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

“Horrible Company! Horrible Company! Really bad and rude customer Service, they ask you to leave a review after your holiday, leave constructive feedback so other customers don't have the same bad experience then you get an email basically accusing you of lying and they stick up for the owner without even checking on the bad points raised. I even left photo evidence and because it doesn't have a time stamp they call it a one off. Nasty people I will never ever book with them again. If you have a problem you have no chance of sorting it out. A disgrace especially Luke in customer service!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Horrible Company! Horrible Company! Really bad and rude customer Service, they ask you to leave a review after your holiday, leave constructive feedback so other customers don't have the same bad experience then you get an email basically accusing you of lying and they stick up for the owner without even checking on the bad points raised. I left photo evidence too! Nasty people I will never ever book with them again. If you have a problem you have no chance of sorting it out. A disgrace especially Luke in customer service!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“So 2 holidays booked with Sykes and both cancelled with 2 weeks notice for each.. Have totally spoilt our whole year of holidays now. The fact we have a child who is on oxygen and tube feed so we have to pre-arrange the equipment with the local hospital makes it even worse to be let down at short notice. With the disgraceful experience they have put us through this year you would expect they would bend over backwards to help us. What do we get, no holiday with no time to book an alternative! They won’t bother getting in touch with you to offer some kind of compensation.I don’t think they actually care about customers. I will never ever be booking a cottage with Sykes again in the future.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Absolutely appalling company to deal with. Sadly we used to deal with a very customer focused and very professional holiday company called Helpful Holidays, who we have been customers of for many years now, but following their amalgamation with Sykes, the standard and service received has really gone downhill. We stayed in a cottage recently but the place was dirty, and in need of a lot of maintenance. We listed in their book of breakages, our concerns about things we felt needed to be addressed and some which we deemed as potentially dangerous, as had other holiday makers. The same faults and issues had been noted numerous times, but it appears no-one takes any notice of this. A telephone conversation with a Sykes operative was utterly fruitless and we were then charged for alleged damage to some items at the property! There were no checks made regarding these items prior to our arrival, and so it was our word against the cottage owner! Sykes have hundreds of properties on their books and most of these and their owners operate a high standard so this generates a sizeable and healthy revenue for the company. In this regardn the properties and owners who do fall short have little impact and this is why any complaints are met with apathy. I will never use Helpful Holidays or Sykes again as a result of this unprofessional and incompetent experience.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“We are cottage owners and signed up with Sykes 4 years ago after being given an estimated turnover which they never achieved, in the first full year they got to approx 80% then the footfall fell away over the following years to a figure of approx 25% of the original estimate they gave, as a result could no longer sustain the business and forced us to give notice and withdraw the property for sale, we had 3 bookings that once sold we cancelled, this cost us over £2100 in cancellation fees and commission, compensation etc all of which they tie you up in knots with, so despite the business failing due to false estimates and poor performance, they have you with small print!! in the end the property owed us so much money in turn rounds, insurances and maintenance that we did actually lose money when we sold, all the equity swallowed up in the thousands it owed us and Sykes fees, their argument was to quote the contract and "we cant guarantee your bookings" Due to my experience I could never recommend this company to others, they will take 24% and give you no support, be your best friend until your hooked on that contract, then misery and costs for the duration was our experience.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“awful customer service, cannot even provide a simple vat receipt for my stay for the whole trip, only the booking fee portion. As I stayed on business and booked through travel portal, this should be the very basics”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“1. Charged too much money at point of sale 2. Customer support staff unhelpful and failed to communicate as promised. 3 Failure to give satisfactory explaination for over charge 4. virtually impossible to contact customer support team by telephone. 5.. No response to request for complaints procedure Other than that they were great”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“We stayed at Stabl Bach in Anglesey this summer, and had an appalling experience with Sykes Cottages. As other reviews state their service and policies are woefully lacking and unmodernised, they are focussed on income only. They take no responsibility for knowledge of the properties they advertise, as you will be able to see from our experience. The company also disregards GDPR – I have subsequently been sent marketing emails urging me to let Sykes Cottages help finance my next holiday, without the requisite consent having been given. There are so many professional companies out there – book your holiday with them instead. Our experience On arrival we were greeted with a building site next door to our property. A number of workmen, vans, a cement mixer, JCB and their radio were all in full flow at 4pm on Saturday afternoon. On speaking to Becky at the Chester Office we were informed that Sykes Cottages had no knowledge of any building work and that no other guests had complained to date but that they would try to investigate. The builders left the site approximately 2 hours later. The next morning, a Sunday, work began just prior to 8am. My husband and I were in the back bedroom which completely overlooks the site and so were woken by the works. Again, the site was in full flow all day with all the noise that this entails. Becky called back in the afternoon and left a voicemail to say that again, no one else had complained and that the “farmer” in question only undertook work on the weekends. Additionally, it was stated that the work could not be seen from our property which was odd as I was looking out of the bedroom window at the work as I listened to the message. The works also completely overlooked the garden as is visible from the pictures attached. Whilst the builders mainly kept away for the week – save for 2 hours of rubble rearrangement from 4-6pm on Tuesday and similar work past 7pm on Thursday evening, they again arrived at 7.30am on Saturday 29th, leaving us woken early by works with no chance of a lie in on our final day. Becky did follow up on the Wednesday to check how our week was going, and to also forward apologies from the owners for the food waste being left rotting at the entrance to the cottage on our arrival. There were other cleanliness issues. The bins remained overflowing and unemptied throughout our stay. The kitchen was dirty, and we found hairs in our bed, as you’ll see from the pictures. From our arrival on Saturday afternoon until Monday morning when the builders thankfully did not arrive, our time was ruined by noise and disruption and most impactfully worry as to whether we would be disrupted all week. We were also impacted by noise and disruption on Tuesday and Thursday evening and the following Saturday morning. After pushing the issue, we received £100 as a “gesture”. Note that this was from the owners and not Sykes who grab on to every penny for dear life. Sykes facilitated the correspondence between ourselves and the owners initially and then said they were unable to do so any further. My lasting impression is a company that takes no responsibility, offers no customer service in the true sense of the term and is solely profit focussed to the exclusion of all else.