Origin Broadband - any good

ochiba

I've experienced Origin customer service problems, billing errors, bogus charges for mid month activation, etc, since switching to Origin standard broadband and line rental, 12 months up front payment for £154.99 offer on 25.07.17. But Origin have stooped to a new low.

On the 25.09.17 Origin Broadband emailed a service update notification. On 29.09.17 I would lose my broadband connection and I would need to enter a new PPP username and password on my router to re-connect to their broadband network.

I noticed a significant drop in broadband speed (from a steady 17 mbps to less than 8 mbps) on 30.09.17, the day after making the changes to my router setup.

I monitored my broadband speeds over the next week and found that the broadband download speed was not too bad during the day (10 to 15 mbps) but it suddenly drops to 1.9 mbps between 7pm and 12pm every night, with a ping rate of 102ms. I notified Origin Broadband of the sudden loss of broadband speed in writing via their website Customer Portal "contact us” on 06.10.17. To date they have still not responded.

I phoned Origin Broadband 09.10.17 and spoke to their Tech Support. They went through the usual phone socket checks, then said that I should be getting a better speed and that there was a more direct broadband network connection to my house. They said they would adjusted the network connection and would call back in 2 days.

I monitored the broadband speed and found that I was still getting this sudden drop in ping time, broadband download and upload speeds between those very specific times.

Origin Broadband Tech Support phoned a couple of days later and said they had noted the sudden drop in service and they they wanted to try something else and would call me back the next day.

Three days later Tech Support called me. She didn’t tell me what she had tried to do to improve the broadband service. Instead she said that there was nothing they could do to improve it and that the nightly drop in speed was due to "network traffic during peak times". She then tried to pressure me to upgrading my broadband service to fibre at £25.99 per month.

I explained that I have had a consistently good broadband speed of 17 mbps at all times of the day and night for the last 10 years and that the nightly drop in broadband speed only started after the Origin Broadband router service update. She replied that she couldn’t comment on previous supplier’s broadband speeds (which was actually Origin's own download speed for the last month!) and again tried to force me to upgrade my broadband service. I was subjected to 20 minutes hard selling. I kept refusing to upgrade and eventually she told me she would pass me to a more senior member of their Tech Support. She told me I was the next in the queue and then I was left waiting on a silent phone line for 20 minutes.

The next person I spoke to introduced himself as a Second Line Tech Support. He agreed that the broadband speed problem sounded like a network issue and agreed that the sudden loss of broadband speed after the router changes was significant. He told me that the previous person I spoke to was First Line Tech Support. He said he would investigate and call back in 2 days. Needless to say I have not heard from him again.

The day after I refused to upgrade to Origin Fibre, my broadband download speed miraculously improved to a steady 13 mbps with a ping rate of 20ms regardless of the time of day!

Is anybody else being subjected to this hard sell?

ochiba

I've experienced all the usual Origin Broadband customer service problems, ie billing errors, bogus charges for mid month activation, etc, since switching to Origin standard broadband and line rental package, 12 months up front payment for £154.99 offer, on 25.07.17 via MSE. But Origin Broadband have stooped to a new low.

On the 25.09.17 Origin Broadband emailed a service update notification. On 29.09.17 I would lose my broadband connection and I would need to enter a new PPP username and password on my router to re-connect to their broadband network.

I noticed a significant drop in broadband speed (from a steady 17 mbps to less than 8 mbps) on 30.09.17, the day after making the changes to my router setup.

I monitored my broadband speeds over the next week and found that the broadband download speed was not too bad during the day (10 to 15 mbps) but it suddenly drops to 1.9 mbps between 7pm and 12pm every night, with a ping rate of 102ms. I notified Origin Broadband of the sudden loss of broadband speed in writing via their website Customer Portal "contact us” on 06.10.17. To date they have still not responded.

I phoned Origin Broadband 09.10.17 and spoke to their Tech Support. They went through the usual phone socket checks, then said that I should be getting a better speed and that there was a more direct broadband network connection to my house. They said they would adjusted the network connection and would call back in 2 days.

I monitored the broadband speed and found that I was still getting this sudden drop in ping time, broadband download and upload speeds between those very specific times.

