Smart Serve Ontario

I'm extremely frustrated with the test! Their are multiple questions with multiple answer! But according to the test theirs only one answer! I lost my job after being employed for seven years because my Smart Serve has expired! I just got 78 once and 79 once on my test? I don't think that's possible? Just give me my Certificate!

I found some of the questions were worded in a very subjective manner leaving room for interpretation causing perceived "wrong" answers.
I do not like your weight assessment tool of the 3-foot high bar. Most bars are higher than that. It did not assist me to determine weight any better.
Use of the Green-Yellow-Red system is good but I felt my choices to stop or slow service were considered incorrect- why not err more on the side of caution earlier? You can always reconsider as the event progresses.

The “customer service” staff was rude, abrupt, spoke over me, and major attitude. Disgusting experience.

The course was very informative and insightful, though I do wish they'd allow for more attempts at the final exam, like, at least four or five, and having to buy the course again!? At least offer a discount for people who've taken it before.

After several attempts, I received amazing support, encouragement to complete my test. Thank you Joel for not letting me give up!

There was at least a 1 hour delay starting the exam because of technical issues with individuals not having registered correctly as an individual instead of with an organization. The whole group was held up because of this and the coordinators did not have the ability to troubleshoot correctly to solve the problem in a timely Manor. Also the material that was covered today was simply a review of what we were given to study before we arrived. This could easily have been a half day course.
Also there was a lot of redundancy in that we were given hard copies and we had our own laptops with the information scrolling through as it was presented from a large screen for everyone to view as well. That's a lot of duplication which is very unnecessary and costly.
Also as a time-saving measure lunch should not have been more than one half of an hour.
The practice test was very helpful.
Thank you

It's been over 20 years since I received any training remotely like this (specifically related to serving alcohol in the hospitality sector). As a Learning and Development professional who has both evaluated and developed similar curricula, this is exceptionally well designed and produced. The section on Sexual Violence is particularly timely and effective. I hope SSO will consider designing (or including) additional content/resources on bystander intervention, deescalation techniques, and anti-human trafficking, and basics in personal safety for staff.

The course material was well written, but I found the test very confusing with the multiple choice questions that had more than 1 correct answer. I failed the the 1st attempt, but passed on the 2nd attempt. Also it is very hard to get a clear printed copy of the certificate as a lot of the wording is in a grey color not a hard Black.
Thanks

The Smart Serve Training Course was comprehensive and clear in everyday language. All the modules demonstrated real-life scenarios. It was great having both audio and text to learn. I had a registration question, and it was handled quickly and efficiently.
I was comfortable with the easy to use e-course.

Very thorough educational Smart Serve
course with videos and real life scenarios
that allows the student to use their
knowledge to make the correct answers to
the questions regarding the safe and responsible rules for selling, serving and delivering of alcohol in the province
of Ontario.

Multiple choice can be tricky on the Final Test, but careful attention to details will help keep patrons of establishments
safe. Thank you

I need to renew my drivers license every once in a while. But I don’t have to jump through hoops for it. This was such a “we need to be more relavent” from smart serve Ontario. This renewal process targets people of low means in both time and finances.

It would be nice to be able to reset the course content so that you could go through it the second time just forclarication and review.

I found the course very worthwhile.

I found the course hard, with a lot of trick questions in the test. It cost almost 90$ I feel it’s just a money grab.

Very detailed, well explained,
probabyl one of the best CBT (Computer Based Training) events I have experienced.

I had difficulty in passing the test due to some questions that I felt were sneaky. Having to repeat the course after failing twice was costly. I don't believe there should have been additional cost after 2 tries. Having said that, the course did explain the responsibility the server has that really outlined the potential penalties.

One of the test questions says something like "What are the most effective? " Then it says there may be multiple correct answers.
By definition, "the most" equals one, not many. Change that question to simply "What are effective? "

I recently completed my Smart serve with great difficulty! Fortunately Vickie one of the Smart serve support team, I must say Vickie was so supportive! I could not have completed the final steps with out her! Thank you Vickie

Do not attempt doing your smart serve certification on your mobile device, i completed and passed smart serve about a year ago and they failed me because my iPhone camera apparently didn’t work but I was watching myself the whole time. They forced me to pay another $45 to redo the entire thing

I spoke to a lady just now on the phone I believe her name was Ellie. Very condescending and rude. I had passed my smart serve years ago and have been serving since but I had recently lost my smart serve card and now cant apply to other jobs. I called to have this fixed and she did not want to help she was telling me that I have been illegally serving even though I had a smart serve card I’ve been giving to my employers. I’ve honestly had many problems with this company before and I really hope they choose younger happier more mature people to work in these kinds of places instead of old miserable people.

