1,017 Customer Reviews over 26 pages
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- Location
- Brighton
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-02-22
- Comments
-
Please refer to my earlier review of 2016-12-27. Yet more problems have arisen. I've just been onto Origins new portal and glad that I did because in red letters it states that I am behind with my payments. I paid a year in advance for Broadband and a year in advance for anytime calls when I joined. There was an initial payment of £5.16 billed in January and this was taken via direct debit on February 10th and clearly shows on my bank statement as paid. This morning I spent my time trying to contact Origin via online chat (no one answered)I eventually got an answer via telephone and was told to just ignore the red letter demand and that it was "probably teething problems". I don't want to "just ignore" it. I want them to delete the demand so that I know that it's not going to get worse as red letter demands do. This company has been a pain in the neck since I joined them. I wish I hadnt.
- Location
-
- Location
- Weston-Super-Mare
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-07-06
- Comments
-
I've put 3/5 on speed & reliability because I can only assume they are ok. I never actually got that far, my call logs (below) should explain why you should avoid this farce of a company like the plague. So many screw-ups along the way that I don't even trust their story that Openreach were the ones at fault for the call-out balls-up.
Date: 10/06/17, Wait in queue: ?, Result: Placed order for Origin Broadband ahead of my move-in date on 21/06/17, paid up-front for the 12 month contract (£124.99) on standard ADSL+ line (Did not know at the time that Fibre would be available in the flat). Also agreed to the connection fee for an openreach engineer.
Date: 27/06/17, Wait in queue: 00:25:00, Result: My order status is showing as complete on the website but clearly isn't, wtf? Discovered that an engineer is scheduled for 29/06 afternoon (2 days time!). Asked when they were planning to tell me since I needed to take the time off work. Left the appointment active with the option to call back by 28/06 midday if I needed to reschedule. Arranged the afternoon off work
Date: 29/06/17, Wait in queue: 00:15:00, Result: Spoke to an Openreach engineer in car park of my flats, he had no record of the scheduling so I called Origin to confirm. Origin call centre confirmed the schedule was still correct. Also highlighted the payment being taken for 1st month which was wrong because a) I paid upfront and b) I haven't been connected yet.
Date: 29/06/17, Wait in queue: 00:42:00, Result: Spoke briefly to operator but asked to be put through to a manager. First, ensured that the manager was aware that the operator to whom I had just spoke was not to blame. Then explained my situation to Matt. He seems to blame Openreach who appear to have cancelled the callout but haven't notified Origin. Matt will call Openreach tomorrow at Midday & get back to me around 2-3pm with a weekend time slot.
Date: 30/06/17, Wait in queue: 00:14:00, Result: Matt didn't call as previously agreed so I called him. Net result of the call was him reaffirming that Openreach were at fault (and had apparently admitted as such). They are going to look into the possibility of an engineer being available next weekend and will let Matt know early next week. Matt said he'd call me on tuesday (04/07/2017) to update me, whether he had heard from Openreach yet or not.
Date: 04/07/17, Wait in queue: 00:07:00, Result: No call received from Matt, it turns out that he finished work at 5:30 and just didn't call, no clue as to why. Michael is also now "taking responsibility" for this mess and promises to call me back tomorrow regardless of whether there is an update or not & also to look into why I didn't receive a call today. Still no word from Openreach.
Date: 05/07/17, Wait in queue: 00:00:00, Result: Michael tried to call at 20:39 but I wasn't able to take the call at the time, he left a message with no information except that he had tried to call me and would try again tomorrow.
Date: 06/07/17, Wait in queue: 00:14:00, Result: Spoke to someone who said that Matt had tried to call 3 times last night (it was Michael and he called once at 20:39) but didn't get through to me, I was told he was on another call at the moment and would call me back (hasn't as of 1 hour since this call now).
