Anyone writing negative reviews hasn't used Intoxalock .. this service is far better than the alternative .. I was able to change after a bad wreck .. after losing a job because my car had to be towed 60 miles when the archaic device malfunctioned .. after being put on hold with the most torturous music for literally HOURS .. smart start is a DREAM. The world is a mirror & people will absolutely reflect your attitude so .. be kind .. and patient .. and forgive yourself for the gnarly situation you put yourself into. Peace. read more

What can I say that doesn't completely bash these guys because I only come here for calibrations once month. They definitely can be slow. Right now I only had 3 cars and in front of me, but the first one took like 45min. The 2nd vehicle is going on 20 now. Looks like they are short staffed and also working on an installation, which is what they are told to prioritize because that just means more money to the company. Not really the fault of the dudes that are working here. Are they friendly? Not for the most part. Are they usually prompt? I'd say usually, yes. Out of about 9 calibrations, today has been the slowest I've ever seen them. Usually they average about 15-20min a calibration. So far, it's looking like 30+ each one today. That will teach me to wait until the last day to come calibrate. read more

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All the other ratings are spot on. They messed up the installation without me realizing it thus causing me to have to replace both tail lights and car battery. You sit in live for over an hour EVERY time (monthly). Meaning those work work a normal job hours have to not only use their lunch break (hour) and then try to explain to the boss what took so long. I've even had them shut the door in my face as I had waited for several hours in line and they just said they had to go to lunch... took almost 4 hours. Still have no been repaid for their installation mistake despite filing a claim. They even acknowledged it after I brought it back. Granted the car wouldn't turn on to begin with because the battery was dead, so had to get a ride to OReillys... what a joke. read more

Smart-Start - Auto Repair Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I chose Smart Start because they had a convenient location and they offered me a free installation. New installations were given priority in line and they even waved me into the bay to help me navigate the opening. Right away I noticed it was a really tight squeeze to get into the bay area with literally an inch, maybe an inch and a half on either side. Both sides of the entry into the bay were full of paint marks from other vehicles that had trouble getting in. (SEE PHOTOS) On my second visit, I was lucky that the vehicle behind me gave me enough room to inch back and forth enough times to enter the bay at the right angle. I really lucked out on my third visit. There were no other cars in line, so again, I was able to navigate the angle to get into the bay. On my final visit to remove the device, there were vehicles surrounding me in line. In addition, someone came around from the other side of the building and made an intersection with the line. I had no room to inch back for the proper angle. I tried to navigate as slowly as possible with micro turns on my steering wheel but ended up with a bad scratch on my paint. My paint is added to their wall of shame. I could only get out of my car and go into the office and ask them for help. They told me they no longer wave people into the bay because they have been previously blamed for damages. (They are fully aware what a problem it is.) They referred me to another location that has an easier driveway. They did not say anything about the damage to my car. I went back to my car and by that time, the office was about to close and all other vehicles had left. I was able to leave without assistance, but I had a significant scratch on my car. I called the corporate office about this matter. I was told by two people that I would get a call back. I have gotten zero response on this. This is insult added to injury. read more

Smart-Start - Damage - Auto Repair Near Me - Austin, Texas

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The people at the actual place of business are rude, unhelpful and care not a whit about making you wait hours. You are not greeted nicely, or treated with an iota of respect. Why they don't make appointments is beyond me! You could have 2 installations ahead of you and you just need a calibration! Ugh! read more

Try to call and you get a message for long hold time and they will call back. No call back. It gives the options to twct back and forth. After waiting iwalked away.i didn't respond in two minutes so it "discontinued chat". They never answered again. I waited on the phone for 56minutes. Once it was my turn they immediately hung up. read more

Reliable, fast, and friendly. Sucks having to go through this but they made the process simple and easy!

These guys literally take as long as possible. If it's a line of 4 cars you will wait an hour and a half. Meanwhile, the one up north will get you in and out under 5 minutes. They don't care about you because the government forces you to pay them ‍. It's like, some bad mixture of communism and a stoned Andy Dick. read more

The reviews don't disappoint...this place is severely unprepared / understaffed for its demand. They could definitely do better.

This place takes FOREVER. Plan to wait in line for at least 3 hours. Unbelievable. Here to get my brethalyzer removed and thank god because I CANT TAKE THIS STRESS! People have work and real lives to attend to and the people who work here could care less. read more

Received a rolling lockout violation without any tests missed and no info. from the Company about how the violation occurred. I blew in the machine every time it beeped and never missed a test, so still in the dark about what caused the issue (clearly a system error on the part of the Company). The customer service on this has been terrible. I was told my incident would be reviewed within 5-7 business days and didn't hear anything back until I called a second time! It's been a month since I first reported the issue! How am I being charged for this? I also don't want this documented for court purposes. How is it even possible to miss that many rolling tests within a 3 day period? Shaking my head at this terrible excuse for human interaction. HUGE SCAM! read more

I was testing out a new unit this company introduced for the Texas DPS, not only did they have a recall where I had to swap the unit a week after I got it, even the new unit had glitches. They were very rude to the person in front of me as well as to me, there's apparently a return fee when you turn units in. When he pulled up the account he saw there was no fee because it was a DPS test unit he took a double take at me (I think he was expecting a uniformed DPS Trooper) and his attitude made a 180! I told him it was too late and that his attitude lost their company the DPS contract that I couldn't wait to call corporate and let them know how people were treated. Travis county may continue to use them but I'm 99.9% sure my report to the Commander will insure that DPS will not use them. read more

