Who to Complain to

Author: Haydn Mullineux

One of the keys to successful complaining is knowing the right person to complain to. However well defined or well supported a case might be, if it misses its target then it risks failing altogether.

First Port of Call

The first steps in attempting to resolve a complaint should be made directly with the parties involved. There is no need to send a formal complaint letter to the national head office national if the problem can be resolved by taking an item back to the shop or by speaking to the person at the hotel reception.

Customer Service Departments

If the case requires a greater degree of authority or specialist attention then the next port of call should be the appropriate senior management or customer service department. Many good organisations also employ a special complaints procedure, which can often provide the most effective means of resolution.

With larger companies, complaints of all levels are usually now directed to a designated customer service department. The members of such teams are usually trained and experienced in dealing with complaints.

Nevertheless, this can often prove to be a frustrating and time-consuming method. Criticisms of such services are common and include irritations with waiting times, their impersonal and standardised systems, and the small likelihood of anything being resolved with one simple communication exchange.

Customer service communication is usually a less frustrating exercise via email than on the telephone, because it provides the opportunity for clearly defining the problem in text.

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Outside Help

If persistent communication with the responsible organisation proves fruitless then the next stage is to contact the appropriate authority or overseer, who should be able to give guidance on how to further the complaint. They may advise on the relevant independent ombudsman or adjudicator qualified to take up the case.

An ombudsman is an official, usually on government or parliament appointment, who is responsible for representing the interests of the public by investigating complaints on their behalf. Areas such as healthcare, police, financial services each have their own specialist representatives.

In addition to the ombudsman and executive agencies such as Ofgem and Oftel, complainants can also find aid and advice from the Trading Standards Institute or the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Citizens Advice Bureau

With a membership of over 20,000, the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is one of the UK’s largest volunteer organisations. Its purpose is to provide free advice and information to help people resolve such issues as housing, immigration and asylum, consumer complaints and welfare benefits. Advisors at one of the UK’s network of bureaus, are able to help people write letters, make telephone calls and take complaints to court.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Trading Standards Institute

Another respected national institution open to the public is the Trading Standards Institute. This similarly omnipresent UK organisation works with consumers and businesses in helping to maintain fair-trading and the safety of consumer products.

General Guidelines

These guidelines are appropriate to most complaints and consequently only a general guide. Ultimately the direction of the complaint will vary according to area and size of the organisation and the type and severity of the complaint.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Which Ombudsman Do I Need? lets you tell us what went wrong and find out which ombudsman or regulator can help, whether it is worth escalating, and exactly how to take your complaint further. Try it now →

34 questions

Ask Complaint Expert a Question

dede 26/03/2021 at 1:39 pm

well its been 12 months now since i booked this holiday through teletext going throuh citzions advice sent two letters onthere advice still no luck dont know what else to do phone 2 hrs on phone with no joy waiting game think court will be next hope

Raymond 24/03/2021 at 9:59 pm

I booked holiday through teletext holidays... Was £2880, for July 16th last year... ...been in touch with them.. On hold for 2 hours twice... Sent 10 emails asking for my refund.. No reply but an automated service telling me not to complain basically... The airline has refunded teletext the flight moneys as I got an email sayimg
.. That was, end November... Now its near April.. And still waiting for a refund... Will be last time I ever book holiday through teletext.
. As other people I talk to booked other holiday companies have got there refunds virtually withing 3 months... This is, near 10 months now for me..

chelsea 23/03/2021 at 8:16 pm

I booked a holiday through TELETEXT last year and was canceled due to covid. Ive been asking for a refund for over 6 months now and everytime i phone them its the same thing you will receive it next month. Its frustrating how they treat you its ridiculous, infuriating and unprofessional they now don't answer my calls and if they do they put me on hold for over an hour. I have exhausted all avenues to retrieve my refund. I've sent emails, phone calls, spoke to citizen advice i then was advised to send a letter to them. Which i have done. I sent an email to ATOL no response. I won't give up. But it seems there is noone to turn to for support and so many people are i the same boat no one is receiving refunds. I also read on Martin lewis that TELETEXT is under investigation and is aware no one is receiving refunds they are working closely with CMA. But there seems to be no way of retrieving my money. The worst company to book a holiday they treat you disgusting and they don't care about your complaint. They just hang up on you or leave you on hold. I just want my money back, so many of us have struggled through this pandemic and i totally understood not receiving my refund for a few months because of the amount of people wanting it at the same time but 6 months is not forgivable and the way you get treated its not fair. This needs resolving. If the company wants to keep any sort of respect and costumers.

