Original Dating  Avis 294

I had booked two tickets to a speed dating event in Glasgow, the event was cancelled by the organisers on the day due to not enough people signing up. This was fine however Original Dating would not then refund the tickets. The balance was credited to my account despite the fact that the next event in my age range was 2 months away and was not on a suitable date. They refused to refund the money so I have spent £40 on an event that did not happen. I understand the event could not go ahead but I am now out of pocket and will be unable to use the credit on my account. I would be very wary of using them again.

Went to event In Maidstone Venue was suitable, a bar in town. Nice but nothing compared to London’s finest but that is beyond their control.

Hostess was nice and very on the ball. Actual event was a debacle 4 women to 12 maybe 14 guys. Kept waiting for about 45 mins. Waiting for the women booked on to show up. Website showed the event fully booked or 1 woman shy of full so should have been evenly matched.

It felt more like a few local girls paid to show up than a real possibility of meeting anybody. Just got offered free tickets to an event tonight in Canterbury for me and male friends as men have pulled out.

Review was flagged as defamatory despite being factual...draw your own conclusions.

Edited- Scammers!!

Despite the reply below, I have tried to contact them numerous times by email as their phone line is just a recorded msg and I haven’t had a reply.
How am I supposed to get in touch?

I paid for a speed dating event for last night, and arrived on time (it said to arrive at 7pm for the event starting at 7:30).
I was told by the bar staff that originaldating had contacted the bar at 11am that morning to cancel and that another 3 people had already turned up but been turned away as they clearly had not informed any of the attendees that it had been cancelled.
I immediately called their customer service line which is a recorded message and then emailed their customer service email address.
I got a response at 19:58 saying

“We apologise for the mix-up. Our host is at the venue trying to resolve the issue. I’m not sure if you’re still there, but I can transfer your booking to a different event as an apology and will also credit back to your account. We will also email all the guests tomorrow with a detailed explanation of the situation.

Apologise again, and thanks for your understanding.

Team at Original Dating”

I replied saying I didn’t want credit and I want a full refund because I had wasted my time, efforts and money on transport (I didn’t even mention the money wasted on a dog sitter) and they replied today saying

“ That’s a shame, as the issue was resolved later and the event did go ahead. I understand it wasn’t your fault and that there was a misunderstanding on the venue’s end.

Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer a refund in this case. However, I’ve added a credit to your OD account, and I’d be happy to book you onto another event of your choice, including one of our parties , free of charge. Just let me know which one you’re interested in.

Looking at your account, it seems you're a new customer, and we'd love for you to give our events another chance.

Many thanks,
Chigse”

I responded again saying that I do not want a credit and want a full refund and they are no longer responding.
Having read the other reviews, I realise, it was a scam! What a waste of time and money and what a disappointment.
I will never book with them again!

Its no different to apps in that most women attending typically didn’t like ANY of the men (i asked a lot of women if they liked anyone, all said no) and would write you off immediately if they didn’t instantly like you. Even the one girl that DID like me (and who I kissed later) marked me as NO the next day on the system despite her mate telling me how much she liked me. So again like an app, if she doesn’t instantly think you’re her type physically she’ll write you off and only talk cos everyone has to be polite thus eliminating the need for confidence in approaching.

In fact most of the women will mark you NO, very few will mark you as FRIEND and even fewer will mark you as YES. It just shows how closed minded they were if they didn’t even mark you as FRIEND. In comparison, I marked everyone I wasn’t interested in as FRIEND (not NO) cos most were pretty pleasant.

A lot of the profiles didn’t even have a pic and a couple people I met didn’t even have a profile it seems (maybe they deleted it quickly or gave fake names?).

There were 3 nice girls there but the rest were of course average but thats expected. Many women were a bit awkward and obvs not used to being chatted to by men they don’t know.

First single party boat experience & was such a fun, well organised event!
Event team were all fab; great turnout of people as advertised; icebreaker game was such a good way to engage meeting each other!
Really good atmosphere & dancing as well as drinks flowing & best afternoon! Highly recommend!

Nice venue, friendly host and I met some interesting people. It was fun overall. 😊

Unacceptable service!

I showed up yesterday at one of their speed dating events in Edinburgh when the staff from the venue told me it wasn’t on, because there was another event on that had been booked 3 months in advance. And they also told me the people from originaldating had been made aware of this, but still me and others did not receive an email about any cancellation!