Date: 06/07/17, Wait in queue: 00:13:00, Result: Asked why I wasn't called back. Asked why I wasn't called on Tuesday by Matt. Asked if Openreach had given a weekend date. Answered ?, ?, no respectively. Demanded a refund & cancellation. Was put through to cancellation who didn't put up a fight, confirmed that I'd be due the £124.99 & the £5.99 I was erroneously charged. Also confirmed that I wouldn't be charged the installation fee for the openreach installation (that should now be cancelled). It was confirmed that would be cancelled too though I anticipate I'll need another call to claim this back when they screw up again.
- Location
-
- Location
- Ilford
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2018-04-11
- Comments
-
First day left Origin Broadband and I am so happy after suffering 12 months of flaky and slow broadband. I am going to take the hit of £40 router because frankly (1) you cant get through on the phone (nope, you cannot email them) and (2) other comments about still waiting on refunds, think I'd value my happiness and save the hassle. I now moved and pay another telco at the same price but I get 36Mbps down rather than 4Mbps. So happy to move away from the Origin Broadband.
- Location
-
- Location
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-03-02
- Comments
-
cheap but not cheerful! very slow compared with my previous provider (plusnet) should be the same as both using same BT line!
- Location
-
- Location
- Manchester
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-03-16
- Comments
-
Polite phone staff but they don't listen and will promise anything to get the call ended.
I can't recommend because for an ISP cust service is very important. Things will go wrong and Origin can't sort it out quickly.
It will cost you in time. Go elsewhere.
- Location
-
- Location
- South wales
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2019-12-18
- Comments
-
Ok... So I left virgin due to high prices and foreign call centres. I thought ill compare and see what comes up. Origin hit top of the list. They stated I could take my number with me from virgin and that they would guarantee me a min 30mbps in speeds. Lies lies lies.lessthan 10mbps they didn't bother chasing my number. And these recon they supply the NHS, don't listen to it.after 2months of hell I'm getting a refund and free out of my contract. Call recording saved me. Staff are good company is worse than old talk talk. STAY AWAY!!!!!
- Location
-
- Location
- Plymouth
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2023-12-06
- Comments
-
My account was taken over from SSE, had the paperwork saying my account was £23 as signed up for that and that price would stay the same until my contract ends. £69 has been taken via direct debit for 1 months rent, it's ridiculous.
I've emailed 2 complaints but no response, absolute rubbish company
- Location
-
- Location
- Manchester
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2021-03-16
- Comments
-
We signed up on an 18 month contract, it was a cheap and cheerful package and sign up was efficient and friendly.
We initially got reasonable speeds of around 55Mb (76Mb was forecast upon sign up).
Unfortunately things changed fast. During the pandemic, Origin were impossible to get hold of on both the phone and chat. The emails received are 'no-reply' addresses.
Now, the contract is up in 30 days and I've no intention on staying with an uncontactable company.
- Location
-
- Location
- Oxfordshire
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-11-02
- Comments
-
"Up to 38Mbps" averages 2.5Mbps for us. Not "great for streaming TV and video" as advertised - not even okay for streaming TV and video. Dishonest promotional material.
- Location
-
- Location
- st andrews
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2018-02-06
- Comments
-
First hurdle a 4 month delay because there was no fibre in the area "total crap" they kept hold of deposit and never advised there was a problem until i called them, my previous provider enjoyed over £200 extra cash as I was out of contract.
When service went live "months after agreed" it was slow, 1Mb speed download, 10Mb upload. Two agreed engineer visits and several hours call on the phone to there helpdesk, first engineer visit appointment never arrived, waste of time taking a day of work, second engineer visit confirmd the line had not been cleared proper from previous provider, Origin should have cleared the line first, another wasted day off work. All in all they said they would compensate a free month rental £25 "what a joke", 2 days off work, several hours on help desk lines and a 1Mb speed for 2months. Internet still has downtimes says authentication failed. Best of all they are starting the contract from the day service went live. Not when I made the agreement and paid deposit. Over 3 months gone past, still no compensated free month rental. Each month they say next month. Ram the refund and hopefully after talking with trading standard I can get out this contract and move to a reliable provider. My advice spend the extra couple£££££ on reliability. Rant over!