Dizzy 15/03/2021 at 8:58 am

Teletext holidays cancelled our holiday 1 year today
They just fob you off with someone from their team is looking at this utter rubbish

EmmaStars 06/03/2021 at 6:22 pm

I booked a holiday with teletext for may 2020 and still no refund despite being given dates for the refund. Phoned today and they said they don’t have a number for the refunds department nor was I allowed to talk to a manager telling me there was no manager in. They owe me £1064. They hang up on me constantly and have stopped replying to my emails. Just want my money back.

Hazera Haque 25/02/2021 at 8:03 pm

Waiting over 6mths for my refund . Keep changing the dates each time i ring

Anulia 09/02/2021 at 4:49 pm

Teletext is an appalling company. Their so called customer services team is made up of liars who have been trained to make promises to customers that they have no intention of keeping. I was meant to go on a group holiday with Teletext in May 2020 and since then they have given me 5 different dates as to when i will receive my refund. The latest date being 25th Jan and to date nothing has happened. A lot of times they ignore my emails and when they do respond it is either an automated message or a sub standard message by someone writing a box standard response. I hope they get taken down by the CMA but before they do i would like my money back along with the interest for all the distress they have caused.

Scotsdude73 01/01/2021 at 1:00 pm

Booked 7 days in Dubai for 31/12/2020 via Teltext Holidays on the 06/12/2020. Issues with taking our c/card payment but eventually went through 1 week later we noted our documents were not on the portal and we were showing as having an outstanding balance. We contacted them after several hours on the phone. Only to be told we owed money although we had a confirmation letter to say we paid in full. By the 18th Dec we were told it would be sorted and yet again it was not. Further ping pong of emails and telephone calls to explain the portal still showed that we owed a balance and that we had no travel documents continued until 31st Dec. We even told them as we were now in a Teir 4 area we couldn’t travel they said they would call us back. So here we are still in the UK on the 1st of Jan with a load of holiday clothes packed and £2550 lighter. Call back from someone in India today with half his family screaming in the background resulted in a terminated call

Lynzi 22/12/2020 at 5:41 pm

Booked a holiday in March with teletext which had to be amended to Cyprus and then the current situation it’s only essential travel so therefor can’t go ? Our holiday was booked for the 26th of December which is 4 days away! Cant get threw and when I do they put the phone down on me plus every agent tells me something different they have £5000 of my money there an absolute joke of a company!! I just don’t understand why there still trading when there robbing people and not giving them there money back. I would AVOID teletext at all costs!!! Can anyone help me in right direction to try get money back plz ?

Kelly 06/11/2020 at 11:16 pm

I book our holiday in feb. Was travelling in aug but due to the circumstances my doctor wrote a letter saying its unsafe for my son too travel due to him having adhd and autism. I've been waiting for teletext to send me a copy and confirm we did not go on our holiday so we can claim from insurance. I've been contacting since Aug and I keep getting told be patient email will be with me within 72 hours 3months later and 12 phone calls and emails still nothing . This is disgusting customer service

Teddy 08/10/2020 at 8:56 am

I booked a holiday with teletext in February I am still waiting for my refund. What can I do about this as you can't get in touch with them.

T 01/10/2020 at 2:56 pm

I'm lost for words. Had a call stating my hotel and transfer had been changed. New travel vouchers to follow. On the app the accommodation has been amended to the new hotel., but the transfer shows the old hotel. Four emails sent and huge amount of calls. Nobody ever replies or answers my call. We are due to go next Wednesday.

Jay 18/08/2020 at 11:13 am

Teletext Holidays I’m lost for words with this company, you can’t speak to anyone if you ever get through they put the phone down. They have approximately £5000 of my money and have no intentions to deal with this.
And just only the other day they illegally took money from my account and put it down to admin errors but not had a refund.
Do not use Teletext holidays

Angeln1987 06/08/2020 at 9:48 am

We had a holiday booked with teletext for 21 August. They didn’t tell us our flights were cancelled on the second leg of our journey! Basically we would have gone on to Istanbul and then wouldn’t have a flight from there to Egypt! Only found out coz I rung the airline!!
I rung teletext who insisted the holiday was still going ahead because we could still travel to Istanbul!! We requested a refund for the entire holiday, we were then promised to get an email with cancellation details. This was more than 2 weeks ago and I’m yet to receive said email.
They then took more money out of my account yesterday!!!! When I phoned to get refunded for this unauthorised payment they put the phone down on me!!
Teletext is the worst! Will never ever book with them again.

