Reviews

This profile includes reviews for Embark's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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Embark has 8 locations, listed below.

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  Embark

  1000 - 50 Burnhamthorpe Rd W Mississauga, ON L5B 4A5

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  USC Education Savings Plans

  203 10240 124 St Edmonton, AB T5N 3W6

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  Knowledge First Financial

  P.O. Box 997 Halifax, NS B3J 2X2

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  Embark

  5 Fountain Creek Dr Sherwood Park, AB T8A 0A1

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  Embark

  201 8185 120A St Surrey, BC V3W 3P2

Review Details

• Review fromJohn C

  Date: 03/02/2023

  This is a very difficult company to deal with. Go to your bank and get an RESP there. We got little to no interest and the withdrawals were very difficult to do. Customer service is terrible *** **** *** * ***** *** ********* *** **** **** **** *** ***** ** **** ****** Numbers you see in your online account do not translate to real numbers available for your child's education. I am trying to redeem the remaining balances in my daughter's accounts and it is a nightmare trying to get it done. *** ** ********* ***** ** *** *** **** *******

• Review fromJami A

  Date: 17/01/2023

  ***** Put your money where you actually get customer service. We have had to fight to get our daughters tuition paid and yes, we contacted customer care. We cannot log in online with any of multiple emails we have and the company can’t seem to get it figured out blaming us for inputting wrong info in multiple emails. Not to mention we received another families personal information via the mail last May which means our children’s must be with another family but that issue is never addressed. Put your money in a savings account and save yourself the hassle. That’s all you’ll get with this company.

• Review fromLoi N

  Date: 04/01/2023

  ****** **** **** **** ****, They eat all you investment with the fee. I have learnt it hard way. Every year they draw from my account 2,030.00 but they charge the sell fee 369.71 and other fee $58.13 so after all my net contribution $ 1,602.16. Please invest your money in RESP with the bank. I should have done it eleven year ago. Got a mistake with a ****** sale agent which they painted a color picture of how much money your kid would have. I have stopped them to withdraw money from my bank. I am looking to see how to transfer the fund. If any action lawsuit to them in Ontario, I will joint! I don't trust them with my money! To all the parents, please do research before invest your hard working money for your kid's future!

  Embark

  Date: 21/04/2023

  We understand your disappointment with Knowledge First Financial and it is important to us that our customers are more than satisfied and we would like the opportunity to resolve this issue immediately. If you give us a chance, we intend to make this right and hope you will allow us to speak with you to discuss the situation. You may, at your earliest convenience, contact our Customer Care team at ********@******.ca to determine how we can provide you with a solution.

• Review fromDarren M

  Date: 18/10/2022

  ******** **** *******. What started as a government run post secondary support funding program turned into corporate greed and bureaucracy!! They hide behind fees, markets, change decisions but in the end, They Promised the stars and barely got us to ti rhe moon!!.... Their fees and sales charges range from 9-16+%... And in 18 years, our $$, including the govt grants of 20% barely made 30%more in 18 years!! Do your child s favor, invest$ yearly in a Gic and apply for the govt grants yourself... Pay yourself or the fund, *** **** *********** **** ****** *** ** **** **********... Thankfully, we have good jobs and lines of credit to fall back on our or kids would be without a post-secondary education thanks to their doublespeak and excuses... In the last 2 weeks, one of our sons funds dropped $3000... Go figure, oops .. We didn't invest your money wisely...

• Review fromGorden C

  Date: 07/10/2022

  For my first kid, I asked back about $11,500 in May this year even my Knowledge First Financial statement the balance is 0, As for my second kid, I think I lost more than $1000 even my second kid closing balance in March is more than they paid in this summer. The service said because of the COVID-19 but why my first kid is not. I ***** **** ******** * "Knowledge First wasn't positive and this is a mistake we could not correct. *** ****** *** ******* ******* ************* ****** ** **** ******** *** ******** *** ****** ********* ** **** *** ***** *** ****** ** ****** **** ** *** *****

