Sykes Cottages Reviews

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

1.2 Rating 1,490 Reviews

4 %

of reviewers recommend Sykes Cottages

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

1.2

Based on 1,490 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

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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

Sykes Cottages 1 star review on 18th September 2024

Julie

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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

“I booked a holiday in January for December but unfortunately our circumstances have changed. Instead of cancelling I've asked if I can transfer the deposit to another holiday next year but was told their police won't allow this so I have to lose my deposit even though there are 8 months to December and know the cottage can be re-let. I would never book with these again unless its last minute as they are not interested in their customers and would not recommend this company to anyone.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Don't book with Sykes Cottages! Because of covid we had to rescedule twice. The second time Sykes gave us a price increase of 65% (+£389), from £590 to £979 for a week rental of a cottage in Castleton! As it got so expensive we wanted to cancel or change to a cheaper cottage. That was not allowed by Sykes. I now read other reviews where many people complain about the same problem with Sykes. It seems clear that Sykes was not allowed to refuse cancellation. Conclusion: don't book with Sykes Cottages. Just google and you'll read many more negative reviews about them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“We have just booked and paid for a 4 night stay in wales. Within 30 mins we took a call to say they Sykes had made a pricing error and if we wanted to go then we have to pay another £140 ! I asked to speak to a manager and was told that I couldn’t, I asked for a name and was told I couldn’t have it. Absolutely scandalous, don’t book with these people.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“We arrived home from Hafan No 85 Heritage Park, Near Wiseman’s Bridge. on Friday 29th April, having had a wonderful weeks holiday. The Lodge was absolutely fantastic! In fact, the best Lodge we have ever seen. It had every facility you could wish for. Three bedrooms, one King size with en suite. Two twin bedrooms and with a shared bathroom. Really impressive. Fully fitted kitchen with dining area, plus a very attractive and spacious lounge area with a smart television. Outdoor lounge furniture positioned on The secure Decking Area. The site is spotlessly clean at all times. And our Lodge was Dog friendly too! The site is situated so that it is only a 20 minute walk to Wiseman’s Bridge beach And to a fabulous Pub/Restaurant. Three other beaches in close proximity, What more could anyone wish for? Good weather which we had. We will definitely be booking again and also be recommending it to all our friends and family. Oh, and just a word about Kevin, The site Manager, a very professional and helpful man. Many thanks to all concerned. Regards, Margaret and John Chamberlain.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Booked a lovely cottage and paid deposit £400 odd - there after we were unable to log into our account - we emailed the info@ with screen shots, completed the password reset, which was glitchy and kept stating it had expired even though I was activating immediately. I emailed again 5 times in total, no reply to my emails. They have online chat facility - you can ONLY USE WHEN logged in - we couldn't log in. they sent balance requests - we couldnt log in to pay - emailed again NO REPLIES. Their phone lines are open 9-5 which is the only way to gain any communication with sykes them without being able log in. they cancelled our holiday - I eventually had coms with them by taking a morning off work - they refused to refund our deposit, reallocate it and said the holiday was re booked. 'Ben' (I dont have to give you my surname) also stated ' we dont have a working email address'. Ben also commented on the fact that I work full time -amazing! DO NOT USE THEM, we are a hard working little family and we are out of pocket and its been really stressful! Yet to tell my kids they arent getting a holiday. SYKES you stink their social media team are responsive (horray and thank you) but cannot help with bookings or take payments unless you can LOGIN to your account.”