Pountney 16/07/2020 at 9:48 pm

We booked 6 flights to Turkey with Thomas Cook last year , these then got changed to EasyJet. We were due to fly 5th July, the outbound flight was cancelled the week before we were due to fly. We phoned teletext holidays and were on hold for almost 2 hours , we were told we weren’t entitled to a refund because the flight home was still running . How did they expect us to go on holiday and get the flight home if our flight there was cancelled? We then received email informing us the other flight has also been cancelled. We phoned them and were on hold for an hour , we were then told to phone easyJet (another hour on hold) easyJet redirected us to teletext holidays . Another hour and 55 minutes wait to speak to someone and teletext holidays told us they would send an email 7 days after the departure date for a refund , this didn’t happen. We phoned them - another hour on hold ! This man told us we will not get a refund until October 21st at the very earliest . We are so frustrated , we feel we have been lied to and misled on each and every phone call . The bottom line is if we owed them money It would be a different story . We have repeatedly asked to speak to a manager and each time they have refused saying that there are no managers there. I read today that out of travel agents dealing with refunds they are the third worst , they are 51 out of 53! We will never book with them again and really regret doing so .

Nhc 02/07/2020 at 8:51 am

Left honeymoon couple stranded in turkey and now wont refund our flight money easyjet has paid to them. Next move small claims court.

I've tried all ways to get hold of teletext holidays with no avail I've even tried email wayne perks.

We were left stranded in turkey on our replacement honeymoon. We had initial booked with thomas cook. Our flight was cancelled by easyjet and we were left with no other option than to get any flight back to uk. We managed to book a flight with jet2 to east Midlands airport and then we had to hire a car to get us to Gatwick airport. I have had an email from easyjet that they have paid teletext holidays 471.92 back to teletext holidays credit card. I tried talking on live chat where I had been promised it was going into my account that day, I been on so many people on live chat not getting anywhere. I've tried calling no answer. Emailing customer support, wayne peaks chairman. You name it I've tried it. So my next move is small claim court I'm going to claim for replacement flight costs, car hire costs, monies paid back by easyjet, interest. I have emailed wayne peaks and teletext holidays giving them 28 days notice so I'm willing to see them in court.

jo1970 23/06/2020 at 11:51 am

Like many others, I had a holiday booked since 20th January for 30th June to Lanzarote. They insisted on me paying the final balance last month and I informed them in writing at the time that I would be claiming it back as soon as the holiday was cancelled, which was inevitable.

Last week it was cancelled and one of the team called me and tried their best to persuade me to take a voucher. I insisted that due to both my daughters being at different universities next year, scheduling a holiday would be difficult so I wanted a cash refund. I was told that it was being processed and I didn't need to do anything else. She said it may take until September, and at the time I was ok with that as I believed the lies I was being told.

The next day, I received a voucher, less the cost of the flights because Easyjet have not refunded them. This was booked as a package holiday so Teletext owe me the full balance. I was on online chat with them and insisted I wanted a refund and was told I cannot request a refund until 30th September and they are following FCO and TTA guidelines. I contacted TTA and they refused to help in any way.

They are also flagging 1 star trustpilot reviews, and it appears they are getting staff to write fake 5 star reviews, in broken English.

Online chats are not forwarded to you. Thankfully I took screenshots of my conversations with them otherwise I would have no record. THEY cancelled the holiday. THEY took our money knowing the holiday would be cancelled. They are breaking the law and treating customers appallingly.

CWEST 04/06/2020 at 9:56 am

what happens if you do not pay the full balance?

I have paid for flights but they have been cancelled.

I have emailed proof, and tried calling customer services who hang up on me.

I do not intend to pay for a holiday i have no flights for!

marsh 13/05/2020 at 1:04 pm

I agree with Jackie Berry and other reviews on how BAD this company is. Trying to request my own money back is like hitting a brick wall. Customer service from an Indian person who does not speak adequate English is terrible. Yesterday I tried to ask on live chat what the company's address was to send official correspondence.mI asked eight times. The agent kept saying "I will pass your request to customer Support Dept. and they will call you ASAP". What a terrible company.
Although I have used them in the past with no problem, After the way they are treating me now I will NEVER use them again. After seeing all these bad reviews, I cannot see how this company will survive unless they are able to change their name.

