Sykes Cottages Reviews

Name: Sykes Cottages
Address: Sykes Holiday Cottages Lime Tree House Hoole Lane, Chester
Rating: 1.20

1.2 Rating 1,492 Reviews

4 %

of reviewers recommend Sykes Cottages

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

1.2

Based on 1,492 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult
Returns Process	Could Be Better

Phone:

0124 435 2059

Location:

Sykes Holiday Cottages Lime Tree House Hoole Lane
Chester
CH2 3EG

Write Your review

Tell us how Sykes Cottages made you happy

Minimum 10 characters

Would you like to add a photos or videos?

Strengthen your review by uploading photos & videos.

Drag files here or browse

(Supported files: jpg, png, mpeg, ogg, mp4 & webm)

What's your name?

Leave this blank if you'd like to publish your review anonymously.

(Optional)

What's your email?

We need your email address to verify that your review is genuine

Please note that we may share your email with the company to verify your order.

Sykes Cottages 4 star review on 6th January 2025

Happiness

Sykes Cottages 1 star review on 17th November 2024

Anonymous

Sykes Cottages 1 star review on 8th November 2024

Anonymous

Sykes Cottages 1 star review on 2nd November 2024

Anonymous

221

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Do not use this company thousands of people still waiting for refunds there customers service is a joke full of lies”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I am shocked by the attitude of this company who refused to refund deposit for holiday after a few days of booking. The customer service is appalling and it must be bad as this is the first review I have ever had the inclination to write about anything! Please don’t use them to rent your property or book your holiday. There are plenty of reputable companies out there who do far better. You need to up your customer service Sykes or you will lose out to the competition who value customers. Take my advice and DONT BOOK WITH This company!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Only give a one star. Have a booking for 5th March for a party of 9 from 4 households, booked before tier system. Originally asked for my deposit back and will rebook when government restrictions change. Cant do that as my booking is not affected by lockdown even though the Govt has not decided on an lockdown end date. Therefore have asked for a transfer to another date but Sykes want to charge an admin fee as my booking not affected! Come on be realistic 9 people/4 household mixing on 5th March? This company is more interested in making money than customer service. If I owned The Stables in Buxton I would be ashamed of the way this company is treating potential customers”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“As most of the reviews I too booked a holiday for last March (2020) that was cancelled and dates changed to November again needed to change dates as no offer of a refund . Looking increasingly unlikely that I will be able to go in April , I have requested a refund but apparently that can’t happen !!! I’m very angry as two other more expensive holidays I had booked have refunded my money in full . Absolutely terrible customer service in a difficult time , causing so much more stress to people !! I won’t ever use this company again and will suggest people are aware , refunds are like gold dust !!!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Not worth 1 star. Common criminals stealing money from honest folk. Rude, threatening, aggresive, liars, dishonest and theives. Clueless organisation and zero customer care. Spend far too long employing fake reviews instead of trying to solve the problems you have created. The way you have lied and stolen peoples money, I hope you go out of business asap”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I booked a holiday house in Cornwall in February 2020-before coved!- as a surprise for a friends 80th birthday in November 2020. As the time got nearer, it was obvious we wouldn't be able to go as she was shielding and the rest of the party were in their late 70's, so in September I changed the date to 6th March 2021 at a cost of £30 in the hope that things would be better then. I received an email today to say that they would be taking the remainder of the holiday cost, amounting to £448 from my account on the 23rdJanuary. As it is becoming increasingly obvious that we will not be free to travel to Cornwall by March, and none of us have been vaccinated yet, I phoned the office to see if they would put the deposit of £268 as a credit on my account for a future booking when this present crisis is over. This was refused and the only option is either to pay the full cost of the holiday and if the lockdown is extended on the 20th February this would be refunded (?) or to lose the deposit. I have reluctantly cancelled the booking and have lost my deposit. There is a complete lack of empathy from the customer relations team with regard to this virus and government guidelines. Will NEVER use this company again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I booked a holiday with Sykes in October and paid my £180 deposit with the remaining to pay on the 150121.The holiday is due on the 260221 and the balance remaining to pay is £308.I rang sykes on the 110121 to request a refund of my deposit as we are in a lockdown and no chance of us going on this holiday.I was shocked to be told that if I cancelled the holiday I would lose my deposit and that the remaining balance was due on the 150121 had to be paid or again I would lose my deposit.I could amend my booking at a price of £30....!!!!! I wasn’t happy and told the assistant that the chance of this holiday going ahead was 0.0001% .She wasn’t interested and reiterated that the balance would have to be paid or I can cancel but will lose £180 and that this was their policy.I expressed my concern and said it maybe policy but that morally this was wrong and that I wouldn’t book with sykes again.So I am now in a position where I have to pay the remaining balance on the 150121 knowing that it will be cancelled.Shocking policy in unprecedented times.Morally wrong.Need to change your policy and your staff.