“Overall, although the property can be said to be characterful and in a lovely area, it wasn't worth a price tag of £1908 for one week!”
I was interested to see that the same week in 2022 is £1782 and in a few weeks time it is £808 ... but I suppose Covid has made many companies a little greedier than normal!
We arrived to a smell of damp throughout the building, a broken window on the landing and windows that had not been cleaned inside or out for some time. There was no welcome box on arrival which one would expect when paying this kind of money. There were 2 dishwasher tablets for the week and enough washing up liquid to last a few days. No logs for the fire, numerous cobwebs throughout the house and two chipped mugs in the kitchen. All a little trivial but not really what you'd expect for £1908.
Upon leaving, £135 was taken from my bank account for 6 very average and used towels which the owner claimed were stained. Two of which I was aware of when returning home and offered to pay for - my son failed to tell me until the question was asked - four of which were almost certainly not stained by us as they were only used for showering. Sykes offered little in the way of support and took the money without investigation, totally taking the side of the owner who offered no proof other than a not very clear photo.
After a little further research, which I should have done prior to the booking, I discovered a number of similar reviews, some of which were from customers who had worse experiences with the owner and Sykes than we did ... and by magic, as I started to complain to Sykes, a positive review for the property appeared on their website, pushing the negative one which was already there out of view.
What promised to be a lovely holiday left a rather sour taste. C'est la vie.
Thank you for your feedback, although we hope you enjoyed your time in Devon we’re sorry to hear that it wasn’t perfect. We’ve spoken with the owners about your comments and they dispute the claims you have concerning the alleged damp, broken window and chipped mugs. They’re especially puzzled by this as when asked how you were getting along your reported to them that you very happy and didn’t raise any of these issues at the time. They do agree there wasn’t a welcome pack as this isn’t something they provide. We’re sad that a claim needed to be made against your bond for the damage to the towels following your stay. The owner has provided several photos verifying the staining in order to fully evidence and substantiate the claim. We’re very sorry this left a dampener on the experience, but we do hope it won’t put you off a return to Devon in future.
Property Owner
