Zen Broadband Reviews

Sometimes the best way to get a feel for a broadband provider is to read what those who are already customers think of the service they're receiving. Below are all the reviews we've received for Zen.

Recent Customer Ratings for Zen

  • Satisfaction
    3.7 stars
  • Customer Service
    3.7 stars
  • Speed
    3.6 stars
  • Reliability
    3.7 stars

Based on 100 customer ratings since 2023-02-14 (Show all time ratings)

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Ratings are left by users of our speed test as well as by reviewers. Recent star ratings summarise the last 12 months of ratings or the last 100 ratings placed, whichever is largest.

204 Customer Reviews over 21 pages

  • Reviewer
    Location
    North Norfolk
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Ratings
    • Satisfaction
      1 star
    • Customer Service
      1 star
    • Speed
      2 stars
    • Reliability
      3 stars
    Comments
    Yet another business gone bad.
    Totally incompetent, cannot be contacted. We have been Zen customers for several expensive years. They are probably the slowest Broadband provider, and the most expensive, but their reputation for customer service was once good. Once our broadband speed fell below 5meg download, 0.2meg upload, we complained. No reply after a week. So we went to Sky - half the price, around 10x the speed. But they couldnt supply on the date agreed, or give a date in the future. So back to the fools at Zen. These incompetents have now accidentally cut off our phone and lost our phone number. Still no way to contact them. They dont respond - but they do send us spam marketing emails. Surely no other provider is this hopeless?
  • Reviewer
    Location
    NORTH NORFOLK
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Ratings
    • Satisfaction
      1 star
    • Customer Service
      1 star
    • Speed
      2 stars
    • Reliability
      4 stars
    Comments
    AVOID THIS PROVIDER!
    We used them despite them being very expensive and extremely slow, because Which scores them highly for customer service. That is nonsense.Eventually our £40 per month service became so slow we contacted them by email. No response whatsoever. So we moved to Sky. Sky let us down, giving us a connection date then cancelling. So we stopped our cancellation with Zen. Then they accidentally cut our phone off, losing the number as they did it. Now they have no projected date to sort this out. 45 minutes wait on the phone to be told the department we need doesn’t work weekends and there’s nothing they can do. These people are expensive incompetent fools. Others may be equally incompetent but at least they are half the price.
  • Reviewer
    Location
    London
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Comments
    Zen customer service is appalling.

    After having to wait for 3.5 months after signing up for Zen full fiber, the installation failed. The Openreach engineer and the Zen technicians knew that the line did not work. Nonetheless, we were cut off from our previous supplier on the same day despite being assured prior to installation that the transition would be seamless.

    The Openreach engineer said the router was at fault, but despite our desperate pleas the technical staff refused to send one by next day delivery. It took 6 days to arrive delaying any possible solution, and as no information was sent on the delivery date so we had to stay in case we missed a delivery.

    We have been without internet for over 4 weeks. No one person would take responsibility for progressing the case and monitoring the outcome and not a single member of Zen staff has bothered to attend this site despite their failure to provide a service. Instead, we were advised variously to get help from Customer services, Customer experiences, and Cancellations, but were always referred to the technical department.

    This entailed hours queuing, getting a different technician each time who rarely read the notes, and going over the same failed diagnostic routine again and again. Calls were cut off and technicians failed to ring back. The process of crouching down in a dark corner plugging and unplugging etc. was exhausting and left us with severe back pain.

    Technicians also variously advised us to get ourselves a laptop with an Ethernet connection and do more tests; contact Openreach and Plusnet to ask them to sort it out. We did, but Plusnet cannot act while we have a contract with Zen. Openreach said there was no problem with the line and referred us to their website, which of course we couldn’t access.

    The final straw was when, after much pleading Zen, agreed to send an engineer. We stayed home again all day, no one turned up or contacted us to cancel the appointment. A phone message sent in the evening contained no apology, saying a visit was unnecessary, and to get in touch with technical staff to try the diagnostic process again.

    By then we had lost all trust in Zen and wanted to cancel the contract, but they refused to do so unless we went over the diagnostic process again.

    An email detailing all the shortcomings we have experienced was rejected and eventually went into a long complaints process. We have yet to receive any explanation as to why the installation failed or indeed an apology for the anxiety and inconvenience caused. No one appears to appreciate the severe impact on life and work, and the overall attitude is that we were being unreasonable. They refuse to acknowledge that anything is wrong with their customer service.

    Zen is now holding us hostage by refusing to cancel the contract and send confirmation so that Plusnet can reopen the line with us unless we pay the full cost of the contract. That is almost £700 for a service that we have never received. Even then, they will not release the service until 16th June, a total of 5 weeks since they cut us off from the internet.

