Sykes cottages

Life__Goes__On

How did you pay?

Sianbez

I paid on credit card but it's only the £76 difference and not the full holiday cost that's owed

Life__Goes__On

If you have no use of the credit, but want to stay, I would wait and see what happens nearer the time
If it's cancelled then have a full refund of everything you paid.
If it goes ahead then enjoy the break, and then if they still say you can't have the cash refund raise a Chargeback/ Section 75  on the £76. (this is free)
That way you know there won't be any trouble during your stay if it goes ahead.

Sianbez

Thanks for your help,much appreciated

Pollycat

Martin Lewis addresses the issue of Sykes (and Hoseasons) specifically in this MSE article:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/02/coronavirus-travel-help-and-your-rights/?_ga=2.180740387.502291125.1587284438-278771506.1587284438

You will need to scroll down quite a lot.

Sooler

Info regarding Sykes here

Holiday cottage firms reported to competition watchdog over refunds

https://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/369871/holiday-cottage-firms-reported-to-competition-watchdog-over-refunds

Davidunhappy2020

Booked a cottage through Sykes on 1st January for holiday commencing 12th June. Following the Coronavirus Pandemic Government advice was not to travel for over 70's especially with health issues.  Contacted Sykes on two occasions to inform them that we were unable to travel due to restrictions and lock down for twelve weeks which took us past our day of departure. Their replies were unhelpful and despite my e-mails they took the full amount for the cottage from our account knowing we unable to take up the holiday.  Checking on their website we could change the booking but there could be an increase in price and trying to cancel we would loose the whole amount.  We feel sorry for the cottage owner but Sykes appear to be putting greed before human life.  We will never use Sykes Cottages again as they are a disgrace to the tourist industry.

Life__Goes__On

Davidunhappy2020 said:

Booked a cottage through Sykes on 1st January for holiday commencing 12th June. Following the Coronavirus Pandemic Government advice was not to travel for over 70's especially with health issues.  Contacted Sykes on two occasions to inform them that we were unable to travel due to restrictions and lock down for twelve weeks which took us past our day of departure. Their replies were unhelpful and despite my e-mails they took the full amount for the cottage from our account knowing we unable to take up the holiday.  Checking on their website we could change the booking but there could be an increase in price and trying to cancel we would loose the whole amount.  We feel sorry for the cottage owner but Sykes appear to be putting greed before human life.  We will never use Sykes Cottages again as they are a disgrace to the tourist industry.

Do you know if you were able in your contract to cancel before they took the payment?

Pollycat

Davidunhappy2020 said:

Booked a cottage through Sykes on 1st January for holiday commencing 12th June. Following the Coronavirus Pandemic Government advice was not to travel for over 70's especially with health issues.  Contacted Sykes on two occasions to inform them that we were unable to travel due to restrictions and lock down for twelve weeks which took us past our day of departure. Their replies were unhelpful and despite my e-mails they took the full amount for the cottage from our account knowing we unable to take up the holiday.  Checking on their website we could change the booking but there could be an increase in price and trying to cancel we would loose the whole amount.  We feel sorry for the cottage owner but Sykes appear to be putting greed before human life.  We will never use Sykes Cottages again as they are a disgrace to the tourist industry.

From the link in my post above:

3) If you are prepared to play hardball, threaten court action (for Sykes Cottages customers, there are template letters).

JamJam1992

02.01.2020 I pay £537.00 for a short break (03.04.2020) at a cottage in Belper. Due to the lockdown restrictions in place Syke's Cottages cancelled my holiday. I have been chasing Syke's Cottages for over a month and received nothing but a blanket response. I requested that Syke's forward a letter of mine to the property owner stating that unless I receive a full refund within 7 days of receiving the letter that I'll be going further and taking the property owner to a small claims court. The following day, Syke's finally respond and said the following:

Thank you for your letter. We have reviewed your booking and can see that a refund is in the process of being provided to you by the owner of the property.
 Please be aware that the owner is entitled to deduct their reasonable expenses from the amount refunded to you

I don't understand on what basis the owner is entitled to deduct any reasonable expenses. I paid £537.00 for a holiday that I have not had the pleasure of experiencing. Therefore, I would expect 100% of my money back. 
I can see that the CMA has also issued a statement on its expectations around cancellations and refunds.

It says that for most consumer contracts, it would expect a full refund to be issued if:

• A firm has cancelled the contract, and hasn't provided any of the promised goods and services.

• The firm hasn't provided any service – for example, because lockdown restrictions prevented it from doing so.

• A customer cancels or is prevented from using the service – again, an example would be if lockdown restrictions prevented them from accessing the service.

I will once again reiterate with Syke's that I should be receiving a FULL refund or I will be taking them to the small claims court.