Warning to all Sykes Cottage owners Having signed up to Sykes in 2016 the bookings came rolling in but it wasn’t long before we started to have concerns about the way in which our bookings were being handled. Under-selling Having agreed a fixed price structure with Sykes (and having kept a copy) we started to get bookings through for twelve months in advance that had been sold at a price much lower than our agreed price. When we challenged Sykes we were told that they could alter prices 12 months in advance at their discretion to increase bookings despite us having agreed to fixed prices and been fully booked the previous year. We were told that their system was unable to differentiate between fixed pricing and their flexible pricing structure more that 12 months in advance. Essentially, they increase their short-term cash flow at the expense of their customers. Security Breaches More concerning was a voice message and email we got from Sykes requesting that we send our key code to a customer who was waiting outside the property. We had no record of the booking and called Sykes immediately. They also had no record of the booking. Sykes continue to deny that they have had a security breach despite us going to a specialist IT company who have traced the email back to the Sykes IT system. Had we not been on the ball we could have easily disclosed our key code and found the cottage either stripped of all its contents or full of squatters! We believe this is a huge security concern for all Sykes cottage owners but Sykes themselves refuse to take the matter seriously and investigate. Appalling Customer Service As we were getting lots of bookings through Sykes with great reviews, we were reluctant to leave them but the nail in the coffin was the appalling customer service. We received lots of ‘sorrys’ and ‘it won’t happen again’ over the phone but it consistently ‘happened again’. Whilst we have dealt with some lovely Sykes staff the structure within which they operate prevents them from following through on their promises. We have also dealt with some arrogant staff who are only there for the money. Advertising And finally, since taking the decision to leave Sykes our troubles have magnified. We decided to leave on 1st Sept 2018 and our six month compulsory notice ended on 1st March 2019 but we still had bookings with them until September 2019 which we honoured. Despite having given our notice and honouring their terms of not advertising anywhere else during the six month period, more than a year later we are still listed on all the sites they use to promote their cottages when searches are done by property name: bookings.com, mailcottages.co.uk, britishbeaches.uk, ukholidays.com, expedia.co.uk, ebookers.com, utklettings.co.uk, directrooms.com, orbitz.com, atta.ai, traveloka.com, horizoncottages.com, trivago.com. All of these sites show us as either fully booked or no longer available which has had a huge impact on our bookings. We have contacted Sykes numerous times but they refuse to remove us until our last booking with them has completed. We are told to check their terms and conditions. We have contacted all of the companies directly and a couple have removed us but most just link back to Sykes so there is no way of getting us removed. So if you are thinking of leaving Sykes make sure that all of your future bookings fall within your six month compulsory notice period otherwise you’ll end up like us where you are unable to get bookings as Sykes will have your property listed as unavailable with all the big booking sites and seemingly there is nothing that can be done about it. We have moved to a Direct Booking Site with No Booking Fees and Free Payment Protection. In summary, their business practices are total unethical and they have turned a successful holiday cottage into a cottage that prospective holidaymakers can now no longer book as well as causing a great deal of stress to myself and my wife. We don’t believe we are alone in our troubles with Sykes and would love to hear from other owners to hear your experiences. If you are reading this as a new cottage owner thinking of signing up to Sykes I would strongly advise you to think again.