Startec Consumer Reviews

I was with Vancouver Telephone Company from the very beginning, which later changed to STARTEC. I had a decent long distance package, and was spending quite a bit since my wife has parents in Bosnia, and we both have cousins living all over Europe. In order to save costs I was on their plan that automatically billed my credit card, and did not send out paper bills. So having been their loyal customer for over a decade I trusted them, and didn't even check my bills...

One day I was updating my credit card and went through bills online, and was VERY negatively surprised seeing they raised the prices without any notification/communication to the customers about it. (Another comment stated the same thing). So I called them, and to say the least they couldn't care less. They informed me they notified customers about that in their paper bills.

When I told them I was on paperless and that they NEVER sent any emails to this effect, the agent was borderline rude and insisted they did and insinuated the reason I never received anything via email may be due to me not configuring something correctly in my inbox. (For reference I'm a seasoned veteran in the IT field, and have ensured all mail from Startec never get flagged as spam etc. Interestingly their Merry Christmas emails were coming in regularly every year).

So it just boggled my mind that the customer service just did not care. And when I spoke to a manager I got the same scripted responses. Seemingly there is an utter lack of knowledge about importance of keeping existing customers (especially the long-term customers, and even more so when they're spending quite a bit with them on a monthly basis.) But alas, no sense in beating the dead horse. The reality is no-one cares whether you stay or go. So I chose to leave. (For a reference I was spending $40-60 each month.)

Lastly I also wanted to share my utter disrespect for their unethical practice of charging for incomplete calls. Namely, they do provide a credit for such calls but A) members have to initiate this themselves, B) the time span allowed 3 months, C) no information/communication about this exists anywhere. But in reality who's got the time to call every month for that!? And how many customers who are on paperless and credit-card billing will even remember to do this? And of course if you do not call, they pocket that money.

PERTINENT USE CASE: We regularly called landlines and mobiles. When we call and if the other party is not at home Startec charges for a 1 min call. For certain Eastern European countries this translates to quite a lot, e.g. cell phones $0.39/min so those add up rather fast.

What bothers me is that STARTEC never bothered implementing a simple programmatic fix for this, obviously since they'd stand to lose quite a bit by doing so, since many customers simply do not have the time to call, or forget etc. That practice is very unethical to say the least. (or better yet: shady / borderline criminal). So people need to know about it. (Both existing customers, and any potential customers considering Startec for their long-distance calling needs). Hope this helps someone.

MONTREAL, PENNSYLVANIA -- The worst customer service. The supervisor hung up on me as we were discussing my account that has been overcharged. Do not get close to this business. You get charged monthly payment and if you don't catch it they will not refund you one cent. Be careful, if the supervisor is treating their members like this I wonder what is going on in the back end. Their business model is get lots of members, charge them a small fee and hope they wont catch it and keep charging.

OTTAWA, OHIO -- My experience with Startec is that they have not kept any of the promises and they tried to make me believe I imagined they have promised me a deal for a long distance rate to Croatia. When I called they have increased a rate since July 2015 from 6.9 cents to 15 cent and have charged me this rate without advising me - or at least it was not obvious. Then they have promised they would switch the rate to 6.9 cents few months ago and kept charging me the 15 cents ever since even though they agreed to give me a credit for the overcharge in the last 3 months.

Their customer service just don't care - speaking to Melissa their manager it was obvious to me that they simply don't care to lose me as a customer. They explained that there was no way I was promised the lower rate and then when I tried to cancel they offered me this rate again!!! I don't believe they would have kept their promise as I once again was not going to fall for this trick so I have cancelled the service and I really feel good about it. They should not get my money as their customer service is definitely one of the worst I have ever dealt with.

If you by any chance prepay the service and don't pay the bill for 2 months because you have prepaid they will automatically disconnect your service. Good luck in getting the reconnect without paying for the new connection fee. Frankly if you choose them as your provider you have really not looked around as other companies provide much better rates and customer servi

I ordered a “my country line” which is priced $14.99/month on their website. After filing the online application form, I received an email confirming registration and telling I will receive a phone call to complete the process and within 24-72 hours I will receive an email with username and password information to login into my account and use the service. I received the phone call but never received any email afterwards regarding my account information. I wasn't able to use the service and didn't get any mail, until two months later I notice monthly charges into my credit card for $25/month!!!

