Origin Broadband - any good

vauxhall1975

All i can say is dont touch with long barge pole sorry origin telephone service is nigh on non existent on 2 occassions trying to cancel due to poor service took 45 to 50 mins on hold to get through to a very unhelpful opetator who didnt care i wanted to cancel just said ok and cut me off ! Almost funny if werent for the fact i got a 45 pound bill for the call to their nunber for the effort !
They dont state what speed you will get in terms and conditions anywhere and when questioned as to v low speed compared to old provider they said i would have to wait 14 days until it settled and i could only get max 5mb. Having cone from sky on 17mb i knew this to be wrong and their data source for max speed on lines is their own shoddy database not the official channels. Handy they said the 14 days knowing i would not be avle to cancel aftee that i waited 10 days with 5mb at most with online calls to tech dwpt to get them to speed it up. Said they couldnt my line couldnt handle more so i decided to cancel. Total rubbish. Ensure you keep track of the dates etc fibre would prob be fibe im sure but defo beware the standard broadband.
V

Origin-Broadband

DRJM wrote: »

Good afternoon,

I have just spoken to your representative, Mr Beetham, who has informed me that despite your company assuring me my internet connection would be up and running on 04/04/2017 there is absolutely nothing your company will do to get me connected before 27/04/2017, despite me being unable to work (and thus earn money and falling into rent arrears), as using "home internet for business" requires you, due to your "policy" to apparently do literally nothing to assist a customer who is paying for your non-existent service. Quite how you think not providing a service for nearly a full calendar month is acceptable is beyond me, and due to my circumstance the fact you have confirmed you will make no exceptions whatsoever to help me is simply mind boggling.

In addition, Mr Beetham informed me your company will not offer, even as a gesture of goodwill, a single penny in compensation for the 60 odd hours of wages I will have lost by 27/04/2017 due to being unable to fulfill my work commitments due to having no internet at home; and that doesn't even factor in the costs incurred due to the hours spent on the phone/inconvenience caused. I work part time whilst studying my MA part time, so money is tight for me & every penny counts, yet your company, despite being told repeatedly, have demonstrated zero interest/due care that not only is my job now hanging by a thread, but I will be unable to pay my rent and will fall into arrears with my landlord, leaving me facing possible eviction.

Despite me again asking Mr Beetham for the written business addresses of the two Origin employees named in my previous message, he was unwilling to provide me with them, so the "escalation" process appears to move up the hierarchy to the position of "Team Leader", but will not, for some reason, be permitted to go any further. I have asked Mr Beetham to outline your company's stance (i.e. the fact you are not willing to do a single thing to rectify a situation which is 100% your fault, or compensate me in any way) in writing, as I will be pursuing these issues with the Ombudsmen and will highly likely be pursuing legal action against your company.

I can only recommend any potential customers considering signing up with your company factor in you not only fail to provide the service you advertise, but also your "customer service"
amounts to washing your hands of any issues/serious problems you have caused paying customers; apologizing yet doing absolutely nothing. Origin Broadband are a scandalous, amateurish outfit, who care not a jot for their customers and the problems they cause them, and I would again advise MSE users to avoid avoid avoid.

Good Afternoon,

A member of our complaints team has tried to contact you this morning regarding the issues that you are having. We are very keen to get this matter sorted for you.
If I could kindly ask you check your email 'Junk' folder and any voicemail notifications.

Thank You,

Origin Broadband

DRJM

I was eventually contacted by someone from your complaints department today, 23 days after the problems first arose.

I have been unable to 'check my email 'Junk' folder' as I have STILL have no internet access, despite you taking two direct debit payments from my bank account; and I have been unable to check my voicemail messages due to the fact I used my entire mobile call allowance on the phone to Origin (5 hours +, mostly on hold) .

I sincerely hope your representative will be forthcoming with an adequate offer of financial reparation due to my loss of earnings etc., as according to my solicitor, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Trading Standards et al. I have a very, very strong case should I choose to pursue Origin Broadband through the courts.

VeniVidiVisafree

Origin Broadband advising customers to "CHECK THEIR JUNK FOLDERS IN THEIR EMAIL ACCOUNTS. .... WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS! priceless:rotfl:

Origin-Broadband

DRJM wrote: »

I was eventually contacted by someone from your complaints department today, 23 days after the problems first arose.

I have been unable to 'check my email 'Junk' folder' as I have STILL have no internet access, despite you taking two direct debit payments from my bank account; and I have been unable to check my voicemail messages due to the fact I used my entire mobile call allowance on the phone to Origin (5 hours +, mostly on hold) .

I sincerely hope your representative will be forthcoming with an adequate offer of financial reparation due to my loss of earnings etc., as according to my solicitor, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Trading Standards et al. I have a very, very strong case should I choose to pursue Origin Broadband through the courts.