Got 79% the first then even worst the second time. Could at least passed me the frost time. Wasted my time and money just to fail then I got to repay to retake it? 80 % to pass? Might as well say 100% to pass then I would’ve kept my money and not have to stress like right now

Honestly a very straightforward course.used
incognito mode so the pop ups could work and it was a breeze.took me about 3 hours to complete, including taking the test.i did some flash cards before too which i think helped.my biggest piece of advice for those who are struggling are to read everything throughly and go over it maybe twice.it’ll take longer but the questions on the test aren’t too bad if you prepare properly.overall would recommend.

Lost my card and dreaded having to sort out getting a new one. The new platform is quick and easy. Had a bit of a glitch with my old info linking to my new account but a 2 minute call fixed that.

Test questions and answers are not all correct. Wording of some of the questions are simply misleading and the answers dont match correctly.
Various concerns and faults on the main test.

-The current system is really good, information is quick and easy.

-check your knowledge questions are very helpful and important.
*these have specific answers that you should know for the test and even after your get the Smart serve*

-the what would you do activity games were interactive and provided aid with visuals on how you should handle a situation.applied knowledge on Id's, when to refuse service, how to gauge a persons actions and more.

-Improvements: I found that they would describe how your actions SHOULD be, however sometimes its not easy knowing the exact wording that can be used to make it so. IE wording or methods to pull the guest aside to not embarrass them when I refuse service or slow them down. Maybe in the videos or in the information paragraphs describing to not embarrass the customer/guest there could be a list of example phrases that might help.of course it's situational however I know I have trouble giving a direct command and assuming control over the situation.

-improvements continued: it's not a big deal but helping us speak with confidence in incidents and saying the right things could potentially lead to better service and decrease accidental confrontations. I'm sure it will come with time but it would help to start out knowing what to say rather then learning it the hard way.

I was just in university, we take midterms and final exams online due to covid sometimes but it was done in almost the exact same manner. I think the test was done fairly well, I noticed that some or most questions were directly related to or were the exact same questions posed within the individual modules that were available to test your knowledge. It seems as though maybe the system was revamped recently but I'd say the new system is effecient and good.
It took me a solid couple hours I think I started at 7-8pm, finished the test 11: 40ish (got the certificate by email by 12: 15) got a 97% first try. I got one question wrong and when I was doing that specific question I already knew that I was adding something unnecasary;

the question asked what signs are there that an Id is fake; there was 4 options and I was 100% sure about two options being signs but I was a little on the fence about two because they were discretion things such as their physical description may be wrong: but I thought what if they gained weight or something similar I didn't want to be rude but it's definitely good to check if you are questioning about something.in that way I found that sometimes things are 100% applicable to real life however sticking with the facts is important and refusal of service is important to following the law and keeping guests safe so don't be afraid.

Horrible i did it twice and both failed as 75% when i studiest for 2 days they want me to pay$40 again? Such a scam We shouldnt have to pay and also when you go in person it is open book why cant i do open book? All my exams in college and highscool were open book because my IEP learning disability so not right!

I felt that the content, videos, and exercises were all fairly well laid out and I didn't have any problems with it. Yes, you had to complete one step before you could move to the next, and some content did seem repetitive - that's how you re-enforce the learning.

The content was interesting enough. The test isn't difficult if you actually read all the information and complete the exercises. If you expect to pass the test without doing the work and putting some effort in, you'll fail.

I finished the entire course, then i get to the final exam, and the loading page froze. I refreshed the page after waiting for a few minutes and it kicked me out. You only get one attempt and it counted that as an attempt even though the questions didn't even load. It failed me even though it was a technical error. I emailed them and didn't hear back for A YEAR! I emailed again a year later and they said I have to buy it again instead of just reopening the exam for me.f-ing terrible

I just got my final confirmation and certificate number through email. The course was very well structured and designed. Also very seamless navigation with no tech problems. I dont understand why people are complaining profusely about this course. To be successful in this course you really do have to pay attention to the content. Some concepts are common sense but a lot of it are also very technical and require one to read thoroughly and understand how they work in real life situations. If you are doing none of those then you will fail. I learned a lot from this course and I have saved the tip sheets for myself bc they truly contain valuable information. Overall a great course with well designed content.

Really a course with an exam? What does it take to read someones I. D? If you have eyes you can get a really good idea of how old someone is, theres nothing of any use, so the course just runs you around, with plenty of games and wrong answers that, oh wow thats what they want for an answer?

One of the most egregious taxpayer-dollar blackholes currently operating in Ontario. The amount of tax money that must have gone into the creation of this course is obscene. You could quite literally write out all the information you needed to know for the test on a 1 page pamphlet and everyone would pass the course with a higher grade because the information would actually be laid out in an cohesive manner. Instead, after forking over $35, we are greeted with a plethora of unskippable videos rehashing the exact same useless material for the 4th, 5th, or 6th time. That's the Ontario government and the LCBO for you though.