- Location
-
- Location
- North Berwick
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2023-09-14
- Comments
-
Broadband - drops out frequently
Router - need to be very close to get good signal
Tech help desk - couldn’t even ping my router to test the line
- Location
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- Location
- Glasgow
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2022-02-21
- Comments
-
The broadband comes and goes, very unstable but the worst thing is their customer service. I called to make a payment as the online payment method wasn’t working. I was on hold for over 40 minutes, the guy then said he would pass me to someone who could take payment from me. After being on hold for another 25 minutes, I was informed that they did not have the facility to take my payment over the phone. On another occasion I tried to call them and was waiting for an hour an a half with it saying I was second, then first in the queue. At an hour and a half the call ended without me even getting to speak to anyone
- Location
-
- Location
- Wooburn Green
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-01-13
- Comments
-
Terrible company. Avoid. My download speed is noticeable slower than with SKY. After hanging on for 45 mins on the phone I gave up. I then got through after hanging on for another 45 mins.
I also sent an email and I have never received a reply to this date.
The prices are pretty good but avoid this company. I made the mistake of deciding to support a smaller provider. Don't waste your time with this lot.
- Location
-
- Location
- Inverness
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-10-08
- Comments
-
It is shocking how disgraceful and rubbish this broadband is. My previous broadband had just gone into administration and it was for tradition broadband. So I decided to go for fibre glass as it was now available. I wanted the £24.99 deal but was hard sold into their more expensive plan.
In exception of the installation being free and on time, it has been a disgrace. The broadband is unstable and it doesn't feel any faster than the 17.5mb, oh and this is mean to be the 80mb speed, i would expect a difference since we have gaming PCs.
It's unreliable, their routers are unreliable, their lines are unreliable, at any moment one (if not all) will give way.
Waste of money and I want out of this contract.
- Location
-
- Location
- Llancyl
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2018-01-19
- Comments
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As others have said, once they get your money they are not interested. I have been overcharged by Origin setting up a direct debit with my bank without telling me. I have written to them 5 times and they are totally ignoring me. If I phone them they promise to get back to me and don’t. Sadly, I have paid for 12 months service in advance and will now have to escalate the problem to the ombudsman.
- Location
-
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2023-10-19
- Comments
-
Update on my review on 1/10/2023
After hours and hours on hold and hours and hours talking to agents in South Africa , the agent said she would cancel my direct debit so Origin could not take the £201.51 from my bank account , on 11/10 /2023 , as I had received little to no service and shouldn’t have to pay an exit fee.
Today when visiting my bank I was informed that my direct debit had been cancelled by the agent, but Origin had still collected the fee by setting up another direct debit, without my permission, under the name “Origin Communications”. Is this legal?
- Location
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- Location
- Wigan
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-03-04
- Comments
-
Very poor service , attempts to Overcharge . Charges for services that were not in the agreed contract.
This is one company to AVOID.
Broadband unconsistant.
Spends hours on the phone and have them promise to ring back but they don't.
One word ....Pathetic
- Location
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- Location
- Salisbury
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-06-24
- Comments
-
Since I signed up with Origin (Sept 2016) it has been nothing but a pain. I have had to call them 3 times to give them my bank account details after they've failed to set up a standing order. I have also had to call up after emails stating I owe money only to spend and hour on the phone waiting for an operator to tell me what I already know that their is nothing outstanding. All in all its been a pretty abismal service, I've had less than half my payments go through without being told they don't have my account details or that I am witholding payment in some way. Additionally, it took over a month to have my internet set up when orginally being quoted no more than 3 weeks at most.
