“I had a 3 day break booked at the height of the petrol shortage crisis. With no guarantee of having enough petrol to get there or back I contacted Customer Services. Despite paying £25 for additional insurance there was no provision for unexpected events and I would only get 5% of my £400 back.
After booking through them and Hoseasons for 4 years this will be my last booking. I prefer to give my money to companies who are able to accommodate events beyond their customers control.”
“Had to cancel my holiday. Cottages.com are failing to provide information required for me to claim through my insurance despite being promised at least 10x now going to Abta. Customer Services at its worse.”
“Lack of transparency on cancellation costs.
FAQ on cancellation policy says a sliding scale - the link to Booking Conditions does not take you directly to cancellation sliding scale.
Cancellation fees hidden in small print - could as easily put the sliding scale in the FAQs for transparency.
No meaningful customer service when querying cancellation and fees.”
“We stayed in Felix Portus cottage in Filey. There were significant problems with the cottage. The electrics failed twice. The doors and windows do not fit so it is very draughty. The kitchen tap is about to fall out of the sink. The TV’S do not work. Interestingly most of these faults have previously been commented on and obviously not resolved. Not somewhere I would recommend to anyone.”
“When it goes wrong
When it goes wrong, they have no interest and will past you from pillar to post.
Never rent a property from an owner that wants the deposit in their account because, if they choose not to pay you it back, Cottages, com, will do nothing about it. Even if the owner is in the wrong.
They have no interest in resolving complaints made by the customer and will happily leave you hanging.”
“We booked a cottage called "Waters Edge" in Pentley Lakes, Norfolk through cottages.com. Helpful staff. Excellent location,lots of water fowls. 2 swans decided to rest in our garden it was so good for the soul.
Super helpful and pleasant owners nothing was too much trouble for them.
Hot tub was out doors even at the end of September so enjoyable and warm water temperature and lovely to move on to the indoor sauna to finish off.
Thoughtful extras like picnic plates,dishes and cutlery.Plenty of fridge and freezer space.
Water skiing lessons for youngsters not for us! We enjoyed the beautiful lake side walks.This is a lovely place to have a family or friends get together in.”
“Booked Colbridge Cottage in Docking. Beautiful characterful cottage. Spotless and just as described. Previous reviews had complained about the stairs and the church bells. Well if you read the description it says the stairs are very steep as it is a 19th century cottage and as for the bells they were lovely. So typical of an English country village. Slept well . In fact it was an owl that woke us up. Brilliant. Looking to book next Feb loved it that much.”
“Booked Primrose Bank in Sockbridge, Penrith for weekend in September back in March. Paid low deposit. Cottage was totally as described, in fact better. Very clean, perfect for us 4 ladies on a hiking weekend to Ullswater. No issues with the service from Cottages.com Will use again.”
“Cottages.com insurance - a cautionary tale
This review submitted as a quiet warning to anyone booking with cottages.com to read the fine print of the insurance this company offers very carefully and make sure it is appropriate for your own situation.
We were unable to take our booked holiday back in April 2021 when our dog died suddenly a few days before the holiday start. I contacted cottages.com (many times, was ignored or stuck waiting on the phone for over 20 mins) to ask if the insurance we had taken out with them (£35) would provide us with a refund, especially if they were able to re-book that week - a strong likelihood given staycation demand in 2021. Put simply - I wanted to know if cottages.com had made money by rebooking that property which just felt immoral and wrong given it was caused by the death of my dog. Cottages.com finally replied to me declining the refund and refusing to confirm whether they had rebooked the property on that week of 16-23 April. My more recent emails to them have simply been ignored.”
“Totally disappointed!!! We had to cancel the holiday 7 days before, we didn’t have a choice my wife father died we have to go for the funeral At the same time as we have the holidays. They didn’t want to even listen what is the reason of cancelling this holidays and they charge as fee 95% of full payment. Im not recommend that company please try to look somewhere else”
“I paid a deposit, which they advertised low deposit, and needed to cancel the booking, was charged £600 to cancel, and the booking was in another 12 months time, I called the owner of the cottage and he was lovely and told me to call them, very hard to get in contact - will never book anything with them again”
“The site did not acknowledge my review which reflected the true state of the property we rented thru Cottage.com. Photos and videos not acknowledged either. The Orchard, Rye. Pool was dirty, the property not cleaned properly dead insect everywhere in the house and in the pool house as well as the pool. House had a large infestation of flies. Hundreds of dead flies by all bedroom window. The children refused to sleep in 3 of the 6 bedrooms. We were 3 families of 4,4,5, each family had to stay in one room. Absolute rubbish.”
“We booked Poppy Cottage, West Ashby, Horncastle for a group of 5 ladies. The cottage is immaculate and well furnished. The owner Mrs A Dixon was next door and she was really helpful advising us on the area and where to go for shopping and other things. Our stay was really great. The hot tub was lovely and the whole place was just so comfortable and cosy. Would really recommend this cottage for an excellent break. Thank you Angela you were great.”
“Worse company I’ve ever dealt with. Absolute hassle to cancel the booking with and hours of waiting on the phone to even speak to anyone. When we found out we couldn’t cancel the holiday we changed the name of the booking at a loss and add insult to injury chargers us an extra 35 pound to change the name of the booking.”
“First off don't take advantage of their low deposit. It's a rip off. We had to cancel our staycation as my job is about to go due to the pandemic, and it just too expensive. We have 12 weeks notice...they the claimed at We owed them £422! We wrote back offering £25 a month or £200 full and final settlement...of course, they lapped up the £200 straight away. They relet the holiday home within 24 hours of us cancelling and at a much higher price. Don't use this company unless you are happy to deal with a ruthless disgusting customer service”