    This is extortion of the worse kind. They referred us to the contract that protects Zen from any liability arising from almost any service failure. In short, this is an unreasonable contract: customers have virtually no rights. However, a term of a contract to supply services is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude the trader's liability arising under section 49 (service to be performed with reasonable care and skill). CPA 2915 sections 49-57.
  • Reviewer
    Location
    London
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Ratings
    • Satisfaction
      2 stars
    • Customer Service
      2 stars
    • Speed
      2 stars
    • Reliability
      3 stars
    Comments
    I have been with Zen for over 10 years. They had a really good quality of service but unfortunately, they have become really lapse lately. I had to spend hours on the phone to resolve a tech issue which never got solved in the end. The various departments are not talking to each other and so I had to go ahead and cancel my account. They tried to charge me for cancelling my contract but in the end the complaints department did agree to my cancellation and resolved my issue. I would look elsewhere for broadband now.
  • Reviewer
    Location
    Nottingham
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Ratings
    • Satisfaction
      1 star
    • Customer Service
      1 star
    • Speed
      1 star
    • Reliability
      1 star
    Comments
    Moved to ZEN after being with Virgin for nearly 20 years. Initially they were great, but recently been appalling. I have had no internet for 3 days with no explanation and no date for it to be fixed. Spent 30 minutes waiting to be put through on a call, was then cut off and had to queue again another 30 minutes only to be told they couldn't guarantee when an engineer could come out as they were separate to the company.
  • Reviewer
    Location
    Oxfordshire
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Ratings
    • Satisfaction
      5 stars
    • Customer Service
      5 stars
    • Speed
      5 stars
    • Reliability
      5 stars
    Comments
    Never really have to give it a thought and that's what you want from your ISP surely?

    I WFH all week and it is ultra reliable, never have any issues and get 73mb/s with mt FTTC product.
  • Reviewer
    Location
    Telford
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Ratings
    • Satisfaction
      4 stars
    • Customer Service
      5 stars
    • Speed
      4 stars
    • Reliability
      5 stars
    Comments
    I've been with Zen for two years after three years with Virgin Media.
    The Zen help desk is very good. They answered my calls in around ten minutes, and then I got someone based up north to answer my queries in a very friendly manner. Very different to some other providers.
    They also provide an excellent router (Fritzbox £255 on Amazon) that has never failed to provide my WiFi all around the home. I have also plugged a hard drive into it, giving me a single-drive NAS.
    My WiFi was constantly dropping out with Virgin Media (cable supply, too), which I understand was mainly due to them supplying inferior routers.
    My town is about to get superfast broadband, and I'm hoping Zen will be a provider.
    I've been on the internet for decades, with many different providers, some now long gone. I have to say, although not perfect - is there such a provider? - Zen is the best I have had.
  • Reviewer
    Location
    Brixton
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Ratings
    • Satisfaction
      1 star
    • Customer Service
      1 star
    • Speed
      1 star
    • Reliability
      1 star
    Comments
    Unbelievably poor broadband since we joined last year. Constant drop outs even after two engineer visits meaning we can’t rely on Zen Broadband for even the simplest of tasks. Avoid. Which? should also be asking themselves questions too.
  • Reviewer
    Location
    Warrington
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Ratings
    • Satisfaction
      5 stars
    • Customer Service
      5 stars
    • Speed
      5 stars
    • Reliability
      5 stars
    Comments
    Long...long..ling time customer of Zen.

    Always had outstanding service, amazing customer services dept.

    They are a provider that requires a bit more 'tech savvy' user.

    If nothing else, the reviews here are an excellent example of why some people shouldn't be on the net, or use Zen, go for a 'hand holding, money grabbing' provider instead!

    Openreach are the core network provider for the UK..they AREN'T some sort of contractor for Zen.

    Blaming Zen for core issues is the equivalent of Blaming Ford, Vauxhall, BMW for potholes, road lighting and roadworks, utter stupidity.

    They have absolutely NO CONTROL over Openreach's behaviour.

    If they worked in IT, they might actually grasp what it is like relying on a provider and their sub contractors.

    Oh, and the engineer who calls ISN'T from Zen, they are from Openreach, and may even be a sub-contracing cable puller at that!
  • Reviewer
    Location
    Keighley
    Reviewing
    Zen
    Date
    Ratings
    • Satisfaction
      5 stars
    • Customer Service
      5 stars
    • Speed
      4 stars
    • Reliability
      5 stars
    Comments
    Used to be with BT it is no comparison to Zen
    BT need to learn how to do it from Zen
    Your customer service is second to non fantastic.
    Thank you for make not my life easier and providing me with a fab service

The reviews published on this page are those of the individual authors who have warrantied that they abide by our review guidelines. Reviews are not the opinion of Broadband.co.uk.

Zen are not affiliated with Broadband.co.uk. This page does not constitute any affiliation between Broadband.co.uk and Zen.