- Location
-
- Location
- Surrey
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2020-08-28
- Comments
-
Worst utility co. ever. Customer service AWFUL. Cut off with no notice. Account fully paid by d/debit. Horrendous wait times for service. Then no action except return to start.DO NOT USE.
- Location
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- Location
- Leeds
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2018-04-09
- Comments
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No problem during the lifetime of my contract, but on changing providers, was charged for services after my broadband service switched, and 4 months on have still to receive a refund for this charge (or even an acknowledgement that I have been overcharged). Also, a charge of £40 will be made for the router unless it is returned to Origin Broadband (they refund the postage up to £3.50, but the cheapest postage cost is £3.90).
- Location
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- Location
- Brighton
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-10-27
- Comments
-
It just goes from bad to worse with this pathetic excuse for a company. I had lots of problems to start with but now i'm about ten months into my year contract they have decided to start charging me for line rental, even though I paid a year in advance for line rental and calls. I did email their non existant customer services and got no reply. I eventually managed to speak to someone who said they would sort it out and I'm still waiting. Cant wait till my contract ends so I can go with another provider. Any provider no matter how bad will not be as bad as Origin. You have been warned!
- Location
-
- Location
- Sussex
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2023-07-16
- Comments
-
A short while ago I was switched to your company from SSE/Ovo without any say in the matter.
On the 5th of July I received an email stating twice that my contract was about to expire on...and no date.
However, I decided to renew anyway and thought it a minor error.
I then received an email to say my new contract was set up, to start on the 1st of January 1970!!
Whilst on holiday I established I had lost contact with my smart devices at home and when returning from holiday I saw I indeed had no internet.
I contacted your helpdesk on the 14th and they logged an error.
On the 15th I got a text to say the fault was fixed however, it wasn't and I had to call back.
After all these issues and three instances of communication errors, I decided to withdraw my renewal (took an hour in a queue to speak to somebody) and apply to join another company (which I have to wait 3 weeks for).
I received no apologies despite the fact I was meant to return to work on Monday after 9 days of holiday and will instead have to extend my holiday because I cannot work from home and need to accommodate a BT engineer.
I have had no offer of compensation despite over a week's outage of service and having to waste at least a day of my annual leave because I am unable to work.
Instead I have to pay an increased subscription cost to allow me to source an alternative supplier without an early termination fee.
- Location
-
- Location
- Wisbech
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2019-03-21
- Comments
-
I have been with Origin for over 2 years, and for the first year services was excellent.
Then after a year it all changed, they seem to have got into trouble laid off staff, then the service went way downhill, dropped connections are normal, speeds that will suddenly drop to less than old dial up speeds.
You get used to responses such as "We cannot find a fault with the service on our side." and "we do not provide a guaranteed minimum speed with our packages"
Origin insisted it was not them, as all checks carried out showed no issues at their end, so it must be BT or an intermittent exchange issue- odd, as visits to neighbours showed other providers were not have any problems.
Cut long story short the company has gone into a CVA, and the service continues to reduce. I would advise any potential customers to do your research, When it works the service is good, but for last 6 months it has not been good and I for one will not be renewing my contract
- Location
-
- Location
- London
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-04-11
- Comments
-
Impossible! It took 1 month to set he connection for what I paid 499 GBP in advance for 18 Months upfront. All this after hours of hanging on the phone with the customer service. Yesterday they charged me the 29.41 GBP by direct debit!!! They even had not provided the invoice!!!
Don't trust this company. Will got to my bank to reverse the transaction.
AVOID AVOID AVOID!
- Location
-
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2023-10-01
- Comments
-
Took out an energy , telephone and broadband package with SSE. They passed me to OVO. OVO then passed my telephone and broadband package to Origin. I received a letter saying my contract was up for renewal. I chose the middle option 2 , unlimited fibre plus. I was then informed that they didn’t have fibre in my area and my only option was unlimited broadband. The headache began. Wi-Fi practically non existent. Couldn’t use iPad ,Netflix or load and run any iPlayer.