• Review fromTerrell P

  Date: 07/09/2022

  Terrible customer service. I went to withdraw the 2nd half of my holding with them and they needed more information to process my withdrawal. However they don't call or email you or send a letter on their website to let you know that more information is needed. I called back weeks after schooling has already started and I haven't received my money yet and they said the confirmation or enrolment letter I sent them, that I also had in my hand, did not have the logo of the school it came from, which it did, so they didn't know what school the letter was from and couldn't release the money. I then asked the customer service rep on the phone to read out the letter to confirm we were looking at the same thing and he read the name of the school 3 times. So when I questioned how he didn't know what school it was from he said " oh my gosh" over the phone and momentarily after that a loud alarm started going off in the background and he was just sitting there in the phone saying nothing just waiting for me to hang up the phone. This all comes after my mother who made the account was hung up on when they said they needed proof that I was a full time student, which I was and was also stated on the letter that was provided to them. * ******** ********* **** ******* ** ******* ****** ****** *** **** ***** * **** ** **** ** ** *****

• Review fromJennifer L

  Date: 11/08/2022

  We purchased the first plan for our son in 2000 (shortly after he was born) from USC Education Savings Plan, contributing $2,037.42 yearly. I must admit the first few years according to the statements, return was very promising. On the 2005 statement, potential funds available for school was $96,462.85 + CESG income as well as with a promise of returning the enrolment fee of $3,773.00. After a few years, the statements we received stopped providing the important information. They only showed the amount you contributed. In 2013, we were approached by a Knowledge First sales suggesting us to increase our yearly contribution from $2,037.42 to $4702.00, making our ultimate contribution of $50,000 in total. Then the second plan started in 2013. At that time, the sales projected the total funds available combined from two plans would be around $99,990.00 in total. Returning to the reality, as of August 5, our total funds available was around $85,500.00. Quite off from the projection. The recent market volatility also contributed to the low pay out. The enrolment fee of $3773.00 was never returned to us. At the end, we were charged from the two plans: Enrolment sales ($4755 + $644.11); Insurance Premiums ($486.33 + $431.60); Depository Fees ($115.01 + $51.45), these fees add up to $6483.50. More than 10% of our contributing principal of $50,000.00. Our experience with Knowledge First wasn't positive and this is a mistake we could not correct. For people who haven't started contributing, please do your homework and research for better options.

• Review fromAL F

  Date: 10/08/2022

  I have dealt with Knowledge First Financial for many years. It helped me put 2 kids through school. My Rep. was great! She always answered all my question's in a timely manner. My family all have their Plans with them and are pleased. * ****** ********* **** *************

• Review fromAnnemi S

  Date: 09/08/2022

  We have a RESP account since 2004 from Heritage Plan that got transferred to Knowledge First Financial. After the transfer, I have a statement from February 28 2022 with a value of $45,270. Since my son is starting University in September I started the process to withdraw funds for my son's tuition. The current value of my plan as of Aug-09-2022 is $38,641. It has lost $6,629 in 5 months. I know that the market has not been good in the last few months but to loose 15% of the value is outrageous. My other son's RESP with a different provider lost only 5% value in the same period of time which seems reasonable. When I reached to First Knowledge they only say that the market is volatile, and that is the reason for the change in value. They would not give me more details. What kind of Investments this people have? aren't they investing in relatively conservative stocks and bonds? **** **** **** **** ************ *** *** ****** ****** **** ********** ********* ***** ** * **** **** ***** ********** ********

• Review fromJessie X

  Date: 19/07/2022

  I started the plan from 2006. It is lack of service, hard to get reach out to the agent. When I am going to withdrawal the money, I found the value significant dropped, there is a huge difference between the current value and last year's balance. After been hold for more than 40 minutes, the agent told me that this is because of the market. I don't understand how the institution invest the education funds. But how come all the RESP from other institutes are not changed that much. There is no notice, no warning at all. I was told when I opened the account, we will get bonus share at the end of contribution period, which will cover the cost of the management fees. Now I was told there is no such thing.

  Embark

  Date: 12/08/2022

  We sorry to hear that your experience with our company has not met your expectations.
  Customer satisfaction is our top priority, and that this was not demonstrated to you.
  
  
  You may, at your earliest convenience, please contact our Customer Care team at ********@***********.ca to determine how we can provide you with a solution.