Sykes Cottages 1 star review on 29th April 2022

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Absolutely shocking company. Avoid at all cost! Unable to make a trip we booked due to unforeseen circumstances, thought the 79 quid insurance (ergo) bought at the time of the booking would cover us as it had £5000 cancellation included. How wrong we were, this only applies in very limited circumstances and as a result we’ve lost our £800 deposit. We did try to change the dates but Sykes had significantly increased all the dates available compared to if we were booking for the first time. Customer service doesn’t exist and the insurance company are a probably managed by dick Turpin! Joke of a company”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Sykes keep sending emails to me on a daily basis. Every day I press unsubscribe but next day up pops another email. I’m fed up with this as I would never book with them again in any case. Sykes ….. please stop sending me your rubbish”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Awful company, avoid at all costs. As soon as something goes wrong they don't want to know / claim they are impartial and unable to help. I got told to pursue my claim through a small claims court. Our Holiday was totally ruined by the property we stayed at, and Sykes just don't want to know.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“wish i read those review before i booked with sykes, after leaving they sent random pictures saying property was left unclean - and not replied to my query and took the £200 out, when complained it was ignored and its soo convenient how the invoice comes to exactly the max they can hold on our card. Massive SCAM, they must be ashamed for cheating people of their money like this.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!! My wife booked 3 weeks in advance a 2-bed cottage in the Lake District for our Easter holiday and paid in full £265 per night. Just 48 hours before we were due to arrive, they cancelled the booking with a curt note. Totally unprofessional ‘service’. How I wish I had read all these similar reviews before we booked! Fortunately, Airbnb has been fantastic and helped salvage our holiday (although I really think they should go further and remove Sykes from their site as it is clear from all these reviews that this is not a serious company).”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Awful company - AVOID!! We had a holiday booked earlier this year, arrived at the cottage to find the next day we had no power/no heating/no water. The owner refused to do anything about it and Sykes did the same. As a result we had to come home. Sykes won't give us a refund, said there is nothing they can do. I'd avoid this company at all costs.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“I've booked two cottages with this company, and like most on here never again. Day 2 of my stay the saniflow toilet stopped working. I was left with no toilet, sink or shower overnight. Although they moved me the next day I had to run around to get this sorted. I had to cancel a meet up with friends I haven't seen for 2 years. When I asked they refund the day I had lost with no toilet and all the hassle it brought I was told no. They couldn't care less, and like many on here I would encourage all to book elsewhere. I will never use them again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Sykes used to be 5 star until my recent bad experience and now I can’t believe what I am reading online about their current service levels. They take now ownership and are only a booking platform. Horrible cottage couldn’t stay, no Easter Holidays for us this year.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“If I could leave them zero I would. They are a horrible company to deal with, and I’ll never book with them again. They RUINED a family holiday for me. They are useless and should be avoided at all costs. The worst customer service in the holiday business bar none.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Links lodge Flookburgh Haven holiday park. We went to an advertised lodge last September, it looked amazing from the picture, but it was actually a tatty old caravan well past its date for letting out. I complained to Sykes as we had a few serious issues, but the case went on for ages they told me the place was insured so no problem. But it wasn't insured, yup, they told me it was but it wasn't. It was a real mess, Sykes dumped me in the end and it was a nightmare to sort the case out as the owner seemed to want to dump the case. It was awful.. So sykes are allowing people to lease out places not insured and then dump you. Never again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“We are regular customers of Sykes cottages up till now .we booked A week in an apartment in Ambleside for first week in July 2022 having previously rented it. However we have since learned that the same apartment has been reduced by £199 per weekly booking.I contacted Customer Services but to no avail .However a waste of time as they were not prepared to do anything.This is how they deal with very good customers.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“My partner and I planned a holiday cottage in Wales in April 2022. After paying upfront for the cottage for 7 days we realised we had a prior commitment and we would need to cancel. Sykes stated that wouldn’t be possible so we had to forfeit 2 x days of our holiday. We arrived at the property (which was nice in an excellent location) and settled in. The next day my partner unfortunately tested positive for Covid19 and became ill. I tried to contact the insurance company that Sykes work hand in hand with (Ergo Insurance) 3 times and after waiting in a queue, the line repeatedly cut off. As we were unsure what to do, I called Sykes and asked for some help or assistance. Well, the customer service advisor did not have a clue what he was going on about. When I mentioned Covid19 curtailment cover on the insurance he stated “My information must be out of date then as I didn’t realise they did curtailment insurance.” Helpful. I asked if he could kindly look into why I couldn’t get through the insurance company and asked what would be best to do ie vacate the property to take my sick partner home before I contract Covid19 and drive 2.5 hours home. He stated that was not his role and he will cancel the booking if I wish to. After a discussion with my partner we decided to vacate the property today and cancel the remaining 4 days of our holiday and go home. What a disappointing experience, as a Nurse working throughout Covid19 pandemic I wanted a relaxing time away knowing that if we were to get Covid we had insurance to cover us. We were wrong- your insurance that Sykes recommended only provides a refund (during your trip) if you die of Covid19 or you are mechanically ventilated. Nice. I would never recommend Sykes to anyone. An awful experience and left with a £900 hole in my pocket. Never again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Shame of me for not "spotting" that you can stay for a week for the same amount as 3 or even 2 nights! (same price up to 7 nights!!) Shame on Sykes for not showing this on their website or sharing this valuable piece of information over the phone whilst booking. Shame on the owner of this holiday cottage in Troutbeck for being perfectly happy to take my week's costs for spending 3 nights and another week's costs from the following short break booking straight after us. Very sad indeed.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“My partner and I booked a cottage for a week via Sykes for mid to late June 2022, total cost just over £1,000. We discovered very recently that this same cottage has now been heavily discounted on the Sykes website (by OVER 40%, dropping from over £1,200 per week to about £700 per week) for several weeks after our booking, starting early July (which is normally more expensive than June, and indeed was so when we made our booking in late 2021). We asked Sykes, in the name of fairness, to make some commensurate price reduction gesture for our June stay, but they came back to us and said that the cottage owners would not do so. We therefore cancelled our booking, forfeiting our deposit, as we decided we would not give our custom to cottage openers and a booking website that was now offering such polarised and inequitable pricing. The cottage was immediately made available again via the Sykes website for the same week in June that we had booked, and then cancelled in disgust for 32% LESS than when we booked it. This is really sharp practice!! Following a bad experience with Sykes in 2015 (a cottage from hell that was supposedly 5 stars, but was anything but - we eventually got half our money back after prolonged negotiations with Sykes), and now this, my partner and I will NEVER use Sykes again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“If I could give zero I would. Arrived at a very expensive property last summer for the week which was absolutely filthy! Even the toilet was dirty. Best in mind this was also during covid times when extra cleanliness was promised. Phoned them immediately, they did nothing. Told me they had nowhere else to move me to. Continued my complaint upon return. They took no responsibility, said they were just the middleman and my contract was ultimately with the owner. Ended up with £50 compensation on a £900 property….beware!”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Sykes Cottages is rated 1.2 based on 1,490 reviews