Hours and hours of waiting on the phone. The agents I spoke to were very pleasant, no complaints there. One was based in England ,the others I spoke to, were in South Africa. In the end I had engineers from Openreach spend whole days testing my telephone points ( 3 whole days over a period 4 weeks) . The last 2 engineers advised that I needed fibre broadband to receive any signal and because this company didn’t have fibre in our area I needed to change my provider.
I then again phoned Origin and told them I would be leaving. Again I was hours and hours on the phone. Latterly I was told there would be an exit charge. I remonstrated that as they had not provided me with the service I was paying for,I was refusing to pay an exit charge. The agent then contacted her manager and came back and reported that they would waive the exit fee. I have now received a final invoice from Origin for £201.51 , of which £197.73 is an early termination fee.
I shall be making a complaint to the company and if they do not resolve this matter I shall be contacting the ombudsman services to resolve this matter. I have also been paying fees monthly for entertainment channels I cannot use , thanks to their poor investment in Wifi technology . Why are they allowed to charge fees for contracts they cannot deliver ?
- Location
-
- Location
- Allington
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-11-12
- Comments
-
I don’t suppose it will make any difference to them actually fixing my outstanding issues, but I would like to help others making their future broadband provider choices and say this company don’t give a fig about customer service. Their technicians will say anything to get you to go away; I’ll report it to networks, I will assign it to myself so I can monitor it and the ultimate push off I will call you back when I am back in and then don’t.
Have just spent another evening trying to get through with no success. So go on Origin get in touch if you dare and let me actually provide you with some constructive comments on your service processes.
- Location
-
- Location
- West Sussex
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2018-07-10
- Comments
-
OK broadband when it works.
HOWEVER - Been without DSL for 25 days.
After waiting for an engineer, simply was issue with router. Why oh why takes this long for simple fix.
Most incompetent and slightly rude customer service I have ever encountered. So far they have £15 credit note. Insulting.
- Location
-
- Location
- UK
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2018-04-10
- Comments
-
Fibre broadband frequently drops out for minutes at a time during evenings. Regularly find websites blocked due to "Unusual traffic from your IP address." Static IP address was changed with no warning. Spent more hours than I care to think about listening to their on-hold music and staff have never called me back despite promises on several occasions. They are currently blocking Vodafone so my SureSignal box can't connect - Zero progress with this for 6 days now despite calling every day.
- Location
-
- Location
- WATFORD
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2022-12-28
- Comments
-
This is a truly terrible company. I left them last year when my contract was finished. They still are trying to fraudently get money from me despite emailing me and agreeing to a final settlement which I paid.
Please be very careful with this company , they are a nightmare.
- Location
-
- Location
- Worthing
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2020-07-14
- Comments
-
I'm afraid it is a bad review from me. I was with Origin for two years.
The customer service line was only answered after about half an hour to forty minutes.
Broadband speed was always slow.
The company took chunks of money from my bank account for no apparent reason and without telling me in advance. When I enquired about this they had no explanation as to why they had taken my money, there was no apology and I had to wait a month from time of complaint for it to be returned to me.
They frequently made errors. For example, they failed to recognise that I had paid the BT line rental a year in advance and so put me on a different deal so that I was being charged for every single phone call when I should have been getting free landline calls. Again, when I enquired about this they refused to admit that they had made a mistake for the first couple of calls. When they finally admitted it and reluctantly refunded me the money, they offered no apology for all my calls to them and for misleading me.
- Location
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- Location
- Cumbria
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-11-03
- Comments
-
Have been left with no broadband for 2 weeks . They are supposed to be sending out a new router but every time I phone about it I get fobbed off with more lies .