Origin Broadband Tech Support phoned a couple of days later and said they had noted the sudden drop in service and they they wanted to try something else and would call me back the next day.

Three days later Tech Support called me. She didn’t tell me what she had tried to do to improve the broadband service. Instead she said that there was nothing they could do to improve it and that the nightly drop in speed was due to "network traffic during peak times". She then tried to pressure me to upgrading my broadband service to fibre at £25.99 per month.

I explained that I have had a consistently good broadband speed of 17 mbps at all times of the day and night for the last 10 years and that the nightly drop in broadband speed only started after the Origin Broadband router service update. She replied that she couldn’t comment on previous supplier’s broadband speeds (which was actually Origin's own download speed for the last month!) and again tried to force me to upgrade my broadband service. I was subjected to 20 minutes hard selling. I kept refusing to upgrade and eventually she told me she would pass me to a more senior member of their Tech Support. She told me I was the next in the queue and then I was left waiting on a silent phone line for 20 minutes.

The next person I spoke to introduced himself as a Second Line Tech Support. He agreed that the broadband speed problem sounded like a network issue and agreed that the sudden loss of broadband speed after the router changes was significant. He told me that the previous person I spoke to was First Line Tech Support. He said he would investigate and call back in 2 days. Needless to say I have not heard from him again.

The day after I refused to upgrade to Origin Fibre, my broadband download speed miraculously improved to a steady 13 mbps with a ping rate of 20ms regardless of the time of day!

Is anybody else being subjected to this hard sell?

newtonflotman

2ND line tech have never got back to me. I'm on 76mb fibre, always had a steady 63mb before setting change. Now I get high pings in evenings and dropouts, 1.8mb last night often below 40mb and now never above 53mb. Look at their facebook page everyone is in the same boat. Being on their highest package no hard sell to me but they just don't seem to care.

Orbitolina

My current broadband and landline contract with Origin runs out in January and I'll need to look for something new in due time. There are a few things to consider:

- I need a landline as it's otherwise too expensive for my dad to phone me (he doesn't live in the UK and is too old to consider other options)
- I'm currently applying for other work, but success might still be far away in my industry. Still I need to consider terminating my contract earlier. I know I have to pay for the rest of the contract but I don't want to end up with additional high costs. I read the other day that BT charges you for terminating earlier
- happy with Origin? Hmm.. my connection is pretty poor at times, but I suppose every provider using the same infrastructure has the same issue in this building.
- cashback would be nice, but most cashback deals seem to contain tv, mobile and other stuff I don't need. I really only need internet that is somewhat reliable and a landline.

What else to take into account? Can I tell a provider I want a new contract to start at a certain date and that internet is live then? I cannot affort not having internet at home for a while until the new contract goes live. So how do I do this?

Thanks a lot

JJ_Egan

Termination is the months left on contract .
New contract you choose new ISP and they do all the work .Service usually ends and taken over the same day .

Orbitolina

Great, thanks a lot. I never had to renew internet services as I move around quite a bit.

Right, so how do I find out easily which providers are cheap to cancel before a contract runs out?

artyclarty

I am pretty sure that your contract is not ending in January, just that you are reaching your minimum term. You continue to be supplied your services until you give your notice and should be able to cancel with one months notice at any point when you need to move again.

There is no point in starting a new contract, that would most likely be a waste of money in your situation.

wongataa

Orbitolina wrote: »

Great, thanks a lot. I never had to renew internet services as I move around quite a bit.

Right, so how do I find out easily which providers are cheap to cancel before a contract runs out?

Every supplier will charge you at least the monthly cost multiplied by the unused months in the minimum term if you cancel before the minimum term is up. Therefore the cheapest will be the one with the lowest monthly cost.

Orbitolina

Yes, I know. And that is right and just of course. But I heard from some people that some providers charge extra on top of that to cancel a contract early, to disconnect you, for the router, and all other sorts of things. This seems to be the case with BT anyway. I'm not sure about others.

JJ_Egan

You should go back to these some people and ask them to clarify .
If you cancel a first contract within the 12 month period its normal for an ISP to ask you to pay for any equipment provided .After twelve months its generally classed as yours .
Though some ISPs may have different terms and only loan equipment .
As said start from the beginning choose your supplier and check terms and conditions .