Hays Travel - 1 Direct Booking Centre Reviews 

Jane went above and beyond to find a holiday to suit my needs. Great customer service.

Everything was organised professionally and quickly
Thank you

Nadine was so helpful and resourceful in finding us a holiday within our very fixed parameters. Nadine offered us time to think and did not pressurise us, just made contact and booking easy. Her friendly and knowledgeable manner was very appreciated- thank you
Cost comparison with other holiday companies was very favourable

Spoke to one of your operatives who was lovely. Very helpful and patient.

Really helpfull lady ,she was so patient and knowledgeable

Very Helpful & Friendly able to get me the best deal for new years

Did most of it by chat then called for final parts and confirmation

The staff are helpful

Everyone was so helpful Polly was really good explained everything and made process easy

Angela was extremely helpful and went out of her way to book my holiday . She helped with all my questions and requests and made the whole experience easy to manage

I am writing to formally reject your recent compensation offer of £100. Given the severe financial losses, operational incompetence, and profound distress your company caused me, I find this gesture insulting.
The purpose of this letter is to detail the timeline of your company’s failures and outline my specific demands for financial restitution. My journey was critical, as I was flying out to be with my wife, who is paralyzed and partially sighted following a stroke. Your company’s negligence severely disrupted this vital transit.
1. Failure to Provide Legal Documentation and Receipt
Upon making payment at your Harlow branch, your staff failed to provide me with a formal booking receipt, itemized invoice, or any terms and conditions. Furthermore, no ATOL protection certificate or official airline confirmation was issued. Instead, I was literally handed a single, loose sheet of A4 paper containing only my name and printed flight details—without even an envelope. (Photo attached)This constitutes a severe breach of standard industry regulations and consumer contract law, as your staff printed a passive itinerary to simulate a booking that they failed to actually execute.
2. Invalid Ticketing and Stranding at the Airport
I purchased my ticket at your Harlow branch at 16:50. After traveling by bus to Stansted Airport and waiting 11 hours on the airport concourse, I was informed at 04:00 that my expensive ticket was completely invalid. The booking had never actually been completed by your staff. The codes provided on the A4 paper were entirely useless.
3. Lack of Support and Misleading Helpline Information
Due to a lack of public payphones, I was forced to purchase a cheap pay-as-you-go mobile phone for £70.00 solely to contact your customer service team.
Your automated helpline stated it opened at 08:00, forcing me to wait four hours.
At 08:00, I called and tried all three menu options. Every option stated the helpline actually opened at 10:00, forcing a further two-hour wait.
At 10:00, an agent informed me that the branch which sold the ticket would not open until Monday. It is completely unreasonable to expect a 66-year-old customer to wait at an airport for days due to your internal errors.
After a promised callback never materialized, I called back and was told the agent was "looking into it." Your internal investigations should never take precedence over immediately rebooking a stranded customer on the next available flight.
4. Unacceptable Resolution Attempts
While traveling to your Bishop’s Stortford branch out of desperation, an agent called and audaciously requested that I pay cash for a second ticket while you investigated the first. Fortunately, the staff at the Bishop’s Stortford branch were helpful, but they confirmed that the ticketing issue was not a system delay, but outright staff incompetence at the Harlow branch.
5. Consequential Damages and Severe Distress
Because I was forced to take a much later flight, I arrived at the clinic in Istanbul at 01:40 instead of during daylight hours.
The shuttle bus service was no longer running, forcing me to pay 3,350 Lira in taxi fares and tolls (approximately £53.15).
I was locked out of the accommodation and forced to wait outside until 06:00.
This 24-hour delay caused immense stress, knowing my vulnerable, paralyzed, and partially sighted wife was waiting for my arrival at the clinic. Your incompetence left her without my vital support during a critical medical window.
Demands for Amends
Your offer of £100 does not even cover my direct, out-of-pocket expenses, let alone compensate for the physical and emotional toll inflicted upon me. I expect full reimbursement for:
The phone purchase (£70.00)
The emergency transport and tolls in Istanbul (£53.15)
A significant, appropriate sum for the severe distress and unacceptable delays caused.
If an acceptable settlement is not reached within 14 days, I will escalate this matter directly to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), ATOL, and relevant consumer rights media outlets to publicize your company's egregious treatment of its customers.
I expect your prompt reply.
Yours sincerely,

Great holiday company. Saffron was a great help. We just need to book the transfers now and we set ! Booked Thailand last year with them and it was really well organised

The agent handling my booking went out of her way to help, establishing a personal connection with me and made herself available even responding to emails well outside her working hours.
Once she obtained a brief she followed through with well suited options. Not easy for a family of 20!
The final booking was well priced and included everything we could have wanted.
To be honest I don't think that there is anything more that could have been done to improve my experience.

Yes, I would like to say a big thank you To
Angela Deering who booked our Holiday for us she was absolutely fantastic and we will definitely be booking with you again. She has called us on a few occasions to check that everything’s okay we would like to say thank you.

Generally very well actioned and portrayed throughout. Would of given more but didn't get later after the order was placed when I wanted to ask further questions any further contact from the initiator M Hutt so I had to recall the office again to get my answers I did request my initiator to phone me but to no avail shame!

Charlotte was amazing, made booking super easy

Spoke with Sarah over the phone and very helpful in arranging my travel,flights taxi transfers and hotel .
Many thanks

no comment service was great still waiting for my refund

Excellent customer service was really helpful and emailed me back with my queries and sorted us out for a fabulous time