Start.ca services both the residential and business communities, supplying fibre, cable and DSL internet, digital phone and TV service to residential consumers, and a full suite of internet and data hosting services for businesses. What started in a spare bedroom in 1995 has since grown to employ 160 people and offer its services to more than 70,000 customers across Ontario. Co-founder and COO, Darryl Olthoff says that Start.ca is changing the way people think about telecommunications providers and it all starts with dedicated customer service.
“At Start.ca, our vision is to always provide our customers with quality service and positive experiences,” shared Darryl. “Both Start.ca and Paystone compete against the major players in our industries—we have a lot in common that way—and both companies know that having a high level of reliability, great customer service and a wide range of product options are the difference-makers.”
Payment processing is a critical component of Start.ca’s business. They have approximately 40,000 charges run at the first of the month. For the most part, their customers pay online and on a recurring month-to-month basis. “We need to make sure our payment system is secure for the consumer, and payments are processed smoothly and accurately, without any risk to their credit or credit cards.”
Prior to making the switch to Paystone, one of the problems Start.ca were having with their previous processor was their inability to support new payment technologies, specifically payment through MasterCard debit and Visa debit, which a lot of Start.ca’s customers wanted. Switching to Paystone made that possible.
“It made a lot of our customers very happy.”One of the exciting things about Paystone’s services is the availability of Apple Pay and Google Pay processing.
“We expect more of our clients to use mobile devices for payments and to have that technology piece ready for us is very reassuring. Ultimately, it boils down to payment diversity, and Paystone has that for us.”Start.ca uses the Converge online payment solution that Paystone offers its merchants. As you can imagine, on a monthly basis Start.ca has a lot of chargebacks, voids, and payment adjustments that need to be made.
“With our previous provider, the online portals were cumbersome and confusing,” explained Darryl.With Paystone, they have a single portal that is much easier to use, which enables them to solve most of their billing problems on their own. “The accounting team loves it!”
“The customer service we have received from Paystone has been outstanding.”In addition to being able to get support quickly and easily, Start.ca regularly receives calls from Paystone just to see if they need help with anything.
“This experience has been a refreshing change of pace and really shows how important our business is to them.”Features, functionality, and support were Darryl’s primary reasons for making the switch to Paystone, but they’ve also been able to realize a significant savings in their payment processing costs.
“It was a really nice surprise. It’s nice to support another local business, and it’s great to work alongside another organization that shares our values.”