I immediately called them and asked to close it, they didn't send any confirmation email for account closure, I noticed it being fraud, called again and asked for confirmation email, the customer service told me she sees my service is closed! I insisted on sending me an email, they refused and said they do not have the option to send cancellation email! Such a shady business! From now, they started sending mails to my address with invoices and etc. I highly recommend reporting this business and never ever doing any business with them. They not only do not provide any service, but also harass their customers by blackmail them with fees and invoices right after you request for a cancellation.

ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO -- This company is scam. They have the worst service. I called them to report and complain about $2.00 charges due to bad phone connection. I spent over 20 minutes explaining that I had unsuccessful/bad phone connections, and should not be charged the $2.00 for unreliable service. They refused to provide credit. The $2.00 charges are insignificant, however, to me, it's a matter of principle and ethic, I should not pay for bad faulty service.

Startec customer's service careless about customer constructive input and feedback, they were awful, unhelpful, unprofessional, unwilling to listen to facts and could not make a commonsense rational decision to resolve a $2.00 unfair charge. I was very disappointed and dissatisfied, end up requested them to disconnect the service and close my account. This company is beyond the worst ratings. Be aware and stay away… Do not use Startec!!!

ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO -- This company is Scam. They have the worst service. I called them to report and complain about $2.00 charges due to bad phone connection. I spent over 20 minutes explaining that I had unsuccessful/bad phone connections, and should not be charged the $2.00 for unreliable service. They refused to provide credit. The $2.00 charges are insignificant, however, to me, it's a matter of principal and ethic, I should not pay for bad faulty service.
Startec customer's service careless about customer constructive input and feedback, they were awful, unhelpful, unprofessional, unwilling to listen facts and could not make a commonsense rational decision to resolve a $2.00 unfair charge. I was very disappointed and dissatisfied, end up requested them to disconnect the service and close my account.

This company is beyond the worst ratings. Be aware and stay away… Do not use Startec

ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO -- STARTEC HORIBLE, UNRELIABLE, SCAMMER WORST SERVICE. This company is SCAM. They have the worst service. I called them to report and complain about $2.00 charges due to bad phone connection. I spent over 20 minutes explaining that I had unsuccessful/bad phone connections, and should not be charged the $2.00 for unreliable service. They refused to provide credit. The $2.00 charges are insignificant, however, but to me, it's a matter of principle and ethic, I should not pay for bad faulty service.

STARTEC customer's service care less about customer constructive input and feedback, they were awful, unhelpful, unprofessional, unwilling to listen facts and could not make a common sense rational decision to resolve a $2.00 unfair charge. I was very disappointed and dissatisfied, end up requested them to disconnect the service and close my account. This company is beyond the worst ratings. Be aware and stay away… DO NOT USE STARTEC!!!

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- My Mother-in-Law passed away on December 31st, 2014. I tried to cancel her service (and I have done it for AT&T, PG&E - local utility company in the Bay Area, Cable, etc.) It took one phone call, 5 minutes, expression of condolences on the other end.

THE ONLY EXCEPTION - STARTEC! They requested the Death Certificate (of course, it would take several weeks before we get it.) Incompetent, rude employees, hardly speaking any English. DO NOT CARE attitude. This is not the first time I have experienced unprofessional behavior by Startec employees. My sincere advice to everybody - do not deal with these people.

I was a Startec customer for about 7 years. I was not reviewing my bills as I trusted they will take the actual charge from my account (pay as you go kind of contract that you pay based on the minutes you talk.) I checked my account as I saw they are charging a constant amount every month. I noticed that they have included me into a plan, which has a minimum charge. As a result, for the months that I talked only 4 minutes, I have paid 6.25 which should be about 16 cents... That is a rip off... when I called they didn't fix anything and didn't care at all...

1986, INDIANA -- I had $9 in my account. They expired it because I had not recharged in the last year. So basically they stole my money because I was not paying them fast enough.