Uchai 09/11/2019 at 6:02 am

I booked a holiday on the 24th of October 2019 with Teletext Holidays. I called back few days after to cancel the holiday and I was told that I would incure 100% cancellation fees on flight. My flight was British Airways. I had made a deposit of £500 and then was asked to pay another £624.28 as cancellation fees. I rang British Airways and was informed by them that this is a lie and would never demand that from me. That it's a strategy some travel agency use to squeeze their customers who cancels their trip and then say it's british airways.
When they advised me to amend I was give a ridiclous amount. Looking at their terms and condition I believe that I don't fall into the 100% cancellation fees but they're doing everything possible to muzzle 100% cancellation fees from me.

tony smith 16/09/2019 at 9:20 pm

Booked a holiday at short notice (48 hours) with teletext holidays, this was done through a telephone conversation during which I asked was this a live booking session.
Was told it was and could not be retracted. Next day with 22 hours to the holiday all cancelled by them after which they do not transfer the monies back immediately. So if you dont have a spare couple of thousand pounds ready for the next booking, your not going anywhere. I asked to speak to a manager and was told none were available nor were any from the complaints team.

E 14/09/2019 at 3:09 pm

Booked a holiday through teletext, what a bloody joke they are. I specifically said I didn’t want my children sleeping on a pull out bed (16 and 12 years old) I said I wanted them to have a bed each. We were enquiring about adding an extra person to our booking and was told that in fact we had a standard bungalow with 1 bedroom and a living area with pull out bed. I have asked for the conversation recording to be sent out to me because I can assure you I never agreed ( even though she said I agreed to it) . I really wish I hadn’t have jumped into this. These are I’m sorry useless people who I can’t even understand properly because of their accent. Why can’t we have British call handlers or even someone with authority to talk to rather than having to wait 24 to 48 bloody hours. AVOID AVOID AVOID AND AVOID AGAIN.

RH 18/07/2019 at 8:11 am

DON'T BOOK WITH THESE. Booked a holiday with these, paid the total value of the holiday upfront. The then contacted us and advised the price of the holiday had gone up 170 pounds (it hadn't, it was their error) They refused to give us any money back as flights had already been booked, we were backed into a corner and paid it. It is being disputed at the moment - wish us luck!!

Goldie 25/06/2019 at 3:29 pm

Never Ever book with these jokes! I rang to book a week in September for me, my husband & son. Quoted £990 they called me back in the evening to take £330 deposit ( I was advised holiday was £330 pp) I gave my card details... advisor then read out hotel name etc when I mentioned my child she said there was no record?!? I told the lady she would have to cancel it. I rang the nxt day.... I was told the holiday had increased... my child was actually on the bookings .... then he wasn’t ? Then I was told I had to pay £90pp to cancel the holiday when I was told there was nothing to cancel as the payment never went through?!? They are so incompetent it’s unreal! So please do yourself a favour give Teletext Holidays a wide berth. ??

Micky 03/03/2019 at 9:42 am

Booked a family holiday to Turkey with teletext. They told us to apply for visa online. We did this and received them. When we arrived in Turkey my Nigerian wife was refused entry and put on next plane home as teletext didn't tell us that she had to visit Turkish consulate in person for visa. We would have had holiday somewhere else if teletext gave us correct information. Never use them again. Always call in a travel agents, at least you have a face to talk to, clarify any issues

LB and friends 19/11/2018 at 7:30 pm

Myself and friends have made 3 separate bookings with teletext holidays on the same day. Despite booking on the same day to the same destination we have all been charged different deposits. We were charged £200. One friend charged £100. Another charged £150. We had no idea of this until we have recently spoken because not only this has happened. Friend C charged £150 deposit. Called by teletext after deposit taken and advised price of holiday increased but no offer of refund. Friend B is travelling on same flight as C and paid £100 deposit, both were on phone at same time. Friend B's payment statement stated no payment due until August 2019, teletext took additional payment last week and are now advising an increase in balance of £100. My booking was told £200 deposit needed. Discussed payment schedule but on receiving payment statement it said nothing further due until April 2019. I called to check and CS Advisor confirmed nothing due. To get written confirmation I went on online chat. There I was told differently. Raised complaint and basically told to DISREGARD payment statement despite ts and cs stating to abide by them. I raised issue of deposits in regard to fairness but got no where. I went online to make a payment but ... surprisingly the online platform has now been down for over a week. They advise to call and they will waiver their usual charge for payment. Clearly only because I emailed about it stating again that they didn't appear to be providing a fair service to their customers. What can we do? We are very concerned about this companies handling of our holiday bookings?