I have tried to complete this test 6 different times, which means that I had to pay 3 separate times. Each time I have gotten 69% as a final score. After each time, I have reviewed the questions I got wrong and changed them for the next time. But it is the same results everytime. My english isn't perfect but I have trier my best everytime. There must be something going on because I can not pay again, I might be losing my job. I wish there was a class that I could take in order to finally get my smart serve so that I can continue at my job.

The website is messed up for registration, missing a lot of pre filled answers even after I refreshed the website 12 times and when I called for help was hung up on 3 times. This is absolutely ridiculous costumer service for being government ran. If I could give this website and service 0 stars I would have.

Studied the material whenever I could, finally took a late night test on a whim cus I just wanted to get it over with. Passed on the first attempt without any issues with 84! (thank god!) But it took me hours trying to figure out how to turn on cam on my laptop, did everything with chrome and anti virus program without success. Had everything properly turned on yet it just wouldn't work so I gave up and made a few attempts to configure my cellphone and managed to complete the test without issues. Questions can be puzzling the way they are worded and examples can be deceiving but if you have thoroughly reviewed the material a passing grade shouldn't be too hard. Though the testing system could use some upgrade cus it can be frustrating setting up the browser for the test if you are not good with computers. Not very user friendly.

I am not very good as English but after 6 hours of studies it's not hard to get passed also nothing problem with technical or camera because I am honest, hard work and follow the instructions also don't forget every time HAPPY

After spending hours studying, preparing for the exam, that you have to take online, with a camera, you can’t even take the exam! The “help” section? You get an error message “that the page you’re looking for can’t be found! Tried using my iPhone, 20 times. When the camera is running for the exam, you can’t scroll to see all the possible answers! What a waste of time. Total waste.

I normally don’t like to give reviews cause I don’t care like that. But let me just say this. I did my test yesterday for the 8th time and finally passed with a 94% it took me about 25 times to access the test taking forever to load. When I finally got on and finished the test. I get an email saying oh I wasn’t in camera view for 17 mins and that left me confuse cause my light was on and my curtains were open and I can see myself so I understand how you guys couldn’t see me. I’m pretty sure it’s a scam and they want us to repurchase again which is quite sad to do. And I hope that isn’t the case. I might lose my job cause of you guys not doing your job. If the person passes why make us go through all that trouble for a dumb card.

Honestly feels like this test is rigged to make you fail on purpose.especially after studying. Not as straight forward as you'd expect.

The course itself was fine, and I did not encounter the problems that most people cite during the module part. My issues are with the testing however. I wrote the test twice; failing the first time and passing the second time. Unfortunately, it only shows the first score I got and not the second, and it is still unresolved. Seems odd to me that something so important for the workplace doesn't work near perfectly.

Great customer service, especially from Tahnee. Had a great experience taking the course. Website was very well laid out and modules were easy to understand and study. A little delay in the assessment process due to the surge of registrations though at the current moment. But overall a great platform with very responsive support staff.

I passed and exit the test. Then I saw it said resume to I clicked on it thinking I needed to maybe press something else. But when I went to resume it was like taking the test over so I exit that screen and saw that it counted as me taking the test 2 times. LOL Really this is a joke and I have no idea if I'll get the card or not. At least it was free. But what good is free if you spend hours doing the course, pass and never know if you truly completed. When I go back into my account no courses show up, no final test shows up. It's like I don't exist now.haha Nice.

Hi the purpose of this training is learn not make money, I paid twice and failed with79% the four test also the website is terrible.

Regret to say that smart serve organization gives different grades while you have the same answered it seems this organization plan to fail people in order to makes more money and it"s absulotley unfair and this situation makes people pay more and then finally when the people donot have enough money to continue to drop off, meanwhile 80% is a big grade which means even i pass by 79% they still fail the person while in US is not this unfair

The modules are super buggy and rarely advance to the next module.

Took me 6 hours due to ridiculous technical difficulties

Upon starting the exam
Be very careful making sure you take a clear picture of yourself and your id
Took me a long time and almost disqualified my test attempt due to this

Such a scam, the wording and the check all that apply test layout for the majority of questions is very unfair.and i ended up failing.

Total rip off to have to pay $40 for this mandatory certification

Firstly, the website doesn't work unless you turn off your pop ups in your safari settings (if you're using your phone) which I was because I don't have a computer webcam and you need a cam to write your final exam. Secondly, yes I failed both attempts, first 76% there was no where to see the incorrect answers to try and improve on my second attempt. To be honest I did not call customer service because they are not pleasant to talk to on the phone. Second attempt I got 79%. I call to see if I actually have to pay ANOTHER $40 DOLLARS to rewrite this test. I understand I failed and that's one me. But why is there no discounted price to rewrite the test? There is no one getting paid to watch me write, so I'm not paying for someone's wage, unless you're telling me it's their rude Customer Service. Honestly I feel bad for the people working there, because this is just another scam.