Hays managing director John Hays apologised to his homeworkers for striking a “horrendous” deal to buy Freedom Direct that affected everyone in the company.

The Hays Travel founder and managing director (pictured) bought the agency after it failed in April, believing he could save Freedom customers’ holidays and secure their business for years to come.

But he told the conference he was unprepared for what he found when he opened Freedom’s books, despite earlier conversations with Abta and the CAA.

“I thought we had done a great deal but really it was a horrendous deal,” he told homeworkers at the Hays Travel Homeworking conference. “There’s only one person to blame for this and that’s me.

“It had really big consequences for everybody here and I carry the can for that.”

Hays Travel made 40 phone lines available to cope with queries from Freedom customers but they were overwhelmed and the company lost 8,000 calls in the first hour.

Hays said it was a “nightmare” for customer service and call centre staff who had to take Freedom-related calls when they were trying to sell holidays and the company’s support to homeworkers “just collapsed”.

“We just could not cope with everything that came at us and I apologise genuinely,” he said.

Speaking to TTG later, Hays said Freedom Direct’s collapse was a “case study” of everything that was wrong with the way the travel industry is regulated.

Customers faced extreme confusion over who, if anyone, was liable for refunds, and the chaos had led directly to Abta’s new rules making member bed banks responsible for money taken for them by agents, said Hays.

The position was worsened by the specifics of how Freedom carried out its business, he added.“It was that toxic mix, and then you find things such as inconsistent documentation and processes and procedures – and then you really have a problem.”