Gem 28/07/2018 at 5:48 pm

Booked a holiday with teletext holidays I asked for 29th Sept for 2 weeks. Confirmed everything but the dates were not confirmed with me as I asked for 29th Sept I assumed it was booked for then. Email confirmation came through and dates were booked forc29th Oct. I rang back straight away to try and sort it out. I got told that nothing could be done and that there is no management or complaints team. So I now have been left with a holidays that's booked a month later to what I wanted and I now have to try and change my dates at work to accamodate this. What can be done.

Jennifer 14/01/2018 at 12:54 pm

Please can you send me my booking number as I have had no response from you in

Calky 29/08/2017 at 6:54 pm

Booked a holiday with teletext holidays less than a week after I arrived back from the hotel in Tirkey. The pictures shown were of the same hotel I stayed in. The name of the hotel on their website was different. Yes you've guessed it. I was booked into a completely different hotel from the one I stayed in the week before. I asked for a cancellation and full refund. They said because I didn't cancel within 24 hours I would get back £ 135 from a £ 1046 holiday. To add insult to injury it was their delay that took the cancellation over the 24 hour period as they said they would get back to me, they didn't. Disgraceful sharp practice and abhorrent customer service. Will NEVER book with teletext holidays again.

Joe 10/10/2016 at 7:44 pm

I recently booked a holiday with teletext and leave Wednesday 12/10/16.
A last minute thing.
The price was £258 each for me and my wife which included flight and hotel.
I said to the teletext rep that my wife is disabled and will be taking her scooter.
He then proceeded to say he has got me a better flight with afternoon departures.The price rocketed and went up to £801, a £100 of this was luggage and £40 was transfers.
Stupidly I paid as I wasn't taking too much notice.
he then said I would have to pay another £60 for transfers because of the mobility scooter, this was when I got cheesed off and said he was blatantly ripping me off.
He put the phone down on me and when he phoned me back he said the price was to do with the "live" price fluctuating. I said the price was the same online, I checked 4 hours later and it was the same even after the website had been updated.
Since I complained they were miraculously able to take us on the transfer for no extra cost but I was still charged the extra £150? and despite emails and a phone call have been told this is due to the "live" pricing.
I appreciate reps try to upsell but this was basic fraud, trying to tell me they had got me a better flight when there is only one that day going to to this destination.
Nobody wants to be accountable.

Helen 05/10/2016 at 10:57 am

PLEASE DONT BOOK WITH TELETEXT!!
They advertise holidays that are not available, the price always increases from the advertised price. Booked a holiday and paid then to be told it wasnt available t was double booked, we were told to wait 2-4 working days for refund. As it wasn't our fault head office authorised a bank transfer the following day....nothing has gone in it is now 5 working days later. 6 calls later still awaiting any of the call backs. We were due to go away tomorrow haven't been able to book another holiday as teletext have kept the money all this time. Thats my husbands 60th ruined and overdrawn. Disgusting

Adam 25/08/2016 at 8:49 am

I brought a holiday with teletext with a friend and he was lead passenger on the booking but hes pasport hasnt come in time,but now teletext are saying i cant stop in the hotel because im not lead passenger even though its all paid for,teletext are saying its their supplier and everything but wont give me there suppliers number or help me out at all and iv read through all terms and conditions and it says as long as the hotel recieves 48 hours notice im aloud a refund

ComplaintExpert Editor 05/02/2015 at 10:27 am

@Thomas - you should really look in the first instance at the terms and conditions and see what it says. It may be that they had a deadline when they needed to fill the holiday and have had to reduce it due to lack of demaind. I should call again and ask for their complaints procedure and see if you can approach it that way.

Thomas 03/02/2015 at 10:15 am

No bought a holiday for £356 from teletext holidays over the phone a few days ago,only to find today that the same holiday(same hotel,dates,etc)is offered on their website at £187.
The manager at Teletext Holidays was unhelpful.
This is obviously a,rip-off,not price fluctuation-the holiday is for ten days from 22March(today is 03Feb15)

I had originally phoned TeletextHolidays to book a holiday with a particular hotel,and gave the rep the Quote from their website,but he could not find the offer or it had expired.
So I asked him to find me an alternative,asking for a deal,rather than I revert to their website for a quote,expecting to be offered a comparable competitive deal.
But obviously I did not receive a fair deal.
Please advise

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