“By far the worst company ive ever come across, ive made a COMPLAINT and they have said for the last 6 months we are waiting for someone to come back to us and still no communication so had enough and now feel i need to complain about this company, judging by the other complaints on hear and the fact they havent replied shoes there are a disgusting company and treat there customers horribly so i will take this up with the media !”
“Not happy at all - shocking customer service!
I booked a holiday almost a year in advance for an ex-partner's 40th birthday last year. It was a special occasion and I spent a lot of money. Unfortunately, we broke up after I suffered physical and mental abuse; as soon as this happened I phoned and spoke to a lovely lady who told me that while they could not refund me, they could keep the £350.00 deposit that I had already paid as a credit and when I was ready to rebook to contact them. I gave you 6 months notice cancellation so clearly the dates I originally had booked could have been booked by someone else and in all likelihood were. That was all well and good and I was satisfied.
The following year, I phoned to choose an alternative property on their site with my £350.00 only to be told that my money was actually bound to that particular property which was not explicitly explained before. I do not want to go to this property as it is labelled as a "romantic getaway" and I chose this property when I was with my abusive ex-partner so obviously this would be triggering. After going back and forth being cut off on the phone and having to chase updates, I was ultimately told, tough luck.
I explained my sensitive situation to you to relay to the property owners - who clearly do not care for these extenuating circumstances and just want money. There is no justification to keep £350.00 of my money for a cancellation made 6 months in advance. All I was told was "you were informed of this under the terms and conditions when you booked". Actually no. When you go through checkout, it does NOT clearly state these and instead in tiny letters at the bottom of the screen is a link which - let's be honest - no one is going to sift through. I was even told if I changed the booking date I would keep being charged £75.00 amendment charge to change. I do not want to go to this property, so I am now out £350.00 of my hard-earned money because you refuse to have a reasonable heart with my situation. I am willing to spend the extra money to go to a different property and give you more of my money Holiday Cottages. I cannot believe this customer service - absolutely shocking. I am not asking for a refund, I am asking to amend to an alternative property. Be warned out there, this company is only after your money it seems.”
“I have to leave a one star review for this company. My mother passed away and our request to cancel our booking - two days after the booking was placed - was denied.
Appalling customer service.
Dispeakable company. Avoid.”
“Absolutely despicable company. I made a booking and then the my sister-in-law died during the birth of her twins. Within 5 days I called Holiday Cottages to cancel but they denied the request. They said I had to request a transfer and they would charge and additional £75. After three different requested dates for a transfer they denied the request. They are thieves. They claim the condition were clear in the T&Cs but this was not explicitly stated before they happily took my £2000.”
“The company refuse to post my honest but negative review on their own Web page so there is something very dodgy going on. The property we stayed at was dirty and unkempt which I really didn't expect when spending over 2 thousand pounds! Beautiful location but really let down by the condition.”
“We stayed at an expensive property in Instow, Devon which fell well below expectations and needed frequent maintenance call-outs. A critical but fair review was provided to holidaycottages.co.uk which included both positives and negatives.
As the owner did not agree with our feedback, holidaycottages.co.uk have only published the positive parts of the review. They confirmed that this was the case via email.
Feedback does not have to be agreed with. It is a matter of fairness and transparency that reviews are published in full.”
“Left a review two weeks ago about a cottage we stayed in mentioning the bad bits and why we left after only three days but it was never published on the review page for the property so I will not be back again with this company I sent a complaint to them and I had a reply only after I wrote about them on social media and they promised to get back to me but so far nothing I think I will now try another avenue of recompense”
“If I could give no stars, I would! Booked a holiday for Christmas, took out cancellation insurance from their site , as they don't give refunds on deposits....Cancelled with 7 months notice!!! No refund, insurance is pointless as it the customer service attitude of holidaycottages. Not their problem, apparently...£276 down, thanks! I will never book with them again. They've 'looked into it'....changed nothing! Wanted medical evidence that my Dad is likely to be dead by then or at the very least it would be his last Christmas and so I 'd rather stay with the family, not go on holiday. No empathy at all.”
“So disappointed! I don’t understand why they let you book, and they decide after that those dates are not convenient to the owner for some reason ! Not the first time I’m being rejected from this website for absurd reason!
And I book 2 to 3 holidays a year around Scotland
Waste of time”
“Had to cancel due to sudden ill health no partial refund offered even though the holiday cancelled 5 months before date, no contact numbers available to talk to anyone, contradictory advice on the terms and conditions”
“Very poor cancellation policy even when cancellation 4 months before due to a member of the family breaking there back in a fall and 2 of the party having to care for her now! Wasn’t even willing to give me a partial refund based on these circumstances! Very poor show really had 801 pounds of my money for no services received!! Will never book again or recommend any to this company!!! AVOID this company. Zero customer service and not bothered once they have your hard earned money.”
“:( Finally found an affordable holiday place & they don't want my good boy rottie. After I booked I got an email saying there had been a mistake and they only take medium size dogs up to the size of a Lab (of course they're so much smaller than a rottie... 🙄) The details don't say that at all, just says one dog. They ask for breed when booking, so it's about him being a rottie but they chose to lie rather than be honest. Avoid @holcottagesuk if you have a #rottie #rottweiler”
“I booked a cottage over a month ago but accidentely booked the wrong dates. I instantly contacted customer service via email and since then i've been chasing them for my refund. They do not have a contact number which is just ridiculous and the customer service email only reply via cripted emails once a week, if i'm lucky. I even asked for an exchange as I still want the same cottage but i'm getting no where..”
“Probably the worst customer service experience I have ever had, and certainly the worst with a self-catering agency. The property (Beacon Farmhouse in Michaelchurch Escley) was absolutely filthy, in a dire state of repair, and infested with insects. We left after being unable to raise the property manager on the phone, and there has been almost a complete lack of communication from the agency ever since. Currently fighting for a refund, and I am guessing that we are going to end up in small claims court over this. First such experience in over twenty years of staying in self-catering properties.”
“They take no pride in themselves. They (charlie) cancelled our trip last week to Norfolk by email the day before saying they would help us rebook which we said we wanted to do. They didn't answer our email they completely ignored us. AVOID”