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Very poor customer service. They cancelled our holiday booked for February half term due to covid. We then changed the booking to August but unfortunately had to change this due to not being able to go. We then changed our booking to February half term next year and they are still charging us the same price as the August holiday as according to one of their "customer relations people" they do not decrease their booked prices. When I spoke to them regarding this they advised pretty much it was tough and had to pay the extra £277 or lose our full amount of our holiday (£650.00). They also took the balance for the holiday the day before we went into lockdown knowing that this was happening. AVOID AT ALL COSTS”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Awful customer service. Staff do not call back when they have stated that they will. It would appear like other reviews have stated their prime concern if cottage owners and not guests. DO NOT BOOK with this company as they will not give me a refund for my February break which will be a period of national lockdown. They will only let me reschedule my break to the summer(few school holidays weeks left!) when the said cottage will be £500 more. They will also not allow me to change my booking to another of their properties either. Very inflexible. DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY DURING THESE UNCERTAIN TIMES!!!!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Awful company who only care about their profits and their cottage owners, no compassion for customers. Having had to cancel my wedding and using Skye cottages for guests, Skye cottages have massively increased 2021 prices to accommodate for low trade in 2020 and won’t honour original booking prices.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I chose to cancel a booking when it became obvious that it would not be possible to go due to C19. I had paid a reduced initial booking fee and the total fee was taken from my credit card at the due time. I expected this and wrote it off as it was my decision to cancel giving my reasons. Quite a while later and to my great surprise I received a letter telling me I was receiving a refund and when it came it was for the total amount. I am very sorry to see other people have not received the same service. We have booked for several years with Sykes with no problems.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Firstly, do not believe the fake (paid) reviews. They are easy to spot- they are usually just a couple of words like ‘Great website’, ‘Great customer service’ or ‘Good selection.’ That’s it- it’s a fake review. Head over straight to the 1 star reviews if you want the real truth. Instead of employing people to write fake reviews, it would be more admirable to answer some of the complaints. I have just opened up a small claims legal case against Sykes. I have also reported them to THE COMPETITION AND MARKETING AUTHORITY, reported them to BBC’s Watchdog programme and I will now start a one-man campaign to ensure the whole nation is aware of their bullying, unscrupulous methods. Their customer service is beyond appalling, and borders on aggressive. They have gone to the extent of saying the house I booked which sleeps 29 people is only for me, so that I will be able to attend because there are no multi households. It is using a large corporate machine to bully and steal from vulnerable folk at desperate times. It is immoral, and it is THEFT! I genuinely feel sorry for the staff that are asked to act this way. This is the basis of my claim: On 23/02/20 I paid a deposit of £521.40 to Sykes Cottages to hire a house in Wales for 3 days at a total cost of £1577.00. The booking was for 29/01/21. At the time of booking, COVID-19 had not reached our shores and as a nation, we were unaware of it. Sykes Cottages policy DID NOT refer to any cancellation details due to COVID, or any other worldwide pandemic. They cannot use defences such as ‘Act of God’ to cover all eventualities. At the time of the booking, I was asked to enter my details. The house sleeps 29 people, but I was not asked to enter any details regarding other guest numbers. The booking was to celebrate my 50th Birthday and I’d invited around 40 guests (obviously from different households). Since the pandemic, I have contacted Sykes once by telephone and 7 or 8 times by email to reclaim my deposit, as it was obvious the booking couldn’t go ahead due to COVID. I have been constantly told that I must wait until the Government give clearer instructions regarding restrictions that cover the period of my holiday- which I had agreed to do. Unfortunately, during this ‘waiting’ period the remainder of the fee (£1065.60) was due. The only reason Sykes did not automatically take this money from my account was because my card had changed, and I hadn’t updated it on their account. I then received several automatic emails (even got one on Christmas day) telling me that I had 24 hours to pay or they would cancel the booking and keep my deposit. During communication with their ‘customer service’ team I had been threatened that the booking was for only one person indicating that regardless of Wales full lockdown restrictions, I may be able to attend the property, regardless of the fact it sleeps 29 people. It was because of this unscrupulous and immoral defence, I was completely unwilling to pay the remainder of the fee. I have received a phone call today (31/12) from Bradley of Skyes telling me that if I didn’t pay the fee right now, the booking would be cancelled. Wales is in a complete, strict lockdown and Sykes want me to pay over £1000 for a holiday that is clearly not going to happen. Because I refused to make this payment, they are stealing my deposit. They keep quoting ‘policy’ but have no real idea that a policy is not the law. Their original policy did not include COVID. They have since written another policy to incorporate the pandemic, but I did not agree to this and was never contacted to view it. They have moved the goal posts to suit and are happy to bully people as a large corporate monster. It is immoral. I wish to claim back my deposit, as it is of no fault of my own that we cannot attend the property.