“This company advertises everywhere — constantly on TV and across multiple channels — and they’re very quick to take your money. Unfortunately, when something goes wrong, their customer service is one of the worst I have ever experienced.
I made two flight bookings with Southall Travel in May 2025 from London Gatwick to Amritsar. Six months later they changed the flights, including my disabled, wheelchair-bound mother’s return journey to a nearly 24-hour stopover in Doha instead of the original 2-hour transit. Had this been shown at the time of booking, we would never have agreed.
We contacted them immediately. We were told to reply “OK” to an email so they could call us to discuss options — not to accept the change. After doing so, they later refused to help, claiming the “OK” meant we accepted the new flights and now had to either pay £250 per passenger to cancel or pay extra to change them.
After days of trying to resolve it and being unable to reach anyone helpful, we were left with no choice but to cancel the flights and pay a £500 cancellation fee.
Trying to resolve this was impossible:
• Advisers refuse to give surnames
• You cannot get through to a complaints team
• Managers never call back despite promises
• They do not follow up or escalate cases
• Staff are dismissive and rude
The treatment has been shocking — especially considering a disabled passenger is involved. They are excellent at selling flights, but if the airline changes your schedule you are left completely on your own.
I will never book with Southall Travel again and would strongly advise others to think twice. Everything is fine if your trip runs perfectly — but if your flight is cancelled or changed, be prepared to spend days chasing them with no resolution.”
“Not even 1 star- should be zero stars. Extremely disappointing experience and total lack of accountability from Southall Travel.
We booked a 3-bedroom en-suite room for a family trip including a minor. On arrival, the hotel said the room was unavailable and kept us waiting over 2.5 hours to show alternatives. We were offered unsafe and unacceptable options, including separate rooms for a minor, downgraded rooms without the paid-for Burj Khalifa view, and rooms with serious issues such as black mould, stained carpets, damp smells, and even bed bugs (acknowledged by hotel management).
A refund was refused. Only after escalating were we given a “refurbished” room, still downgraded and without the view.
For the entire 6-day stay, we were given only 2 rooms instead of 3. One room had just one bed, which 2 adults and a minor had to share for all 6 nights. An extra mattress was promised daily but never provided.
Housekeeping was almost non-existent, rooms were not cleaned properly, basic items like water and toilet paper had to be requested repeatedly, and maintenance issues (including flooding bathrooms) were never properly fixed. Reception and room service were unresponsive throughout.
Southall Travel offered no real support or resolution despite this being a clear failure to deliver what was sold. A stressful, exhausting, and unacceptable experience. Would not recommend”
“Absolute crooks! They say they only sell flex tickets but every time you try and change anything- they say there will be a charge, I have spent well over £15k in the last year! Never again will they get a penny from me.
There prices are always much higher!”
“Extremely poor service and a complete failure of duty of care.
Southall Travel failed to secure and pay for our hotel booking, leaving me stranded abroad until 2am with my elderly mother and sister. Despite repeated assurances from their team that payment had been made, the hotel confirmed this was not true. I was forced to pay out of pocket to avoid my family being left without accommodation.
What followed has been even worse. It has now been three weeks with:
• No refund from Southall Travel
• No compensation
• No call backs despite multiple promises
• Constant deflection of responsibility
I have spoken to numerous advisors and senior staff, been repeatedly told the matter was “escalated,” and yet nothing has been resolved. Instead of taking ownership, the company has delayed, passed blame to suppliers, and even raised data protection issues weeks later rather than addressing the actual problem.
I have spent tens of thousands of pounds with this company over the years and recommended them to friends and family. The way this situation has been handled is shocking, unprofessional, and unacceptable.
I would strongly advise others to think very carefully before booking. If something goes wrong, do not expect accountability or timely support.”
“I booked tickets for my elderly parents, and the whole experience was a complete nightmare from start to finish. flight was delayed and you could see that on airline website but Southall travel kept telling me its not delayed. their system wasn't even updated.my parents missed their connecting flight. Southall Travel keep blaming airline but airline said that as i booked through travel agent they couldn't help.
Southall Travel told me to call back at 9am which I did then they kept saying we’ll call you back in five minutes.. after waiting for hours i called again spoke to many agents (Aarmaan, Ishaan(very rude) Auyush and Viren(who doesn't even know how to speak English and was super rude) Farida asked me to cancel the check-in (which I did), and after that, they completely ignored me. It felt like they just didn’t care at all once they had my money.
My parents are senior citizens and this whole mess caused them so much stress and anxiety. The lack of responsibility, communication, and basic customer service was unbelievable. They wasted our time, our money, and treated us with zero respect.
Southall Travel is by far the worst travel agent I have ever dealt with. Totally unprofessional, unreliable, and heartless. DO NOT book with them — if something goes wrong, they will leave you stranded and refuse to take any responsibility. do yourself a favour by not booking through them.”
“I called Southall travel to book a ticket from LHR to JER. The price they quota me over £435. I told the person I was getting it for £170. He said we can't do that. I booked the ticket with another well known company. When I called the Southall Travel, He said If I don't like I can go else where. Then he cut me off. I would NEVER to go Southall Travel Again.”
“Need to close down as I was put in to diffrent hotel compared to what it said on my papers and tickets when I asked for a particular hotel name gave me a price agreed to it
When I got there hotel was completely different be careful guys don't get fooled”
“Do not book with this travel agent. I couldn't fly due to Covid travel restrictions for my mum's funeral. They were not willing to give me a refund. They threatened me over three years and took me to court, where the case was dismissed and they had to pay me the expenses. All the stress they caused me over past three years! I clearly knew my rights so I was not going to let them win. I feel sorry for people who get threatened by this company and give in and loose their money to fill the travel agent's pockets. You have been warned!”
“I will never understand why you don’t follow the customer service of this land. Why you lie, scare vulnerable customers and be rude to them. Learn some manners, respect your customers and value them as they are the one paying you!”
“You need to improve your communications and customer service with your customers. Not just take the money and fill your pockets. Learn to respect your customers and support them.”
“SCAM... SCAMMERS..
Avoid at any cost. Almost lost £2000 got it back as it was weekend and Bank transaction was in Pending status.
They took card details after card details keep saying declined... at the end i have to cancel all my cards.”
“Be careful when booking a package deal with Southall Travel apparently they are under no obligation to provide the customer with a breakdown of costs even though this was not made clear to us at time of booking. So if any element of your package iholiday is cancelled you are not able to make a claim through travel insurance who require a cancellation invoice. We were unable to travel due to a family emergency. Whilst we rebooked the flights our hotel was cancelled. We were unable to claim through travel insurance as Southall Travel refused to provide us with an invoice for cost of the hotel.
In total we spent over £6000 with them for a group booking but they wouldn't even provide us the information as a goodwill gesture.”