The worst part is actually that contacting them is rather difficult, but when I finally got trough to them they used the excuse that the person who was going to host the event was in an emergency while on their way to the event. Which is totally bullshit as the event was never going to be on. The fact they use such a vulnerable excuse is unacceptable to me!

They now refuse to give me a refund, only credit for a next event. They say because I used credit to pay for this event and that’s correct, I did because they made another mistake before. I had booked tickets for an event I didn’t notice wasn’t for my age, but when I filled in my date of birth they still let me book it. When I found out, I canceled and they gave me credit which I then used for this new event that never happened!

Please read other reviews, as they use the same excuse about the host being in an emergency when other events didn’t happen! Avoid this company!!

This company is unbelievable. They took £27 from a subscription that I no longer have and refused to provide a refund.

Really good fun, the lock and key idea is simple but a really good ice breaker! So nice to meet people in person, I went by myself (as did many others) which made it easier to go and talk to other people, and everyone was in the same boat of being a lil nervous but really friendly and keen to get to know each other! Would definitely recommend, so much better than using the apps…

Terrible! Arrived at an event only to be told by the venue that original dating had cancelled it and they didn’t tell anyone! everyone turned up, I drove 40 minutes. Really bad.

Updated - have noted the response. Also paid for the discounted tickets and online dating option. I have been subscribed for a while and not received one match. I think the add appears misleading as it looks like nobody even checks this, it’s not proper you cannot contact anyone without them matching you so I don’t recommend mixeo unless you want to save a bit on events tickets

Professor and friendly Environment

The host was late and often seemed confused. The venue had poor acoustics I could not hear any of my dates. The host forgot to check in a few people, so they didn't appear in the selection of dates you wish to stay in touch with. i have been using this company off and on for years, and they have been getting worse and worse. Their getting rid of score cards was a bad decision.

Update: if their customer service was even 5% as efficient as their responses to their numerous bad reviews they'd be well on there way to providing something close to mediocre. Unfortunately though the company is WAY below par

To quote my friend "I'd rather eat my own s**t than go to another one of their events". Have been to two: very poorly attended, the men were just awful and the company tries to deviously get as much money out of you as possible without actually providing a good service. Avoid avoid avoid

I’ve attended two events with Original Dating—on the 31st and most recently on the 3rd in Tooting—and I want to say a big thank you to the organizers and hosts. Both events were really well-run, professional, and welcoming. You can tell the team puts in a lot of effort to make sure everything goes smoothly, and I truly appreciated that.

That said, I’m writing this with a heavy heart. Sadly, I didn’t get any matches from either event, and it feels like no one was really interested in me. I came to these events full of hope and optimism, genuinely believing I might meet someone special—someone to love deeply, to share life’s joys with, to travel and grow old with. But it didn’t happen, and it’s left me feeling quite crushed.

For now, I think I need to take a step back and give myself a little time. It’s not easy putting yourself out there, and while I’m glad I tried, the emotional toll is real.

Still, I want to thank Original Dating for giving people the space and chance to connect. Just because it didn’t work out for me (yet), doesn’t take away from the effort and care they put into what they do.

It was a good night with lots of laughter and nice to meet lots of new people, great event, thanks for organising it.

I have tried contacting Original dating over 5 times now asking for a call back ive tried calling the number (Automated no option to speak to anyone) so ive emailed 5 times and no response. once i get a call back i will remove this rating!! By all mean ill remove this post but please help me so i can talk to someone Please call me on 07747896597

I have been to 3 events with this company and all have been amazing. The lock and key theme is such a nice relaxed environment and a great way to meet single people in a group setting.

2 events were cancelled on the trot and they have refused to respond to my request for a refund of money.
Awful
Never using again

A throughly enjoyable experience, as I have always preferred Lock and Key parties to online dating. The 1-2-1 interaction is more enjoyable. The Devonshire Terrace is a very nice venue, which I have been to before with Original Dating. My only negative would be that the venue was a little bit small, especially for a Valentines event, other than that, it was a great experience.

Been to quite and few and have never had a bad experience. Also had the chance to meet some interesting women and ones I’d never usually meet in an everyday life. The event was organised professionally and everyone stayed til the end.