Original Dating  Avis 294

Turned up to the event and there was no organiser or cancellation. Giving the benefit of the doubt if there might be emergency, I waited for any news from the organiser for a week.(contact form through website did not get any reply)
Phone number is voice mail only.
After sending email, I was told there was medical emergency with host but nobody had bothered to communicate. They offered me credit back to the account which I declined. They said that they dont do refunds according to their terms.
Dont waste your money.

I attended two events in Bristol on consecutive weeks and unfortunately both were extremely disappointing.
The first was a lock and key event at The Lost & Found (16/04). The venue itself is lovely, but the room booked for the event was completely unsuitable for the number of attendees. It was overcrowded, hot, and difficult to move around in, which made it impossible to take part in the activity. It felt poorly planned and uncomfortable, and I ended up leaving shortly after registering.
The following week (22/04) at The Cocktail Club was equally frustrating. Only four men attended, and as soon as it became clear how unbalanced the event was, I left with five other women.
What’s most disappointing is the lack of response after raising these issues directly and requesting a refund. Two events in a row that did not deliver what was advertised, followed by no communication, is not acceptable.
Based on my experience, I would not recommend attending these events. Customer service has noticeably declined.
I will update this review if the company resolves the matter.

AVOID!

Bought a ticket for an event in Edinburgh and the same day get an email telling me that it was canceled and rescheduled... What a joke. No way to contact them, neither by phone or email.
Stay away from this scam.

Ps: my mistake by purchasing before reading reviews...

I had a really fun evening meeting some lovely people. It was well organised and relaxed which helped keep the initial nerves at bay!

Scamming company with TERRIBLE customer service. Selling tickets to an event that doesn’t exist and then gaslighting customers claiming they were told the event was cancelled. (Yeah cos we waste our time and money for fun) Refused to refund and told a series of lies that changed every time and the eventually just ignored all communication. This company does not care one bit about its customers or its reputation. Hope you enjoy the money that you stole from me, you won’t be getting any more from me or my friends. I’m sure your company won’t be around much longer.

Genuinely one of the worst experiences I’ve had with any paid event.

I’ve now attended four Original Dating events and every single one has been badly organised, poorly balanced, and a complete waste of time. The ratio of men to women is consistently wrong, events are cancelled or half-empty, and the overall standard is shockingly low. There is clearly no vetting process at all – many attendees struggle to hold even a basic conversation, and some of my female friends have been made to feel uncomfortable.

Last night was the final straw. Around 20 people turned up to Sugar Cane in Clapham for a scheduled event, only to find the venue completely shut. No email, no cancellation notice, no apology – just people left standing outside like idiots having wasted their evening.

To charge £20+ per ticket for this level of incompetence is frankly embarrassing. I have raised a complaint and received no response.

Avoid at all costs.

Very well organised. Host was kind and made me feel welcome. Good crowd too. The locations was carefully selected - a quiet corner in a bigger venue. Stylish, but not too much. Really pleased, will try again.

It was my first speed‑dating experience. Al, the event organiser, was incredibly kind and helpful, and he managed the whole evening very efficiently—especially considering the uneven numbers (some people didn’t turn up, and there were more women than men).
I met new people—maybe even a few new friends—and the evening flowed really smoothly as the conversations did too. In fact, some of us decided to spend more time together afterwards, so we went out for food, more drinks, and music somewhere else.
I’m definitely happy I did it!

The venue was stylish and easy to get to from a local tube station. Good turn out for both guys and girls. Was nice to make the effort to go out and meet face to face rather than an evening of swiping! The host explained how the evening would run. All the people I met were very pleasant. The only negatives were that the venue although great in many ways was a little loud which made it slightly harder to hear each other, and some guys didn’t put a profile up on the website which meant you couldn’t attempt to match with them. All in all great, would recommend and plan on returning for another event

I originally tried to post this review on the company’s own website, but it turns out reviews there have to be “approved” before they appear — which seems to explain why there are hardly any honest ones showing. So I’m leaving it here instead to make sure it’s actually seen.

I rarely write negative reviews, but this event was such a mess that it feels necessary to warn others. From start to finish, the evening was disorganised, uncomfortable, and absolutely not worth the £20 ticket price.

The organisation was chaotic. The host looked completely overwhelmed and panicked from the moment we arrived, despite the small turnout. We started very late, and timings were a shambles throughout. Rather than using something simple — like a bell or timer — to signal rotations, she wandered table to table apologising, creating confusion and delays every round. No one seemed to know where they were meant to go.

The people attending were very mixed. Some of the women were great — friendly and easy to talk to — but a few of the men behaved inappropriately, ignoring personal boundaries and making me feel uncomfortable. It didn’t seem like there was any proper vetting in place, which made the atmosphere feel awkward and, at times, unsafe.

To make matters worse, the event overran by nearly an hour because of poor time management. I had to leave before it finished, and frankly, I was relieved to go.

When I contacted the organisers for a refund, they refused and only offered a voucher for another event instead — which I clearly have no interest in attending after this experience.

In short, it was unprofessional, poorly run, and not worth the money. I’d recommend avoiding until they seriously improve how they manage both the experience and customer feedback

Everyone was very friendly and the host was excellent.

Speed dating is a great event more and more people who are single ought to attend you might not find love but you will have a great evening and you will make lots of friends and that's what we need in this world

Absolute wash out! Not very well planned and total waste of money. 4 men to 18 women and unable to actually do the speed dating!! Don’t waste your money!!!

Good event. Well organised. Venue was very nice and lock and key concept is good idea as icebreaker.

I loved this event. Great fun, great music. Quality people. Couple of things…I had to join four queues before I could even get started - check-in line, coat check, drinks and lock and keys. You ran out of lock and keys and it was a totally different experience with the numbers! You would have enough for everyone. It was also a little too crowded. Thanks for a great event. Looking forward to more!

A better ratio of people, raffle and games involved, more fun then previous events by a different company.

Hello. I’d like a refund for the event in Newcastle last night. It was absolutely diabolical. There was around 20 women who attended and THREE men, one of which was violent and was removed from the venue. No games were able to be played. No lock and key was played. It was the worst event I’ve been to. Total failed advertisement. Site showed that there was only a few tickets remaining giving failed hope that a lot of people had booked. They defintley hadn’t. Waste of time and money

This was the first time I’d ever attended such an event and I have to say- that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The attendees were delightful and very friendly.
There was a unity between of of us that made the whole experience fun.
Unity , in the sense that : everyone was on the same page and genuinely there to mix or potentially meet someone.
So in short : thank you for having me, I’d recommend it to anyone.
And just to add: attendees who go solo, should not worry about anything as the organisers are very inclusive.
Warm wishes to all!
Salvatore.

Great night speed dating in Nottingham, the host edie was very good and made the evening easy and enjoyable.