AIBU to leave a stinking review

[101confusedbutangryholidaymakers]

Staying at lovely cottage in Scotland, text the owner last week as instructed to by Sykes, to get attached response... fine Sundays are sacred to some people. Rang 2 days later to be told keys will be in back door... why that warranted a phone call who knows. Arrived yesterday without further contact. This afternoon, a Sunday, lady showed up out of the blue whilst we were in the hot tub, came right round the back of the property. It was bloody awkward, me DH and my 2 young kids in swimming cossies in the garden faced with this random lady, this cottage is in the middle of nowhere we were definitely not expecting this randomer to intrude. She told us we'd put the top off the hot tub wrong, it was lent against the side, who knows where it's supposed to go, all she described was how to put it back on. She asked if everything was okay, I told her the Internet didn't work she told me "well it does", definitely doesn't. She left telling me "no kids unsupervised in the hot tub" well duh and they weren't. She also chastised us for not showering beforehand... which we had but obviously we looked dirty or something cos she looked sceptical. It just ruined everything frankly and now feel weird about the rest of the week if she's just going to show up whenever she feels like it. I just don't know whether to text her again to reiterate about the Internet and politely request some notice before she intrudes or just leave a stinking review.... bit tempted by the latter but I realise that's the childish way out... this place wasn't exactly cheap though

Id leave negative review.
She was judging you on how you look or probably because its primarily a cottage that couples use alone...its shitty behaviour

I’d probably message the company first and ask for an apology / partial refund and detail everything you’ve mentioned above. If they don’t respond / can’t explain the situation etc then I’d leave a review because then in the review you can also add that you did contact them for explanation and they still weren’t helpful etc

Yeah, that all sounds shit. Leaving a factual review including all of this and saying it ruined the holiday for you would be reasonable.

Sykes are dreadful. We went somewhere last year, which turned out to be through Sykes, but that wasn’t clear at the time of booking.

It was not very clean and the ‘occasional noise from building work’ was constant. We got some money back. We did leave a poor review and we can’t have been the only ones, because the property was withdrawn.

You've paid for the week, you’re entitled to have quiet enjoyment of the property for that time. I’d send a polite message about the internet and that you’d prefer some notice if she plans to visit. I’d probably mention things in a review too.

That sounds really unpleasant. I would complain to company.

So the owner came to check everything is OK? And you'd made a mistake with the top of the hot tub?
Have you resolved the internet issue? Did you contact her about it when you arrived?
You might get a part refund for that.
I don't quite understand why there was an issue with her response to you initially about not being available for communication last Sunday. That's just the equivalent of an "I'm out of the office until tomorrow".

Sykes is the worst company ever.
They've just come near the bottom of cottage companies as rated by Which yet again,
Give a bad review and have a look at the unhappy with Sykes FB group which has gone over 7000 members.

Yeah I’d complain, the tone of that message isn’t friendly at all, could’ve been worded much better!

Did she just walk into the garden when you were in the hot tub?? I’d be livid! And if there’s no instructions about the lid how are you to know?

Did you let them know before she arrived about the internet issue?

The text wasn't really a problem at the time, not particularly friendly but hey. It was just the fact she thinks it's fine to intrude on our Sunday but she doesnt have time to give an informative response the previous Sunday.... double standards maybe? A heads up beforehand might have been nice too and if she was checking everything was okay, why did she completley dismiss the one thing that was wrong, the Internet... felt like snooping to me 🤷‍♀️

Yep right in, no warning...could have been doing anything! Internet not that bothered by, got 4g so don't really care. Just annoyed she completely dismissed it and we've paid for it I suppose

I’d be concerned there is a camera somewhere. Hence the no showering comment. I no longer rent cottages through places like Sykes - too many weird owners.

Report the lack of internet through official channels and say ‘I advised the owner in person when she let herself in uninvited at x time today’. If she came under false pretences she may as well fix the internet.

I'm not surprised you feel cheesed off.

The initial text response was blunt, at best, and totally rude when put in a hospitality context. I'd have instantly felt unwelcome had I received that.

Sounds awful, yeah won't be using them again. Just need to find some careful words for a text still got a week left here...

Sounds awful, yeah won't be using them again. Just need to find some careful words for a text still got a week left here...

Oh my god hadn't even thought of a camera 😳yeah messaged sykes now, not expecting a response till Tuesday though

Yeah messaged them now thanks

Not very welcoming on the part of the owner and they definitely shouldn't be dropping in unannounced, that is totally uncalled for.

Also, they should be available at any time, doesn't matter if it's a bank holiday or not, that makes no sense when running a business that lets out holiday cottages during a holiday!

Leave an honest review. Don’t use negative language or sound angry.

Eg: The owner turned up at the property unannounced on Easter Sunday when my family and I were in the hot tub. We advised her the internet was not working. She assured us it was but we were unable to connect.

What’s the rest of the reviews like? The initial message she sent was abrupt and very unfriendly. If the internet wasn’t working they should have sorted it. Sundays are sacred to some people but if you rent a cottage out you don’t get the day off if things go wrong. I would never turn up unannounced at our holiday homes, people are on holiday and the comment about not showering is concerning. Is there an outside shower? I’m asking as a few properties do have external cameras if the cottages aren’t booked but they should never be on if there’s guests. We do have external cameras during winter but they’re off as soon as guests arrive and are only out on of the properties are empty.

Rest of the reviews are great, say how friendly the host is and how they enjoyed the farm tour.... don't think we'll be offered that somehow 🫣 No outside shower and can't see any cameras, internets down anyway so don't think they'd be getting a feed from it if there was one!?

Do the instructions from Sykes really ask you to text a whole week before to ask how to get the keys?

That is bonkers!

Yup 🙄 thought it was weird too, love a lockbox normally!

I probably wouldn’t leave a bad review but I would definitely highlight the unannounced visit.
I once spent a week in a holiday cottage where the owners lived next door, and they were so intrusive. The best example was when I managed to get a few minutes peace and quiet away from the family for a solo swim. Only to have the woman pop up and say how nice it was for me to get the (supposedly private) pool to myself. Well yes, it had been!
I left a factual review as we felt ‘supervised’ the whole time, even though we obeyed all of their many rules. It was not a relaxing holiday and we were pleased to leave.

The trouble is that you don’t always know that the parent company is Sykes. Ours was billed as being a Cornish company and it wasn’t until we were there that we found out all was not what it seemed.

We left early, it was so bad - and it rained a lot too. Put me right off Cornwall.

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