- Location
-
- Location
- TROON
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2023-11-07
- Comments
-
Once it was a very good broadband and customer service. I do not know what happened but now it is nightmare. Live chat is gone, they don't respond to emails, if you have problem you have to phone which is very expensive. I lost 25 pounds calling them and got nothing done. On September 26, I lost my internet connection and I still have no signal. Instead of fixing the problem they sent me a new bill! Stay away from them!
- Location
-
- Location
- pentre halkyn
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-05-29
- Comments
-
Been an Origin customer for a while now, charges are quite good and whilst there are no problems everything is OK. However, if you experience a problem trying to get it sorted is unbelievable. Recently my router packed up due to a power cut, trying to get hold of technical help is next to impossible. I literally spent 102 mins. on one call waiting to be answered. Subsequently I had to ring a couple more times with waits of a similar duration. During this time you have to listen to a loop of interminable music that is like being exposed to Chinese water torture. To be fair when you finally get to speak with someone they are patient and helpful. Trying to get some response from customer service is a waste of time as there doesn't appear to be any. When my contract is concluded I shall be looking for a different provider. Hope my router lasts until then.
- Location
-
- Location
- Bradford
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2018-01-27
- Comments
-
Absolutely abismal service, since October have not had broadband. Spoke to customer service operative who told me there was a fault on the line, they would get an engineer out within 48 hours. Still not working rang again to be told the original fault had caused a loop fault, they did not ring me back to tell me this. They threatened me when I said I wanted the remainder of my money back. Would never go with them again. BEWARE it may look like a good deal, but when your not getting the service for at least half of the agreement, it’s quite an expensive option.
- Location
-
- Location
- South Wales
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2018-02-01
- Comments
-
Rubbish. Keeps dropping out a number of times a day and often goes off needing an engineer a couple times a month. Also slow, can slow down to next to nothing. Customer service try their best and are always polite. If possible go for different company.
- Location
-
- Location
- WATFORD
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2023-02-10
- Comments
-
I would have to say Origin is actually the worst company I have ever encountered.
- Location
-
- Location
- Bristol
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2018-02-24
- Comments
-
Dog****. I know they're the cheapest, but even so it's not worth it. They are virtually uncontactable via email when I needed information to get into my account to view my bills and it took them about a month to eventually send it. Repeated connection issues throughout the year which reoccured which meant I have to sit on the phone to tech support for hours. It would disconnect every hour for about 5 minutes, non-stop. This happened about 6 times over the course of my year contract with them, and they were unable to fix it. Long queues, deliberately obnoxious hold music. This is not a company that cares about its customers in the slightest. Also they had a little line hidden in their contract saying if you do not send their router back they will charge you an additional £40. Sneaky, but luckily I spotted it. ABSOLUTELY AVOID.
- Location
-
- Location
- Scotland
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2023-04-13
- Comments
-
In three months with this company:
I have had my phone line cut for a substantial period.
I have been repeatedly overcharged.
I have been kept waiting on phone lines for jaw dropping times.
I have been repeatedly assured that different problems would soon be resolved and then they weren't.
I was advised to use WhatsApp for customer service. It was then discontinued without me being told, so I was sending messages with no hope of a response.
The company is unable, or refuses, to break down my bill month by month, even though it is a simple contract.
I had phone line problems blamed on sub contractors, when my contract is with Origin, not the sub contractors.
The amount of time I have spent trying to get resolutions to problems with this company is jaw dropping.
- Location
-
- Location
- Morpeth
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-06-22
- Comments
-
really disapointed, transferred from BT but wish I hadn't
- Location
-
- Location
- Nottingham
- Reviewing
- Origin
- Date
- 2017-06-19
- Comments
-
They do not respond to complaints. They lie. They are totally untrustworthy
- Location
The reviews published on this page are those of the individual authors who have warrantied that they abide by our review guidelines. Reviews are not the opinion of Broadband.co.uk.
Origin are not affiliated with Broadband.co.uk. This page does not constitute any affiliation between Broadband.co.uk and Origin.