Good Morning,

Thank you for your response.
I understand you have received the emails we have sent to you and have been responding via email, to a member of our complaints team - who is looking into this for you.
We hope to have your matter resolved as soon as possible.

Kind Regards,

Origin Broadband

Origin-Broadband

VeniVidiVisafree wrote: »

Origin Broadband advising customers to "CHECK THEIR JUNK FOLDERS IN THEIR EMAIL ACCOUNTS. .... WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS! priceless:rotfl:

Good Morning,

We ask customers to check their email 'Junk' folder incase they have any filters on their mailboxes from 'Unknown senders'.

We understand many people have mobile data, with a mailbox linked to their phones so are still able to check and then respond via email, through their mobiles.

We then look at if any further costs for mobile data have incurred, and address this separately.

Kind Regards,

Origin Broadband

Lilley44

Just switched to origin, very disappointed!
As soon as we connected the broadband constantly dropped out & we've now had zero internet for over a week.

Upon phoning customer service, I was on hold for the best part of 2 hours! They were unable to sort the problem & now want to send an engineer out....several emails later (with no reply from origin) & several calls later (being on hold 30 minutes or so each time before someone answered!) an engineer will be sent out, just waiting again for someone to contact me.....

During the couple of hours we had broadband when first setting up, speeds were VERY slow. Unable to watch videos due to horrendous buffering

& we're paying for this 'service'!.....

Prior to origin, we were with plusnet who weren't much better (unable to watch videos etc or update iPhones so had to travel several miles to find a reliable wifi connection!) They were slightly better at answering the phone though!

RichyRich

RichyRich wrote:

I've had a real nightmare with Origin Broadband. My one year contract with BT ends today. Around 11th January I was starting to think about applying to a new provider after I called BT and they couldn't offer anything close to the best deals on the market. I looked at Origin and saw they were doing a cracking deal: £300 for two years' line rental and broadband plus about £35 in Quidco - fabulous.

I went through the application on the website and couldn't find where to select the start date - each time I've switched before there has been this option. Went onto the live chat who advised you can't do that through the website and need to call. Disappointing as lose the Quidco cashback but did it a few days later after being on hold 30 minutes. Made it very clear that my switch date had to be the 27th January or later.

A few days later I got an email from BT advising that my broadband, but not my line, would switch on 25th and as such I'd be charged £55 for equipment. I called BT who checked and advised this is correct. I tried calling Origin a few times but gave up after being on hold too long so emailed them. They replied indicating that they hadn't had a switch date through from OpenReach yet and that I would definitely not be transferred before 27th.

On 23rd I called BT to ensure the change had been made. They advised that the switch date was still showing as 25th and it was still showing as broadband only, and not the line so I instructed them to cancel the switch, which they did. I then called Origin Broadband to cancel it from their end too under the terms of the cooling-off period.

After a considerable wait I spoke to a gentlemen who became immediately confrontational and aggressive when I asked him to cancel the order and intended to place it again after 27th to avoid the £55 replacement fee. I was told that this was the third call he had received that day for the same reason and that BT have used similar tactics with other customers to stop them from leaving because they don't want them to go. He said he was looking directly at the OpenReach system and could see that the order was queued for the 27th. I asked why BT's system was showing broadband only and 25th and he said that BT say that to stop customers leaving. I asked him whether he was accusing BT of fraud - he did not answer. I had to ask him around five times to cancel before he eventually acquiesced to my request while still insisting that I would not be charged £55 by BT - an assurance he is unable to give because he does not work for them!

I will still be switching broadband but this experience has put me off switching to Origin. If this is how they talk to customers before they are onboarded I don't really want to get into bed with them for a two year term...and that's before we even get onto their hideously long telephone queues!

My refund will take ten working days, apparently. It didn't take them that long to debit my card!

Ordeal! Origin never refunded me despite my chasing multiple times. Ended up requesting a refund from my bank and getting the money that way.

Raised a complaint which they partially responded to. They eventually admitted they were a few days early.

I ended up escalating to the Ombudsman. They provided me with their proposal today. They have concluded that there were three customer service failures and asked Origin to apologise and provide a modest goodwill gesture.

I'm happy with this and have accepted. I'm pleased that this has finally been brought to a conclusion, and have no intention of applying to switch to Origin again in the future!

cashmonger

They seem to be £10 cheaper than other companies however the reviews online seem almost unanimously bad.

I am wondering whether to take a punt on them or not. I suppose £10 a month is not worth it if the service was terrible, which most reviews are saying it is and especially since I work online and need a reliable connection.

steveE2

Plenty
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5278762