One of the worst customer experiences I have ever encountered. They have shown utter contempt for their customers, and are attempting to profit from the dreadful COVID-19 situation. Our holiday cottage was booked for 1 week from 26 June 2020, I emailed Sykes Cottages and asked if I could change the dates due to COVID-19 situation and re-book next year when hopefully things will have settled down and be safer. The response I received was that they would need to contact the owner and I would be charged an admin fee, plus any additional cost for increase in rental, as my cottage was after 4 June 2020 and things maybe back to normal then.. I mentioned as I was asthmatic and could not risk getting the COVID-19 virus. I was informed the cottages are thoroughly cleaned and they had had no one staying at the cottage who had had COVID-19. I asked them how they knew if guest had had COVID-19 as some people get very mild symptoms or none at all. I also asked if the pillows etc are disposed of replaced with new after guests left. I am surprised that the cottage owners would still want people to stay in their cottage under their circumstances. The response I received was my holiday was at the end of June 2020, they were only allowing people to change their holiday period up until 4 June 2020. If I wanted to change an admin fee and any additional rental cost increase will have to be paid. Also the owner would have to agree to the change. The balance of my holiday cottage was due 15 May 2020. I had to decide to pay the full amount for the cottage or cancel now and forfeit my deposit. I decided for our safety it would be best to cancel the cottage. Better to forfeit the deposit than the full amount, so I cancelled. It was then that I received an email stating they had taken the remainder of my deposit plus an admin fee. This is the first time I have used Sykes Cottages to book a cottage, it will be the last time. I would not recommend this Company to anyone. I also wonder if the property owners are aware of how they treat their customers.