’t. Again no transparency, no way to accurately track the balance, and no competent person to easily talk to. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — No Issues Ever! *2024-06-27* Device works as it should every time with no issues. The app works as it should every time with no issues. What’s up with all of these 1 star reviews? Smart Start is the best company out of every ignition interlock device. I think that people are still drinking alcohol which is why they keep receiving false readings. You’re not supposed to consume and alcohol for the duration of your sentence. It’s printed right in your court ordered paperwork. Don’t drink and the device will work correctly every single time. ### 5/5 — Breathcheck *2021-07-15, version 2.8.3* Good device. Easy to use. ### 5/5 — Convenient *2020-12-09* Better than any other device I’ve had to use ### 5/5 — Chadamont *2020-11-24, version 2.6* Easy to set up ### 5/5 — PBT *2020-08-01, version 2.4.5* It beats going to a testing site. I love it. Thank you ### 5/5 — Super easy to use! *2019-09-06, version 2.3.1* This app is full of great functions and very easy to use! ### 5/5 — Very helpful... *2019-04-01* This portal makes it easy to view my information and reference videos. Also great to store payment info. ### 5/5 — Cool app *2019-03-27, version 1.0.54* It’s nice to have a reference tool for my device that I can access at any time! ### 5/5 — Overall app *2019-03-20, version 1.0.54* This app has made it so much easier to review my account, make payments, see my monthly balance, and definitely helps out with quicker service if I need a code or anything else. It’s nice to be able to make payments this way then calling, and waiting. So thank you for this. We appreciate this app!! ### 5/5 — Great app *2019-03-18* Makes it a lot easier to submit payments on time, get lockout codes, and see when your next service status --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-11.*