I live off of west william cannon so this location is closest to me but I go to the one off of Braker. In the time it takes me to drive up north, get calibrated, and be back at my home i would still be sitting in this locations line waiting to get calibrated. Save your time and go up north if you don't wanna wait two hours in line. Not sure what these guys are doin in office. But their calibration takes 30 mins per cars where the one up north takes only about 10 mins. Guess you can't expect much from government employees lol read more

Anyone who has to go here is in a bad situation, and for having to deal with something no one wants to deal with, they are super nice. Always friendly upon arrival, and if they're not friendly, they at least just do their job and get you on your way. I'm sure they deal with some pretty rude people throughout their day, but they are always courteous and dependable! If you're looking for a place to get your blower in, I would recommend this place! They even have cute cats on property you can watch sometimes while you wait! read more

I hated every miserable minute dealing with these rude and condescending people who work here! Customers are treated like the scum of the earth and they deliberately go slower and give worse service if they think you're giving them attitude or look at them funny. I've been to other locations that service much more quickly and they can't even do that. They don't answer phone calls even if they're not busy, I know because I called and was on hold for over an hour and drove over there while on the phone and no one was even there, they just didn't want to answer! Only go here if you absolutely must, these people don't deserve anyone's business. read more

SAFETY ISSUES, TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE, EXPENSIVE, IGNORANCE, LEGAL / BUSINESS CONFOUND... These folks have always scored very low on customer service in my experience with them over the last few months - only by being generally unhelpful in answering questions fully, and being very unfriendly. Yesterday, they reached the lowest possible score and that's where it will stay for me until I no longer am forced to deal with them. Here's why: Per their instruction, I went in during their normal business hours to get my machine calibrated. Apparently they closed early for lunch and had no indication of being back open for almost and hour and a half. I called the main number and was eventually directed to a voice mail where I left one for the district manager. I then called back an hour later to make sure they were actually opening back up. I left a message with a supervisor as no one was available who could even answer that question. I never heard back from either call. So I just went in a couple hours later. There was a 2 hour wait, the dude assisting was rude and deliberately slow. Unfortunately, I have to have an interlocken device on my car and Smart-Start is the only option that meets the court's requested needs. From the research that I have done online, they are fully involved as a lobby keeping their product mandated for use in DUI cases. Moreover, the device requires "blows" repeatedly while driving which in my opinion is just as dangerous as driving intoxicated - possibly more dangerous. I can't wait to get this thing out of my car and stop dealing with this incompetent monopoly. read more

First off school down to the very bottom of this page where you will read "non-recommended reviews"! You'll have to look hard though because they wrote that in very faint Gray font! There should be no reason why those reviews should be hidden, but maybe it's because the vast majority of them have only one star for this place. Hmmm, I'd say that's pretty petty if you have to try and hide your negative reviews just for your own personal gain. Disgraceful! Those of us who have to come here are already fully aware of what we have done and are ashamed and regret it each and every day, so why must we be treated as though we are common criminals who deserve no respect or even The slightest bit of empathy. We want no problems, but just to get in and out of there! And if we have questions or need help when we feel there are malfunction issues going on with the device, etc. we get looked at with such disdain as though we deserve not to be treated as humans by men who have hickeys all over their necks! Disgusting. read more

The service is very poor!! You need to wait for a long time to be attended .... I definitely do not recommend it, there are more competent companies. read more

Worst costumer service I have ever encountered! I have been on hold now for 1.5 hours, then they hung on me, I was instructed by Travis County to use this company Shame on them! read more

As much as it sucks having a breathalyzer in your car, the guys that work here have been very helpful on multiple occasions. For instance, at one point my car was broken down, and I'm no mechanic, so I had no idea what was wrong with it. The smart start guys came out popped my hood and gave me a full diagnosis of what was wrong with my car and even went a step further and looked up the parts I needed and the closest place to get them. Without them I would have been screwed. Like I said, it sucks having a breathalyzer, but it makes it slightly more pleasant when the employees are willing to go out of their way to help you out. Thank you smart start staff! read more

These guys are totally unprofessional. Worst experience both in the shop and customer service over the phone. It sucks the court orders people to go to such a place.. Rude, lazy and unorganized shop with people who don't care about the customer. read more

First, off thank you thom.r for your review. I can't believe there are not more complaints against this company. I don't even want to give them one star more like a negative star or two. I am in total agreement with you about their rude and incompetant service. But, for me the worst is the faulty equipment. I know it's not just me - unfortunately due to my irresponsible behavior - my husband has to deal with this device also: as we have only one car to drive between us. Most of the time it works just fine and other times (randomly it aborts and aborts for no apparant reason; ending with a friggin violation - when neither one of us has done anything wrong!) I ask how in the world is that helping to keep our roads safe having to deal with this frustration!!! I've tried bringing up this problem to two different attendants at time of the monthly recalibration. Only having them blow me off saying it works just fine. So frustrating - I'm ok with the interlock systems in my car for the period required - but, really is it too much to ask that the damn thing actually works properly??? I mean really... read more