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John and Irene Hays apologise for drop in customer service
John and Irene Hays have issued a message to customers apologising for a drop in customer service and promising that more staff are being brought back to help with the workload.
In a message from their garden, posted on Facebook and on the company’s website, the couple said: "We are aware that our customer service in late March and early April has not been up to our usual standard. We are really sorry for that.
"On March 23, when the country went into lockdown, all our customer facing staff in our 650 shops, more than 5,000 people could no longer work from their branch.
"We have worked really hard to make sure that as many of them as possible now have the correct equipment so that they can work from home and continue to support our customers.
"As of today we have more than 2,500 people looking after your bookings and we plan to increase this number as time goes on."
They asked customers with queries to contact their local branch by email.
"We will acknowledge your email promptly but please bear with us as we are trying to make sure that we look after those most in need first," said Irene.
She added: "Thank you for your continued support and all the wonderful messages that we have received acknowledging that it has been quite a year for us, taking over Thomas Cook branches last October and now facing the challenges that we have today. We really appreciate it. Please continue to take care and stay safe."
The couple said they’ve had hundreds of kind messages for staff. "This has been so heartening and spurs us all on," they said.
Customers not due to travel within the next seven days are asked to wait before contacting branches so agents can provide the most up-to-date policy information.
Hays Travel is offering customers a Peace of Mind Guarantee, giving them the option to book a holiday in store or online for winter 2020 or spring 2021 with free cancellation or amendments up to six weeks before departure date.
It’s available on selected holidays newly booked to travel from September 2021.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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