Original Dating  Reviews 

Booked an event with this company, they cancelled the event just before it was due to start and then refused to give a refund for an event they cancelled!

Hi Tom,
Thank you for your email, and apologies if we missed your previous message.
As per our terms and conditions, tickets to our events are non-refundable, which you agreed to at the time of booking. In the event of a cancellation, we issue an event credit which is valid for 6 months and can be used towards any of our future events.
To use your credit for a future booking, ensure you are logged in to your account. Click 'Book Now,' and you will be given the option to apply your credit to the speed dating event. It will be clearly indicated that you are using credit and not making a purchase by card.

Please note that credits are valid for 6 months, and bookings must be made at least 4 days in advance of the chosen speed dating event. If it’s sooner, please drop us a line, and we can manually book you in, subject to availability.
We appreciate your understanding .
Best wishes,
Marinelle

APPAULING customer service they don’t answer emails!
It costs nothing to give someone a quick reply to inform them of basic information.
This has happened to me on more than one occasion With this company after sending just a standard basic email! Even if you follow up to push for a response they ignore you!
Just shows poor communication and authenticity on the staffs part!

Not appealing to deal with! No phone number either to call!

Great event, host, well organised, great evening and with amazing people. Time flew very quickly but thoroughly enjoyed - non comparable to so called 'dating apps' plus you get to see people face to face.

Location was central, great venue, modern and set a great mood for the event.

they keep sending me emails. with NO AGE bracket.

so if your 55 or 20 you could be meeting people outside of the 'best and normal' dating age range.

if your 50 you dont want to be dating people in their 20s.

feedback.! stop the ' hiding' ages

describe and put explicitly the age range for events.

Seemed totally disorganised from the start and the host didn't explain the unusual system original dating uses (seems like a catch to get you to sign up to their own "Mixeo" dating service and you are pushed to create a dating bio"?)
It started late and a bit every man for himself I was advised to sit at a empty table because there was one less lady then after it started the host realised that there was a lady who didn't have anyone to talk too.
Made a very weird atmosphere and totally killed it for me and I ended up walking out of the event after it had just started! I have had good experiences with speed dating services from other companies but this one was an awful experience

=== Misleading advertising and false claims, disorganised, events that don't run, refusals of refunds, abuse of email, marketing funnel into an online dating app ===

Myself and a friend turned up for an Original Dating speed dating event in Brighton, May 14th 2026. The venue was a hotel bar shared with guests at the hotel - awkward to say the least.

The event did not start when expected. We sat around like idiots with no idea what was going on. As the venue was shared with hotel guests we had no idea who was there for the speed dating and who wasn't.

It took the host nearly an hour to confirm the event was canceled. We were told that several people had said they weren't coming, several people had arrived and left immediately because the venue was shared, and that only 7 men and 7 women were expected. The original advert claimed we would meet up to 20 matches.

I contacted Original Dating the day after asking for a refund and they have refused quoting their terms and conditions. I have formally reiterated my request for a refund and it has been ignored. I will begin a chargeback with my card issuer in 14 days that I am confident will be successful.

Do not be fobbed off by this company if you have had a similar experience. Their T&Cs are weak. In all likelihood your card issuer will not see "people not turning up, attendees leaving and fewer attendees confirmed than expected" as "out of our control". "Meet up to 20 matches" when only 7 men and women were expected in the first place is materially inconsistent with the event description used when selling tickets. UK consumer law states that "businesses cannot hide misleading representations behind boilerplate T&Cs." Under the Competition and Markets Authority approach to unfair terms, a blanket: “no refunds, credits only” term is challengeable if the trader simply fails to provide the contracted service.

Furthermore, Original Dating's events work by forcing you to complete an online dating profile to get your matches. The whole point of speed dating is to avoid online dating apps.

I am now receiving endless emails saying "my matches are ready" for an event that didn't even run and for a profile I didn't even complete.

There are loads of other great speed dating events in Brighton. I heartily recommend you use those and not Original Dating.

// Response to Orignal Dating’s reply

Attendees have to join a website called Mixeo to get any matches, not that I’d have any matches because the event didn’t run. Google “Mixeo” and it literally says “online dating service”. The onboarding blurb promises “nearby matches” which strongly suggests to me the site isn’t only for those who attended a specific event. An online dating app in other words.

The reply makes no reference to a refund. Regardless of T&Cs, when an event doesn’t run at all, when an event is canceled once customers have already arrived, when customers are left wondering what’s going on for close to an hour, and the host just exits without explanation - the fair, and decent thing to do is simply issue a refund. Why burn so much goodwill? Why waste everybody’s time? One attendee had come all the way from East Grinsted. Why risk negative reviews? Why risk negative reputation? All for the sake of, in this instance, an entirely reasonable and justified request for a refund.

This is customer service from the dark ages. This is the kind of profit first, customers last, nonsense that these days any company worth their salt would bend over backwards to avoid.

Why on earth would I use the event credit when you have failed so miserably? It’s literally the job of Original Dating to create the event and yet they hide behind their T&Cs when things go wrong.

Event didn't run? Not our problem mate! See T&Cs. Wow!

Pitiful.

Good mix of sexes. Easy to talk to people. Everyone was in the same boat (literally and metaphorically) and looking for some conversation. The weather was great, the boat and facilities were good with bar down stairs and dancefloor upstairs. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was my 1st time having a go at speed dating and it was a great experience and good evening meeting people face to face to have a chat and see where it goes, will go again.

Host was great. Well organised, explained everything and kept things moving. Gender balance as pretty good, only.2 different.
Venue did start playing loud music near the end but host got it turned down a bit so we could still hear each other.
Putting in your matches and messaging is pretty straight forward.
Better than another company I have tried, mostly because of host.

I attended a Speedy Dating event( locks and keys) at the Happenstance Lounge Bar )for over 40s, but unfortunately it wasn’t very well organised. To be honest, it was quite unclear what was supposed to be happening. The concept seemed to involve walking around and interacting using the “padlock” idea, but only three gentlemen actually approached me to try my padlock.
I paid an extra £2.50 on top of the £30 ticket price, but when I arrived, I didn’t understand what it was for.
That said, the venue itself was nice and had a good atmosphere for mingling and meeting new people.
One downside was my experience at the bar. When I ordered a prosecco, it appeared to be poured from two nearly empty, flat bottles and then topped up with a fresh one, which wasn’t ideal. I didn’t say anything at the time, but it did leave a negative impression.
Overall, while the setting was pleasant, the organisation and overall experience didn’t meet expectations, and I don’t think I would attend this type of event again.

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 recently attended two Original Dating events which were badly organised….

The first one, so overbooked I had no choice but to walk out, the second a week later most men did not show. The female attendees unanimously voted to leave. Each evening costs around £22, not to mention transport/parking, drinks and time. When I emailed the organisers to request a refund/credit and I had no response, I disputed the transactions with PayPal who rightfully issued me a refund.
Original Dating’s response to that was to delete my profile knowing I still had an upcoming event with them. When I queried their decision, the following was their response, they have zero integrity and accept no responsibility for their incompetence:

Given you have disputed two transactions and left our small business two negative reviews we had assumed this was the best course of action.

We do our best to run quality dating events but in some cases things we cannot control cause issues. We wish you well finding a singles event which meets your requirements.
Original Dating

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