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“We had a couple of nice holidays through Sykes, but once you have an issue with something they don't want to know. On our arrival to our holiday this year we found that the shower wasn't working. Although the owner sent someone the next day to have a look at it, it took 10 days to have a plumber turn up and a new one installed. As invigorating as an ice cold shower can be, we raised the issue with Sykes, who informed us that they saw no problem. After such bad customer service, and having seen other similar comments on here, I would stay well clear of these cowboys.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“My booking for 4 people was cancelled by Sykes one and a half hours before check in. Whilst the unforeseen can happen Sykes were USELESS in helping a suitable alternative. I needed a ground floor property due to mobility and was offered properties with only one bedroom, a bunk bed, two counties away or were houses. By 5pm I asked Sykes to pay for a hotel for us so we could commence our holiday the next day. They said no in no uncertain terms and explained we would gave to pay this plus any cost for a property that was more expensive. Terrible, insensitive, inflexible and unhelpful customer service. Not interested in genuinely helping solve a problem. Avoid.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Bad experience using Sykes. We rented Osprey cottage in Portland Dorset & the en-suite shower had seized on, plus the second bathroom pull switch light had broken & the shower curtain stunk of stale water with the extractor fan faulty. No maintenance guy arrived after our call & we left 4 days early as the house was basically unusable. We asked Sykes 3 times for a partial refund but had only an automated reply to emails & a promise to ‘contact the owner’ which came to nothing. We will never use them again & advise others to book elsewhere.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Stayed at a cottage in Aberaeron, Wales. Cottage was a health and safety issue. I had to leave the cottage because of damp issues, as I am an asthmatic. The website said there was with Wi-Fi but it was non existent, the phone signal also non existent. Sykes cottages were not interested. The aftercare is abysmal. I got know where. The cottage is still on their books even though it is a health and safety issue???? I took out their insurance and got no where with them also. Do not book with them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Do NOT use Sykes, instead of being ripped off, take your business elsewhere. Do not trust their website as they also like to mis-sell you. Pictures, star ratings and tick systems are all lies. When you tell them this they do nothing to make sure it's corrected. Their "Customer Relations Team" are terrible and can't wait to get rid of you, they lie, don't deal with complaints and fob you off every step of the way. Nothing will get resolved. They will say "I'm here to help you", they really aren't, I'm two weeks into my complaint and they have just closed the case without even resolving it. They only care about taking your money and don't give two fudges if you have a good holiday or not.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Do not use this company. When dealing with a complaint they took no action, lied about speaking to the owners and failed to resolve anything. We had been unable to access the property we had paid to stay in and the owners refused a refund. Sykes told us to send them our call log to prove we had phoned for over 2 hours before deciding we needed to find another hotel as it was late at night. Even then they did nothing. Disgraceful.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“We booked a holiday home in Weymouth this July, on arrival found branches and weeds outside the front door, then we actually got in the property at 3.00pm to find the freezer completely frozen with blocks of ice, they had switched the Fridge /Freezer off and packed it with towels to absorb water from the defrosting etc. No help what so ever except from Angela in the Dreams cottage office. I had to scrape all the ice out myself , very conscious of not damaging evaporator coil etc We had brought cool boxes with food, eventually was able to switch Fridge/freezer back on. They knew about this before we arrived, we went to Dream Cottages to complain about the branches and weeds at 12.00 amm, why didn't they tell us to delay arrival so that they could sort things out, shocking customer care. I have sent email after email, with photos, they say they will reply within 72 hrs, the customer care relations team team are all very apologetic but they do nothing, complete LIP service only, they do not know the meaning of courtesy, care or respect, I have phoned them to request to speak to a manager. Absolutely shameful attitude, they think you will give up. They are the most blatant abusers of customer care, I have again sent them a email today. I expect the normal email we will get back to you in 72 hrs. 1st email was the 28th July stillwaiting for a reply, obviously they have no clocks in the office.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“We had a problem with The Granary at Ruthwaite in the Lake District. The cottage had a disgusting smell of damp, the kitchen equipment was very old and some rusty. We were booked in for a week but left after two days as the damp smell was over whelming. Overall the cottage was old, very tatty and not a pleasant place to be. When we contacted Sykes they completely took sides with the cottage owner, offered no form of compensation. We will not use Sykes again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“DO NOT USE THIS DISGUSTING COMPANY!! We were electrocuted in a property called ‘The Stables’ in Norley/Sandiway and Sykes did not give a toss!! They offered no support and told us we would have to sort it out with the owner. Electricians had to go to the property whilst we were there and they denied us any compensation what so ever. The owner John Muir didn’t give a toss either and did not even apologise to any of us even our daughter who was electrocuted. Sykes didn’t even let us write a review on there website as they are only looking out for there own interests and profit before people’s lives , disgraceful behaviour. Definitely do not use Sykes cottages and surely do not stay at ‘The stables’ In Norley /Sandiway !!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Terrible customer service. Not helpful at all. Never keep you updated. Avoid at all costs”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“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.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“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.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

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

Sykes Cottages Reviews