I had to cancel a booking with Sykes Cottages due to an error on the property description which meant that the property was not suitable for our group, and it was extremely difficult to communicate with anyone at Sykes. When I was finally able to contact someone I was promised a full refund in "3-5 working days". After waiting, and waiting, and waiting... I finally got their attention by disputing the transaction with my credit card company. Two months passed before they sent a refund, and by that time the exchange rate had changed so much that the refund I received was significantly less that the original charge, so I ended up paying for their error. Do a bit of Googling to see other reviews, and think long and hard before you book anything through Sykes Cottages.