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Had a lovely Christmas holiday I stayed in a cottage called cawsand in Cornwall ( and before anybody asks I didn’t travel from a different tier). The cottage was modern clean and had everything I needed. The owners Lisa and Felix were very kind and left me to get on with my holiday however if I needed anything I just had to ask. I would recommend any of the three cottages and hope to stay again in the future.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Sykes Cottages make every effort to obstruct your right to a refund if you should cancel, even if you give ample notice and Sykes find a replacement customer. This is not compliant with the consumer rights act 2015, which allows them to keep your money only to offset a loss they suffer as a result of cancellation. They ignore this legislation and hide behind their terms and conditions, which are legally irrelevant if they are not compliant with the consumer rights act. Avoid this organisation. Also be aware that they trade under several other names.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Was told I would receive refund in 3-5 days I am now told 45 days as they have to get money back off owner although the same cottage is still advertised”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“We arrived on a Friday night, to find the cottage (9 Yankee Street, Llanberis) absolutely freezing. The thermostat was reading 11c. So we went to look at the boiler and found it had completely depressurised. My husband managed to repressurise the boiler, and we managed to get the heating to kick in. However, with it being an old stone cottage...it never got above 17degrees the whole time we were there. The first night, and morning were absolutely freezing. We also tried to get the dishwasher to work on our last night, but that wouldn't start either. We also mended the shower screen so that water didn't leak all over the floor! On returning home on the Monday I rang Sykes cottages who we had booked it through, although it was through their sister company Menai Cottages to state what had happened. We had also booked the cottage Thursday - Sunday but couldn't go up till the Friday due to the lockdown rules. We decided to not cancel the booking as we thought it was best that the cottage owner/sykes/menai cottages still earned some income rather than none at all. However, we were refused any refund/compensation for not being able to use the thrid night as apparently "three nights costs the same as two"... When I stated the issues we had, we were also told we should have reported it within 24hours - well the dishwasher we did. The boiler we didn't, as we managed to fix the issue, but that didn't solve the problem. We also didn't want to be disturbed 10pm at night, or have to wait in the next day for someone to come. Unless they were going to supply us with lots of extra electric heaters then the cottage was never going to get that warm from 11c! I would seriously not recommend booking this cottage - the owner clearly does not care that we at least still went up, rather than getting a full refund, or that we had to cope with a cold house, along with the other issues, or that we actually have informed him of an issue that needs to be fixed with the boiler! So no refund for the night we didn't stay, and no compensation.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“One star because zero is not an option. Booked holiday in July for the Christmas week. After the announcement on 19.12.2020 to stay local and unpack any bags we made the decision not to travel 120 miles to the cottage. On attempting to request refund the stated option is not available on the website and on calling we are informed that, because the Chief Medical Officer and PM were only advising to stay local and unpack we can still travel and therefore no refund is available. The option to re-book is not attractive where it would continue the relationship with these con artists. Will never use or recommend this company again”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Will never use this company again,been lied to constantly by various different staff,and god only knows how long it'll take to get a refund, they need shouting down by trading standards”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Still waiting for my refund which was requested on 6th November. I spoke to an advisor last week, and they advised end of last week. This was a lie. They state up to 45 days to refund my money but now it seems that will refuse to take any less time than the maximum stated. The term "Up to" is false. I have advised another customer service team member that employees should be reminded to not lie to the customers. A simple lack of understanding around consumer law, and Trading standards will be called should they exceed the 45 day deadline, even by one day.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“How have they won British Travel Awards. Because they asked company employees to vote, not customers who are disgusted by their treatment of them during pandemic”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Sykes Cottages is rated 1.2 based on 1,492 reviews